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How can I record patient data as fast as possible - Posted By: Need to keep record

Radiology patients, so reports are short most often. We have to log two several digit numbers, the types of exams (chest/abdomen) dates. We have sheets to do this on but am thinking I should keep Wordpad open and type in there.

Any ideas on how I can do this and not lose momentum or time? I do about 100 exams a day.

Thanks!

DQS short-cuts to Word 2003? HELP! - Posted By: Imback

Does anyone know how to do this. I have been searching and searching for info and cannot find anything. Please help! Thanks.

someone dictating for him - Posted By: another dictator

here is one for the books - have a sub-intern dictating for attending - dictates the following - "Dr. _____ states that the patient has a history of "what did he say "quinaquina" failure.. I am not sure if that is the correct spelling."

well he would not - it is chronic renal failure. Now why is he even trying????? - thankfully at the end of the report the attending who apparently was sitting next to him by this point, corrected him when he dictated it again. I give up.

Chat rooms. sm - Posted By: Leadfeather

Does anyone ever go into the chat room(s). I have checked there at least a dozen times on different days at different times of the day and have never found anyone in there.

How long did it take you to get used to Instant Text? - Posted By: backandforth

I spent about 16 years w/ a regular Expander and am having a hard time switching....

40k a year - Posted By: MxS IC

It sounds like so many MTs are taking pay cuf after pay cut and making near minumum wage. I am still able to make approximately 40,000 a year. I work approximately 30-35 hours a week and take a few weeks vacation time without pay each year. I am able to average about 300 lph. I am IC so pay my own taxes, etc. with this salary, but am I the only one? I am happy with this salary in exchange for flexibility, etc.

I just want to hear if others are pulling this off also or if I am just in a very lucky position and might have to be careful in the future should my situation every change? I did work for a large MTSO as an employee a few years ago and was able to make the same. Now working for a smaller company as an IC...Am i just getting lucky???

Is there a way to use my C-phone with my Vonage setup? SM - Posted By: Technically Challenged!

I need to plug my C-phone into a phone jack. My Vonage setup is completely wireless set up by my local cable company.

I've got an analog telephone line, but the local phone company in this area is incredibly incompetent and I am at the end of my rope and am desparate to figure something else out. I have called this company of Keystone Cops four times trying to order their unlimited long distance plan. Each time they have apologized for the inconvience and said "somebody dropped the ball" and they are just so sorry. This morning I called them for the 5th time because I got a letter in the mail yesterday thanking me for signing up for the 5 cents a minute long distance plan! Now I'm told that they are making "notations" on my account and when I get my bill at the end of the month I will need to call their "investigations department" to get the long distance charges reversed.

So as you can see, my frustration meter is maxing out with these people! Help me figure out a way I can use my Vonage with my C-phone and tell these people to hang themselves with their telephone line!

Cheeseburger with Krispy Kreme donuts? - Posted By: XtremeMT

Has anyone tried the newest craze, cheeseburgers with Krispy Kreme donuts as buns? Its a heart attack waiting 2 happen!

Average age of American MT's - Posted By: search engine Sally

This article says age 48 is the average, and I have to agree.

Do any MTs just go buy their own insurance, is so which companies do you - Posted By: use nm

nm

Anyone an expert on Bayscribe software?? - Posted By: sw

I just started a new job that uses Bayscribe, but the audio is so muffled I cannot hear the dications clearly. The owners have no idea what is wrong, and I called Bayscribe, and they say it is on my end...either sound card or headphones. I also work for another co. that uses Emdat, and I use express scribe, and the dictations are crystal clear. Does anyone know what is going on?

Could use some personal input on infant seizures. sm - Posted By: Gram

If any you are dealing with or have dealt with seizures with infants, I could sure use some help.

My grandson is now 8 months old. He started having seizures a few months ago. (Incidentally after having the usual immunizations). We all knew something was "wrong," but all that he did at first was roll his eyes back and was referred to pedi ophthalmology and was diagnosed as normal.

Then he started rolling his eyes and tensing his whole body up and then it got worse. He stopped smiling, stopped making eye contact, etc. It wasn't until he had a seizure in front of the pedi that something was done. Supposedly.

After being admitted to the hospital and undergoing EEGs, he was diagnosed with seizures and sent to a pedi neuro specialist. He's on meds and he's better, but he still has them and there is no way to pinpoint why, where or when he is going to have them.

