You're on to me Dr. Phil. Wanting to work in a profession
Posted By: just had to say it on 2009-09-24
In Reply to: Whatever.... - Why do MTs hate so much on people
where my pay is not being cut month to month is so wrong. Please don't take my funnin' the wrong way. I'll try to use my powers better from now on.
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It's not like we're a bunch of perverted axe murderers wanting to work with
children or the elderly. It's typing. Whoop DE doo. Any FLYING MONKEY could do it. You don't have to be sane or emotionally stable to type. Besides, discriminating against people for mental illness is grounds for a lawsuit, isn't it?
"ONLY a profession of predominantly women would call the other women crazy for wanting the basics
If this were a male-predominant industry, I can guarantee you the companies would be offering more or else they wouldn't have any workers. Men don't stand for the stuff women do. I don't understand why women do not think they are worth a fair wage, decent benefits, and a little vacation time here and there. Many say this is just a part-time gig while they raise a family. Does that mean your time is less valuable? I just don't get it.
work ethics -- not just this profession
you will find there are those kind of people in any given profession. Also you never know one's background and you cannot compare apples to oranges. Providing wisdom for someone is far better and more professional and makes you the bigger person.
You know what? It is not a matter of not wanting to work (sm)
weekends. It is a matter of having a family and after working 6 to 12 hours a day during the week, it would be nice to be able to spend time with them.
I have been doing this for quite a while also, and I feel that I have put in my time for working weekends and really dont want to do it anymore. I would like to spend time with my kids. So if that makes me a prima donna for not wanting to work weekends and have someone else raise my kids, then so be it. I did not have them to pawn them off to someone else.
Who in the heck pays you that insulting rate. As Dr. Phil says, "Are you kidding me" LOL
There is no way. I cant get over it, 2 cpl a line???? just pennies a line what an insult for your time. I dont care if you are an old MT or newbie that is ridiculous and when people accept that kind of pay it just drives down the cpl for all of us. I mean heck if they can get people to do it for 2 cpl, why pay 5 cpl so they can pay their bills. That just blows my mind. You'd be better off working an 8-hour shift at McDonalds.
So, now it's a sin to stop wanting to work 7 days a week
and be with children once in a while. Okay. I will take that under advisement.
If you're PT you're required to work
8 of your hours in one weekend day. There's no extra pay for it though.
You are in a profession
of people who really are scrambling for work. It's not like you are a doctor or lawyer. You are a typist and so stop being so uppity about it. your profession. I thought you had friends and that you are a mother, sister, niece.... get lost
Thanks everyone! Due to this profession and
all the garbage that goes along with it, I have accepted a position outside of transcription. Pay is better and bennies to boot! It's sad to see what this profession has lead to . The ungratefulness from MTSOs is growing by leaps and bounds. Please no replies that.... the grass is not always greener, etc. Been there, done that.... I'm very comfy with my decision. I can always fall back on transcription -we are a dime a dozen whether we are seasoned or newbie (unfortuantely)!
This profession... SM
can be a rewarding profession, but definitely not an easy one. There are waves of workflow, waves of pay, waves of anger, waves of joy, waves of guilt, waves of happiness, waves of sadness, waves with a shark lurking (like an ocean). hehe
So what do we do in the ocean? Go with the waves! Surf's Up!!! 
MT isn't the only profession
As a coder, we often work around and in spite of. Their written documentation is just as bad as their dictation. One visit the patient has metastatic cancer, the next visit they have cancer in situ, then they have a history of cancer, etc., etc., etc. One visit HIV positive, next visit AIDS, next visit HIV positive. There is no consistency at all. They come in with a visit diagnosis of Diabetes type 1 but their office note says type 2. MTs have it rough but we're not the only one. I think anything in the HIM field meets these challenges. They're just in such a big hurry to whip through it that they don't pay attention. Most docs consider doing their documentation just too big a bother and scr__ the consequences.
And I think that anyone in this profession that has
in this year 2009, should automatically be a CMT; no test; no money; just grandmothered into a CMT. I am only 38, but I've been transcribing for almost 20 years now and used to have to look every word up in a dictionary and didn't have Google or electronic spell checks to help me do my job. I feel like I should already be a CMT and not have to take the test.
I also think the line rates are very low here lately especially for acute care work that requires evenings and weekends. I know this profession is 24/7, but all MTs deserve more than 7 cpl to work nights and weekends as in any other profession, there is a shift diff that pays.
