JA - right up my alley. I'm a surgical coder at the VA in providence. First you'll (she'll) have to decide if she wants to code Inpatient cases (generally - procedural coding) or Outpatient cases which deal with diagnostic coding. The best cred's right now are CCS (cert. coding specialist) for Inpatient - through AHIMA and the CPC (cert. professional coder - for Outpatient) through the AAPC.
I know there is a 9 month certificate program, and you can take the test immediately after. Don't think u have to go for a year and a half??
** Working remotely can be great for some - your getting national rates 25/35 hr. but can live anywhere. You'll need at least 3 yrs experience before anyone will even look at you. Once your in this field there's mucho specialties you can get into.
Now for the bad, getting a coding job right after school/certification is virtually impossible. You would have to start out in say, a billing office first. You can possibly get someone to give you a shot right from the start but I wouldn't count on it. The thing is, most big employers want a lot of experience involved because they want the highest return on their submitted codes and don't want to deal with denials or having to train or re-train people.
Don't want to depress you, its just not as easy as some people make it out to be.
only need 2 things - certification & -self determination
good luck , let me know if you have any specific ?'s SEAN