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I took their QA test, passed, was offered a position.  I accepted and have been waiting to train and get going for a week now.  My understanding is that their trainer only trains 2 days/wk and now her PC is in the shop. I understand things happen so this is not too big a deal to me.  I'm still working with another company so it's not as if I have no $$$ coming in.  Now here's where I'm starting to get second thoughts...

Apparently, the admin has already added me to her email list because I'm getting daily account information, status of out of TAT files, etc. No biggie. BUT along with those emails I also recieved an email going to everyone stating that she is sorry for the delay in paychecks because she is JUST now getting paid and has JUST sent out 1099s. FYI, they pay monthly.  I'm concerned because if I'm only getting paid once a month, I definitely can't afford to be waiting even longer for a paycheck. I really wanted to get started on this job, been wanting to do QA again for a while but I'm starting to wonder if "delay in pay" is a regular thing with them. I could ask her directly but I doubt anyone would honestly say "yeah, sure, we're always getting paid late" to a new IC.

I was going to quit my current MT company and go fulltime QA'ing but now I'm thinking I should stick with the MT work (even though I really wanted to get away from it) and do the QA PT instead.

Funny...as I'm writing this, it kinda seems like a "duh" question.

read the reports after we have transcribed them, but I just had a doc on my account dictate that he wanted the line "Dictated but not read" added to ALL of his reports from now on.  He was mad because he said he requested this to be done a few weeks ago and has been "keeping track" and it hasn't been getting done.

Amazing.

For all the people that have laptops would you advise to own a laptop as the only means of a computer to work from home to make a living?  It almost makes sense to have 2 computers just in case one of them needs repaired.  As my first computer to own and work on would it be best to have the desktop and tower for now for dependability.  Sorry if the questions sound lame.  Thanks for the help.

Have a question regarding putting in instant text. I dont use macros, but we use autotext. We have several radiology macros that need to be put into the computer and am unsure how to go about doing it. Each doc has the same type of reports, CT Head, pelvis, abdomen, or CT chest, then just plain chest, other types of X-ray reports.

What I need to know is a short hand type of Expander to type so that the macros come up. If I put in the name of the doc with say XXXXCT then how can I change it up for each type of dictation.

I hope someone can help me. I am at a loss with this trying to figure out a nice short hand for this.

most other people in that we know how to WRITE.  A friend of mine used to call it "The Power of the Pen", and it's true.  Even when you don't get the exact response you wanted when you write a letter, the fact that you were concerned enough to do it at all does NOT go unnoticed.  It raises questions in the minds of those to whom they were written.  And we have to KEEP AT IT.  Some of those with thicker skins (and skulls!) need to be reminded again and again that this country has a big problem with other countries profiting from our generosity, so-called "political correctness", and their general perception of our overall naivete.  With enough talking, blogging, letter-writting, petitioning, and educating of the American public, it might be possible to bring offshoring of American work to the forefront of the next election.  People need to be made aware that NO job is safe. 

It's sickening that big US firms are taxed to the MAX when it comes to offshoring.  What a huge windfall for THEM.  Instead, those of us that they are screwing are expected to pay the taxes that support our country's infrastructure.

If this trend continues the way it has for the past 10+ years or so, there will be no need for another country to take ours over militarily.  We'll all simply be BOUGHT.

I can't get past the login screen.  It says "Welcome!" then throws me back to the login screen.  I see they have a message that says "You can still send messages to your contacts through your Outlook or Outlook Express."  Wrong.  Can't do that, either.  Have been on hold to Atlanta for over 1/2 hour.  Whose idea was this??

To those of you who are paid production (other than MQ) - are you limited to working 39 hours a week? I don't understand being paid by the line, yet being treated as an hourly worker. Just curious as to whether this is the norm at other places. 

Unless you want to see, too. 

I am trying to locate all mt's who have obtained their CMT Credential through The National Heathcareer Association.

I completed a medical transcription course at Techskills located in Brookfield Wisconsin. I also passed the Certified Medical Transcription exam which was taken at the Techskills location; administered through The National Healthcareer Association.

I was informed by 48 out of 54 potential employers that the CMT Credential that I thought I earned was false, counterfeit, and not worth the paper it was printed on. I was also informed that Techskills curriculum and the CMT Credential through The NHA are not recognized in the healthcare industry.

I was informed that the only place to obtain the CMT Credential is through The AHDI and only after you have two years of acute care under your belt.