The poor little guy just suffers so during his episodes. There is no warning. He just starts crying in a strange cry. If I have him with me, I go grab him, hold him close and talk to him and rub his little head and tell him "almost done, almost done." He cries and I cry and then 2 minutes later it's all over.

I hate this. It breaks my heart, as well as his mom and dad's.

Sorry to be so long, but any input outside of a medical professional standpoint would be helpful and I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks

What's the best electronic drug reference? I need - Posted By: Jerseygurl

quick look ups - mostly just questioning generic versus brand names!! I thought there was a post on this the other day, which peaked my interest, but not can't find!! Wish there was an on-line site, even if I had to pay for it, which constantly updated. I just don't have time for the free online sources, though I have a few good ones! Any suggestions?

speech versus transcription - Posted By: nank

Hoping to find some input/wisdom here---I have been offered a positon where may of the accounts are partially voice rec--I have never edited this speech stuff--but I am wondering if you can make the same amount of $$ doing that as you can transcribing it--all the speech rates seem very low, around 4 cents a line--is it actually that much faster than transcribing? I would think it would be a lot quicker to actually do the transcription--has anyone any experience to share in this regard? thanks for any insight.....

E-mailed glossary from work computer to PC but glossary isn't readable. - Posted By: Instant Text users!!!

After literally two days of working on this, finally got my glossary to my personal computer and into IT V Pro which I upgraded (thank you Christina!!!). But my entries are all garbled.

I hope this isn't some safety feature used by my national to keep us from using company glossaries though I did create this myself over three years.

Job starts in three days (radiology) and I so need this glossary. Hate to start over again...as you well know.

Anyone? TIA :)

Need some help. Weird stuff on my son's arms. sm - Posted By: omt

I'm wondering if anyone has seen this before. It's just too weird and I have worked for doctors (mostly general practice) for 20 years.

My son is 20 and he has these really weird looking discolorations on his left arm. They are flat, pink, scattered and in many different dimensions from the size of a pencil eraser to an actual small squares. They are not raised, don't itch or hurt, but they've just been appearing slowly and are now covering more areas of the arm.

He works in a kitchen at a nursing home, but the spots appeared before he got this job. The nursing home said he needs to have this checked out before he comes back to work on Tuesday (he has tomorrow off).

Rundown on his health history is that he is asthmatic (not enough to be on meds)and coughs a lot. Unfortunately, he is a very heavy smoker and I've been trying to get him to stop. He has cut down, because he's living at our house now and smoking is outside. He doesn't cough as much, but still coughs a lot.

He is 6 foot 4 inches and weighs 135 lbs. He eats constantly and never gains weight, but he's been like this since he was in grade school. He has a confirmed diagnosis of thalassemia and also has symptoms of what may be Marfan's Syndrome.

One last thing is that he had months of unprotected sex with a girl he was in love with until he found out that he wasn't the only one she was sleeping with, so he left her and moved back home for the time being.

Any ideas would be helpful.

How does the footpedal work??? - Posted By: footloose

OK. This may be strange. But, I listen to a lot of audio programming online through iTunes. My son is doing research for school and asked if I could transcribe a news report for him. I can do it the old fashioned slow way, without a foot pedal, but I have a footpedal. I've never before used it for anything other than work, so I just don't question how it's set up. Can I "point" it to work with something like iTunes, as well?

notebook/lap top - Posted By: Rays sweep the Sox

How many of you use a notebook or laptop to do your work? Are there any disadvantages? I just brought one and figure I can go to the library or somewhere else to work and not be stuck at home. TIA.

MTS Platforms - Posted By: bones

For at home-transcribers, what is a good software platform - Express Scribe, Transcription Gear??? How about ExText - is it available for purchase to ICs?

Leeperfect Co. SM - Posted By: Anonymous

Does anyone know anything about Leeperfect Transcription Co - going to take a test with them and wondering if anyone has worked for them before? Would appreciate your input - thank you.

I don't know what everybody has to complain about. sm - Posted By: Tracey

Look around you. Is anybody really getting paid what they are worth anymore. My husband went to school and makes around 30/hr. THat used to be a good wage but now people around here can make that doing road construction with no education. So it is not just us. Everybody should just start working and stop complaining.

I have been only doing this for a year part time and I only make 6 cpl but I really have nothing to complain about because when I average out my hrs to my pay I make on average $10-12 and I have hardly any work expenses so I figure where can I go and work pt and make that much money and be at home with my kids??? Think about it.

keystrokes ads - Posted By: jackie

anyone know why Keystrokes has ads requiring at least 3 years experience but their website says 5? which one is it?

