I am a wanna be that is getting closer to my dream everyday. I am fixing to go to school online for medical coding and billing. My question for the group is... how hard is it to get internet conections while traveling. And what other job careers are there for a person that wants to travel. Any input would be great.
bjoyce said
01:27 PM Mar 7, 2015
I always recommend http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ and their book, The Mobile Internet Handbook - 2015 US RVers Edition, on mobile internet questions. They are working RVers, that need internet every day on the road. You can get internet on the road most anywhere, the issues are how fast, how much can you use and how much are you willing to pay.
I also recommend that you find out how much you use of your current internet, which is normally available from cable and DSL providers. That will help you understand how many GB per month you need for yourself before how much work takes. I know two people doing some kind of medical coding on the road, and in their cases the usage is not that high in GB per month. But, both took existing jobs on the road and that might match what you will encounter or the usage you will have.
shystywolf said
02:52 PM Mar 7, 2015
thank you
Technomadia said
08:05 PM Mar 7, 2015
Welcome Cindye... Bill already so kindly pointed you to our book. Here's also our article about working on the road, that has some ideas for earning an income on the road: www.technomadia.com/income
We'll be presenting on this topic at the Escapade next week in Tucson as well :)
-- Edited by Technomadia on Saturday 7th of March 2015 08:05:57 PM
Camper Chronicles said
06:49 AM Mar 8, 2015
Hi Cindye ,
I work from the rig and absolutely have to have internet connection. We use ATT and so far on the east coast have had minimal issue. May be different as we start to work out west. So here's the thing...you can plan your trips around Internet / cell service it just limits where you can go somewhat. I am a project manager so I need to have phone, Internet, and access to an airport within a couple of hours. So if you look at a map there are whole chunks of the country I can't go to...BUT there are tons and tons of places I can go. Again East coast way easier than west and thus far we have stuck to the east, but come June we start making our way west so we will see.
i think there are so many things to see that to me the airport and coverage criteria is fine. My husband hates limitations of any kind 😄. We are working through it.
shystywolf said
03:03 PM Mar 8, 2015
Thank you all. The information here is greatly appreciated.
DebbieM said
05:21 PM Mar 11, 2015
Hi,
My husband works from the road and MUST have good, reliable cell/internet. We use Technomadia's "Coverage?" app and find it very useful and reliable. We have been all over the US and have not had much problems. We were at a nice federal campsite just outside of West Yellowstone and were on the fringe. During those very important calls or when he had a huge database he was referencing, he drove 4 miles back towards the little town of W Yelowstone and there was a magical line that gave you 4G. He parked along the road with many others doing the same! We have really been in some out of the way places and been fine. As we get back into the mountains of NM and CA, we'll see if it becomes harder to be where we want. I think it will be more of a price issue rather than worrying it will limit where you can stay (within reason). Good luck!
Aurora Borealis said
10:06 PM Mar 12, 2015
Cindye,
Medical Billing and Coding was my original plan.
Some things i had not realized at first were that they typically want 5 years of face-to-face work before you can get hired for online work. As the medical world is changing, there are more available online positions. But that is what most people want so i would expect stiff competition.
Also, some companies require land-line or cable internet because of privacy laws, quite possibly that will change over time.
I would suggest that you find many actual online jobs and see what they are currently requiring. Most of the schools offering instruction in this are for-profit and paint a pretty rosy picture. The best online school i found was Career Step. IM me for info.
Let me know how it goes, i sometimes think i should go back to that plan :)
Second Chance said
09:29 PM Mar 13, 2015
Aurora Borealis wrote:
Cindye,
Medical Billing and Coding was my original plan.
Some things i had not realized at first were that they typically want 5 years of face-to-face work before you can get hired for online work. As the medical world is changing, there are more available online positions. But that is what most people want so i would expect stiff competition.
Also, some companies require land-line or cable internet because of privacy laws, quite possibly that will change over time.
I would suggest that you find many actual online jobs and see what they are currently requiring. Most of the schools offering instruction in this are for-profit and paint a pretty rosy picture. The best online school i found was Career Step. IM me for info.
