Tradeoff between paper use and system speed (sm).
Posted By: Geek on 2006-05-08
In Reply to: Is it really necessary that you print ALL of it out? - sm
If I have too many reference lists up in Excel and Wordpad, my system bogs down; Microsoft products are such memory hogs.
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The paper says 45 days.
I hope it isn't 45 working days. 
paper work
I currently work for Phoenix and the paper work they send is for your use. It explains the doctors accounts and also has examples of the doctor work, so when or if you have a question, you can refer to these files. It is your choice to print them out or not.
I believe they have both, DD and paper check.
Extext and Escription, in my opinion, are the best platforms out there. Extext is a little more difficult, but Escript is totally awesome and very user friendly. TTS has had pay issues in the past (which you will find a lot of negative posts on here regarding that). I have worked here for almost a year now and have never had a single issue with my paycheck. Always on time! Feel free to email me if I can help further.
I haven't seen an MT job in the paper since the mid-80s!
X
carbon paper... sm
Not just onionskin but erasable onionskin... oh, yay!
Pale green eraser pencil with brush on the other end for boo-boos.
I'm going to bet that most dictators under the age of 40 have absolutely NO idea what they mean when they say CC to Dr. Jones...
If you are an IC, the printer, ink and paper are tax
x
First check will probably be paper
NM
I think the first one is paper check. nm
nm
and .... that is no different than with paper records, so ...
nm
No. The paper they make you sign
says $125 (I guess to reimburse them for sending it to you in the first place) and for returning it.
Do be aware . . . paper checks only! (sm)
They don't offer direct deposit, just mailed, typed, handsigned checks, which can be very hard to cash.
They don't communicate very well -- hard to get someone after 3pm EST if you have a problem.
At least one of their major accounts still uses a DOS platform and requires you to have this weird token thing that changes passwords every few minutes to log in. You also have to get their footpedal and software. So, if you're using their tools, their token, etc., how can you be an IC (since part of the definition of an IC is that you provide your own tools)? Another company the IRS needs to look into, IMHO.
The DOS platform is so slow you can't make any kind of lines. Instant Text works, but there is no way to save normals.
My son was about 17 when he asked me what carbon paper was! nm
X
That's funny didn't know they had it in the paper
I was told they recently moved somebody from another dept within the company to fill that position. She is definitely entry level, completely different field. Just goes to show.....
We may not have had to type on sticky paper
but MTs breaking into this business have their own set of challenges. I am a little tired being looked down on as a new MT, only 5 years, because it is so much easier. I beg to differ.
I went to school to be an MT. I have under my belt a 2-year Associates degree in Medical Transcription and a CareerStep class. I was hired by a national company who promised me a constant account with 2 backups, and I did not lie about my experience. I was at goal my first day of traning and have always had QA scores above the required average.
In return, I went to work and printed sample after sample after sample as we had over 100 doctors in my primary account alone. I learned new voices, new ways of pronouncing medications, and that some people still use kilograms as a unit of measurement. I faithfully made note of every blank I left and its correction so it would not be a blank again. I studied not only transcription but the other doctors names, specialties, area hospitals, local physicians, nursing homes, lakes and recreational facilities, highway and route numbers, and pretty much every possible place a person could work in the area.
My secondary account did not get as much attention initially, but 6 months after I started, my account was yanked and sent to India (where they no doubt know more about US geography than I do), so I repeated the process over again. So far I had made it a year and learned clinic notes, routine procedures (sometimes called OP notes), consultations, and ER transcription.
I had not lied about my experience, but it really didn't matter because one day I woke up, went to work, and was getting discharge summaries from a teaching hospital that I have never heard of. I was told that since I am doing so well that it was time to move on. LOL...it was more like no other team in the company could type that account so we got it. I typed it, cried, and typed it some more. Pretty soon, I was literally not making enough money to pay my bills after I paid my health insurance. I was not making my quota, which I had always regularly exceeded, and I was worried that I was going to lose my job for not producing. By the way, I am at a whopping 6.5 cents a line at this point.
I went looking for a job. I was recruited by a smaller MTSO by their president. He said that they were very supportive, like one big happy family, and they jump on a conference every month just to hash out any issues they have. I even got a 1 cpl raise. WOW...but, I am 3 months short of your 2-year minimum exeperience requirement. (I didn't lie).
