After I got laid off at MHC, I took some time to just . . . do nothing. My severance package and PTO cash out was pretty generous, so I wasn't in a super big hurry to find something new. I decompressed and got some cleaning and organizing done around the house, I went to the gym, I played Overwatch. And then I filed for unemployment in AZ, which was denied because my wages were reported in WA (that was a whole dumb thing), and that got approved. And then I edited my resume (after not touching it in like 7 years) and added MHC to it. And then, finally, I decided it was time to start looking for a new job. (I honestly don't know why/how I was so calm about it, but I really was . . . My gut feeling was that it wouldn't take me too long to find something).
Anyway, I've been active in AAPC since I moved up here (I'm actually chapter secretary at the moment, for the second year in a row), and one of the things we ask is for members to let the group know about job openings. And as I was getting ready to start my job search, I remembered that another AAPC member had been announcing a coding job for quite awhile, working in the physician's practice area of a local hospital. It's really weird because the very first time she announced it, I thought it sounded really interesting, and for a minute I wondered if it was time for a change. But I decided against it.
Well, the job was still available, and I found it on Indeed and applied. I figured since it had been open so long I had a good chance, even if I wasn't quite as experienced as they wanted. Within like . . . 2 days of applying, they asked for a phone interview, which I did. And then I had to do an in person interview, which took forever to schedule (it's a long story, basically the dept. currently has an interim director who is based in Virginia, at corporate headquarters, and she is only in Olympia like once a month for a few days). My phone interview was January 13th, and my in person interview was on January 21st. The in person interview went SO well. I just had so much confidence going in. I truly don't know where it came from, because I was pretty anxious like . . . until I walked into the building. And then, I don't know what happened, but . . . it was awesome. The interview ended up lasting a little over an hour, and when I left, I just felt like . . . yeah, this one's mine. Very much like how I felt after my MHC interview.
I officially got an offer on January 29th/30th, and on February 4th I went in and did new hire paperwork/drug testing/background check stuff. I didn't get to start until February 17th, because the hospital only has new hires start every 2 weeks, and every new hire has to do a whole day group orientation. There were only 2 other people in my group so that was kind of cool.
So far it's gone really well. After the first day in my department, I was just pumped. I like my job (some A/R, some coding, eventually a lot of auditing/provider education), I love my boss, and my office mate is my AAPC friend who actually announced the job! I'm currently working from home again because of the pandemic and it hasn't been bad, but I do miss the office. The system and processes are very different than at MHC and it's been an adjustment for sure, but in a good way.
AND while I was looking at job listings online, I came across one for a sleep clinic called ISC. Jenny had applied there before because a couple of her coworkers had left ORS for ISC because they pay and benefits were better. She never got a call back the first time. But as all this was going on, things were getting bad at ORS. Like Jenny was basically doing the work of 3 people and hadn't gotten a raise since just after she started, and she was still making minimum wage. The owner of ORS just "doesn't do" cost of living raises--he only believes in merit raises. And she was already doing 3 jobs so . . . what else could she possibly do to go above and beyond? The ISC ad posted when I was looking for work said they were urgently hiring, so I let Jenny know. They called her back really quickly, and she got the job! She actually started at ISC on February 11th. She's SO much happier there and so glad to be done with ORS. Even moreso considering that if she was still at ORS, she'd be the only biller because 2 people have quit, AND the supervisor is on indefinite medical leave.
So we both got new jobs, and we both got raises (Jenny got $3/hour, I got $5/hour). I definitely feel like I was ready for a change, and as much as I loved MHC, maybe getting laid off was a good thing. I feel like I'm finally in a truly adult job, and I like working somewhere local. And with our new combined income . . . I don't really want to say much and jinx it but let's just say homeowner-ship is no longer completely out of the question for us. I mean, it's still going to be awhile, because my hours got cut because of the pandemic, and I have some new fun medical debt, but STILL. Once things get back to normal . . . fingers crossed!
Showing posts with label new chapters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new chapters. Show all posts
5.06.2020
4.29.2020
Goodbye MHC
Remember how I said a few posts back I was still working for MHC and loving it?
Yeah, that's no longer the case.
