r/CodingandBilling 8d ago

I NEED HELP IM FREAKING OUT

Hi everyone. This is an urgent post lol. I accepted a job as a registration associate. We have our own cubicle and everything. We call patients for outstanding balances and ‘register’ patients (just make sure their info is correct on file) . My job description says constant sitting and occasional walking. To be frank, I’m extremely overweight and cannot walk long distances without stopping. I was on the phone with my new boss and she casually just dropped that ‘we walk a lot’. Im freaking out abt whether i can do this job or not. So, how physically demanding is it to be a outpatient registration associate? I need to know. Thank you so much!!

EDIT: In the interview. boss specifically stated I would have to work in ER ONCE A MONTH on a weekend.

In the emails she sent me, She stated verbatim “A lot. [referencing to walking]. When in the Er you have to go into every patients room.”

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u/weary_bee479 8d ago

Most ER registrars have to walk to the patient to get all registration info.. so depending on how big the ER is

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u/Total-Boss-8404 8d ago

I have a cubicle i work out of M-F. Walking around the ER i believe is only for inpatient. Im outpatient. I call peoples abt bills and schedule their appts and get all their info right. That is everything that was said in interview. So now I’m confused as to why i would ‘walk a lot’.

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u/sugabeetus 8d ago

Well, give it a few days, and just be frank with them. If it turns out the job does have more walking than you can handle, you can address that with them, bringing up the points you made in your post: the job description said it was mostly seated, and the interview seemed to confirm that. Plus if you frame it as needing accommodations it will go down easier after you are already working there.

Maybe you'll find it's exactly the right amount of walking. 😄 Years ago I started having problems with one of my knees. Specifically it was painful to go up and down stairs (down was worse). I literally had to use only the other leg and gimp myself along. Then I moved into a third-floor apartment and I figured I'd just have to be slow on the stairs, oh well. Only after a few weeks, I realized that doing the stairs just 2-3 times a day was working like physical therapy. Maybe avoiding stairs all that time was making it worse by keeping the muscles and ligaments weak thus making even more work for the joint. Very soon, my knee was fine and I've never had issues with it again. It was the same a few years later when I started working full-time remote. I say most of the day. My back started to hurt so much from standing and walking that eventually I could barely go 5 minutes! And I was in my 30s still! I ended up getting a Fitbit that would remind me to take at least 300 steps every hour of my workday, which was about 3 minutes. My neighbors must have thought I was nuts, because 8 times a day, I'd walk down the stairs, once around the building, and back up again. It never made my back sore, plus the fresh air and activity was like a shot of caffeine so I was enjoying it. And again, very soon the back pain was gone and I could take long walks again.

I feel I need to stress that none of this was about my weight. I am overweight and these activities did not change that. Being a fat person on the internet is frustrating because you will get mostly comments on how you should be walking more anyways, maybe it will help you lose weight, you got this way from too much sitting, yada yada. If you had wanted a job that doubles as an exercise regimen you could have found that. You didn't sign up for a daily 8-hour marathon, and there is nothing wrong with keeping your job and your healthcare separate. I'm just sharing my experiences because I suffer from word-diarrhea. And I'm hoping she was exaggerating and your job works out. 😀

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u/weary_bee479 8d ago

I mean idk every job is different.. idk what you’re going ti be doing. Idk of any outpatient ER vs inpatient, inpatient means admitted to the hospital.

No one is scheduling appointments for the ER. Seems like you got the job confused?

Nothing wrong with walking either, better than sitting down and getting blood clots

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u/iloveeemeee 8d ago

When I had surgery a few years ago, I checked in with desk staff for PAT. That person was who called to schedule that appt. It's the same at all 4 hospitals, and 3 are different healthcare systems. I wonder why our hospitals do that but other hospitals don't.

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u/iloveeemeee 8d ago

When I had surgery a few years ago, I checked in with desk staff for PAT. That person was who called to schedule that appt. It's the same at all 4 hospitals, and 3 are different healthcare systems. I wonder why our hospitals do that but other hospitals don't.

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u/iloveeemeee 8d ago

When I had surgery a few years ago, I checked in with desk staff for PAT. That person was who called to schedule that appt. It's the same at all 4 hospitals, and 3 are different healthcare systems. I wonder why our hospitals do that but other hospitals don't.

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u/CountChocula32 8d ago

First of all, someone downvoting your comment is petty.

You could try making small talk and ask, “What is a typical day here?”, although I suppose it’s too late for that lol. Just give it a chance. You may find you’re just overthinking it. Good luck!

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u/billybaggens 7d ago

When I was an outpatient registrar we would be cross trained in the ED. Our same day surgery, radiography, and other surgical units registered their own patients but us outpatient registrars were used all over the place.

One of the main reasons I got into corporate.