As far as the ist at the end of my title, I don't mind. A transcriber, in my opinion, sounds more like the name of a machine or office equipment. The ist I feel is derived from the term specialist, so add what you like before the ist and that's what you get; it is not belittling and definitely not feminine when you consider how many male physicians there are in society today. Furthermore, I'd take a male dictator over a female any day of the week.
Okay, I'm done... for whoever cares... 
This is the only profession ......
that the longer you are in it and the more experienced you are, the less you get paid.
If you are in this profession you have to
accept them, they are part of it whether you like it or not, or as you say - get out.
MTs getting out of the profession
I agree with that assessment. My local technical college is discontinuing their MT program because of the changes being made. So what is going to happen is that there is going to be a huge paucity of qualified people who can accurately transcribe and edit the few remaining necessary functions that they now perform and they will then be at a premium and the price will go up. Then once the medical providers figure out that the way they keep records (EMR point and click and VR), while they may be expedient and cheap, are not living up to the hype and hence will get them into trouble legally (due to sloppy entries and slipshod data entry by the physicians themselves), they will reassess the need for those in our profession and go looking for us again. Perhaps we will be there but probably not.
Not wanting to know...
what anyone's cpl rate is, just would like to know if after working for this company a while, do they give raises at all?
I am not trying to find anything out at all...just curious if you are with them for some time, do they give you raises? That's all I would like to know.
I am currently an IC and wanting to
if I will be able to maintain the amount of money I make now as an IC. I currently type around 190-200 or so reports a day. Is this doable at Keystrokes? TIA
Thanks, wanting to know
The reason I am making changes is because of no work/low work where I am. Maybe this kind of nonsense goes on everywhere these days.
WANTING ISN'T GETTING...SM
As an IC they cannot demand a schedule AND THEY KNOW IT! They are breaking the law if they do, simply stated. You are giving up employee benefits, PTO, insurance, etc. in exchange for that flexibility. But there are always going to be MTs that will give them their cake and let them eat it, too. 
actually, was just wanting to know myself
if anyone works or worked for the Nevada location that can tell us the good, bad and ugly.
to have a real profession
So before you going calling anyone dumb.... think about just how skilled you aren't. MQ'ER move along.
Don't let this sour you on this profession. sm
There are great companies out there and horrible ones. What was horrible for you might be a good fit for someone else.
the problem with this profession..
is..... it is very ill defined. nothing is measured, nothing is objective, at least consistently. 7 cpl is equal to 10 cpl somewhere else. a few examples. people don't say they are acute care MTs to annoy you, there are a million different scenarios and a whole lot of jargon being thrown around, and i guess i'd be wondering what a person is called that does acute care but no ops. a whole half a company where i work are like that. so.. uh...see. every scenario is different... which is a major part of the problem.
but, in response to your note, i disagree with a whole lot of it, and it's due mainly to what i say above. i chose to work at home because i dont want to work at an office so i am sure as heck not interested in turning this environment into the very thing i left.
any, may i submit to you, and many others speaking in these forums.... it's fine to express opinions; it's not heard with much regard when it is touted as fact. you see divas. i see an industry of people who have been taken advantage of like no other. there is no accountability from the doctor, the hospital, or the MTSO... it all runs down hill to the MT. laws are blatantly ignored and policies rarely written with any definition. if you want to compare the way we work to traditional offices, when was the last time you worked at an office where you worked 10 hours to get in 8, and you only got paid for some of the work, but not all. it's come to be the norm here.
some heavy duty revamping needs to take place... and i'm working on it. everyone put their thinking caps on about what's really at the root of these problems, and stop arguing for crying out loud. never seen so many arguers in my life. it's apples and oranges that everyone is arguing over.... little bites of fact taken out of context. no big picture.
i will be back over the next few months to hear them. let's get down and serious and fix this chaos. look underneath what got you ramped up.. the ramping isn't valuable, but figuring out what is driving it is. i say we start a revolution.
You are a traitor to this profession.
What you are doing is the reason why MTs are in the fix they're in. You are selling US out for profit. Pray tell, how do you plan to ensure patient confidentiality in the jungle?
I would! This profession is all but dead
@
If we were men, I seriously doubt our profession
nm
that is why the profession is swirling sm
around the toilet bowl because no one will stand up and tell the truth about these companies AND the ones who do stand up and tell the truth get blasted. Hey, if no one wants to list and wants to sit back and watch it happen without a fight, then don't gripe when its over!
