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My ASR accounts do 1 space after the periods, though the acct specifics want 2 spaces. sm - Posted By: jj

So does the company set up the VR specifics to include 1 space after the periods so they can pay just a little less? Does anyone take the time to put the extra spaces in, or do you just try to whip through the report just to keep going! Do the spaces after punctuation really amount to big difference in my pay? Just curious as to how all of you handle this situation. Let me know!

working on a laptop - Posted By: ann

does anyone here do their transcription on a laptop? I know you can add a normal sized keyboard to the laptop to work on, but are there any problems with working on a laptop full time?

New EMR system for Doctors Hospital (sm) - Posted By: Nano

I heard on the news that Doctors Hospital in Los Angeles is reopening with a new EMR system. Then Dr. _____ [fill in appropriate name] comes on and says, yes, this will be much better and save the hospital a lot of money. The doctors and nurses can directly input information to the laboratory and such, there will be nothing lost in translation.

Then the newscaster says, yes, this is only one of a few hospitals in the area using this sytem, but if all hospitals used this system it would save $_______.

Oh, give me a break. I hope they have fun.

Part time on H1B visa - Posted By: Preework

Hi, I live & work in the US, but on a H1B. Have W2 employment status with a contracting company. Can I work for MT part time?

If i do, would it risk my current employment. How can I get this confirmed?Regards.

Add yours: All I want for Christmas is - Posted By: Poll taker

A kitchen where I can walk in every day and not have to battle stinking solider ants invading from the southern wall of dirt my home is built into.

Just got resume from India, hmmm - Posted By: Lacie

The grammar is horrible and they are asking for a job. First of all, I am a transcriptionist, do not own a company. This was somehow sent in error from this board and I am responding to let MTStars know about this. Has anyone else gotten anything similar to this? They are telling me they want timely payments, how many lines a day they want and also what they want to be paid. Well, I sure will keep that in mind the next time I have to send a resume. Gosh, I wish I could post it so we all could have a laugh this morning!!

Word 2002 help - Posted By: swooty

I have a problem that's driving me crazy. When typing in Word, it will automatically capitalize the beginning of a new sentence, EXCEPT when the prior sentence ends in a number. Does anyone know how to change this so that it will capitalize a new sentence following a number? TIA

Balls instead of chairs - Hahaha - Posted By: Busy MT'ing

Just thought I'd pass this along in case anyone is tired of sitting in the same old chair everyday while they work. I've seen this "tip" before but never bothered to try it until recently.

I purchased one of those large inflatable exercise balls and use it instead of a chair. It's a very refreshing change. I did have to learn to balance a bit because in a chair you can move around, even when you're not aware of it, and the chair is stable but the ball isn't. It also helps me keep better posture, is easier on the low back/sacrum, and I think it is helping my abdomen because you are working your abdominals and legs while sitting there.

Anyway, it was worth a try for me. I may not use it all the time but it is a great change.

New To Site - Posted By: B-girl

I'm new to this site, actually I'm ashamed to say I had no idea it even exhisted, and I've done transcription for over 10 years. Anyway, just wondering if there is anything I need to look out for. Things such as scams I should definitely be on the look out for. Thanks everyone

Line counting software? - Posted By: MT mom of 3

Are there any free line counting software products out there that are any good? If not what is the best one one that isn't all that expensive? TIA, Wanda

Faster way to rerecord tapes - Posted By: CCC

Is there a way I can rerecord tapes quicker to computer by playing tape double speed then slowing it down once finished?

Any suggestions on speeding this up will be appreciated. I have a lot of tapes to rerecord. BTW, my doctors do not want to use handheld units or a call-in system (for those of you who may suggest this).

Can some tell me, or direct me to, about editing. Sm - Posted By: changing field

I need to expand my horizons I guess. I've been out of MT work for 6 weeks with no signs of hire in the future. I've seen editing jobs..editing and editing VR..I don't even know what that involves. Any helpers out there? Thanks!

