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give the company a set of terms.  Here's my issue.  I have 15+ years experience as an MT and I am finding after I've accepted the job, that I am placed on the crappiest account they have because of my years of wonderful "experience".  Then I'm told that they are paying me the higher cpl rate not because of years of experience but because I'm working on the crappy account that no one else can do.

I find it very difficult to earn a living this way and wonder if there are jobs out there where a seasoned MT can just sit down and type carefree 8 hours a day.  I'm not saying I don't want to ever type ESL dictation, but can I get an account where the majority is not ESL? 

I'm good at what I do.  I love OP notes and don't mind challenging work, but it's simply not fair.  I feel like I'm being penalized for my years of hard work more than rewarded and I resent it.

I have been approached by a doc who wants me to take over doing his transcription.  He is a face/eye plastic surgeon.  Most of his stuff is all templates.  The only thing I will actually have to type would be the DX and procedure and then insert the appropriate template.  (He does have over 98 templates)

He wants me to give him a quote but I have no clue where to start.  I normally charge by the line but this would not be fair since I am just inserting templates. 

Should I charge by the page, # of reports, hourly, or what.  He does about 15 cases per week and the reports average 3-5 pages (again much of it templates).

Does anyone have any experience with this.  I want to give him an answer today. 

Thanks!

-Ang.

wouldn't it be wild if there was a Tourette's syndrome for transcriptionists, and we could just insert whatever random thought or opinion we had on the patient/dictator.

I'm in the middle of a patient's social history and the doc dictates his occupation, and then in the PE he says he's dignified looking.  I mean he's obvious very impressed by his social stature and I would love to say that!

I have been subcontracting through a mom/pop company for about three years.  They have a few different accounts, but I mostly do the same doctor every day, along with a few people in his clinic.  The transcription company owner has had some health problems, so I stepped up and am now doing my share of the transcription, editing, sending the work in, and the billing.  (I am being paid (not much) for my extra work).  Anyway, the one clinic that I have been typing for about three years called me.  They are not happy with the contract holder and said that something needs to change.  She has become very unorganized and rude with this clinic.  I work my butt off to try to keep them happy on my end, but she shows no interest in trying to be nice or anything and she says she doesn't care if they drop her, it would make her life a lot easier.  The final straw before the telephone call was that she returned tapes from other clinics to this clinic and they freaked out about patient privacy (totally understandable). 

Anyway, the clinic called me and asked if I would be interested in working in-house (I'm not) or trying to figure something out as they no longer want to work through this company, but they are very happy with my transcription.  I told them that I was very sorry for the tape confusion and I that I felt that I was being misrepresented by the people who were picking up and dropping off the tapes. 

It is very hard to explain the whole situation, but the lady who I contract through has said, just in passing and I don't know if she was serious, "If they drop my account with them, you can have them."   I just don't know how bad it would be if I stopped subcontracting through her and just went straight to the clinic.

I would love some opinions on this.  Sorry it was so long. I am very stressed out about this.  If she loses the contract and I stay with her, I will lose a lot of lines...thousands.  I just don't know what to do.  Thanks.

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I went on a mini-vacation the afternoon that I posted my original message and lo and behold, I found things to do that didn't have to do with being on my computer.

One thing I'm happy to report is that my grandson laughed the other day.  First time we've heard him laugh in a couple of months, which was before he started having the seizures..  My 11-year-old daughter has a stuffed monkey that makes kissy noises and then squeals like a monkey when you push a button.  We tried it and he smiled, laughed and kicked his little feet.

He doesn't just sit and stare like he used to, so I guess we're making progress.

At any rate, thank you all so much for your input.  It is very much appreciated.

I know this isn't MT-related, but it has gotten me so upset that I can't work, so maybe it is MT-related after all.  Anyway, if anyone has been in this situation, can you please tell me how you successfully handled it?  My son wanted to go away for the weekend and asked to use my credit card to secure a hotel room.  We went online to Hotels.com and found a nice place.  I put in my credit card number and was given a room confirmation.  I then received an e-mail from the hotel telling me there were no rooms available.  I called the hotel and they told me I would have to address it with Hotels.com since they were the ones with my credit card information.  I called Hotels.com and they told me that my card had been swept for the entire amount of the stay ($276.00!) but since there were no rooms available, the money would be credited back to my account.  I got my credit card statement yesterday and they only credited back $71.00 of my money, causing me to incur and over-the -limit fee of another $29.00.  I don't know where to turn to get this problem resolved.  Do I call Hotels.com and ask them to reimburse my over the limit fee?  Do I call my credit card company and tell them that it was Hotel.com's fault for hitting my account for the whole amount when they said they weren't going to?  If anyone has been through this kind of thing before, I would really appreciate your input.  Needless to say, I will NEVER use Hotels.com ever again!!  Thanks in advance for your help!

ok ladies, I applied for a job at a hospital as a medical Transcriptionist (job was listed on their website and at the employment agency)  I updated my resume, typed up a cover letter and hand delivered it to the HR person.  She said she would put it in their system and I would be hearing from them, the job is open until filled. Great!  I completed their lengthy application and sent that it to the same HR person.  I did not hear anything and assumed with the holidays and all......patience...

Yesterday I received a call from them.  But get this - it was from a person who runs the dietary department.  They gave her the application.  She said since their is no MT job opening would I be interested in working as a dishwasher on weekends?  I was stunned to say the least.  She repeated that there was no MT opening but they really needed help.

I cannot make this stuff up!  What in the world?

The job is still posted on their website and at the employment agency.   Is this just too weird or what?

A website that I use very frequently seems to have disappeared.  AAMTonline.org/resources that I use to look up terminology seems to be gone.  It has been replaced with something that is not a resource site.  Has it moved or changed names?  I would appreciate any info on this!!

