I have been shopping for a new backpack in earnest since November. Like so many of you I have a specific list of requirements and desirables:

Requirements:

1. Full opening: Clamshell, tri-zip, etc. No suitcase style!
2. Dual exterior water bottle pockets
3. Laptop sleeve accessible when fully packed, probably external
4. External pocket large enough for over-ear headphones
5. Less than 1.5 kg
6. No/removable/stashable hip belt
7. Not tactical looking
8. Unicorn size (25-30L range)

Desirables:

1. Luggage passthrough
2. External lash points
3. Additional internal/external pockets
4. < $200
5. Compression Straps
6. Stand up on its own

Packs Considered:

1. ULA Dragonfly (Returned) There’s a lot to like about the Dragonfly, including the excellent customer service, but in the end the mesh front pocket just didn’t work for me and I returned it. More first impressions at the link: 📷onebag on Reddit: ULA Dragonfly First Impressions reddit.com 2. 5.11 Tactical COVRT18 2.0 (Returned) There was something off about the way this pack fit me, possibly just too small. It was awkward to access the main pocket, awkward to access the laptop pocket and I experienced some sticking zippers. More first impressions at the link: 📷onebag on Reddit: 5.11 Tactical COVRT18 2.0 First Impressions reddit.com 3. Nike Utility Speed 27L (Returned) They had a patterned green version on clearance, and I ordered this one on a whim. Actually not a bad bag for the price, but definitely packs smaller than the stated size of 27L and a bit cheap feeling overall. 📷Nike Utility Speed Training Backpack (27L). Nike.com nike.com 4. Ogio Fuse 25L (Returned) I really liked a lot about this bag, but the luggage passthrough sticks into your back and is really annoying. More first impressions at the link: 📷onebag on Reddit: Ogio Fuse 25L First Impressions reddit.com 5. Dakine Motive 30L Last week I came across the Dakine motive online. I’m 99% sure had looked at the Dakine site before, and based on the complete lack of information I’m pretty sure this is a newly-released bag. I ordered it immediately. First impressions are overall good, but I do have some quibbles.
Listed at $155 I used a 15% off coupon (OHANA15) to bring it down to $131.75 + tax (shipping was free). 📷Motive Backpack 30L dakine.com _____

Weight & Dimensions:

The Dakine website lists the bag as 21.25 x 12.59 x 4, but the product tag specifies 21.5 x 12 x 6.5 which is a lot more accurate. My own measurements of the bag comfortably packed are 19.5 x 12.5 x 9.5. There is a sizable external front pocket (more on that later) that doesn’t share dimension with the main pocket, and filling it will really increase the depth of the bag. Listed at 1170g, it weighs in at 1088g on my kitchen scale.
With & without water bottles and on my back. I am 6'2\" / 195 lbs for reference. I've got a couple cheap freebie carabiners on the top lash points and a size medium HeroClip on the bottom.

Opening

Full clamshell with the zipper wrapping around up top, so can operate in top-load or full clamshell mode. It also has proper compression straps so it’s easy to open partway and just fold the flap down where the compression straps are. I really like this style of opening except the sides don’t hold their shape very well when fully open, meaning it would be easy to overstuff if you aren’t careful.
Top-load style on the left (partially open), fully open on the right