I got the job anyway, and after 3-1/2 years, I have never jumped on a big ole conference call or had the opportunity to hash out any issues. Since being there, I have learned 10 accounts (repeat above learning process times 10), and I am still one of the highest producing MTs they have.
Again, I was handed a gift by my MTSO. I was given the opportunity to work on their self-described second hardest account because I was doing so well. Again, the message was sent by waking up one day and seeing it in my queue. I decided to be a team player because the company line is if you can do this, you can do anything. You will make bank.
Eventually, I was given another opportunity to help out on an account. This soon became my primary account because no one they trained on it could do it, and the account I was hired to do (and loved) was given to someone else. I figured if I was doing harder work (and the hardest they had),after 3 years I should get a raise.
No, I couldn't have a raise because they still had my primary account related to my pay scale. It didn't matter that even if I begged, I couldn't get that work. I was still what they considered a Level 1 MT. Shame on me, I went looking for another job.
I held that job for 1-1/2 weeks. I spent 3 days in training after waiting 2-1/2 months for my computer to arrive. It then took me another week to track down my production supervisor to be able to start working and get samples for my account. In our phone call, she apologized for taking so long (insert baby crying), but she was very busy as they had taken away her assistant and not replaced her (insert long pause as she IMs someone else). She was very hard to get a hold of now (insert baby crying again) but she would do what she could to get me started. I typed for 5 days and had 3 unanswered questions that were critical to me doing my work. I came back after a 2-day break to an e-mail that she was going to be gone for a week at a production supervisor meeting. Yes, I quit and without notice.
I was wise enough now to have not given up my current contract, and I decided to accept that they were going to pay me when they felt like it, but I was not going to take Level 1 pay for doing Level 3 work. I assumed that account full-time in June. I was off almost $800 that month even with the increased line rate (so much for making bank). By September I was back up to the production that was normal for me and raised my contract to 14,000 lines. Then last week, my boss tells me that we are backed up in OPs in this account.
I said that I would take them on as I had been practicing on them for quite some time. As I expected, my production dipped again. I knew I was not going to make 7000 lines, and I IM'd my supervisor that if I was going to be set for all OPs, I would need to readjust my contract back down.
The tizzy fit that she threw defies description, and I am back wishing for a new job. I told her simply that either we are in trouble for not meeting production or we are in trouble for not being a team player. I cannot produce 7000 lines of OP notes in a week, and I am not being terminated for not meeting my contract goals.
Is it fair that you have a single priority report that needs to be typed, and all I have to do is read the account notes (all xxx pages) and type it, BUT you are going to bash me if my production is off.
It is really easy for the MTSO
or management or whoever does it to complain that the quality isn't there or line counts aren't being met but wouldn't consider paying an ounce of training time to compensate you.
My husband is also self-employed. If I said to him, I know you regularly make xxx dollars an hour, but this is an emergency, and you are the only one who could do it, so would you mind spending 20 or 30 minutes learning how to do this. I know you may never have to do it again, and I won't pay you any more than what I normally would no matter how long it takes you, but would you do it to be a team player? I would STILL be taking that flying leap.
When you were back typing on sticky paper, did you regularly worry that you were going to have to stay an extra hour in the evening because the report you were on was taking too long? Did you spend your evenings researching doctors in Bullhead City, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio, and in some little known town in Louisiana that has a clinic but barely even a zip code? Did you have to use Mapquest as one of your transcription tools so you could figure out where this guy on this account is from? Did your boss come to you and say there is a clinic 300 miles away that is behind, and I volunteered you to do their work? Don't leave, now, until you have 1000 lines in. And don't WHINE.
PS...how do you know they don't whine in India.
so, it wasn't put on paper that you are terminated
nm
Saw on paper that pay was only 6 - 8.5 cpl. Is that what you guys will be starting at, or staying
m
On the front page of my morning paper
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/214991
I see a big ad in my paper for Heartland IS, many bad reviews on this board.
Stuff about them being sold and on their website is a big picture of....India? I am sort of new to the business, one of the MQ SE in the middle of the shuffle. Are there any companies that are stable? I am tired of stress. 
I don't think so. What you see on paper or on the screen in black and white.
If it were me, I certainly would ask specifically the HR person or MTSO. Pick up the phone, dial their number, and ask. Never take a job, unless you know how and what you are getting paid for.