You know what?

If the dictations were not so crappy, maybe the whole OAing would be obsolete.  This would save a lot of money and the MTs would be paid better.

Ooops!

Got a letter from Frank about "document preservation"  and the ever-threatening "new pay plan."  He keeps mentioning his new pay plan, but never has the balls to tell us what it is.

Has anyone ever used a word Expander with Meditech? I understand that there are several different versions of this program and we use it for Radiology. We have V. 3.25.  I was specifically thinking about ShortKeys?  Any input would be appreciated.

What would you say the average MT with one year experience should be making right now? 

Thanks,

Abby

Just wondering what alternatives there are when you don't get paid for work that was done and it's been months!!!!  Two people (individual MTs) owe me money from back in February and I can't get them to respond, etc.  HELP!!

I am so angry and I need to vent.  I work for a psychiatric facility and have been there for about three months now.  I really enjoy working there and they have been very flexible with my schedule.  Approximately 2 months ago, a temp was hired because we were so far behind.  The person they hired did not have any experience whatsoever in medical transcription, but she was a fast typist so she was hired. 

A couple of weeks went by and it was noticed that she was making quite a few errors.  One of the other Transcriptionist e-mailed her to inform her of her errors and advised her to proof her work.  She became so upset, she e-mailed a nasty letter back to this particular person.  A few more weeks went by and a different transpcriptionist noticed she was still making these errors so she tried e-mailing her as well with basically the same response.  Well last week I happened to come across one of her reports and noticed some errors that were totally unacceptable.  For example, Licinopril, psychogenetic polydipsia, albuteral, ibuprophen, etc. 

Anyway, I mentioned this to our supervisor and he asked that I correct the report and give him a copy so that he could go over it with her, which I did.  I also brought in a book from the course I took a couple of years ago so that she may review it.  She came in yesterday absolutely livid, she was slamming things around, speaking so loud that we could not hear the doctor and using the most foul language.  I turned to her and asked if there was a problem to which she replied I was not talking to you!  So I stated, in a very calm manner, then could you please keep it down as I cannot hear what the doctor is saying to which she replied that's too bad!  She then proceeded to call our lead and left the room. 

I started to think about the whole situation and could not believe how this person reacted.  I called the supervisor at home and informed him of the problem at hand and told him I was on the verge of walking out as was the other transcriptiont.  I told him this behavior was totally unacceptable and I would not tolerate it.  Mind you, this was all because she was still making errors on her report.  She felt people were talking behind her back.  She does not want us (transcriptionists) to tell her of her errors.  She wants us to speak with the lead, have him write the errors on a piece of paper, place it in an envelope and put it by her work area.  Can you believe this?  Who does she think she is? 

Well a couple of hours ago, my lead called to get my side of the story.  I told him exactly what happened to which the other transcriptionist can attest to.  He stated he would speak with her but that the next time there was a problem with a partiular report, we are to bring it up to him or our supervisor (which I thought I did).  I totally feel she should be reprimanded and that this behavior should not be tolerated by anyone, but it looks like she is just going to be "spoken to."  I am so angry and upset, I literally feel like giving my two weeks notice, but then again, I do not want to give her the satisfaction.  I really enjoy what I do but I am afraid if this type of behavior occurs again, I will not be able to hold my tongue as it took every bit of strength in me not to *******, well you know.

Sorry this was so long, I needed to vent.  I know I probably made 100 mistakes on this post, but I am very upset at the moment. 

I have been working as an employee with the EXText system/Wordclient by Dictaphone.  I really love the "esp" system that is part of this program as I find it very quick and easy to use.

Years ago I tried IT and didn't really care for it, but I don't know if I didn't become familiar enough with it. 

I guess it comes down to an Expander that works with just hitting the spacebar and entering the shortcut I know I am getting with that abbreviation.  Really mastering the shortcuts without having a list to choose from.

If anyone out there has any recommendations for a similar expander as the Dictaphone esps, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks.

With the exception of a short stent a few years ago as an IC, I've always been an employee.  The problem I am finding with most companies now is even as an IC, they want you to commit to a set schedule.  Maybe I'm thinking of it the wrong way but I thought being an IC gave you more freedom without needing to stick to a schedule.  I currently have 2 jobs but was hoping to find an IC position to fill in the gaps when the work runs low on my other jobs so my paycheck isn't affected but sadly, I'm not having any luck.

I referred a friend of mine to one of the companies I work for and she works as an IC.  At first I heard that as an IC, you can work whenever you want and that's what they told her, but then they changed it and wanted her to work at least 1 weekend day.

Does anybody out there know of any companies that hire ICs to work whenever they want?

They will also pay the cost of books and tuition for any college courses I want to take.  Basically anything but fine arts courses. On top of everything else, I'm college bound for the winter semester.

Radiology patients, so reports are short most often.  We have to log two several digit numbers, the types of exams (chest/abdomen) dates.  We have sheets to do this on but am thinking I should keep Wordpad open and type in there.

Any ideas on how I can do this and not lose momentum or time?  I do about 100 exams a day.

Thanks!

Why is it that MTSOs can't get at least MOST of their QA people on the same page when it comes to style, format, spelling, abbreviations, etc. etc.???  I have 4 different people editing my work, and I keep getting 4 different opinions on what is correct and what is not!  Half the things they *correct* were right when I typed them, and now are WRONG once they're edited!  Yet it's MY initials on the page of the final product, so whoever reads it will think I produced that trash.  Gaaaaaaa!

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If this don't work, I'll quit.

Does anyone know an excellent company who hires part-time transcriptionists and furnishes equipment?