Pockets

1. (External) Large front pocket with buckle closure
This does not share dimension with the main pocket so is quite spacious. No zipper means the opening is very wide, but also means it's not a suitable place for small objects. Fits my very large Bose QC15 headphone case perfectly or a pair of paddle ball rackets for the beach. Probably a good spot to stash a couple of baguettes as you wander the streets of Paris, but sadly I have no baguettes on hand to test with!
2. (External) Small zippered front pocket with waterproof zipper
I probably won't use this much to avoid making the pack too deep, I can already guess this is where my wallet and phone will go when I'm making my way through security at the airport.
3. (External) Small zippered upper front pocket
Quick access for whatever you might need. I've got a couple epi-pens in there and some mini tools
4. (External) Two external water bottle pockets
Large enough for my largest water bottles or a bottle of champagne (just going to lean into the whole French food/drink theme on this one)
5. (Internal) Small internal zippered pocket on front flap
This is on the front flap, and easy to access at the top even with the bag fully packed. Good place for chargers, cables, batteries etc.
6. (Internal) Large internal zippered mesh pocket
Not easily accessed if the bag is fully packed. Pretty spacious and nicely it doesn't extend all the way to the bottom so things don't all pile on the bottom of the bag.
7. (Internal) Two open-top pockets on the side
These vertically oriented pockets are similar to those in the Mystery Ranch Urban Assault series. They will fit a water bottle, but share space with the external water bottle pockets so you can't fit a bottle in both at the same time (unless they are skinnier than any bottles I have tried).
8. (External) Laptop pocket with waterproof zipper
In the back is a laptop sleeve with slots for two devices, both with false bottoms. There is additional space beyond the two device sleeves, so you could easily add in documents, magazines etc. I was able to fit both my 13\" MacBook Pros in at the same time - hopefully I won't have to travel with both!

Materials

Listed as "Ballistic: 100% recycled nylon". The material passed my “fling some water on it” water resistance test, with the water beading off nicely, but it isn't the nicest feeling material. I’m not quite sure how to describe it aside from the fact that it isn’t luxurious feeling. I don’t think Chase Reeves is going to like it, but I guess that’s for him to decide.
The bottle pockets looked flimsy online, but I’m pleased to say that seem sturdy in person and the top inner edge is reinforced with thicker material. I prefer the style like in the new Aer Pro Pack where the bottle pockets are made of the same material as the pack, but I think these will wear well enough.

Comfort and Fit

I was initially taken aback by the shoulder straps because they felt hard. On second inspection the top of them is rather hard, and the bottom part is lightly padded. I was expecting them to be uncomfortable, but the bag is seems comfortable to wear so far. I haven't put it to the test by wearing it fully loaded for hours, so only time will tell on comfort.
Much attention has been paid to the tight spacing between the shoulder straps on the new Aer Pro Pack. The straps on this one measure exactly 2 inches apart (5 cm). I haven't noticed any pinching so far.
There is a stowable hip belt. Unfortunately when you stow it the lumbar area bulges a little, so I prefer not to stow it. I haven't decided yet, but if I keep the pack I will likely cut it off. To me this qualifies as removable!

A Couple Drawbacks

Unfortunately the bottom of the pack isn’t quite flat, so I was unable to get it to stand upright on its own. It would have been a nice feature, but I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker for me.
There is no key loop in any of the pockets which is kind of a strange omission. It seems like the small external top zipper pocket would have been a natural place to put one.

Packing It

I did a very quick dry-run test pack with the following items with room to spare:

1. 5 shirts
2. 5 underwear
3. 3 pairs of socks
4. 1 PJ shorts
5. 1 board shorts
6. 1 workout shorts
7. 1 thick long sleeved shirt
8. 1 pair cargo shorts
9. 13" MacBook Pro
10. 63W GaN Charger
11. USB-C -> USB-C cable
12. USB-C -> Lightning cable
13. Clear bag of toiletries

Conclusions

I want to fully love this bag, but I'm not sure yet. I've been searching for so long it's hard not to keep looking. In fact a couple days after I ordered this Aer released their new Pro Pack 24L. That ticks a lot of my boxes, but I've read enough comments on it being uncomfortable that I don't think I'm going to try it out.
We have a trip planned for the first week of April, so will get to test the Dakine out fully soon.

