Why I refuse to renew my CMT certification
Posted By: Something we can do on 2008-06-04
In Reply to: Outsourcing our work! - Shirley
This is from http://mtindia.info/news/latest/heartland-information-services-spryance-inc.-merge.html
(see ALL CAPS in second-to-last paragraph)
Heartland Information Services, Spryance, Inc., Merge Written by News Editor
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Combined Companies Create Premier Outsourced Transcription Provider Heartland Information Services has merged with Spryance, Inc., forming one of the premier offshore transcription providers in the United States. Spryance shareholders will fund the purchase of Heartland Information Services from HCR ManorCare. The new combined company will be marketed under the Heartland Information Services brand.
Headquartered in Boston, Spryance provides transcription service to more than 175 hospitals and clinics across the country, utilizing 1,200 MTs in India. Heartland’s corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore and Delhi, India. By combining companies, the new Heartland will have over 2,500 medical transcriptionists providing service to over 200 hospital and clinical customers.
Dennis Paulik, General Manager of Heartland, will become the President and CEO of the new combined company. Raj Malhotra, CEO of Spryance, will become Chairman of the Board of the combined companies. Joining Mr. Malhotra on the board will be Gene Barduson, Chairman and CEO, Alteer, Inc., Dennis Byerly, former CEO Third Millennium Healthcare Systems, Inc., Mahendra Patel, formerly with DEC, David Beecken, Partner, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, and Thomas Schleisinger, Partner, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company.
“Combining the two companies creates synergies that will add value for customers,” says Dennis Paulik, President and CEO of the new Heartland Information Services. “For example, Heartland provides industry-leading quality and customer support and Spryance provides capacity and scalability.”
“The Spryance investors, led by Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company and International Finance Corporation, provide the financial strength and resources for the new Heartland to grow rapidly,” adds Mr. Malhotra, Heartland Information Services Chairman of the Board.
...
American Association for Medical Transcription, in association with Prometric, announced the Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) credentialing exam – a newly developed global ‘level-1’ credential in the arena of Medical Transcription. This program is aimed at helping the existing talent pool to scale up and meet the global standards and quality benchmarks. THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS ALSO ANNOUNCED A SPECIAL 'INDIA PRICE' FOR AAMT'S EXISTING CERTIFIED MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST (CMT) EXAM (emphasis mine).
Medical Transcription is a booming industry with exponential growth prospects and opportunities for committed players. While globally the industry potential is around USD 30-33 billion, in India it is around USD 300 million. Currently, there are around 18,000 medical practitioners in the country and this is expected to almost double within the next 2-3 years.
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I did not renew
my CMT... but really saddened by all of this! Yes, I agree money, power. It is really like a lot of things in America today, we do not take care of homeland first. If you have plenty to spare following that, sure look to include others, but take care of your own first......
Certification
My company pays more for that. And while it's only a penny per line for the credential, over a year that really ads up. With someone with minimum production, it equates to an additional $2500 for the year. They also reimburse for passing the test so no one is out of pocket for the cost of the test once they pass it. That $2500 is if you only type 125 lines per hour. Clearly if you do more, the additional income would be more than that. I've never found that getting and keeping my credits cost me more than that, in fact, it has always been much less.
Coding certification
First I would encourage you that if you are serious about coding, do NOT go to a course that does not allow to test for NATIONAL certification. There are only 2 organizations in the US that do national certification. AAPC (the first) and AHIMA. With AAPC there are numerous companies that offer their course. The cost runs between $1200 and $1600 for a three month course of 8 hour classes plus your proctored exam and membership to AAPC, or you can do the self-study course for the same money (I chose to be in a classroom setting so I could have questions answered on the spot). You can opt to take the course for hospital coding CPC-H (which few hospitals will recognize as official) or the doctor/outpatient based course - CPC, which is widely recognized.
I don't know the cost of AHIMA's testing but it is as intense as AAPC's but it is mostly taken by people who either already have AAPC certification or are already working in a medical coding setting. Both organizations offer apprecentice programs if you are not already in a coding setting until you can clock some coding hours. I think you need references to enter either program as to your character - remember, if you make a mistake the penalty could be monetory and/or a jail term.
Now, can you get a job and is the money worth it. Most hospitals want AHIMA's inpatient certification and 1-2 years OTJ experience, unless they are hiring for their outpatient clinics and/or ER (which they will then accept the AAPC's CPC). Most of these positions pay between $15 and $24/hr plus bennies.
