In our town, we have a little local pharmacy or many
Posted By: HUGE CVS stores on every corner. on 2009-02-08
In Reply to: How angry would you be if this were you? sm - Tasha
I tried to stick with my little local pharmacy, but started having problem with insurance issues, which miraculously didn't happen at CVS. Something about CareMark is my insurer for meds. So, I switched to CVS primarily due to these glitchy insurance problems with my scrips. All went well for a month or two, though I felt bad ditching the little local guy. Well, then I started having all sorts of medication errors from CVS - wrong med being given in my bag, wrong dosing, etc. When I started complaining, I realized that CVS and CareMark are basically one and the same - another mass merger thing. So, I believe that CareMark deliberately gave me problems when I used anyone but CVS, and it turns out it was true. I have gone back to my local pharmacy, and he confirmed what I thought had been happening. Its like conspiracy theories everywhere these days. He said he couldn't say a word, though, as he had been threatened by lawyers not to make the connection for people - we had to figure it out on our own. Well, me with my big mouth, I'm telling everyone I know!! LOL. So, no, not impressed with CVS either, and no, they don't care about their mistakes - locally or corporate. We're all humans, after all, though some have jobs that could kill fellow humans. LOL.
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Go to the library in your local town. I do.
nm
I am in exactly the same boat, 10 miles from small rural town, don't know any local
MTs even after 12 years in this community. I need to find something with decent pay and the same kind of flexible scheduling. I too had planned to stay with MDI through retirement and this has really thrown me for a loop. I would just look for a new career right now if not for the fact my kids are still young enough that I would like to still be at home/available, especially when one has a chronic illness and his needs can change on a dime.
You have obviously never worked as a pharmacy tech
Can you rattle off from memory the top 200 frequently written drug names? Can you calculate the rate of an IV drip of a drug based on mixing it into different types of IV solutions based on mg/dL/kg? Have you ever had a report filed against you with your state's Board of Pharmacy because you dispensed a 3 month prescription of a drug and failed to notice that one of the packages was a different strength than the other two, potentially killing a patient? You don't have to have a BS degree to work as a PT.
You can say what you will - but you show how under educated about real business affairs in your posts.
Years of experience for newbies and having a tough time finding jobs? Not when I look at jobs offering 5 cpl and the caliber of the MTs who accept those positions, or when I look at the nationals who are raping the incoming MTs with their mentorship programs...or what the newly merged AAMT/MTIA organization is doing to change how to define a character line because of MQ's legal woes from fraudulent billing practices and the MTSO business leaders who hold positions in the MTIA are mostly offshoring corporate executives.
What our pay should be is no different than that of any other business in this global economy. Did you know that Microsoft has petitioned the US Government to lift the limitation on the number of work visas for highly trained foreign workers because they cannot meet employment demands based on available US similarly trained workers?
I don't even own a television and I feel a bit more educated in these things than you. Please don't preach to the choir. I understand you are trying to educate others, but you're argument has holes that a truck can drive through.
The town that I live in is
Stillwell, in Georgia. The Stillwell is for the town, MTC is Medical Transcriptionist Coder. :)
thanks for the info though.
The town that I live in is
Stillwell, in Georgia. The Stillwell is for the town, MTC is Medical Transcriptionist Coder. :)
thanks for the info though.
Wow, they have a town named after me! LOL. nm
x
Get out of town!!Wow how wonderful! I will look you up there.
I am wiseoldowl2000 and have been on there since 1992, though my exhusband had been on since 2000. The night my son was born he overbid on something he already had he was so excited. But I was not yet in the E=bay world. I will definitely look you up. We should have an e bay board here, I don't know about anyone else, but I am more addicted to e bay than I am transcribing! LOL. :)
I do VR for a hospital in my town
My company in another state does work for the hospital. I know the head person over transcription at the hospital and there is absolutely no way this manager at the hospital lets just anything fly through. She has all power and you better believe if you don’t do a decent job, your job is not there. From the company we get memos from the hospital about this or that. I am glad to be on VR and I range in line count on VR anywhere from the high 400s to 700s per hour. I also have intermixed with that straight sometimes.
Town Cryer
Totally agree with you. Just typed a report, pt w/brain glioma, needed surgery but had to postpone because her OUP (out-of-pocket) after insurance kicked in over $100k.
