Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Pickett, BHA, CPC, CRC, CPMA, CPC-I.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Wow, well, I always knew that I wanted to work in the healthcare industry but growing up working in healthcare meant either being a doctor or a nurse in my eyes. After graduating high school in 2003, I immediately enrolled into nursing school. Now at the time, I was deathly afraid of needles. But I told myself that if I just pushed through it that I would be okay. I spent the next year of college doing all of the basic English and Math classes that you have to take.
Year two rolls around and clinicals start i.e., learning to prick and be pricked with needles to learn how to draw blood, etc. Well, that didn’t work out too well needless to say. I couldn’t bring myself to prick or be pricked and I quit nursing school right after that. I knew that it wasn’t for me. So here I was basically a college dropout trying to figure out “now what.” I remember seeing a commercial late one night that said, “have you ever thought about a career in medical billing and coding?” And the light bulb went off! I had that aha moment. So, the next day I enrolled into the medical billing and coding program at Sanford Brown College here in Atlanta.
The program was 13 months long, so I was working my job at Honda Finance from 9-6 Monday-Friday and attending school on Saturdays and Sunday from 8-4. I did this for 13 months. Midway through the program, I became pregnant with my first son. I wobbled into class every weekend and was able to complete the program three days before he was born. I was 22 at the time. Once my son turned six weeks old, I had to do an unpaid externship as a part of completing the overall program. I started at a doctor’s office answering phones, scheduling patients, verifying insurance. I eventually worked my way up office manager and then to the billing manager. During this time, I ended up having my second son and enrolled back into college to obtain my bachelor’s degree. I eventually left that doctor’s office to peruse other opportunities that were more medical coding related vs medical billing. People tend to think that billing and coding are the same things, and while they can and do intertwine, they are distinctly different.
A few years had gone by, and I was working in corporate at a hospital here in Atlanta that will remain nameless, and I had had enough of the office politics. By this time, I was engaged to be married and pregnant with my third son. Once I went on maternity from the hospital that will remain nameless, I vowed that I wasn’t going back! In every position I had held I always found myself being the trainer or the “Goto” person so while on maternity leave, I said to myself “I can do this!” And that is literally how iCode Healthcare Solutions was born. So, I started to shop my services. After a few months of no luck a company contacted me looking for help on a project that was medical coding related. They were an IT firm and didn’t know much about medical coding and had found me. I accepted the opportunity and began to consult for them. While consulting, I notice they had hired other consultants that didn’t know what they were doing, so as per usual I somehow became the trainer. But my dreams were bigger than that.
By this time, the baby had been born, and my husband and I had gotten married. I remember distinctly talking to him one night telling him that I could hire the coders myself and could take over the project. He said to me “why don’t we put to together a proposal; all they can say is no.” So, we did just that! We spent a few weeks working on it, asked for a meeting, presented the Information with potential cost savings to them and they actually said yes! Here we were doing work for the largest healthcare organization in Michigan, Henry Ford Health Systems. After working for several high-profile healthcare organizations, we then began to realize that there was a significant shortage of skilled medical coders.
We decided to birth iCode Academy which is a licensed non-profit trade school which successfully trains people to become certified professional coders. We offer a 24-week training program that prepares the students to sit for the national coding exam. We offer online externships that provide them with real-world experience as well as we assist with job placement with our sister company iCode Health. iCode Academy has partnered with a program called WIOA and that program gives grants to students who are looking to go back to school. iCode Academy is a licensed and approved training provider for both the states of Georgia, Alabama and Michigan. Our training is remote, so we are able to train students from anywhere. Medical coders typically work from home and average about 50-60k annually.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Lol. No, the road has definitely not been smooth. Being 35 and black in an industry where most people are older than me and do not look like me, I always have to work twice as hard. When I walk into a room, I get those stares. It isn’t until I opened my mouth and began talking that people then began to take me seriously, I definitely believe that my work over the years and my reputation in the industry speaks for itself, but it was not an easy road by any means. I have lost friends. Sometimes when you are elevating to new levels and trying to do things different you lose some people along the way. That was hard for me to digest and sometimes still is, I have had people befriend me only to try to steal my ideas. I have understood the difference between a partner and a predictor in business. It’s been a wild ride. But with all of it, I remain humble and continue to walk in destiny with integrity and with my head held high. Being a Mom, and wife, a CEO, a daughter, a sister, an auntie, a friend can be very difficult at times. But I am thankful for the solid support system that I do have that surrounds me in love.
We’ve been impressed with iCode Academy and iCode Healthcare Solutions, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
iCode Academy is an organization that champions and focus on quality and is an expert in empowered workforce, capable of achieving sustainable excellence.
iCode Academy is a leader in the medical coding training Industry. Our first-class educational learning center gives our students an edge in preparing for the AAPC certification exam. We have created an environment of excellence through our innovative technology and our highly experienced instructors.
As leaders in the industry, we are prepared to help assist many unemployed Americans transition back into the workforce. iCode Academy has created a “One Stop Shop Bundle” model for our students to get trained, certified, and job-ready, all conveniently placed under the iCode Academy umbrella.
What makes this opportunity so unique is that we also provide learning and employment opportunities through various channel partners from our sister company iCode Healthcare Solutions, which has secured many relationships and contracts with other large healthcare organizations.
At iCode Academy, we offer online externships that provide our students with real-world experience, and we assist with job placement through our sister company, iCode Health. Additionally, we have partnered with WIOA. It is a program that provides grants to students who are looking to go back to school. iCode Academy is a licensed and approved training provider for the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan. Since our training is remote, so we can train students from anywhere. Medical coders typically work from home and average about 50-60k annually.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Yes! Mentorship can provide numerous benefits for mentors and their mentees. Developing this relationship can help both of you learn new things, build your networks and grow as professionals. Understanding these benefits can help you decide whether to find a mentor or become one. I would like to send a shoutout to Alena and Jerome Edmondson of EDN Global for their mentorship. iCode was just an idea before they sat us down in 2014 and showed us how to turn that idea into an actual thriving business. We took their Entrepreneur class that showed us how to write a business plan, scale, do financials, etc. I am forever grateful for them and thank GOD that he aligned us with them in such a critical and crucial time in our lives. Having them as mentors has been invaluable.
Pricing:
- 24-week CPC course – 3750.00
Contact Info:
- Website: www.icodeacademy.org
- Instagram: iCode_Academy
- Facebook: iCodeAcademyATL
- Youtube: iCode Academy
- Other: www.icodehcs.com
Image Credits
Rious Photography, LLC