It is very hard to get into the coding industry. It's just like trying to get into MT without any experience, only harder. I would network, join both organizations as a member and go religiously to the monthly meetings to network and learn. Both certifications require a high number of CEU's to be earned each year. It is easier to get into a physician's office setting as a CPC. Most of these jobs pay $9 to $18/hr depending on geography, but again you'd have to be very, very good and have good references from certified mentors to help you get a job with no experience.
Most jobs are obtained by word of mouth. If you are very good, you could skip working in a hospital or doctor's office and become a consultant and/or instructor without any working experience (more $$ for the instructor's certification). It would be like working as an IC. You would have to hustle to get clients and build a reputation. I was lucky and got a job with a hospital in their outpatient clinic side at $19/hr with hospital bennies and had an offer with the people whose course I took to become an instructor and consultant for them even before I got the results from my test score (but I had prior coding experience). My job was basically consulting, doing audits and giving feedback and education to doctors on how to maximize their reimbursement, how to document charts properly and be available for their coding questions. I loved the respect I got from the doctors. It was totally unlike what I get directly from doctors as an MT. They are eager to learn, listen to what is being taught, are interactive, friendly and recognize that you are there to help them succeed.
If your MTSO is also adding a coding department to their company, that would be an easier way to get into coding as it could be done from home with access to electronic medical records. There are a number of tools available to coders that help to electronically code and flag potential errors, hopefully your company would pay for all that because it can be quite expensive.
I tried to portray a clear and realistic picture with discouraging you. It's a lot like going into MT without someone being realistic with you, so the fact that you asked is a good sign.
good luck,
d~
National Certification for MTs
Can someone refer me to a website or something so I can get certified. Finished my course with a college and they don't of course deal with the National Certification. Anyone out there done the certification part. Please help. Thanks
eScription certification?
I work on eScripiton too, but have never heard of any kind of certification, much less advanced. Where would I look to find out about that?
I don't know either, but I will never get my CMT. It is ridiculous to want that certification.
x
We need licensure, not certification, to be an MT sm
If you look at other professions where people are licensed, there is minimum education, minimum skills and sometimes even levels of licensure.
In my opinion, a CMT is worthless. I know many who have passed it studying to pass it, as in studying for the test to pass, but still can't do an OP note or any cardio, 2 things that are on the CMT exam. It is like kids in school learning to pass a standardized test, not what is important or creative.
I know I could pass the CMT if I sat down and took it in 10 minutes and I would pass with no problems. The typing portion of the exam is on things I do each and every day and have for years. My CMT would be the same as a CMT who studied only for the exam!
There has to be something and I think licensing is it.
Some union contracts have more pay for certification. sm
At a facility I worked at for about 11 years, we had that benefit - $1.00 an hour for certification. You would have to find a unionized hospital and see how their contract reads.
I cut myself off :) Experience should be considered always in lieu of certification. nm
x
At times with Webmedx...no matter what your experience or certification...sm
Have many accounts, QA grades that are over 98....so maybe it depends on your supervisor...I don't know...have only been there since about 11/2007.
Refuse? Ha! Ha! SM
I worked there for almost 2 years and there is no refusing mandatory OT. If they say OT, you work it. It was usually 1 or 2 hours a day.
If you would still refuse to get SM
your CMT after you've seen it's slowly becoming a requirement, then the only person who is keeping you from your livelihood is YOU.
Let's refuse to do it!
I have heard that companies pay the same whether it is VR or typing as well and I honestly think we should all just REFUSE to do it. If nobody does it, what choice would they have? They could of course recruit fresh newbies with no experience, but they would see quickly an MT needs good experience to correct and fix all of that junk that gets printed on there.
I refuse to allow a company to IM me.
I turn the stupid thing off when I am working because I do not want the distraction. If the boss has something important to say, then they can write or call, but don't think I was put on this earth so you can jot me little notes all day long.
I refuse to work on anything else.
Okay...once in a blue moon fill in with some FTP stuff but LOVE escription. :-)
You cannot live on that and i refuse to do it.
I have not done line pay ever and won't. Yes, I have bills to pay just like anyone else, but seeing my pay get cut because of the laziness of others (which I think is just an excuse--only a few I know ever abused hourly QA pay--actually not that many). Everyone I have ever worked with in QA no matter what company worked very hard. We worked together and I am telling you that if companies are giving you the reason that people abuse it, they are lying to you. They are just plain cheap and they found out that some companies got away with it so they are trying to do it. I said it on other posts, I hope they all go out of business because anyone who is worth their weight in gold will not take wages like that and the ones I know have all quit. We are trying to figure out what to do about it, but to be honest...we'd all rather do anything else but this in this industry that has no respect for any person alive.
