# What is the good and bad of remote work?



## KMegge (Jul 20, 2016)

Hi Everyone!

I have been considering remote work but have very little idea as to what it all entails.

Any thoughts or experience would be helpful.

I have an 86 year old Mom who soon will need to have someone with her 24/7 and that would be me. Remote work would fit perfectly I think, but I need to know many things.

Much appreciated with anything I should know!

Karen M. (Detroit area)


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## stephne_smth (Jul 21, 2016)

Hi I've been working remote for almost 1 year and I love it. Very flexible on start time and you can make up missed time very easily as we are able to work weekend. Lots of overtime. Its demanding of your time though and you must have a quiet/private room to code. You will be required to code a certain number of charts per hour.


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## breadjitjownz (Jul 21, 2016)

The good:
-Minimal Distractions
-No commute
-No need to pack a lunch
-All the comforts of being at home

The Bad:
-Limited interaction with co-workers
-Can get lonely
-If you need anything from the IT department, it can take a whole lot longer than if you're in the same building.

There are a whole lot of variables on your actual experience that are dependent upon the company.
I think for most legit jobs you have to treat it as if you were going to the office for the most part, 
For example: children who'd be sent to daycare if you're in the office, still have to go to daycare when you work at home.


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## ericawade (Jul 21, 2016)

Hi Karen! 

Depending on the company you will work for, it will make a huge difference on your remote experience! There are some key pieces of info I wished I had known to ask during an interview, to help with understanding what kind of work environment your company will set up for you. 1. What will my production requirements be? Are those to be met per hour or per day (ex: 15 charts/hour). 2. What coding support am I offered as a remote coder? Is there same day assistance? 3. Is my time flexible being a remote coder, or am I expected to work within a specific set of hours? 


Through my experience these are my personal pros and cons:

Pros: You can wear whatever clothing you want, you're able to flex your schedule to work around appointments, meetings, and personal things. You can use your lunch break to start laundry/dinner, and make a better meal for lunch than you would get working onsite somewhere. You obviously save on gas money and work clothes, eating lunch out, etc. 

Cons: You feel like you are constantly at home, because you are!  Your company may expect more work productivity because you are at home and should have less distractions than an office setting. Coding support is often hard when the whole team is remote, additionally you can have many gaps in communication that way. You also have to be very disciplined in getting your work done with at home distractions (dogs barking, house guest, UPS delivery, etc.) I have also found it absolutely necessary to make time to get up and walk around each hour, I also use my lunch break each day to walk outside. (set an alarm on your phone) This way, you feel like you're not stuck indoors as much, and you also get less pains from sitting all day. Make it a good habit to not check your email/pc when you are off of work, it'll help to create the boundaries of not always being at work. 

Overall, I really enjoy working in the remote setting for coding. With a little trial and error, you can find ways to make it work for you!


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## KMegge (Jul 25, 2016)

Thanks for the feedback, great information for sure!

How do I vet companies to make sure their legit? There seem to be many out there, but don't know where to start.

Is the pay usually an hourly or a salary rate and how is that done?

Are contracts involved? Is it mostly contracted work? 

How can you gauge your accuracy rate and do both parties keep track of files coded?

Does the coder usually need to be the one to get the editing software? (like code it right, ect.)

This is something I would enjoy to do at home, and would be a great fit with my aging parent. I do however have limited experience coding, only with therapies, some orthopedics and currently a position doing light audit work. 

Any other information would be so grateful! 

Thanks again!
~Karen


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