Questionaires

[Steve Verno]

They're sneaky and tricky to get what they want.

A friend of mine said one came to her office and told her that she was investigating whether she should become a coder and biller.  What gave her away were the questions she asked and my friend knew them immediately.  The student was told to leave but became angry, beligerent and indignant saying. "I came here asking you for help."  Security was called to remove the person from the office building.  If you've seen, or been asked:  What tasks are typically done in a day by a medical biller? and you see it again, you don't have to be the Great Karnak to know what is going on.  

If I find out which institution is doing this, I plan to ban anyone from that institution from employment with my doctors.  One word why?   Trust!

[Danni R.]

Well, this goes back to our long established forum rule:

1.) We won't do your homework.
2.) Don't ask questions that you are supposed to turn in to your teacher for grading here.

Even if you disguise the question, we have a keen nose to sniff them out.

[Steve Verno]

One thing about the questionairre, it wont help them become employed when their training is completed.  Lets say these students are from the Colletti Academy and Dr X hires them.  If they use the internet to do their work as they did in their education, they face firing and the doctor puts a ban on any student coming from the Colletti Academy.  I had this happen with some of my students.  The institution was contacted by the office manager who told the institution that under no circumtances would they hire any graduates from the institution.  This stemmed from a former student who failed the course and was expelled for academic cheating.  The student tricked her way into the job.  Anytime she was told to do something, her excuse was that she wasnt taught how to do what was being asked.  Long story short, it was taught.  Even though we vindicated ourselves the damage was done and the doctor still refused to hire anyone from the school. In addition to being placed off limits by local doctors, they now demanded 5 years of experience, a full background check at the applicant's expense, and a preemployment test. 

Also makes me wonder, if no one answers their questions and some of these people are sneaky, so they ask their questions in different ways to get an answer but some cannot be disguised, how many turn in false responses, all to get a high grade or to make it on the deans list or to get a letter of recommendation from their instructor. 

[Danni R.]

Steve, I, too have come across similar requests from medical assistant vocational training program students. Their assignment is to interview a working medical assistant, typically 10-15 questions, on when, how and why they chose the medical assisting profession, what they like and dislike and how they overcame challenges, etc. They are supposed to find a live person, but since that is really difficult they come to the medical assistant forum and post whether someone is willing to answer a few questions for their assignment there. Just like you, I have criticized this kind of assignment in the past, because I feel it's really not a very productive assignment.

[Steve Verno]

I get an average of 5 of these every day:

" I AM A CODING AND BILLING STUDENT WHO IS ABOUT TO GRADUATE.  MY ASSIGNMENT IS TO ASK SOMEONE WHO DOES CODING AND BILLING SOME QUESTIONS, DO YOU HAVE A FEW MOMENTS TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS?" (Note Caps are not yelling).

I dont know who is giving this as a class assignment, I wish they would stop.  many of the questions have nothing to do with coding and billing and some want so much detail such as:  PLEASE PROVIDE A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE ENTIRE MEDICAL BILLING PROCESS.  PLEASE PROVIDE DETAILS FOR THE VARIOUS CLAIMS DENIALS AND HOW YOU OVERCOME THEM, MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE LEGAL REFERENCES TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER."

To be blunt, I am not a student and I am not under the jurisdiction of your teaching institution or instructor.  Asking me to answer your homework assignment does both of us a disservice.  You are submitting any answers I provide as your own, hence comitting academic fraud. Your instructor is grading you on the work "I" am doing.    You have no idea if Im telling you the truth or the whole answer.  How I do my work is personal, private, and proprietary so, it does not behoove me to tell you how I do everything I do.  While you may see me provide hints or teaching info, what is provided is general information.  

You may be taking your class through the Colletti Academy in Boston and my answers may be geared to working in California, under applicable California law which may not apply to someone doing the same job in Alaska or New York.  

Basically, the same thing happened to Steve Jobs.  he told the student to go away and to leave him alone.  The student became indignant responding,  "I asked you for help, so I thought you would help me.  I hear this when I say no.  I know I preach, never give up and never surrender, but my no is permanent and thowing the I thought you could help me card will not change my no.  Becoming angry or indignant doesnt change anything either.   if this questionnaire or survey is the key to your passing, maybe you're in the wrong class.  If you do wish me to answer your questionairre, feel free to send me a notarized and certified bank check for $2,000 to reimburse me for my time and knowledge and attach a hold harmless legal document.  When I taught at the Associate Degree University level, I never made this as a requirement for any of my students and it was not a university requirement either.  

So, the question that remains unanswered is, is this a true questionairre or is this a homework assignment or an online final test question being asked in a different method to obtain an answer to the questions YOU are being asked.  If its a questionairre, why is asking me for a detailed response on what are the best qualifications of a debt collection agency and who would you hire to do your debt collections or what detailed psychological barriers do you have to overcome and the solutions to those barriers, or provide a detailed list of the best medical billing software to use and provide the pro's and con's of each one a requirement for garduation, or how many doctors in your area, by specialty, and by name, send claims by paper?