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A Detailed Guide On Medical Billing Outsourcing
Gone are the days when the organizations used to rely on their in-house employees as the people driving the business’s success, and the same is the story for medical practices. Despite their talent, capability, and skills, they often fall short in managing the time and keeping up-to-date with the frequent changes in the healthcare industry, mainly the medical billing and coding system. Hence, a comprehensive plan for the practice must be put in place to warrant the successful financial growth of the organization. One of the best ways to ensure that efficient and effective medical billing processing is done with the assurance of 100% reimbursement is by outsourcing medical billing and coding.
However, the idea of giving the responsibility by the practices of such an integral part of the healthcare system to an off-shore medical billing and coding company can be pretty daunting. But if you follow this detailed guide on why and how to outsource medical billing properly to a third party, you can definitely ensure the financial health of your practice with other benefits.

Medical Billing Outsourcing – A Percentage Pricing Model

When a medical practice considers outsource medical billing and collection, the percentage pricing model becomes an area of concern.
The core reason behind such concern is that the practice is already dependent on their in-house staff for all the medical billing and collection activities; they often fail to understand the model of ‘success fee’ and its benefits. The other concern that plagues the practice when considering the percentage pricing model is the knowledge of the covered services for medical billing and coding.
Here is a comprehensive guide on the percentage pricing model and services covered.

What Is the Percentage Pricing Model?

The model is also referred to as the ‘success fee’ model because the outsourced company gets a percentage from the successful collection they have made. The collection generally includes a portion from the gross collection of payments received from payers, patients, and self-pay categories.
This model is one of the best in the healthcare industry since the outsourced medical billing company gets paid only for successful collection. Hence the onus is on the outsourced billing and coding company to increase their collection rate for the practice to enjoy better revenue for their business.

Services Covered

Typically the changes between different outsourcing medical billing and coding companies occur from the point of view of the services covered. In most cases, the services that are covered include:
• Revenue cycle management, under which the following services will be processed

• Demographic entry
• Coding
• Charge entry
• Claims transmission
• Taking care of transmission rejection
• Payment posting
• Denials management
• AR follow-up
• Credentialing
• Insurance benefit verification
• Patient calling

However, the services can also include an extra fee or within the scope of service:

• Patient statement charges
• Software purchase
• Software set-up
• Document management
• EHPMS
• Contact negotiation with payers

The percentage fee can change since none of these services are set in stone and can be customized as per the practice and the outsourced billing company. As a result, there are no standard rate cards since the pricing percentage also changes based on specialties, software provided, and collection.

Difference between In-House And Outsourced Medical Billing

There are quite a few differences between in-house and outsourced medical billing. The significant difference is the location of the billing. An in-house billing team is part of the medical practice and is a station within the premises. In the case of outsourced medical, the team is located off-shore since most of the work is done electronically and is cloud-based.
Apart from these, there are three other significant differences.

Changing of Focus

In an in-house medical billing, the practice has the ownership and must be responsible for the procedures and the billing process, thus maintaining a focus on the team. On the other hand, outsourced medical billing takes responsibility for the billing and coding process, including the revenue collection. It hence allows the practice’s entire focus on delivering better care to the patients.

Medical Billing Errors

With constant changes in medical billing and coding with the in-house team being overworked, the risk of coding and billing errors is relatively high. It will eventually affect the reimbursement and the revenue cycle. A medical billing facility that has been outsourced has a team of experts who are up-to-date with the changes and can process the billing and coding correctly, thus reducing medical billing errors.

Compliance

When a medical practice hires an admin staff for the in-house billing, they often have qualifications and experience. However, the ever-changing regulations in the coding and billing and the failure to offer regular staff training can lead to compliance failure. Outsourced companies have a dedicated billing section, which provides regular training on the regulatory changes and ensures compliance is maintained.

Why Outsource The Medical Billing?