I do believe it means without spaces, but I could be wrong. Things change so fast in this industry, what it means one day, does not necessarily have the same definition tomorrow.
Any Spheris employees get paper checks?
Just had my direct deposit changed to a paper check. Since payday is tomorrow, am wondering how long it will take to get my check--I am only two states away from HQ. Thanks!
Any Spheris employees get paper checks
Wow, I was expecting it Monday. That's good to hear!
I DID type on sticky paper and an IBM Selectric
Yes, I did stay an extra hour because a report was too long. The difference was I got paid for it and appreciated for it.
I agree with you. The cheap exploitation of the third world has driven a high percentage of this field into filthy trash and many of those managing it into slumlords. It went from MTs working from home to fill a need to just dirty bloodsucking middlemen looking for a place to weasel into and make a buck off the backs of others.
What do you mean that you have Thanksgiving with your family? What do you mean that your arms or back hurt after no time off for months? What do you mean that you need time off for a mammogram? Geeze. It's sick. It's just disgusting. I'm in it only because I've done it so long I'm not quite sure what else to do. I'm back at a hospital so I can be a PERSON again. The difference is night and day. I'm finding the hospitals are grossing-out on it, too, and outsourced MTs are thought of as those poor things and somewhat pitiful. Like a necessary evil they are trying to figure a way around.
LOL .. I'll bet you are write. UGH on the carbon paper ... sm
We typed in triplicate, so had to correct 3 documents each time I made a mistake. Forget the good old days in this case ... I am going to give my PC a big hug right now! 
Webmedx first pay date DD or paper check?
Just wondering. I know every place does something different. I asked my STM, and she is trying to find out for me, but i thought this might be faster.
mean black character on white paper
also called virtual black character or VBC. Spaces not paid for. Never do it. This is just horrible.
I wish I had kept the article out of the paper on Transcend outsourcing
The home office located (as you might know) close to Atlanta and it was listed as a top company for Georgia but was I surprised when the person speaking made no bones about their outsourcing and the reason they STATED for it, lack of American MTs. Well, ladies, who do you feel about that? I am sure someone posting on MTstars has this article because they did last time. Hopefully they can quote word for word.
I'll check paper tomorrow, but not sure about Broward,
zz
12/cpl, hsi, no travel time, no paper/products. Small town.
dd
Article in local paper about Spheris and outsourcing to India
Franklin-based Spheris Near Top of Medical Transcription Business
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD
In today’s world of Palm Pilots and voice-recognition software, you might think the need for medical transcriptionists is waning. You would be wrong. Franklin-based Spheris employs more than 5,000 medical transcriptionists worldwide and is looking to hire more as its service to more than 200,000 physicians at health systems, hospitals and doctor groups continues to grow.
The world is changing because the demand for electronic medical records … is very high. Certainly there are some technologies being tried and adopted, such as speech-recognition technology or systems where the physician is required to key in his or her own information. Those are still in their infancy and hold some promise in the distant future. But for right now the work-flow habits of physicians and hospitals and the need to see many more patients and process them more efficiently is driving the demand for what we do to its highest levels, explains Harry Shaw, Spheris investor relations.
In July, Spheris was named No. 7 among the nation’s fastest-growing healthcare information technology companies. The designation was by the publication Healthcare Informatics, which also ranked Spheris 28th for total revenue. The company is the second largest in the medical transcription industry.
Spheris’ growth is in no small measure due to its December 2004 acquisition of HealthScribe (also known briefly as Avicis), which was No. 3 in the field. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Spheris gained a workforce of more than 1,800 transcriptionists. About 1,500 of those employees work at a centralized facility in Bangalore, India. Thus, says Shaw, the transaction gave Spheris a much-needed global perspective.
To service this increased demand that’s out there, having enough medical transcriptionists to do the work is a real challenge to the industry in general. One way to tackle that increased demand is to tap the resources that are available globally, he says. One of the neat things about having an operation based in India is that a lot of dictation is done at the end of the day after hours. So we get a lot of volume that comes in late in the evening, and if you follow the sun, that’s the morning time for India. They’re just starting their business day, so we can route a lot of volume that we get late in the day to India when transcriptionists are just coming to work.
Shaw says the fact that Spheris owns its international facility and employs its workers rather than subcontracting differentiates the company from similar businesses. In addition, all Spheris’ medical transcriptionists in the United States are either full-time or part-time employees of the company.