Let me know how it goes, i sometimes think i should go back to that plan :)
The large community hospital from which I just retired (two weeks ago!) "sent all our coders home" last year - meaning they all code remotely now. This includes new hires. One thing to add, though, is that "coding world" is in the middle of a major transition at this time. The U.S. is almost 20 years behind Europe in moving away from the ICD-9 code set and, after a one-year delay by Congress, will be going live with ICD-10 on October 1 of this year (2015). This is important for two reasons: 1) both training programs/schools and providers are scrambling to update systems and get coders trained and certified on ICD-10, and 2) because of the increases in specificity, the ICD-10 codes are more complex and numerous by orders of magnitude. Be prepared to ask the right questions about time and money necessary to complete the training and certification programs.
I know much less about the outpatient arena (i.e. physician practices), but I know that our system-owned practices are having to go through the transition, as well.
I am a wanna be that is getting closer to my dream everyday. I am fixing to go to school online for medical coding and billing. My question for the group is... how hard is it to get internet conections while traveling. And what other job careers are there for a person that wants to travel. Any input would be great.
I always recommend http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ and their book, The Mobile Internet Handbook - 2015 US RVers Edition, on mobile internet questions. They are working RVers, that need internet every day on the road. You can get internet on the road most anywhere, the issues are how fast, how much can you use and how much are you willing to pay.
I also recommend that you find out how much you use of your current internet, which is normally available from cable and DSL providers. That will help you understand how many GB per month you need for yourself before how much work takes. I know two people doing some kind of medical coding on the road, and in their cases the usage is not that high in GB per month. But, both took existing jobs on the road and that might match what you will encounter or the usage you will have.
thank you
Welcome Cindye... Bill already so kindly pointed you to our book. Here's also our article about working on the road, that has some ideas for earning an income on the road: www.technomadia.com/income
We'll be presenting on this topic at the Escapade next week in Tucson as well :)
-- Edited by Technomadia on Saturday 7th of March 2015 08:05:57 PM
I work from the rig and absolutely have to have internet connection. We use ATT and so far on the east coast have had minimal issue. May be different as we start to work out west. So here's the thing...you can plan your trips around Internet / cell service it just limits where you can go somewhat. I am a project manager so I need to have phone, Internet, and access to an airport within a couple of hours. So if you look at a map there are whole chunks of the country I can't go to...BUT there are tons and tons of places I can go. Again East coast way easier than west and thus far we have stuck to the east, but come June we start making our way west so we will see.
i think there are so many things to see that to me the airport and coverage criteria is fine. My husband hates limitations of any kind 😄. We are working through it.
Hi,
My husband works from the road and MUST have good, reliable cell/internet. We use Technomadia's "Coverage?" app and find it very useful and reliable. We have been all over the US and have not had much problems. We were at a nice federal campsite just outside of West Yellowstone and were on the fringe. During those very important calls or when he had a huge database he was referencing, he drove 4 miles back towards the little town of W Yelowstone and there was a magical line that gave you 4G. He parked along the road with many others doing the same! We have really been in some out of the way places and been fine. As we get back into the mountains of NM and CA, we'll see if it becomes harder to be where we want. I think it will be more of a price issue rather than worrying it will limit where you can stay (within reason). Good luck!
Medical Billing and Coding was my original plan.
Some things i had not realized at first were that they typically want 5 years of face-to-face work before you can get hired for online work. As the medical world is changing, there are more available online positions. But that is what most people want so i would expect stiff competition.
Also, some companies require land-line or cable internet because of privacy laws, quite possibly that will change over time.
I would suggest that you find many actual online jobs and see what they are currently requiring. Most of the schools offering instruction in this are for-profit and paint a pretty rosy picture. The best online school i found was Career Step. IM me for info.
Let me know how it goes, i sometimes think i should go back to that plan :)
The large community hospital from which I just retired (two weeks ago!) "sent all our coders home" last year - meaning they all code remotely now. This includes new hires. One thing to add, though, is that "coding world" is in the middle of a major transition at this time. The U.S. is almost 20 years behind Europe in moving away from the ICD-9 code set and, after a one-year delay by Congress, will be going live with ICD-10 on October 1 of this year (2015). This is important for two reasons: 1) both training programs/schools and providers are scrambling to update systems and get coders trained and certified on ICD-10, and 2) because of the increases in specificity, the ICD-10 codes are more complex and numerous by orders of magnitude. Be prepared to ask the right questions about time and money necessary to complete the training and certification programs.
I know much less about the outpatient arena (i.e. physician practices), but I know that our system-owned practices are having to go through the transition, as well.
Rob