What side do you hurt on with appendicitis? - Posted By: Lynn

Ladies!! My c-phone headset plug is not working! - Posted By: C-phone HELP

I don't know what happened. One minute it was working fine and the next day whenever I insert the headset I get no sound. The footpedal works fine so it is not the power plug..only the headset and I also cannot get the speakerphone to work or I would use it this way. It's one of the C-phones that have no display...I'm so upset. I purchased it off of E-bay about 2 weeks ago for $150. Any ideas of what I can do? How to get the speakerphone to work. Thank you!

In reply to job ads . . . on the company board - Posted By: Oncology/OrthoMT24INPA

I would like to respond to a post about new job listings on the company board. Yes, it seems the same companies continually post want ads for MTs and yes it seems like these companies in question do indeed have revolving doors, but please do not blame the MTs or complain about them speaking their minds on the board.

I left a very good MT job because of a paycheck that was returned for insufficient funds. I say "good" because I loved the accounts and for the most part I was content until the pay incident. It took me nearly a year to find what I had given up. I applied for and accepted many jobs advertised here only to be very disappointed. I asked questions up front before accepting and for the most part the companies lie to get you in the door.

First company gave promises of working whenever I wanted. Said there was always work. That turned out to be nothing but "BS." There was never any work unless I wanted to work overnight.

I had two job offers at the same time soon after that and I accepted the one that promised 8 cents a line. Well I never saw 8 cents a line. Once again it was a sham. First off they only allowed you to type a total of 9 reports a day until off hold. You never get off hold (months) because no two QA people QA by the same standards. They claimed to follow the Book of Style, yet faulted you for typing things as demonstrated in the Book of Style. Once my paycheck was over a week late and I had contacted payroll 3 times and received no response. Another time I was cheated out of pay (60+ lines) I informed payroll and they never responded nor did they ever pay me for it. The final straws � one day I had called for work � by the way most times there wasn't any because the pool was dry, once again you gave a schedule as to when you wanted to work � yet work was rarely there � anyway there was a smart remark about still being on hold. I have never been on hold more than 2 weeks with any other job in the past so it wasn't me. I followed the Book of Style � seems like some QA people have never opened the book! They only ever checked the ESL reports � horrible dictators by the way � what about all the other perfect ones? I'm sorry but you can only do so much with bad dictators. And when the company fails to pay on time I don't feel obligated to go that extra mile to leave zero blanks with and ESL doctor who makes my ears bleed! Last but not least I received a paycheck without a signature. Yep! I reported it ASAP. Big surprise no one in payroll that day. They didn't overnight me a new signed check either. I had to mail the check back and wait another week for it to be returned with a signature on it. I left. There was no advancing in h e double hockey sticks.

There was another job that I tried while this mess was evolving. I asked up front what type of platform they used because I dislike Emdat and Inscribe. The person who hired me wouldn't say what it was but that I would love it. Well, it was indeed Inscribe. Also the contract stated I would be paid for spaces � I used my own counting software and discovered I was not being paid for spaces. There was also a charge for typos in the demographics and according to my line counter the company didn't seem to be paying for the demographics as it was. How can you fine someone for typing something incorrectly that she is not being paid for in the first place? With this particular job I also asked up front "Would I have my own accounts?" I was told yes. Nope it was a typing pool.

Moral of the story . . . if you don�t want MTs to complain about these jobs then please do not lie to them! Pay them on time and treat them right. I have found I cannot make money on a majority of the platforms out there. MS Word is the only way to go for me. I also thrive on my own accounts so please . . . when we ask if we will be assigned our own group of doctors again do not lie to us. A typing pool is not what I consider to be my own account!

Thank you and good night.

Does anyone edit Nuance Dragon - Posted By: Naturally Speaking?

I have a physician who would like me to transcribe from handwritten progress notes, but I am wondering if I should invest in a VR program to make this easier on me. I am wondering if anyone uses this software as an MT? All opinions are welcome including through e-mail!

Advice needed. - Posted By: SDS

Hello everyone! I am needing a little bit of advice. I have been talking to a clinic about doing their transcription. It is a strong possibility that I will be picking up and delivering tapes and files. What do you suggest I charger per line? I do not want to price myself too high, but neither do I want to price myself too low either. I will be driving approximately two and a half hours both ways. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

What kind of antivirus do you use on your computer? sm - Posted By: msd

I have been using Norton AV, but my nephew (who goes to ITT Tech) says that I can just use AVG which is a free download antivirus....Im just not sure what to do. The tech guy I normally use is the one who said Norton. Anyone here use the free downloadable antiviruses or do you get better protection with the "paid" for antiviruses?