I am forming a class action lawsuit against The NHA and
Techskiils. I have located other students who experienced that same deceptive practices and had no idea who to call or where to submit a complaint.
They are saddled with student loans in excess of $7,0000 and have no way to pay for them because they cannot get that medical transcription job that they were promised. If you or you know of someone who attained their CMT through The NHA or went to Techskills, please email me asap ****.

I've been thinking about your problem and recommended some possible answers, but something else has been nagging at the back of my mind.  There is also the possibility of a keystroke logger that is intercepting your Keystrokes before passing them along to the screen. 

A keystroke logger can be a physical device placed between your keyboard and your computer, or it can be even be installed inside the keyboard.  It can also be a bit of software that intercepts and records keystrokes.  Sometimes this is a commercial application (like parents use to watch what their kids are doing online), but it can also come surreptitiously in the form of malware called a "rootkit" - which you can think of as a "supervirus" on your computer.

I suppose it's also possible that a spybot (another form of malware) could also be doing this.

Bottom line:  Be sure you're using good antivirus and antispyware software, keep them updated, open NOTHING that comes in your email that you don't specifically recognize, and don't follow links that come in emails you don't trust, no matter how "official" they appear to be (like, from your bank or credit card company). 

Another poster on a different thread said she had the opportunity to work at a different job and wanted people's opinions.  I said to go for it because basically variety is good.

Personally, I THRIVE on variety...always have.  But this typing stuff is really starting to make me go mental.  I mean more mental than I've always been anyway. ;-)

How the he*l do you all do this stuff, day in and day out, the same work over and over and over and not loose your mind?!  I went outside today and SCREAMED my lungs out so hard and so loud that my throat is now incredibly sore.  No ESL, no stumpers...just the same mind-numblingly boring work!  I've gone through my 3rd keyboard in 2 years now, had to upgrade to a new prescription for my eyeglasses due to eye strain, and the foam on my chair has been compressed by my ever-expanding ass to mere millimeters thick. 

This typing stuff is no different than a line worker packing up boxes of Twinkies for shipping.  Holy crap and it's in my house and I can NEVER GET AWAY! 

Time for me to get a job breaking rocks or something to appreciate how good this all is I guess....

I am trying to test (not medical) and they had me download something called DSS Lite, so I could transcribe what they e-mailed me.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  I cannot get my foot pedal to work with it.  Thank you in advance.

I am so frustrated right now I could just scream!  If nobody even makes it to the end of this I will understand, but I'm just livid. 

First of all, I was due my paycheck on the 15th.  I work for a small MTSO, and our checks are frequently late at the end of the month.  (The checks due the last day of the month usually get paid sometime during the first week.  I'm used to that now.) But the paycheck on the 15th is consistently on time.  Our mortgage is due on the 1st with a grace until the 15th.  With the terrible economy and struggling like we tend to do, we usually pay on the 15th.  We save half our checks from the 1st week of the month then pay the mortgage when we both get paid on the 15th so that we don't have to take the huge mortgage hit out of one paycheck but rather spread it out over two.  (Hope that makes sense.)  Well, I was told on Monday that we would PROBABLY be paid by FRIDAY, but that it's not for sure.  Since I won't have my check, and we will be paying after the 15th, we will get a $75 late fee on our mortgage.  Is it too much to expect to be paid ON TIME? 

It gets better.  The very next day after this news, my MTSO emailed me saying that a client was missing 5 patient reports.  She kind of went "high and right" on me saying that she didn't have them, the client didn't have them, I didn't send them, where are they, etc.  I was calm, knowing that I didn't make that mistake.  I went back and found the files.  I sent the files.  I then went back and searched my email until I found the email that contained the missing files.  I forwarded the email in its entirety, complete with headers showing the time and date it was sent, and put in the email what basically amounted to, "The original email contained 20 files, 7 of which were for other clients and 13 of which were from XYZ Ortho.  Since the other clients never complained of missing files, and since XYZ Ortho isn't complaining about the other 8 files, I am confident that you sent the files on to XYZ Ortho and they just lost them."  (Which this client has done over the last four years, losing files that have been sent and then blaming us.) I finished with, "I have forwarded the original email so that you can use this to show the client that the problem is not with their Transcriptionist - don't let them blame us!"