A successful medical practice can only happen when you offer the best patient care. In addition, it is possible when you have a healthy cash flow. Unfortunately, many medical practices fail to provide the best patient satisfaction because of the failure to have a comprehensive revenue management system. Also, the other factor that impedes success is changes like ICD-10 implementation, the need to upgrade the software and technology, and regular staff training. All of these eventually eat into the revenue of the practice.
📷Why to outsource medical billing?
When you are struggling with your revenue on anyone or on multiple fronts, it is time to consider outsourcing medical billing.
Let’s discuss why it is the best solution for the healthcare providers:

Latest Technology & Software

Most outsourced medical billing makes their name in the market by offering the latest state-of-the-art software and technology. Since most of these constantly get upgrades to suit the changing environment of the healthcare system, the cost involved in buying and upgrading it can be quite a lot. On the other hand, when you outsource the billing system, you can enjoy all these latest technologies much more cost-effectively. This is because most third-party companies charge for the software and the technology for once and then offer their service and up-gradation for a minimal cost, which is way less than installing your software.

Claim Denial Reduction

Often the in-house staff members fail to get regular and adequate training regarding the continuous healthcare billing and compliance updates. However, when you partner with a reputed billing and collection organization, you do not have to worry about training your staff to follow the current standards. Instead, the outsourced organization brings in its pool of well-trained staff, which are up-to-date with the latest technology, software, and billing procedures to ensure no claim denials.

Better Productivity & Profitability

With outsourced partners, medical practices can improve their overall productivity and profitability by ensuring fewer claim denials, proper follow-up on the claims denied and finding the reason for the claim rejection. Well-trained medical billing and collection team in place will warrant that mistakes in claim denials and billing are reduced, thus helping you to get uninterrupted cash flow. It will thereby increase the productivity and the revenue of the healthcare facility.

Continuity of Business

When you have an in-house management team for billing, the chances are there will be one expert in certain areas. In the case of the absence of that employee, the billing is likely to get affected. With a medical billing partner, you have more than one expert in the team to handle a situation, thus ensuring your facility runs all the time appropriately without any interruption.

Integrating with EHR

Any in-house medical billing team will tell you that electronic health records (EHR) are frustrating and nightmarish and a time-consuming process. However, when you outsource the service to a reputed partner, they have experience working with major EHR systems and can integrate easily. You no longer have to worry about the technical issues that often arise on the HER system’s billing side.

Reach the Full Potential

When your medical practice is not getting bogged down with the billing, revenue cycle management, software, and technology complications, you can focus on your patients and other aspects that will help you grow. Moreover, you can quickly eliminate the difficulties, distractions, and interruptions often caused due to the billing and coding system with outsourced partners.

Transparency

There is the misnomer that by outsourcing the medical billing, the healthcare facility, mainly the physicians, is handing over the control of the RCM process to strangers. But when you start working with the partner, you will soon realize the system is structured to give you positive marks on a set of metrics like reducing denial rates, increasing collection rates, and first-pass payments, to name a few.
The process ensures unprecedented transparency in the revenue cycle by providing you with comprehensive reports on the performance. You will also get regular reports on any payment issues or delays, thus allowing you to have a full view of the RCM without micromanaging it.

Satisfied Patients

For any successful medical practice, it is vital to meet the expectation of the patients. However, the focus is bound to shift when your team is multi-tasking and overworked with keeping up everything up-to-date. So, while your staffs manages the scheduling of the patient’s check-in and check-out, handling the clinical records and bookkeeping, by outsourcing, you can help your staff ensure better care for the patients.
At the same time, the outsourced team manages the billing and the coding procedure without any hindrance. You and your staff then are free to cater to patients’ needs, thus increasing their satisfaction and improving patient retention.

How to Select Your Outsourced Medical Billing Partner?

As mentioned above, there are quite a few reasons you should consider outsourcing the medical billing system. But you can only reap the benefits when the provider is equipped enough to warrant your need, irrespective of the size of the practice.
📷
Here are some pointers on how to select the outsourced partner.

How fast will they process the insurance claims once they partner with you?

Generally, a company should be able to begin the service within a couple of months. However, it is not a hard and fast rule since the timeline can change depending on your requirement. For example, if there is a need to overhaul the practice management software and the partner is well-versed with it, the transition should be quick.
But if the practice management is not the same and the data needs to be exported, manually entered, or imported, then the turnaround time can change. Also, a partner will need time to set up the required electronic connection, leading to a longer implementation time.
The best way to ensure you are getting a good deal is by asking for references and the reviews the customers offer.