With more than 3,500 employees and additional sites in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Sterling, Va., Spheris depends on high-tech global systems to quickly turnaround client transcription. Here’s how the technology works: Spheris provides clients with a server and whatever voice-capture system the client prefers. That might be a hand-held device or it might be a phone number the client calls. Shaw says fulfillment shops ensure that the client — as well as transcriptionists — have the hardware and software necessary to do the job. Following a patient encounter, physicians and other healthcare providers dictate details such as patient history, diagnosis and medications prescribed. The voice files are sent to a data center in either Franklin, St. Petersburg or Sterling, then passed out to transcriptionists.
The technology play is critical for a company of our size, and it’s one of the advantages that we offer in terms of cost savings, he says. He acknowledges, however, the continued existence of sneaker net, with some physicians continuing to speak into a tape recorder; then tapes are picked up at the office for delivery to Spheris.
Most of Spheris’ U.S. transcriptionists work out of their homes, where they usually receive digitized voice files over the Internet. Spheris offers the client a variety of templates, or the client may have its own format. Turnaround time is 12 to 24 hours, Shaw says, although stat service is available.
As it is known today, Spheris is the result of a small Franklin company called Total eMed, which purchased the much larger EDiX from IDX Systems in June 2003. The resulting company was branded as Spheris. In November 2004, the company completed a recapitalization in which two private equity investors, Warburg Pincus and Soros Private Equity (now known as TowerBrook Capital Partners), acquired ownership. The management team, led by President and CEO Steven E. Simpson, also invested and continues to lead company operations.
Asked if an IPO is in Spheris’ future, Shaw says the company will take a cautious approach to that. We want to make sure that we stay disciplined around the acquisition of HealthScribe, making sure that we’re fully integrating all aspects of that. … We do have a growth strategy in mind, and that certainly is an option down the road.
No, we got a small Valentine's gift that looks like a paper weight/ memo holder??
nm
TA Speed sm
I don't use TA Speed, I use Instant Text, so I can't answer your question about imports into it. However, I do use AutoCorrect for correcting my typos, and I have no problem with it. Your original AutoCorrect file will still be there, even after you install your software. I don't see why you couldn't just continue to just use your AutoCorrect if you wanted. During my initial training, I told the techie-type critter that I wanted to use my Instant Text (and not the TA Speed), and I *think* he went into the system and did some kind of techie voodoo, so keep that in mind (and mention it to the tech if/when you do work for them). =)
It took me a while to get up to speed
I do acute care only. I know when I was hired, I was told I would not be paid for any carbon copy information, but I don't remember about demographics...Demo information would only be a line or so, anyway at most.
I do know the computer strips out any hanging spaces at the end of paragraphs, but a lot of companies can do that with their platforms as well.
If your headers and footers are embedded in the template, I don't see how you could be paid for that as it would not be something you produced as part of the report.
As far as lines per pay period, I print out a copy of my schedule, jot down my line cout for the day and total it out at the end of the pay period. When I get my check, it always matches what I have calculated.
If you are limited in what type of work you can produce, you probably will have a hard time making lines. The more diversified you are, the more likely you can be cross trained and placed on backup accounts.
ASR Speed
Had to give you a pat on the back, ndmt. Excellent, excellent point. Why doesn't someone stop the madness?
Speed
Reading this board, I am being disabused of the notion that I am any good at MT at all. Been at it about 15 years and I'm a part-timer; always have been. I came to it when I was over 45, as a retirement job.
I don't get to use a lot of templates or normals, so this is not a factor. On a good day, with really 'clean' dictations (good sound quality, clear dictator who is not constantly correcting himself) not having to spend a lot of time looking stuff up and with the wind at my back, I can produce maybe 250 lph for 2-3 hours. I always thought this was pretty good. Then I get fatigued and drop to 200 or so. With really bad dictators/sound/subject matter, I get as low as 150. I believe my knowledge and accuracy are good, but obviously my speed sucks.
On this board I am seeing claims of sustained speeds of 300-400 lph or more. So I'm thinking that maybe VR could actually IMPROVE my production. And as my company seems to be phasing this in ,account by account, I will soon have the opportunity to see for myself.
I would like to take an informal survey of speeds and VR vs straight transcription. Anybody willing to weigh in on this subject?