Thanks.

line count help - Posted By: sherri

what is the going rate for a line count for someone who has 20+ years experience?

Why was question about Healthcare Associated deleted? - Posted By: Tia

nm

Has anyone had trouble converting documents - Posted By: sent to you from Word 2007 if you have

Word 2000. These seem to be putting a .doc extension after all of my documents now. Anyone have a fix? I have an account that I can't use the .doc extension, and when I back that extension off, I get a message saying "this document may not be usable". Is this a Vista issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

in advance for any help in this OMG matter! I'm about ready to , and I have just gotten it to grow to a length that I like.

Keep your kids off the monkey bars - Posted By: The Gingerbread Man

How many reports have I typed just this week, 7 year old fell off the monkey bars, sustained both bone forearm fracture. Monkey bars must be among the most dangerous things on earth. Always hear warnings to keep kids off trampolines but I've never typed anything on 7 year old fell off trampoline.

Has anybody ever heard a ding noise sm - Posted By: hearing noises

while typing in Docqscribe? Sounds like a window closing. I do not hear it all the time.

To SnowBunny--thank you for the macro link. - Posted By: I appreciate it.

xx

Anyone have any ideas/remedies after being T-boned? - sm - Posted By: Laura E.

A woman ran a red light and hit me on my driver's door...I was leaving the hospital after doc visit for y 7-y/o who has a cold/fever for 3 days.....how ironic is that (plus I just cancelled full coverage about 2 months ago on my car insurance). Have a Suburban which took it well though I fear do to its age and high mileage they will total. I am stiffening up now and am having twinges of pain. Got checked out at my doctor about 4.5 hours after the accident due to recurring headache, stiffness, pain when sitting still. Diagnosed onset of whiplash and gave me Vicodin. I can move about okay but stiffening up and getting more sore now....anyone have any ideas how I can lessen the discomfort so I can maybe work????? (though I think I lost some brain cells in the collision, been totally stupid and scattered since). My daughter seems fine though, she was in her car seat and I in my seatbelt (as always). One thing in my favor, had 2 witness and she was cited for running red light so there should be no legal issues. TIA

Resignation from a large MTSO...sm - Posted By: Enough is enough

Dear Sirs:

I am turning in my resignation with giving the required 2 weeks notice. I have enjoyed working for your organization for 10 of the past 11 years; however, I feel that I must step down at this time. Over the past year I have been asked increasingly to work outside my schedule because work isn't available during my daytime shift because you're now sending the work on the account overseas overnight, leaving little work for the day shift employees. In addition, the benefits have decreased and while my cost of living has gone up, requests for a line rate increase to 8.5 cpl have been denied. You forget that I am a top producer and transcribe over 2500 lines a day & have QA scores of 99-100, so perhaps you'll enjoy paying benefits for 2 employees to replace my production.

You may wonder where I am going to work. I have found a small mom and pops company that refuses to send our work outside of the US. I will have guaranteed work from the same doctors each day and will have 24 hours to return work that I obtain Monday through Thursday, and Friday work received will be due back by Monday afternoon. This will allow me to schedule my own work hours. They are going to be paying me more than you are, because they realize that hiring one excellent Transcriptionist and paying them more per line is cheaper than hiring 2 inferior transcriptionsts, especially when you consider the cost of keeping that extra employee working for you. The owner of this company is well known to take very good care of the employees and not jerk them around, and that is the way they also treat their clients. Doctors love them for their dependability and accuracy of reports, and knowing that work will not leave the US unless they specifically request it do so.

Sincerely,

Suzie Q Transcriptionist

Making changes - Posted By: FLMT

Alright folks let's move this off the word help board because it's become a different discussion. First of all, I personally believe that we should type what doctors say, everything they say and not change a thing. So if they say Synthroid 100 mg, leave it. If they say There was changes. Leave it. However, our companies and many hospitals don't agree.

If you were to try to get a job editing books at a publlishing house you would need a degree in English and you'd get paid a whole heck of a lot more than we do. But we do the same job, fixing the English of doctors, having perfect punctuation, correcting verb tenses. Not to mention the medical side, knowing all the drug dosages, correct lab values (yeah we get marked off for those too). I love it when I have to leave something blank like I just did "H&H 13/4/38" ???