What services will they provide in medical billing?

The entire revenue cycle management system is a complex process that requires the team to perform a range of essential tasks. Therefore, it is necessary that each task is identified and a clear assignment of the process is done to ensure whether your practice or the parent will be conducting it.

What training does the outsourced staff receive?

There is no point in hiring an outsourced partner who doesn’t provide trained staff. You must confirm that the team looking after your billing is certified and undergo regular training to maintain the certifications.
Now that you know the main three criteria for selecting an outsourcing partner for medical billing, let’s look into why 24/7 Medical Billing Services is the best choice.

24/7 Medical Billing Services- The Expert in Medical Billing!

24/7 Medical Billing Services has to spend 14+ years tailoring the medical billing and coding services with a pool of talented and experienced teams. We ensure that our experts can assist in outsourcing medical billing and maximize the potential of the management while retaining more revenue.
As a medical billing outsourced company with work with most EHR and provide a holistic billing service. Moreover, depending on the practice and the requirement, we offer our services, ranging from complete revenue cycle management to putting the practice on track or helping them with contract management and credentialing.
24/7 Medical Billing Services is dedicated to empowering your medical practice no matter what the service is, so why not benefit from our knowledge and scale your business and make it future-ready. To know more, contact us today.
Media Contact:
Hari Sudan, Media Relations,
24/7 Medical Billing Services,
28405 Osborn Road,
Cleveland, OH, 44140
Tel: + 1 -888-502-0537
Email -[ [email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Are you a business owner in need of a dedicated development team? Do you want to be thoroughly informed about the ins and outs to hire dedicated web developers in 2023? Hiring a reliable, dedicated development team can be difficult, especially with the ever-changing job market.
With technology advancing at such rapid rates, staying up to date with the latest developments is essential for any successful business. Ensuring that your company has developers who are well-versed in the most current trends can be both time-consuming and expensive.
This guide will break down every important step to hire dedicated resources for web and mobile development needs in 2023. It will provide information on interviewing potential candidates, setting terms and conditions of employment, understanding different staffing models, and exploring cost-effective strategies. By following this guide, you can rest assured that you're taking all the necessary steps to recruit an effective team for your business needs.
The Rise of Demand Of Developers In 2023
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https://preview.redd.it/mj0tbe4s71pa1.jpg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87e35797759e4dc9d2b312d27d39325773ea6674
According to recent predictions by leading industry professionals, there will be a significant demand for developers by 2023 due to emerging technology trends. The rising emphasis on automation and digitalization has fuelled this demand, along with a sharp rise in remote work practices across multiple sectors.
As such, increasingly complex projects will require skilled developers to implement them. This means that there will be an increasing need for full-stack developers as well as specialized professionals in tech fields, such as network engineers or AI experts. Companies are becoming more sophisticated in terms of their operations and need professionals who are able to adapt quickly, have relevant skill sets, and use specific languages necessary for different tasks.
Organizations are also looking for experienced professionals who can drive innovation through mobile and web development services with new products based on existing technologies and platforms. This is why some businesses are willing to pay high salaries for top talent in the industry. Additionally, organizations want quality assurance teams who can monitor product functionality before releasing it, meaning that skills such as testing frameworks and coding patterns will become more crucial over time.
Overall, the continued rise of technological advancements combined with a larger shift towards remote work engagements means that development is going to be one of the most sought-after positions within most companies by 2023. Those who possess the necessary qualifications to fill these positions will continue to remain one of the driving forces of progress across industries. If you are looking for professional web and mobile app developers, then we have sorted some of the steps that you must follow. Check it out.
Read Full Article: https://codenance.com/2023/03/20/how-to-hire-a-dedicated-development-team-in-2023/