This story actually starts in 2019. I found out that one of our doctors was retiring, and that another was leaving at the end of the year. Didn't seem like a big deal. But then I found out another doctor was leaving, and then a month or so later, another one. It was super weird. And then we got a company wide email that mentioned something about "if patients want to follow Dr. A or Dr. B to the hospital blah blah blah." And that was super super weird because in 2016, the hospital had closed its outpatient cardiac clinic, partnered with MHC to take over that service line, and we'd taken on most of their doctors and patients. I mean, that's literally the whole reason I got to keep my job at MHC when I moved. That email also said that no one was being laid off, but that no one who quit was being replaced. So . . . bad signs all around. I started to worry a little about my job security.
But we still had a handful of doctors, plus our mids and techs, and I had faith.
And then, in November, the last doctor standing AND his mid decided to go to the hospital as well. This meant that, essentially, by March of 2020, we'd have only one cardiologist, a sleep doctor, and a handful of mids as far as providers go. At that point I alternated a lot between being absolutely convinced I'd be losing my job around my birthday, and being sure that since I was a very senior member of billing, plus a remote (and lower cost) employee, I'd be fine and manage to stay on through the craziness.
I was actually wrong on both counts! On December 30th (a Monday, my first day back after Christmas vacation), I got a call from my boss, letting me know that massive cuts were being made and I was being laid off. I was LITERALLY the first person to be let go. Which felt just great. The entire department except for the manager and the other coder got fired. So did most of auth., and I'm assuming a good chunk of records/front desk types. It was a terrible, terrible way to end the year. I can't really say it was out of nowhere, but based on when each provider was leaving and how much outstanding stuff they had out there, I really didn't think it would happen that fast. But it was . . . abrupt. I think it's because I wasn't in the office. I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone, or like . . . have any kind of option of coming back if I had to. It was pretty much you're fired, log off, and my access was terminated by the following morning. Just like that, after 7 years . . . over. It was surreal. I just felt very lost. Not just because I had to find another job after so long, but because I knew I was going to have to transition back into working outside of the house. That was daunting. (It worked out, though, and I got a new job pretty quick, and I like it, and Jerbs also got a new job in the process, but more on that later).
Really the big takeaway from the story is this: the hospital absolutely, 100% fucked MHC over. Apparently what the hospital meant when they said they wanted to contract with us for 10 years, what they actually meant was that they wanted to watch how MHC ran things for 3.5 years to learn how to do it correctly, then steal their doctors back, reopen their clinic, and tell MHC to fuck off. They had to pay a LOT of money to do it, between the penalties in our contract and buying out some of the doctors' contracts. It's fucking garbage. On top of that, MHC's medical director and founder (who literally started MHC because he saw how awful the hospital was with outpatient cardiology and was sick of it) opted to retire instead of going to work for the hospital. Really, that was the best option for him, but it sucks for the community to lose such a great cardiologist.
As of April 17th, MHC as a clinic closed and was bought by the hospital, so essentially they fucked us and then bought our building so that the can expand into it. The official story is that our medical director approached them about a sale because he was ready to retire . . . which is total bullshit.
As sad as I am about MHC closing and losing my job and everything, I'm more pissed about what the hospital did to us. It's just so epically shitty. And this was probably the hospital's end goal the whole effing time, and that's really infuriating too. It's sad because MHC's founder's goal was to eventually take over the outpatient line for the hospital, and it was such a huge deal that he finally accomplished it. And it ended in bullshit. (Although, interestingly, I heard through rumors as all this was going down, that over the years after MHC opened, it was the first CEO who was reluctant to make a deal with the hospital. The whole deal picked up steam after he left a few years back. So I kind of wonder if he had a feeling that something like this would happen. It doesn't really matter, but I am curious).
So that's that. I'm still sad. But like I said, I have a new job, in Olympia, and I really like it, and I'm making like $5/hour more than I was at MHC, and I think being out of the house is good for me right now. Well, not RIGHT now, because I'm currently working from home again because of the Covid19 pandemic. I'm extremely grateful for MHC because it really came along RIGHT when I needed it, and it led to so many good things. It increased my confidence, taught me a LOT of valuable skills, led to me getting a professional certification . . . all of those things were necessary to get the job I have now. Plus I wouldn't have Max if it wasn't for MHC, because I got him from a co-worker, and I love that little sausage dog more than I can say.
It really feels like the end of an era, the end of something really big and important and meaningful, and that sucks. But at the same time, I am SO happy for this next chapter, whatever it brings!
Yeah, that's no longer the case.