Not ALL work will be offshore. We need better schooling and job placement policies to keep more MT jobs here in good 'ol USA.
Webmedx town hall mtg ?? (sm)
This upcoming one is the first I have heard of since I came on board (about 3 months ago). Used to work for MQ and these were often a prelude to us getting s*&^*^d. Please tell me this is just an informative type how-do-you-do thing. So far everything about this company has been great, I just have recurring nightmares about the past couple of years I spent with MQ. Thanks.
town hall meeting
I agree. This is very much a listening meeting, basically a pep rally about how great Webmedx is and how they put the employees first. Unfortunately this is not the case demonstrated by the amount of posts here and the lack of work for those of us who have given so much to this company. Now we sit with nary a thing to do.
The hospital in the town where my daughter
goes to college sends their x-rays to Australia to be read.
I live in a very small town that won't allow chain-
.
small town dweller too, but my thinking has
oh yeah, when I first came out of the hospital systems, started seriously working in a remote way, I saw many posts about shipping our jobs overseas, and esp as regards to MQ doing so. But I thought, hey, they treat me well, pay me decent, give me benefits and I wasn't feeling impacted by this. Over time, observing the world around me vis networking, I began to see the picture differently. It became acutely different when MQ started removing more and more benefits and emphasizing our ILPs (international labor partners) and all the propaganda that came with it. I moved on to MDI and thought I'd be happy the rest of my MTing days. They made promises they have already broken, and I see the same pattern evolving. You can sit in your small town thinking, and I mean this in the metaphorical sense, and deny that there is anything wrong with it. But down the road when it bites you in the behind, and shakes your world, and in the larger sense, when more and more people in the once great USofA are unemployed and the backs of the middle class are hunched over from trying to bear that financial burden of putting so many on the public rolls, YOU TOO may begin to see the damage of shipping work overseas. Not to mention your wages going DOWN to keep your employer competitive.... It WILL eventually touch you too, or your kids or your grandkids, but in some way WILL reach you too.
what town are you in? if you don't want to be that specific then maybe county/state info
nm
Just got an E-mail about a Webmedx town hall meeting
Town hall conference call was very impressive. sm
I'm glad to be working for Webmedx.
12/cpl, hsi, no travel time, no paper/products. Small town.
dd
Small town Missouri girl very happy at Transcend
I’ve been sitting here in my little corner of Missouri wondering if I could diplomatically address any of your concerns. At first I was compelled to simply set the record straight and now I’m just compelled to show my support not only for my country…but also my company! That’s right…bold statement, huh?! No, I’m not a SUIT, (and BTW neither is Stephanie Campbell) but a humble MLS who was promoted to a TL (Team Leader) and now again to a QAS within MY company. You see, Transcend loves their MLS and treats them with the respect and the recognition they deserve. If you want to excel in this industry, Transcend is the only company you should be looking at. Oh, and by the way, I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta and meet some of the SUITS of the company and they’re just like me…patriotic, family-loving, hard-working everyday human beings. AND they care about my opinion; what works for my region and why other things don’t!
I worked for a large hospital facility in Nebraska before coming to Transcend and loved it dearly, but honestly technology-wise I didn’t realize how far behind they were. Since being with Transcend I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand how they continually upgrade, enhance and automate processes for their MLS; always trying to make things easier and time efficient for their employees. Who wouldn’t want to be on the leading edge of technology in our industry?
As for sending work overseas…. Transcend does in fact outsource on occasion a very small percentage of it’s volume, but only when there are gaps in turnaround time coverage and ONLY when the customer approves it. If there are American MLS willing and able to take some of that work from overseas workers, we are more than happy to provide it to them. That’s why we need your help to keep this company going strong as an AMERICAN company. Every single day I’m thankful for my job with Transcend and have grown to love the tight-knit family I work with. Each day we talk and keep each other inspired! We cover for each other in time of crisis and give each other a pep talk when we need it. I can confidently say that my life has changed for the better since I came on board. I really do love it. Transcend is where it’s at if you want to work at home.
Me in my little corner of Missouri will get off my soap box and let you ponder this: Perhaps if a small town girl from Missouri can make a CAREER with Transcend maybe you can too?! The possibilities with Transcend are out there, attainable….you just have to reach for it!