If you refuse, you will find very little SM
work to do. They'll tell you it's because you won't do VR, plenty of work there.
if there is work and you refuse to do wm
it unemployment can refuse you also. They don't care how much it is per line, that doesn't come into play.
There is a line though where you can draw a partial check if you make more than a certain amount.
Bottom line is, just because a company doesn't pay what you want it to doesn't mean there isn't work and that is all unemployment is concerned with.
I think we should refuse to do VR for that rate and tell them to....sm
.....send it to India!
I refuse to work for any company that
insists you use their computer and YOU have to pay for it. I can't believe MTs companies to do this.
Stay at Precyse and refuse or don't do ASR and
consistently on both your primary and secondary accounts. Then whatchagonna do? They're not real big on sharing work out of regions.
Agree. I refuse to sit around and wait.
My family started a new business last year and I am just waiting for our client list to build and then I am jumping ship. No need to wait around until the worm turns when I could be making good money now, not siting around hoping that I will make decent money 10 years from now.
They have a couple of travelers that absolutely refuse
to take an assignment if there is a drug test. Now I don't know about you, but to blatantly come right out and tell the company you work for that you can't pass a drug test and give you another assignment that doesn't require one ... TAKES NERVE AND BALLS! But they allowed this.
This one guy (yes, a male transcriptionist) would take the rental car from Illinois and drive back to Shreveport, Louisiana just to bring back pot! And then had the nerve to charge the hospital/company for mileage. AND THE HOSPITAL PAID FOR IT!
They refuse to deduct state taxes, if that's
nm
I absolutely refuse to take long tests.
Maybe one dss file, that's it for me. I'm finished typing someone's work for the day. I feel like you are actually doing work for free on some of these tests. They get your test, and then don't even reply back that you failed. I would almost bet they are giving you their overflow. Then all they have to do is QA it. I feel like if they get a backlog they say, hey let's put it as a job offer. We'll get bites, we'll have them do it as a test, and then all we need to do is QA it, and it is like they are getting us to type for free... 
I amend the contract or refuse to sign
I've been presented with a no-compete 2 times. Both times when I questioned the employers for more specifics, the info I received from them went contrary to what the clause actually stated. (I think they had just copied it from somewhere.) I told them if they had a presence on the Internet, then their market was the entire world and that if I signed that contract as stated, it would mean I could not work for anyone in the world as a Transcriptionist for a year and there was no way I was going to sign that. Both times the employers they said they did not realize this. They just didn't want anyone stealing their clients.
I refused to sign each one until I personally rewrote that clause stating specifically that I would not pursue any of their current clients, especially the accounts I was on, for a year after leaving their employ and that if I pursued someone but did not realize that entity was their client, I would not be held responsible (since I was not privy to their client base). That was it. Nothing more. They were more than glad to comply and said they were glad I told them this and would amend that contract for future employees, as neither one of them wanted to prevent anyone from working.
I'd consider possible court costs if you take the severance and pursue work. They might not win if it went that far but you'd still be at chance for possible hefty fees just to get the case dismissed and end up with less money and more hassle. Your lawyer should be able to give you a figure on this.
I am with you and am happy to refuse low paying offers. However,
I know there are people out there who will continue to work for peanuts. I am anxious to see how may responses you get to your post. Come on ladies. Let's do this!
I absolutely REFUSE to send them feedback.
It takes way too long. I've done this in the past, and as you've also stated, nothing came of it. I won't give them anymore free time. Any time I have, I need to use for my job search.
I refuse to talk to offshore tech.I say bye, hang up
x
Even if VR quality does improve, if we refuse to edit overseas dictation, they will still... SM
have no choice but to keep the work here. Once again, we hold the key. Our destiny resides with us on this issue as well.
I find that people who refuse to say who they recruit for are frauds. Nonsense.
x
I work for an all-US company and refuse to work for one that offshores. Best of luck to you. nm
nm
You know, I understand about this backup business. I actually have started to refuse backup
accounts because I fully well realize that after you learn it which could take a decent amount of time depending on how difficult the account is that it will also disappear so I have made it a point to usually refuse secondary accounts and for sure beyond that. I have just started to get a secondary JOB instead of secondary accounts because the name of the game is they are using you to run that account out and then on to the next one. I dont play the game anymore. If they dont like it, tough. Let them find someone else. Eventually MTs will just stop wanting to work there and they will get less and less qualified MTs as people move on.
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