Question to ponder.....
Posted By: instructor on 2009-01-27
In Reply to:
I am an instructor at a local community college teaching transcription as well as medical records and coding....my question is this. This new stimulus package that Obama is proposing talks about funding $20 billion to computerize medical records and make them more efficient.....how do you see this affecting our jobs as MT, or any part of the medical records portion. I would love to discuss this with my students and would appreciate any feedback all of ya'll out there might have.
Thanks in advance
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Another point to ponder........
A large percentage of MTs work at home. We are not anywhere near the company's office to be aware of what is going on, what polices are being introduced or abandoned, etc. Sometimes we tend to be caught up in our own space and just assume that the company is taking care of business and looking out for us. (I really think these big corporations have used this to their advantage.) From what I have seen over the years, this is NOT the case. Maybe it's time for us to get involved again. Feedback welcome.
Some other factors to ponder Maggie...sm
I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.
I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I. I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.
Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals. The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.
It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.
To all my fellow MDI'ers: Things to ponder...
Hi all
I have been with MDI for over a year now (part time) and really like it! Most times my accounts have work. I am going through some changes at home and am really trying to make some serious life changing decisions so would like to get a few opinions:
My husband and I separated in April. I have been home for 6 years with my youngest child, and he is in first grade this year and absolutely love being home for him. Summers of course are the most difficult, I do not send him to day care and we do more things together in the summer, love it! However, as of last year I have been trying to get into a local LPN nursing school here and have succeeded and am scheduled to begin September 8, but here is my dilemna, I am having second thoughts! I now don't know if this is something I really want to do and why I am having these thoughts. I do like being a medical transcriptonist, but feel a little burned out at times. Plus, I am not sure if I can afford to go to school, my first loan installment (cost of living) will not come until November. I have a little money set aside, but it is going quickly. I am trying to determine if I can support me and my son on just an income from MDI or if I should really change gears and go to school. I love the flexibility of working at home and am sure I will miss this, but nursing school is very demanding and the job itself once I am out there. Like I said, I love being a mom and able to have the freedom of doing this from home. So, how many of you support yourselves or your families on the income from MDI and is this something I can reasonably expect to be able to do? I have been doing this for 15+ years so I am definitely experienced. Plus, I do not like the idea of worrying about taxes, but if I go to work as an employee I will lose more of my freedom. I like being an IC. I did work for Medquist for almost 7 years and left them to come here and there is a world of difference between the 2 companies.
What would all of you do? Stay with MDI or go to school? And if I do go to school, I would keep MDI very part time at least until I was through with school. But, do you think with all the changes going on in the transcription world we will eventually have no jobs or our jobs will change drastically? How can I decide what is best for me and my son?
Please any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!
A couple of things to ponder and solicit opinions
This is not the only odd thing occurring at MDI-MD. Let me give you my opinion of what's happening with YOUR situation, and perhaps you can venture an explanation to my oddity.
First of all, I often read the threads on the MQ board and from what I gather, once an account is shuttled over to VR, the only dictators left for straight transcription are either new dictators or the ones who are so horrible that VR can't translate them.
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say you are being left with the dregs that cannot be converted to VR. It might very well be this is an example of what you will be stuck with from here on out.
Oddly, on my MDI account, there was no work on one of my clinics for 2 days. I found it strange but thought perhaps the clinic had not been seeing patients for a couple of days.
Imagine my shock when reports dictated on SEPTEMBER 4th did not show up to be transcribed until SEPTEMBER 8th.
Where where those reports for 4 days? Perhaps over in India and the ILPs fell out of TAT and so MDI begrudgingly had to bring them back for the American MTs to catch up? I have worked on this particular account for over a year, and NEVER have reports not been in the cue ready to type immediately after they are dictated.
This same scenario occurred again 3 days later; dictation that was 2 days old suddenly appeared (a different specialty within the same clinic).
Yep, strange things are definitely going down at MDI-MD and I expect it's going to become even stranger the closer to January we get.
What's that linen from All About Eve? 'Fasten your seatbelts, folks...It's going to be a bumpy night!'
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