Uopx Career Action Plan

After four years of learning to be a college student and meeting the requirements of each of my instructors, it is time for me to prepare for graduation and the move onto my career dreams. The creation of my career action plan is one of the many steps I will take to assess my goals, abilities, skills, weaknesses, and likelihood of landing gainful employment. My career action plan can be considered a roadmap of my change from college student to career professional. The action plan roadmap can help me see the trail that takes me to understanding my professional goals, and the health care position I should look for. This Roadmap can also help me understand my skills set, skills improvement needs, and help me map out how I will achieving the continued education needed to be successful in my career.

Creating my career action plan is not the first step I will need to take to roadmap my way to goal achievement and career success. The career action plan is created after several steps have been made, such as a self assessment, an exploration of viable career options and the creation of a list of career interests (Career Action, Plan, 2012). During its creation one can see that a career action plan I not just a one step plan but rather, one-step of several in a process. * My Professional Goals

* The professional goals I listed in my career action plan outline are to get job in the health care industry in the medical records department, Return to school for my Master’s in Health Administration, and work my way to a medical coder management position. * Get a job in the health care industry in the electronic medical records department. * My decision to work with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) stems from my interest in health care with a lack of interest in clinical patient care. The role of EMRs is growing by leaps and bounds (Polack, 2012). In the 1990s Medical offices found that integrating computers into the practice of medical billing and scheduling helped to stream line these processes.

Today computers and the Internet have improved to allow many aspects of the medical sector to be streamlined and networked making electronic patient management more accessible and efficient for health care administration. In the near future the health care industry will see the use of EMR systems to be the norm. The trend of implementing EMR systems into health care facilities is not just an American Fad; it is a worldwide fade- like many things involved in technology and the internet. The EMR department is an attractive position, because even though I have completed a Bachelors program in Health Information Systems, I do not have career experience in health administration. I perceive electronic medical records as a good way to break into the health care industry and gain on-the-job experience to prepare me for my ultimate job of choice in the executive department of a hospital. *

* The job I plan to have in the health care sector

* The job I plan to have ultimately in the health care sector is as a coding manager or Medical coding auditor. I find this field interesting because I will be working as a gateway to legitimizing medical billing claims and ensuring the health care facility I work for is not losing money because of poor coding in its offices and is safe from charges of fraud because of mistakes or intentional harm done in the coding phasing of patient billing. * Coding Manager is responsible for providing leadership to coding auditors, the coding analysis, and to encourage peak performance of the coding department. The coding manager is responsible for the creation and scheduling of training, and ensuring medical coding office meets required policies and procedures (Allhealthcarejobs.com, 2012).

* Certified Medical Auditor is responsible for checking for compliancy and ensuring profitability of a health care firm by ensuring medical necessity, correct coding, and coding compliance of regulatory issues (What is Medical Auditing?, 2012). Medical auditing shares many of the responsibilities of a coding manager but without the an emphasis on personnel management as is seen in coding management fields. * Of the two fields my heart is in coding auditing, becoming a coding manager would be the icing on the cake (so to speak). *

* Skills I have for this job

* To attain the goal of becoming a medical coding auditor there are a number of skills needed, many of which I have and some that I will gain in the next few years as part of my career action plan. The skills I currently have to meet the first part of my career goal (to become a medical coder) are: Basic computer skills, understanding of how to use Microsoft office software programs, knowledge of health care terminology, completion of an AHIMA accredited certification course for medical coding and billing, and professional communication skills.

* Skills I need to change, alter, or enhance

* Skills I need to enhance: brushing up of Microsoft Excel skills, completion of a Master’s degree in health care administration with an AHIMA accredited university. Once these goals are attained, I can earn a Registered Health Information Administrator certification (RHIA) or a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) certification, and current work experience in health care administration. *

* My Plan for ultimately achieving these professional goals *
* My plan for ultimately achieving these goals is to complete the medical coding course I am currently attending, take the examination for Medical billing and coding certification, and attain employment in a hospital, a Military health treatment facility, or with a health insurance provider so I may gain work experience as a medical coder. Once the goal of certification and employment is attained, I will return to college to earn my Master’s Degree in health care administration. This will allow me to gain work experience and the potential for earning higher certification in medical coding. *

* Professional organizations that can help Me achieve these goals. * RHIA managers provide a link between providers and the payers by administration health information in medical records, information systems collecting and analyzing patient data and using classification systems and medical terminology. RHIA offers a career path leading to personnel management and ensures compliance met for the in the legal requirements of health care delivery. RHIT professionals ensure the quality of medical records as well as the completeness and accuracy of patient health information entries into the computer system.

* Two organizations that can help me achieve the goal of certification and possibly provide help with job placement are the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and The American Academy Of Professional Coders. AHIMA and (AAPC) are the two largest professional organizations that provide certification through exams that express the knowledge of various billing and coding practices possessed by certification holders. Some of the benefits of holding a certification from AHIMA or AAPC are increased salary potential, and certification shows an employer that the candidate is dedicated to his or her profession and the service he or she provides an employer in the health care industry. *

The benefit of having a career action plan outline provides
A career action plan is a benefit for many reasons; one being that to have a plan is light years betters than having no plan at all. Having and using my career action plan will give me a constant reminder of what I have set out to do in my career. Along my climb to the top, I anticipate that I will have a number of road blocks and excuses to make easier career goals that will not require further education, or self improvement to better compete with my peers. The reminder of my initial goals will help to keep me on track and inspire me to keep reaching for my goals. By this time next month, I will have completed the journey that has taken me four years to attain -earning my Bachelors of Science in health care administration.

This goal is one of the many mile stone goals I have set. The time has now come for me to prepare for graduation and the move onto my career dreams. The creation of my career action plan is one of the processes I will complete to help myself assess my goals, abilities, skills, weaknesses, and likelihood of landing gainful employment. My career action plan can be considered a roadmap of my change from college student to career professional. The action plan can help remind me of the goals I set out to meet and also serve as a checklist along the way to completing my education and career goals.

Resource

AAPC. (2012). What is Medical Auditing?. Retrieved April 22, 2012 from
http://www.aapc.com/resources/medical-coding/auditing.aspx
AHIMA. (2012). Types of Credentials. Retrieved April 22, 2012 from
http://www.ahima.org/certification/credentials.aspx
Allhealthcarejobs.com. (2012). Coding Manager. Retrieved April 22, 2012 from http://seeker.allhealthcarejobs.com/jobsearch/servlet/JobSearch?op=101&dockey=xml/9/b/9b06888334cb31a516e41cf1714c5896@endecaindex&c=1&source=27&src=27&cmpid=AG:4 Career Action Plan. (2012). In About.com. Retrieved April 22, 2012 from

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careeractionplan/a/action_plan_lng.htm Polack, P. (2012). 6 Best Practices for Implementing EMR for Meaningful Use. Retrieved April 22, 2012 from http://www.medicalpracticetrends.com/tag/emr/ AAPC. (2012). What Is AAPC Certification? , Retrieved April 22, 2012 from

http://www.ehow.com/about_6398105_aapc-certification_.html