The nosedive this profession took was because
meaningless little spats and email wars between MTs.
Or you could choose to look for a different profession, sm
where you are not so demoralized that you feel (jokingly or not) that you are a victim.
Do you really think that this profession requires MORE than others? sm
Come on, nurses, teachers, most other *professions* have to keep CEs updated, etc. Wages are stagnant in *most* fields right now, not just this one.
If you feel like a victim, find something that makes you happier and feel empowered. That's not anything but truth.
A disgrace to the profession???
Years and years ago before I had much experience I took a job for 6.5 cpl. I had no choice. However, it was an easy clinic account that I could do 1800-2000 lines a day. I only worked 30 hours a week so the $16 - $18 an hour was not bad back then. The same would be true today for a newbie. It may be the only thing they can get until they gain more actual working experience. Kidding right? - Do you remember being a newbie? They are a disgrace to the profession? Could it be perhaps that you are the MT who keeps going from board to board, posting under different aliases, and just dogging anyone's post that you can. What kind of witch hunt are you on? YOU are calling someone a disgrace to the profession?
I don't believe you, but if true, then MQ is obviously not wanting
There is no way to meet the demands they are setting forth for employee.
Thank you. I am aware of that. I am wanting
Thanks for your input.
I am wanting information on
Good companies, pay on time, etc? Thank you.
Don't blame you for wanting out. All
s
What's the purpose of them wanting
you to log everything? Like country below, I always just jot down as downloading, but it sounds like maybe you are doing something a little more extensive? If they require it to get paid, I guess you don't have much choice...but if you're talking major log keeping, that would take up a lot of time  I've just always done it for my own peace of mind, actually did have incident of DQS some time ago not counting a report I did, had to contact supervisor and got it corrected. Also many years ago with MQ in the old days before DQS, there was some glitch happened, and I was very luck to have the job numbers, as I had to tell the person calling me late at night what jobs I had done...
i'm wanting to get out the MT business myself sm
i love what i do, like you all say, finding work that pays good, the trust issues, and actually, i would like to leave my work at work instead of my computer staring me in the face, and me thinking, gosh, i could be sitting there working right now, or my problem lately is my work is running out. the company i work for hires too many people to work. i've been seriously thinking about going back to school and becoming a radiology technologist. i do miss communicating with people face to face. i want to make a difference in someone's life. i definitely want to stay in the medical field. i couldn't imagine not doing something medical. right now i have two young boys that i really want to stay home until they are little older. they are both in elementary school right now. i even thought about working at the school somehow. i wouldn't make as much money as i do typing, but i can see what goes on at the school. this is a great topic!
sad that you think wanting a baby is
completely unnecessary. I worked for an IVF clinic and I would not call it a crap shoot, either - cold, cold, cold.......
What info are you wanting?..n/m
x
She was wanting to know if the disconnect was
a problem with her cable or with the hospital system. The freezing up is definitely the hospital. All the connection issues is definitely the hospital system and the slowness is the hospital system per their tech.
The C-phone disconnect I believe is a cable issue.
or re Obama wanting to put all our
medical records on line...
Those wanting to unionize should probably
Friday, July 18, 2008
When management becomes unreasonable, when benefits shrink and get more expensive at the same time, and when the average salary increase is way
less than the inflation rate, here’s something you can do: Form a union.
And on Long Island, you wouldn’t be alone. Just don’t let management know what you’re up to – it could get you in trouble.
There are already 650,000 construction workers, teachers and grocery and health care workers in unions on Long Island today, and as economic conditions
worsen, some employees are hoping to take cover by turning to organized labor.
John Durso, president of Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW and the Long Island Federation of Labor, said frustrated employees generally meet off-site to air their
grievances without fear of retribution.
“Sometimes they just want to get things off their chest, want somebody to listen,” Durso said.
Sometimes, however, it’s a lot more than that. If one-third of the employees sign on to join the union, an election is held and a petition is filed with the
National Labor Relations Board.
And that often leads to a fight.
It shouldn’t, Durso said. He said in the best circumstances, unions and employers work as partners to make a company better.
“It doesn’t make any sense for a union to make it so unworkable that an employer cannot grow or expand,” Durso said. “If you have the right attitude, the
right work environment, there’s no reason why an employer and a union cannot work together.”
