MTStars :: Medical Transcription Forums

I am wondering if any of you know anything about insurance through AARP membership? I have just been terminated from my place of employment after 15 years of service as the lead transcriptionists/supervisor for an in-house transcription department for a mental health facility. My place of employment is outsourcing all of the transcription to a service to save money (not having to pay us benefits, etc.)

My husband and I own our own business as well, so basically my husband is self-employed. I have always provided the insurance benefits, having this through my place of employment. Well, now guess what no benefits! The service that took over wants to hire me as well as the other four transcriptionists, which is cool, because we know these docs and therapists like the back of our hands.

Here's my situation, my insurance benefits that I have now are done on 08/31/07. The new benefits with the service will not be in effect for 90 days after beginning employment with the service, if that is what I decide to do. Their insurance benefits are higher, and the deductible is higher than what I pay now, and of course with a service, these benefits are a privilege really, not a benefit, because it is based on production, etc. to keep the benefits. COBRA is going to cost me $1,200.00 a month for the 90-days of coverage in between jobs. This is outrageous. I have been looking into other options as well.

My husband is 51 years old, do you think we could get insurance coverage cheaper through AARP. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said House Republican leaders instead want a joint House-Senate panel set up to conduct a "congressional review" of the issue.

Tempers flared Tuesday during a contentious closed-door meeting between House members and Cabinet secretaries in charge of directing Katrina relief efforts. A Republican representative stood up and said, "All of you deserve failing grades. The response was a disaster," CNN was told by lawmakers emerging from the meeting.

But DeLay countered that assessment later in a news conference by saying that the onus for responding to emergencies fell to local officials.

"It's the local officials trying to handle the problem. When they can't handle the problem, they go to the state, and the state does what they can to, and if they need assistance from FEMA and the federal government they ask for it and it's delivered," DeLay said.

He added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly than Louisiana. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors.

Rest of story link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/index.html

"My boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected." (CIO of Dell Computers)

Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the memo mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division)

One day my Boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards.)

As director of communications, I was asked to prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In the body of the memo in one of the sentences I mentioned the "pedagogical approach" used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the executive committee, I was called into the HR director's office, and told that the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I asked why, I was told that she wouldn't stand for perverts (pedophiles?) working in her company. Finally, he showed me her copy of the memo, with her demand that I be fired and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his dictionary and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later, a memo to the entire staff came out directing us that no words which could not be found in the local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I resigned. In accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo by pasting words together from the Sunday paper. (Taco Bell Corporation)

"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
(This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, WA.)

"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
(Lykes Lines Shipping)

"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

"This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule."
(Plant manager, Delco Corporation)

"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

I currently use Express Scribe and wanted to get some opinions on other .wav players out there as far as dictation sound quality goes.

I have been transcribing for 6 years and want to get my own accounts. What is the best way to do this? Any info would be great! Thanks

Call me dumb... I guess. I have three foot pedals sitting here. Dont know if any of them are a WAV pedal Can anyone explain exactly what is a WAV pedal, will it state it on the pedal somewhere? I have one pedal that has a USB plug, and the other two with ping plug-ins. Can anyone help me? Thanks......

Was wondering if anyone could help me out. I need to see some example of different ways to set up chart notes. If anyone knows of a place on the net i can view these of would send me some blanked out that would be great!!!!!

I am not real computer literate but am wondering if I couldn't get unlimited Internet with a cell phone plan and use that for my on-line job/Internet connection exclusively. I have found plans for around $70/month.

If so, I was thinking too I could possibly give up my land line phone, Callwave, my dial-up ISP (as that is all we have available where live) and actually save a little money by doing so. I don't make/receive a lot of land line calls and I have a TracFone cell phone that I don't use much now. I get excellent reception with that where I live. We have a huge tower within walking distance of where I live but we live out in the "sticks". :D I know my connection would be dependent on the reception where I live and the cell phone service I would use. I am not sure which one truly has the best coverage and/or who may be using the tower by our home but TracFone apparently does. :)

Just to let you gals know, I got up the nerve at the last minute, partially because of the posters to my thread about starting my own business, to quickly print up a resume and cover letter along with a sample ortho report and take them to my physical therapy appointment. (They may need an at-home transcriptionist.) The office manager was not in yesterday, but my PT gave me a little info about how the process works. Unfortunately, we were interrupted when she was about to tell me what they dictate IN TO, but she mentioned that she thought that was going to change. On my way out, however, when she was flipping through my chart to see when I should come in next, I asked her if they received the transcription via floppy disk or CD, and she told me, *No, paper.* Yes, they still use *sticky paper*! Too bad we got interrupted earlier. I have a feeling they transmit the dictation via the internet or phone lines, then the Transcriptionist delivers the finished work to the office.

