Why I joined Fathom: Shannon Darling

From time to time, Fathom invites recent hires to share their experience in deciding to join our team. In this blog, Shannon Darling, Coding Quality Advisor, tells the story of how a summer job in Alaska kicked off her coding career and led her to Fathom. 

‍Growing up, I always took good health for granted — my family was never sick, and health was just something I assumed would always be there. That sense of security changed dramatically when my brother had an accident when I was in high school. His hospitalization was my first real exposure to the healthcare industry, and that challenging experience helped me realize I also wanted to help people. I was interested in majoring in nursing, however, I quickly realized I was far too queasy for the clinical side of things. If I saw someone in pain and bleeding, chances are I would pass out and end up needing someone to look after me! 

My healthcare journey officially began at Providence Health and Services, at one of their small hospitals in Alaska. Looking for work post-graduation, I found myself caught in a familiar predicament — overqualified here, underqualified there. Fortunately, my grandparents lived in a small Alaskan town and tipped me off about a summer job at their local hospital.

I worked on the ground floor at the front desk until, one day, the billing department needed help. When I was there, one of the team members told me they thought I'd be a great coder. My first reaction was, "What even is coding?" I vaguely knew about billing but hadn't heard of the coding aspect. When I learned about it, it felt like fate — coding tied together the clinical side of healthcare operations with numbers (which I happen to love, thanks to nearly majoring in Accounting in college). While working on obtaining my CPC, I worked on the floor in a hospital as a health unit coordinator. This solidified my desire to become a coder rather than work on the clinical side of healthcare. 

Coding is one of the aspects of healthcare that most people don't pay much attention to. The consequences of it aren't as frightening or immediate as, say, an accident during surgery. But its impact is profound, and it affects real lives, often silently. Take my grandmother, for instance. She travels out of state for women's health exams that are supposed to be covered free of charge, but the radiology orders aren’t always written with the correct codes to be covered in other states. Every year without fail, her insurance initially denies her claims due to coding errors, and I find myself advocating on her behalf to correct the mistakes.

Coding to Fathom

After eight years of coding, I progressed to auditing and leadership, eventually moving into client integrations. That’s when Fathom reached out. Honestly, I wasn't looking to change jobs, but Fathom’s innovative approach to AI in medical coding caught my eye. From my experience, I could very clearly see what a positive impact AI would have in coding. At my previous job, we were always scrambling to find enough qualified coders, which impacted us growing and taking on new clients. 

With Fathom, I saw an opportunity to get into the ground floor in the new way of the world with AI and be part of the future of the medical industry. I haven't been here long, but my favorite part of working here already is the people. Everyone I've spoken to is lovely, welcoming, and more than willing to lend a hand while I'm still learning the ropes. 

The dedication and passion of my Fathom teammates is so inspiring. I can't wait to see what the future holds!