Just got an E-mail about a Webmedx town hall meeting coming up. Those are NEVER good news. FYI.
I predict they will announce that, due to tough economic times, they will cut the VR rate. You know it is going to happen.
Go Local
I would not consider editing unless the pay reflected my experience as an MT. Editors spend a lot of time cleaning up the garbage.
I think you have to go local for that.
I don't know of any that pay hourly for MT work. Many do for QA work, but not for MT.
I know around here many of the local hospitals do that, but it's usually MTs that have been with their hospital for a certain period of time. They don't hire from outside to work at home.
Also look at local
While most local comapanies have an onsite group they will sometimes hire people who have worked out of their homes for years. If you are moving from Transcend submit your resume to local recruiters and find out if there is a temp agency in your area that does transcription based companies. A local physician group still uses me per diem and while they have onsite if I need to they also support offsite - it saves them some money because they don't have to support your equipment!
Just be aware, VR is the wave of the future. My guess is that in 10-20 years everything will be run through VR and nothing will be transcribed from scratch...of course if we all stand together and demand more money than they are currently offering the market will eventually succumb :)
I know...it's sad..I used to love it at MQ when we had a local
office but everything has changed so and I just HAVE to make more money! Good luck to all MQers looking elsewhere!
Local hospital - sm
I loved Medware until they started sending so much of their work to Medware India. I spent my days editing the offshore work. Its incredibly frustrating. It doesn't matter how much feedback you give, the same errors are made. A person cannot go day after day after day doing that without getting down. I made the decision to leave and have been so much happier. I only have to worry about my own quality now. 
local offices
what is the best way in getting starting for working for local doctors? Get business cards made up, show them a resume? I have often thought about this and afraid to take the leap. is this reliable work? I'm sure they can let you go whenever they want but I guess that's the case anywhere. please, any info would help.
I agree - go local. (nm)
.
Local Hosptials in GA
Greetings
I reside in ATL and wondering if by chance if anyone knew who handles the transcription for Atlanta Medical Center, Grady Hospital, St. Josephs Hospital and any other local hospital here. I seem to can't get anywhere by calling. I am a newbie and is not having the best of luck with MTSOs right now. Any help would be very much so appreciated. Thank you.
I had a local MTSO try to do that to me...
...I was ready to sign the contracts after meeting with them in person, until I heard I'd have to pay a one-time nonrefundable charge due lump sum for $600.00 for the FTP software. To add further insult to injury, they also advised me they didn't pay for spaces and required me to transcribe a minimum of 1200 lpd.
I couldn't run out of there fast enough.
What would I do with their FTP software if I quit? It would be useless to me, and I'd have paid for it.
I steer clear of companies asking me to pay for use of their software, I'd suggest you do the same.
Call your local DOL
You are entitled to minimum wage if you are an employee. So make sure you are punching a time clock or otherwise keeping track of your hours and your pay.
You can also file for partial unemployment.
That s/b local OR 800#. no text
gourdie - do you have a local - sm
news station that exposes these type of injustices? they love the david vs goliath type of stories...
Our two local hospitals do just that.
Management is at the hospital. MTs have a choice to work at their medical records departments or work remotely from home. Benefits are excellent. Health insurance rates are very reasonable. Pay is hourly - guess what, always on time. They are always offering CPR classes free, movie tickets and group travel plans at discounts. ACTUALLY GIVE RAISES.
I would love to see all hospitals go back to this. More personal employment, keep it local, smaller group of docs that we actually might know, not as much BS as working for an MTSO. I think this gives the MT back their feeling of being a professional and the hospitals treat us fairly, like an employee and no BS about OT and line rates. Enough already with the greedy MTSOs who can't seem to get their act together with their overhiring, then low work, no work, then begging for help if you stay and most everyone else leaves.
Our local hospital...
has closed the entire top floor, and the nursing students from the local college are lucky to get 1 patient for their clinicals. They are asking the older seniority nurses and other personnel to retire early. Another hospital has the healthcare workers down to 32 hours per week. I am in OH, and my area is really bad economy-wise.
Do you work for local doctors?
If you do, how many do you work for to make that kind of money? Do you charge $.15/line? Thanks.