I graciously did not point out what I really wanted to point out, which was that I sent my boss the files like I do every morning.  If the client lost their files, there is still no reason why my boss shouldn't have been able to pull them up from her computer!   

The next day, however, I get a pissy email saying "I never got your original email.  I searched my computer and I searched my computer and the files are not there.  You will have to get a more reliable ISP, because I'm not getting your email.... " She went on to blame me for the problem in SPITE of the fact that I already pointed out that the problem could not possibly have been with me.

Now I'm really cheesed, because either she's just plain dense or she thinks I'm just plain dense.  I wrote back reiterating that I just forwarded her the original email.  She's only missing FIVE files.  The original email contained TWENTY files for DIFFERENT clients (including one that is VERY picky about getting their files back in less than 24 hours -- if they hadn't gotten their files I would have heard about it weeks ago! ).  I told her that why she can't find the five missing files on her computer or in her email is obviously a problem on HER end, but considering that my other clients aren't missing anything and the problem client is only missing a few of the files, the problem clearly is not with me.  I sent the files.  The files were recieved.  What happened next, either with her or with the client, is not something I can control. 

The next day I get an email that said, "Found the problem.  Thanks."

WHAT?  She accuses me of losing files, not sending files, put it on me and then when it's pointed out that she's the one who did something wrong there's no "Sorry I blamed you, it was my fault."  I'm telling you, I am HOT. 

This on top of the fact that I'm not getting paid is the reason why I am currently interviewing for a work-primarily-from-home analyst position with a local company.  I really expect professionalism, and this isn't it! 

If you've made it this far, you deserve a hug.    Thanks for listening!   

My company set me up to work from home - - - I am new at this and confused and am need of imput from others in the field. Currently I get pain 8 cents per line.  I have a quota of 7,000+ lines a week - -however the computer I have been set up with does not enable me to add programs (if I wanted to add a word expansion program) and, interestingly, the ability to set up macros in MS Word has been disabled.

With that said - - - For example, I will type a new consult on a patient that ends up being 4 pages in length.  I want to "work smarter and not harder" (who doesn't) so I incorporate word Expanders that I have in MS Word Auto Text as well as an Auto Text "intial office visit" outline which includes the doctor's "normal" exam.  All I have to do are make any necessary changes with each individual patient.  We use a nationally known dictation program/softwear which enables me to go to a "statistics" screen to see the line count for each document I have typed.  I have been finding, however, that on these 4 page consults, I am only being credited for 60 lines or so - - - aren't there 65 lines PER PAGE - - -why is it not 4 times that amount??  Looks like I am only getting paid for STRAIGHT TYPING, not for the total line count of the end product.

I use Word 2003 with the platform that my company uses.  I am able to save autocorrect entries, but whenever I save an autotext entry it is gone the next time I open Word.  Is there some Word option I need to click that will enable my entries to be saved?  It would save me so much time if this feature worked. 

Curious as to what many of my fellow old-timers in this field may be telling the newbies and/or wannabies coming into this profession.  Personally, I'm getting out. Too much disrespect and flat out ingratitude by the doctors and allied health care professionals alike.  I worked so hard to get where I'm at, and have precious little to show for it. 

Therefore, I discourage new people from entering this profession.  STRONGLY!  What do you say on the matter?  Answer:   (Your letter is enough on the reply.)

A.  I strongly discourage newbies entering the field.

B.  I somewhat discourage newbies entering the field.

C.  I have no opinion.  Too tired.

D.  I say go for it, but feel sorry them.

E.  I highly encourage them.  Things will be well for them, and different but good.

Opinions, anyone?

Some have posted that Axoltol has a great platform and is very user friendly. What type of macro system do they use or a better term "word expander?" Is it spf file compatible?  

Has anyone switched to cable phone with this company? I currently have Verizon and am thinking of switching.  Apparently I will save a good amount of money. Does it work just like a regular phone - other than having no phone service when the power goes out? Does it work well with Dictaphone, Lanier, etc?  Pros/cons? Thanks in advance for any info!

I just wanted to drop in and say hello to everyone.  I don't know if anyone here even remembers me.  I left the MT industry about a year ago, coming home to work on cottage industry things.  However, I was recently offered a good job doing MT again, so I'm back!  Just wanted to say hello to everyone.  I had let my office get into a huge mess,   but I've had a lot of fun undertaking an office redo.    If anyone cares to see pictures, I've put some on my blog.  Link below.

Lynn