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Companies faced with negotiating contracts with unions could stall, because if a deal isn’t reached within a year,
the union needs to be recertified.
“Nothing in law requires them to reach a contract. They are just required to negotiate in good faith,” said Bruce Millman, an attorney with Melville employment
law firm Littler Mendelson, representing employers.
To fight the stalling, unions are pushing federal lawmakers to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier to form a union. It would also
force binding arbitration in case of an impasse, thus eliminating stall tactics.
But Bob Archer, managing partner of Melville’s Archer, Byington, Glennon and Levine, which represents labor and employee benefits clients in the building
trades, entertainment and service industries, said he doesn’t expect the Employee Free Choice Act to pass under a Republican president.
Not all contracts stall, however, and once a first contract is reached, the union is official. Then members need only to pay a set amount of dues each year.
In 2004, the latest year with complete data, dues nationwide averaged $377 per month.
Another interesting note: Long Island’s unions are becoming more white collar.
For instance, adjunct professors at Stony Brook University and New York University recently became union employees, said Tom Conoscenti, chief
economist for the Long Island Contractors Association and the Long Island Builders Institute.
He said the adjuncts formed a union to receive amenities such as offices, a pension plan and health benefits.
Joining a union has hardly led to the elimination of “the struggle.” Traditional blue-collar industries, such as construction and plumbing, are feeling the
pressure of undocumented workers taking what had been union jobs, Archer said.
“That is an X factor that we have not seen in the past,” Archer said. “It’s more of an issue of competing against employers that use unregulated workers.”
Those employers are seeking cheaper labor, especially when prices for land, and subsequent property taxes, on Long Island are among the highest in the
nation.
The politics of labor has stretched from the Suffolk County Legislature to Albany.
For example, Hauppauge-based Bactolac Pharmaceuticals recently battled the unions and the Legislature over building a new headquarters at the
Hauppauge Industrial Park. The unions and supportive legislators wanted the company to hire contractors who paid a prevailing, or union, wage in exchange
for $6 million in state Empire Zone benefits.
Although the company originally balked, it eventually gave in, holding numerous meetings with union officials and promising to offer each contractor a fair
shake.
Also, the teachers union has played a large role in fighting a plan to create a 4 percent property tax cap, Conoscenti said.
The Commission for Property Tax Relief originally pitched the tax-cap proposal in May. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi headed that group. The
proposal was endorsed by Gov. Paterson, but faced strident opposition from other New York leaders, including Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver of Manhattan.
They are not alone in wanting numeral sm
instead of spelling said numeral out. Supposedly it is because the SR engine will insert the number 2 or 1 or 6 and they want all work to look consistent.
At least that's the story at my company.
I think Stargazer is right about not wanting us to know (sm)
I've been with the same company for 10 years and still run into the same thing, have never been given an explanation. I think at least sometimes it's overflow from the hospital that they were sitting on, but ???
VR, Transcend, MT profession, etc. Long msg
Difficult as it will be, it's time we, as a profession, unite and put our collective foot down on this crap. We are quickly running out of time to be able to do anything about this stuff, and this may, in fact, be our last shot at making a difference. Therefore, my suggestion for those being replaced by a technology that still can't even do the work without our help is to immediately look for work with other companies that are not yet going to strictly editing positions through VR, and do it quickly and as a mass exit. Any company experiencing a mass exit like that I don't think can survive it. There are a lot of companies looking for good, experienced transcriptionists, so the time is right for making an immediate move. Such a move will send the message that giving our work away is synonymous with losing accounts. By watching the aftershock of such a response from the MTs, other companies will hopefully think twice about following the same path.
The point is, if we don't strike a plan and do something, and quick, we are all going to be looking for another line of work anyway. My position is, if the doctors want to use VR, then get it right. If I am going to have to hang back in the wings and fix it for them for less pay and longer hours, then my answer to that is, no thanks; do it yourself. The point is, of course, at least for right now, they can't do it themselves and don't have the time to do it even if they could. This is the best opportunity any of us will have to make a stand (and a statement) while keeping the pain we individually experience as a result at a minimum. Test for another company and move on as quickly as you can. If a company engaging in this cut-throat activity gives no notice (as the posts suggest happened in the case with Transcend concerning wage and work cuts), then don't feel obligated to give any notice that you are leaving. If you are working for a company that is considering such a move in the future and has stated as much, then make plans to move on right now, and when you have secured another position, let them know you are leaving and why.