This story actually starts in 2019. I found out that one of our doctors was retiring, and that another was leaving at the end of the year. Didn't seem like a big deal. But then I found out another doctor was leaving, and then a month or so later, another one. It was super weird. And then we got a company wide email that mentioned something about "if patients want to follow Dr. A or Dr. B to the hospital blah blah blah." And that was super super weird because in 2016, the hospital had closed its outpatient cardiac clinic, partnered with MHC to take over that service line, and we'd taken on most of their doctors and patients. I mean, that's literally the whole reason I got to keep my job at MHC when I moved. That email also said that no one was being laid off, but that no one who quit was being replaced. So . . . bad signs all around. I started to worry a little about my job security.
But we still had a handful of doctors, plus our mids and techs, and I had faith.
And then, in November, the last doctor standing AND his mid decided to go to the hospital as well. This meant that, essentially, by March of 2020, we'd have only one cardiologist, a sleep doctor, and a handful of mids as far as providers go. At that point I alternated a lot between being absolutely convinced I'd be losing my job around my birthday, and being sure that since I was a very senior member of billing, plus a remote (and lower cost) employee, I'd be fine and manage to stay on through the craziness.
I was actually wrong on both counts! On December 30th (a Monday, my first day back after Christmas vacation), I got a call from my boss, letting me know that massive cuts were being made and I was being laid off. I was LITERALLY the first person to be let go. Which felt just great. The entire department except for the manager and the other coder got fired. So did most of auth., and I'm assuming a good chunk of records/front desk types. It was a terrible, terrible way to end the year. I can't really say it was out of nowhere, but based on when each provider was leaving and how much outstanding stuff they had out there, I really didn't think it would happen that fast. But it was . . . abrupt. I think it's because I wasn't in the office. I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone, or like . . . have any kind of option of coming back if I had to. It was pretty much you're fired, log off, and my access was terminated by the following morning. Just like that, after 7 years . . . over. It was surreal. I just felt very lost. Not just because I had to find another job after so long, but because I knew I was going to have to transition back into working outside of the house. That was daunting. (It worked out, though, and I got a new job pretty quick, and I like it, and Jerbs also got a new job in the process, but more on that later).
Really the big takeaway from the story is this: the hospital absolutely, 100% fucked MHC over. Apparently what the hospital meant when they said they wanted to contract with us for 10 years, what they actually meant was that they wanted to watch how MHC ran things for 3.5 years to learn how to do it correctly, then steal their doctors back, reopen their clinic, and tell MHC to fuck off. They had to pay a LOT of money to do it, between the penalties in our contract and buying out some of the doctors' contracts. It's fucking garbage. On top of that, MHC's medical director and founder (who literally started MHC because he saw how awful the hospital was with outpatient cardiology and was sick of it) opted to retire instead of going to work for the hospital. Really, that was the best option for him, but it sucks for the community to lose such a great cardiologist.
As of April 17th, MHC as a clinic closed and was bought by the hospital, so essentially they fucked us and then bought our building so that the can expand into it. The official story is that our medical director approached them about a sale because he was ready to retire . . . which is total bullshit.
As sad as I am about MHC closing and losing my job and everything, I'm more pissed about what the hospital did to us. It's just so epically shitty. And this was probably the hospital's end goal the whole effing time, and that's really infuriating too. It's sad because MHC's founder's goal was to eventually take over the outpatient line for the hospital, and it was such a huge deal that he finally accomplished it. And it ended in bullshit. (Although, interestingly, I heard through rumors as all this was going down, that over the years after MHC opened, it was the first CEO who was reluctant to make a deal with the hospital. The whole deal picked up steam after he left a few years back. So I kind of wonder if he had a feeling that something like this would happen. It doesn't really matter, but I am curious).
So that's that. I'm still sad. But like I said, I have a new job, in Olympia, and I really like it, and I'm making like $5/hour more than I was at MHC, and I think being out of the house is good for me right now. Well, not RIGHT now, because I'm currently working from home again because of the Covid19 pandemic. I'm extremely grateful for MHC because it really came along RIGHT when I needed it, and it led to so many good things. It increased my confidence, taught me a LOT of valuable skills, led to me getting a professional certification . . . all of those things were necessary to get the job I have now. Plus I wouldn't have Max if it wasn't for MHC, because I got him from a co-worker, and I love that little sausage dog more than I can say.
It really feels like the end of an era, the end of something really big and important and meaningful, and that sucks. But at the same time, I am SO happy for this next chapter, whatever it brings!
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