Speed
Been on VR for a year, been an MT for 25, have also been a book editor/manuscript proofreader. None of that matters one bit. And, no, VR does not learn and improve--at least not the platform I use. My top VR so far is 350 lph, average about 200-250. Main problem is reports with no punctuation, SR guessing at words, having to insert numbering, but my absolute favorite is docs taking personal calls while microphone is still on. I've heard everything from 2 docs discussing whether to seduce a woman with wine, candy, flowers, a skiing trip, etc, and then one of them calling in midst of same report to ask some chick if she'd sleep with him that night, that he was having dinner catered, also docs talking to their stockbrokers and car dealers, wondering whether to buy the green or the black Jag, and docs screaming at their kids and/or spouses--all this goes into SR and the old SR gremlin tries to turn it into part of the report, just as it does when the doc says--Go back and insert so and so under the diagnoses and take out so and so from the med list and add 3 more cc's, ad nauseum. All that stuff and more will slow you down terribly. You can never count on getting good clean SR reports for a whole shift. I think I need to get a job selling SR/VR systems but I couldn't stomach that kind of dishonesty to promise that MTs would be doing 600 lph in no time.
actually, the typing speed...
is not as important as learning to use an expander to do the work for you. This is the REAL key. I type perhaps 300+ words a minute using mine.
How long did it take you to get up to speed (sm)
As to the 300 lph? I'm pretty excited as I've been offered a position with them. Thanks for the info.
Why is it so hard to get speed
with that company, are they on a slow system or something?
Speed vs. Accuracy
Medical transcription in the 21st century emphasizes production and speed. While your medical background is a big help, you will need to crank out the lines if you have any hope of making money, especially as a newbie. Please keep in mind the time, effort and energy expenditure versus the financial return. Finally, I would keep my options open, and not limit them to medical transcription. Good luck.
Voice speed
I can't help with that as when I fix the voice through Express Scribe it stays that way.
speed rate
to the person that e-mailed me, my e-mail has not been working correctly but no to your question if it is working. good luck!
Speed is a big issue
10 cpl is more than I make, but I'm pretty fast. My base rate is 7.5 to 8 cpl depending on which of my 2 accounts I'm on, but since I do enough lines daily to qualify for bonus, I acutally make 9 to 9.5 cpl per line. I average about 1500 lines per day. Production is what drives pay, so that's why I'm making what I do. I think it's unfortunate that years of experience isn't really compensated in this business, but years of experience doesn't always equal what the employer wants, which is speed and low error rate. Everyone brings a different set of skills to the job. In the end it's what you produce and not how many years you have behind you that the employer cares about. Fair or not, that's the nature of this business.
changing speed
go to the transnet player, click more at the bottom right, and it gives you options you can change.
adjust speed
tech dept could even help. They gave me another phone number to address this problem and never even got a call back. that did it for me.
adjust speed
I did this and it did not work for me. it would not budge. I'm not there any longer.
Speech speed?
You are so right. If you have lousy dictators it is easier to type them from scratch than to correct the system errors made because of them. I had to go to speech and my checks are down 40%. What system were you using? The one I am on is awful. It types every grunt and entire phrases the dictator did not say. For me it is easier to do ESLs than speech, at least with the system and dictators I have. Is there a better system out there?
LPH and increase speed
As I mentioned before, I am struggling with speed.
I am curious what most people start out typing (LPH) and how quickly you increased to your max (many mentioned they are 200-300+) lph. Anyone who will share on this?
I appreciate it!
Speed tips on VR
MG - WOW! can you tell me how you achieve such a great line count with VR? That is incredible. I have worked on eScription before and am now on Dolbey which is similar. I am starting to get used to using the function keys and not the mouse but I wonder if you could share some speed building tips? Thanks!
speed tips
I speed up the audio enough to still hear it but to be able to get through it faster. If i run into something I am not sure of, i just slow it down. I use ALL of the shortcut keys I can as well and run the spellcheck! :)
dictaphone speed
Does Dictaphone itself increase the speed of dictations in ExText? My dictators are suddenly speaking much faster than before. I have them turned down to the minimum speed, and they're still too fast. I've heard of Dictaphone increasing the speed so that we have to type faster. Do you think this is true?
emdat speed
I have version 4.91.308. The option to slow it down or speed it up is there, it says playback rate, but it breaks up horribly when you slow it down. Is there another way?
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