Anyway, my PT says it is slow right now. (Indeed, there were only 2 patients in the office at the time with 4 PTs.) But she thought if things picked up and the sole remaining MT got overwhelmed, there might be a chance of picking up the overflow, which would be just peachy for me.

More questions...(now, why did I, at first, capitalize the Q in question????) I may as well start preparing as much as I can now in case I DO snag a job....

1. Can anyone or everyone recommend a good medical spell checker that interfaces with Word?

2. What about an Expander to work with Word? I know some use Instant Text, but at least one says she uses the Word Autocorrect feature. (I think.) Does the Word autocorrect hold a bunch....can you put whole reports into it...large capacity?

3. You all mentioned that the docs usually supply their letterhead and to use plain copy paper for subsequent pages. Does the MTSO usually supply the paper or the docs? Same question with sticky paper...that sounds expensive!

4. Any other inexpensive tips you gals can think of that can be gotten ready now besides the main transcriber? (Would want to wait on that to see which type the office uses.)

Now that I have the ball rolling, I am also going to contact the two MTSOs that I know locally and ask if they have any overflow. Might also send a sample psych report to my shrink and see if he can spread the word. Scary stuff, but you gals really helped! Thanks so much for all the encouragement!!

get uncomfortable watching someone make a fool of themselves? Gosh, I've NEVER been that drunk in my life to get up there and do that!!!! And, I get so uncomfortable watching someone that absolutely cannot sing a single note on key get up there and TRY to sing. I suppose I should give them credit for at least trying, but geeze louise, don't quit your day jobs!!!! Anyone out there brave enough to do this?

I am going crazy. I do not know why, but all of a sudden my cursor seems to be disappearing on my. It sure seems that everytime I go into anything via IE I have problems.

I've been an SE for MQ for over six years now. I've enjoyed my job, been fairly happy with the work pools and so on (I am currently working out of Amherst but so far, so good).

I have small children, so being an SE is about the only way I can go in terms of work. If I was on a schedule, I'd be in trouble.

So then I get that awful letter from MQ that doesn't even MENTION SE, and I think about the news maybe six months ago about "what can we do to make you want to be an employee" sort of a thing, and I'm scared.

What's going to happen to my position as an SE? Do you think they'll give us an option to switch to employee, and then drop us if we don't? Why is this happening to me????

Trying to get out from under these excessive charges. I would like to know what I really need. Was told needed land phone in order to use internet. I have fast DSL and want to keep that, have router, land phone, wireless. I was using the internet for transcription but now am going to Word platform, still want to have the internet fast enough so will not feel like treading molasses. Thanks

Even if the system goes electronic, won't MTs still be needed? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question!

I have a digital call in dictation system that is less than 2 years old that has given me nothing but problems from day one. It has already blown 2 speech boards and a new one has to be put in. I purchased an insurance policy for it but the company is giving me a large hassle. I currently have a loaner system that is also acting up. I was wondering if anyone can recommend any Internet-based call in systems that doctors could use by calling in on an 800 number and something that is easy to use and maintenance free from my end. I have always used a computer based call in system but it is very expensive to maintain with phone lines, etc. I am looking to get something fast that I can have set up as a backup in case my loaner also breaks down. I am a novice as far as Internet systems go. Thanks for any help or information about a company that you could recommend.

Heads up warning! A company called DictaCall posted a classified ad
here yesterday claiming great cost savings. After researching the company, I have found that the company is overseas in India and is offering the identical rate structure as another US voice service. There is absolutely no cost savings whatsoever and anyone using their voice system would be calling into a toll free number where the voice file would end up on a server in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.

What does this mean to you, the transcription service?
1. HIPAA compliance is compromised.
2. Your client information is at risk. Offshore entities can come in try to undercut you and take your business.
3. In case of outage, you're stuck if you can't get in touch with technical support.

I could go on, but I think you can probably see the same big problems that I see.

I have contracted with a private physician for several years and now he is going electronic medical record. I was told by the office manager that he and the other docs would still do some dictation, but now one of the physicians told me they would not. (Duh....obviously).>> BUT...they want me to set up their system with all my templates, ICD-9 codes and what not that I worked hard to get over the past several years, on my own, for his records! My family tells me to charge consulting fees at a fairly high rate and charge up front as I was lied to initially about still being able to work for them. Sorry, I'm rambling, but upset about losing this work as this was an extremely wonderful job and a little wine goes a long way! I made minumum of $30 an hour and most of the time over $100 an hour doing his reports. They were mostly templates and I copied, pasted and changed the reports to suit certain needs and he would pay me for all this. I will be losing a lot of money, but everything happens for a reason. I enjoyed it while the ride lasted!!! Would love your opinions on how I should handle this new dilema though.

I use it with a Sony micro dictator/transcriber but I'm finally jumping into the 21st century. Anyone know if I can find a USB adaptor for such a foot pedal or will I need to invest in a new foot pedal? If so, where should I get one? I'd like to buy one locally, or do I need to but it online?

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