IMHO we don't get paid enough to do all we have to do. We are not just typists. My friend is a nurse and when I told her everything we have to know she told me we could all be nurses! This is because I carried on a conversation with her about cardiac cath, CABG and people who have IV dye allergies and the compliance issues with Mucomyst. She was shocked.

We get no respect from many doctors. I actually had a PCP that I went to when I was sick say that because I was an MT I knew too much about medicine in a really condescending voice. Had another say then what do you suggest when he tried to tell me he'd done all the possible tests. Corrected another to his face.

So call me whatever you want but if I hear the doctor say something that is inappropriate in the same manner that Potassium 132 is inappropriate or Synthroid 100 mg is inappropriate, I'm going to leave a blank. Maybe the doctor is mad or frustrated but the medical record is a legal document that the patient can get access to anytime they want. So when the doctor calls a patient a land whale or says she's f-ing pregnant again or is a retard or is an SOB (and I don't mean short of breath), IMO I am covering their butt by giving them a chance to rethink what they say before they put it in a legal document.

extra money on the side - Posted By: why was this erased?

My hands kill me just about every day now, and looking at my hands i have muscle breakdown and twitching, so i'd like to cut down on typing. Want to find something to do on the side to earn maybe 1000 to 1500 dollars a month. Was thinking about ebay, but i'm doubtful I could make that much, even though they hype up the advertisement by saying you could make 3000 MINIMUM. I'm just desperate and feel like my hands are about to fall off. I've spent close to 1000$ this year alone in keyboards, gloves, splints, doc visits, meds, changed my station around, hot soaks, cold soaks, exercises, stretches, vitamins. still my hands just sing every day esp at night. So any extra money earning ideas you guys? thanks

USdept of Labor - future of MT - Posted By: Thought you'd like to know

They paint a pretty picture and I'm hoping that its true, but they should be the ones in the trenches! Enjoy http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm

Unable to read any posts, screen blank. nm - Posted By: Becky Clark

nm

Overflow Available - Posted By: DeAnn

I have four one-on-one interviews (34 minutes, 10 minutes, , 26 minutes, and 20 minutes) with good audio, due back Sunday by 2pm CST. Simple Q/A format.
Pay is 40 per audio hour and will be made September 1st via paypal. If you're interested, please email me at jdbcmcbride@gmail.com.

Any North Alabama Transcriptionists? - Posted By: KimG

I posted on the state board, but I don't think many people go to that board. I was just wondering if there any home-based transcriptionists near me. Thank you for your time.

Taxes - Posted By: Camry

How does this work....I am IC status and will be buying a computer this year...How much should I spend to be safe? How does that work on deductions...does that whole amount deduct off what you would be paying in at the end of the year...Sorry very dumb when it comes to taxes. Thanks all for your help!!

ExText - Posted By: aw

Was told that with this platform, there would be a conflict with any other platforms on my computer. I currently have a proprietary platform from one company, and wanted to do p/t work for another company where ExText is their platform. They told me there would be a problem having other software and/or WAV players on my computer and I would have to remove them. I already removed Editscript and now they want me to remove this proprietary platform. Any comments/ideas/thoughts would be appreciated

Independent Contractor/Taxes Question - Posted By: IC wanna be

If you are IC and you live in California and the company you work for is in New York, which state do you claim your taxes with?? The state you live in or the state of the company that you work for?

Thanks!

filling downloaded IRS forms - Posted By: very small mtso

Okay, I'm supposed to be able to fill in the 1099-Misc form I just downloaded but for some reason I can't add any information. Am I missing a plug-in or something?>

Can you use a different spellchecker with Bayscribe? nm - Posted By: goldfish

nm

somebody help!!!! - Posted By: anonymous

Ok I have been transcribing for 10yrs for a hospital. The hospital is being bought out by some company & I am scared to death of being outsourced:( I know it seems like outsourcing is really putting a damper on the transcription career & making it miserable for alot of people out there that went into this field. Sooooo does anybody know how would I go about starting my own transcription business??? I am sure I would have to be licensed & insured or whatever but will somebody PLEASE explain to me in detail the whole procedure in going about this & if it is worth the headache?????

Anyone on the high speed internet that has found it just crawling along for some reason. All of a - Posted By: MT

sudden my just goes into web sites at a crawl and my computer is fine and modem seems fine. No clue what is going on.

ASR is NUTS - LOL! - Posted By: Dubious MT

The patient recently returned back to her vulvar area, where she and her husband live with their 3 children and 2 dogs.

Must be kinda crowded in there....