You can't wait on this. Don't give them time to figure anything out. Just leave them high and dry the way they eventually intend to do you (us). They're doing what they are doing because they want to be richer. You'll be doing what you do because you need to survive and put food on the table. BIG DIFFERENCE!!
The results will be that the other companies that are looking for good help will get all that they need, which will make their accounts happier because TAT is being met like never before. In turn, the companies that experience such a mass exit will have their accounts looking around for a new home because of the backlog that develops, and that in turn will cost them money rather than such a move having made them money as originally thought. And, where do you suppose those fleeing accounts will have to go? To companies that are well staffed because they don't take their MTs for granted. This will give such companies a big boost economically, which will be yet further incentive to maintain a happy work force and not be willing to cut the throats of their work force when it comes to work availability.
This will not prevent VR from continuing to progress and develop, but it will stop the tide that is beginning to take shape and perhaps even shift it once the doctors and the companies realize that, if they are going to use it, they are on their own because we will not help them put us out of work. The technology is still not to the point where it can stand on its own yet, so those that would see MTs out of work will have to rethink their position for the time being, and that in turn will give our profession more time to find a way to organize and make a permanent stand for the benefit of our own self-preservation as an industry. They're slowly pulling the rug out from under us, and we are just standing here letting them do it because we don't see how there is anything we can do about it. But there is something we can do. We just have to buck up and do it.
Don't tell me this is idealistic either. That's all I have heard from fellow MTs when it comes to making any kind of a stand. It's only idealistic because you aren't willing to do what it takes to change it. If we stand together and refuse to go along with this, these companies will have to rethink their position. If we wait until they are in a position to survive without us, then they will do just that. Either way, we're all going to be out of a profession anyway, so why not make a stand right now while there's a chance it could make a difference, especially when there is still work to be had in this field with other companies that have not yet sold us out. 
Well if you've seen the profession erode so much,
That's one of the biggest eroders! And you act as thought the AAMT only does what its membership wants. Bull hoggy!! It does whatever it darn well feels like doing--whatever will line its pockets!
I have 10 years in this profession and have a different viewpoint
I started out with a small MTSO doing clinic only and got bored after 5 years so struck out on my own after waiting out a hostile takeover by that big bully company and the clinic going back to original group. I then learned just how unstable this business can be. In the next 3 years had my own hospital accounts and worked for about 4 nationals - had very good experiences. I then QA'd for a very stable company who decided to get out of the MT business and sold their accounts to a company who had their own editors. For 4 months I looked for a stable company, I tested and interviewed and made comparisons. You would not in your wildest imagination believe what is out there - I kid you not. I will not go into all the horrible details - you can either believe me or not. But some of the posters have real valid points here and I for one appreciate their comments. I take the good with the bad - realizing there are some sour grapes but that is to be expected. All and all I think there is a pretty good and caring support system here and I appreciate it very much! :)
There are single Moms in every profession.
You can't expect to work for a company holding the cards, and them pay you all of what they make when you want to be at home and it is not your account. It belongs to the company paying you. There's always the pavement to pound if you think you deserve the big bucks. Can't have it both ways. I don't think anything is just handed to anyone. If the electric is going to be turned off, then there are programs out there to help. I think if you fall within a certain salary range, you would qualify for assistance especially being a single Mom or Dad.
this is where expierience in the profession kicks in. nm
.
I do accept ESL as part of the profession
I transcribed for them all the time. Some of them are great. What I asked was, is it fair to use an ESL like this particular one as part of the testing process, poor audio and all. Maybe it is. Maybe it represents the dictators they have on the account they are hiring for. If so, no thank you. While I do not mind turning out quality medical reports to the best of my ability, no - I am not doing it for free. As much as I love the MT business, I am still here for a paycheck so yes, production and cpl does matter to the point that I would not want this particular ESL as my full time job. Looking out for number one.
Then that MT needs to either find another employer or another profession
And the poster you're referring to has been rude and attempting to be a ringleader for some demented mass walk-out of her fellow MTs, so if I were you I wouldn't be too sympathetic to her cause. She just keeps changing her name and posting the same types of things over and over.
And would you HONESTLY sit there and let someone call you a liar or in management because you like your job or are good at it?
Sorry, but the poster who started this deserves whatever she gets. If she can't take it, she shouldn't be dishing it out.
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