One more thing to consider: Local taxes
Don't know about you, but I have a local tax I think it's 1.5%, where I live. They don't deduct that from my pay like my state and federal taxes are deducted. I asked them to but they refused. So I'm going to have to come up with that money next year to pay my local tax. I can't afford to save it now. Those of you who have a local tax whrere you live better check your pay stubs and make arrangements.
Look through the yellow pages of your local
phone book and call agents that offer health insurance. Make several calls. I did this when we needed private insurance and each call I made I got a lower premium, although every company had the very same insurance. Celtic is what we found to be the lowest. We no longer have this insurance as we have insurance through DH job, but we had no existing conditions, no regular meds, nonsmokers, so I'm not sure if these were covered. I'd keep calling about COBRA. The company has to offer it. If you go 45 days without insurance and have a pre-existing condition you are in trouble, unless things have changed since we got insurance. There is a temporary insurance through Fortis that is very cheap, but the deductible is very high and it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions.
I'd stay away from the association for the self-employed or whatever it is called. When I called them their rates were double what I could get a private policy for and it was the same insurance.
A local cc (NC) costs about $1200. The
local state supported 4-year university now offers an on-line MT program too and I think it is about $1800.00. The cc arranges internships and helps with job placement, don't know about the 4-year school as it is a relatively new program and I am not familiar with it.
Then a small co or a local hospital SM
would be better. You are not going to find an MT service of any size that doesn't have a bunch of ESL dictators. That's just the way it is.
Do they take out for all taxes or just the Federal and you pay your own local? nm
s
Is there really an advantage to staying local? Most
It doesn't seem there's any more guarantee of stable work from local MTSOs than the national ones.
If you do want to stay local but work at home, also try Southern Transcription Services, located in Taylorsville, I think. They have a good reputation. Google them for their web site.
A local nephrology office - NM
NM
I know of two huge accounts local to me
One is a huge hospital system and the other is an ortho practice that I used to contract for and left due to the physician retiring, but they have 10 physicians. They are very unhappy with the quality of reports from C-Bay. Not surprising that they are not needing as many MTs these days since their reputation is very poor.
JLG did work for our local hospital when I was there.
They charged us $3.50 a line. I saw the contract. I was shocked. We paid ICs $1.50 a line. And the work was horrible. Everytime they uploaded reports, 2 of us spent most of the day correcting them. After about 6 months, we fired them.
My local area rates seem to run 9-12 CPL sm
If you want benefits as mentioned in your first posting, you'd need to become an employee. Some of the bigger companies offer a good competitive rate for ICs, 10-12 cpl (without benefits of course).
how does one find out what local rates are?
Also, how do you figure what rate you should charge if you land an account not in your area? Do you go by THEIR local rates? How do you know what those would be?
Once, while working for a local hospital
I was also working PT for the service that the hospital used. The only conditions made for that were that I could not work on my hospital's account as that could be considered a conflict, i.e., less work for the hospital so more was available for the PT job. I have yet to have a problem working for 2 companies. Currently I work for a national company FT and a local company PT. They do not have the same accounts, so therefore no conflict.
I work for local clinic 17 cpl
But it's only two doctors and another MT and I split the work.
Only when hired by a local hospital - sm
It is a little surprising to hear they want you to do this. I was hired by a local hospital (an hour away) and had to come in for training there - up to 3 months, unless I got the hang of it earlier. Some folks who worked there lived a little farther away (one was 3 hours) but all were within driving distance. So I have been asked - however, I've not been asked for a place as far away as what you described. 
Offered a new local job and trying to decide. sm
The new job is MT but it is not straight typing. It is basically putting reports together from a check list with occasional regular transcription. Will also be building reports from handwritten documentation. The doctors are all available and do not mind you asking if you cannot read something. I met all 11 of them today. There is 1 week vacation time the first year, 2 years after that. Med insurace is $30 per pay check is very good. Family is around 120 per check. They have retirement as well. It is also 8-5 M-F. All holidays off and paid. Now, here is the drawback. They only start at 13.50 per hour. They do give annual raises of a minimum of 5%. Travel is not a big issue as it is only 10 minutes or less from my house. The low pay I am a bit worried about. What is your opinions? All are appreciated. Also one last thing, this is a specialty clinic and I have always done acute care but know the specialty well.
A local surgery center
I was referred to them through someone else. They have had trouble keeping a transcriptionist. Now I know why.
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