5 Mental Health Traits That Help Medical Coders
If you struggle with mental health, you’re not alone.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):
- 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
- 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
- 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
- 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24
- Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34
Mental health is a common struggle, and one that you often have to be proactive about to maintain.
This is especially important for the fast-paced world of medical coding, where mistakes can be costly. Let’s go over five mental health traits that help medical coders thrive.
1. Wisdom
Job empowerment starts with knowledge. To get medical coding knowledge (and the wisdom required for addressing individual situations), it starts with training. If you don’t already have your Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification, do it! With Medical Coding Academy Online, you’ll get the training you need to have confidence about your knowledge, wisdom and ability to do the job.
2. Courage
A sense of justice is another strong mental trait for medical coders. Teamwork, fairness and leadership all require courage to speak up and/or do the right thing, and it’s a valuable trait for non-managers as well. If you see something wrong and speak up about it (in an appropriate way), you’ll be displaying courage on the job.
3. Motivation
The best medical coders set goals and are always trying to improve themselves. Do you still have the same motivation you did early in your career? Or, maybe you’re getting started and having trouble finding the motivation to put yourself out there on your new job. Either way, get plugged in to a medical coding community and encourage each other to get better.
4. Humility
Do you respond well to feedback? If not, it could help you handle your medical coding position better. Try to use any comments, critiques or commendations from your supervisors as an opportunity to improve. When you have the right perspective, it makes difficult tasks a little easier.
5. Kindness
Finally, do you treat your co-workers, patients and even insurance contacts with respect? Remembering that your interactions are with real humans (who have their own struggles and emotions) will go a long way toward ensuring that you do your best to treat others with kindness. A mental health boost is a natural result.
If you’re looking for a medical coding community where peers encourage each other, consider joining our Facebook group today!
Medical coders must be able to concentrate for long periods of time in order to accurately translate medical codes.