Need help on Ex-Text account - Posted By: Need help on Ex-Text account

I work on 2 EX-Text accounts on different computers and one when I type it feels like I have to pound harder than the other account. Does anyone have any suggestions?

spellcheck in word - Posted By: SCMT

I am working on a VR system doing editing - however when I run the spellcheck anything that has been changed shows up with all of the incorrect letters wherever they happened to be along with the correct word or phrase that has been corrected. In other words if the word is not spelled correctly, I erase the word and type in the correct spelling, but in the spell check both show up. Does anyone know how to turn off this function or if there is a way to turn it off? It is driving me crazy - along with trying to learn to edit and the VR system. Other than that - all is fine with the program.

QA -- WHEN DID IT START? WHO INVENTED IT, ETC?? - Posted By: Alice

This is a question for those of you who are familiar with the history of medical transcription.

When was the QA process started? Who started it? Why aren't doctors and other report dictators put through a QA process? Are there other points about the history of QA for which I have not posed a specific question here? Please feel free to share whatever history you know.

Why do I need to know? Well, I don't need to know, but I am just really curious. While I may write a fictional story about an MT who murders a dictating clinician, I'm not sure if I would include the background information in the story.

As far as I can recall, none of these issues were covered in the Career Step course that I completed 3 years ago.

TIA,

line counting software - Posted By: me

I am looking for software to count gross lines. I only have one doctor I need it for, so I don't want to spend a lot. Does anyone know of a good product for this?

thank you!

Whatis the averge line per day for big companies? - Posted By: tia

What is the AVERAGE line per day for radiology or line per hour for radiology? Average being the key word. I know this has been discussed but after 10 years I finally know what my average is.

Note to MQ: What would be - Posted By: so difficult about hiring

retired MTs in your workflow room and being TC's.>?

I am so tired of dealing with haughty people who don't have a clue

why I need something or what I do - and on top of them coping an

attitude with me because I get exasperated with their inability

to do their job which is make the work flow.

If MQ had people hired in their work flow areas who had worked inside

the world of transcription and knew where it goes in a hospital,

what to look at on the screens of the machines in the work flow rooms,

etc etc we wouldn't be getting hysterical messages all the time about

not meeting turn around times.

But no! they want to hire first-time jobbers to be in control of the lives

of people who have been in the business usually upwards of 15 years

in order to even do this MT job at home with no help or assistance -

and then make us put up with them and at the same time try to make a living.

I don't want a doctor operating me who has never been inside a hospital, and I

am sick to death of dealing with people in a transcription company

who has never been inside a hospital and followed a REPORT around.

They need to see WHY A REPORT is done - HOW IT IS DONE

They need to go to dictate stations - they need to go in a medical records

area and look at charts - go inside an OR - and into the ICU

they need to see how the world of medicine is and how it operates.

Only then will they understand TATs, reports, and why things are done as they

are or at least why people want them done a certain way.

Like if I keep getting dictations with LOUD BUZZING - i don't want to keep getting

LOUD BUZZING - I want to let the hospital know there is probably a bad phone

instrument - and if this work flow person sees where dictation is done he will

understand it wouldn't take much to MAKE THE BUZZING STOP - and not get

pissy with me because I'd like to talk to somebody about LOUD BUZZING ON

REPORTS. - It's not rocket science - just need to let somebody know.

What does it take to become a MT? - Posted By: Louisa

I did work as a MT six years ago, back in Canada, before I moved here to the US. Because of this, I find I am having a hard time getting back into this area. No one will hire me, due to the fact that I haven't worked, or worked as a MT in six years. I worked in a Rehab Clinic for six months, transcribing. I worked in a psychiatric hospital for one year transcribing. I worked in a Addiction Clinic for four months transcribing. I worked in a Radiology Clinic for 4 months transcribing. So, I think I have enough Medical Transcribing experience to allow me to get back into this area.

Can anyone recommend a quick refresher course for Medical Terminology that I could take, to refresh my skills?

Thanks

the latest story - Posted By: A.S.

another MT friend of mine sent me this email

My friend's daughter works in a dermatology office. They are opening a new additional office. They determined that with the opening of a new office, it was far better to now buy a system for transcribing their own documents and it also allows doctor to input the codes for billing. So, they no longer need their Transcriptionist or their coder. Their coder is going to do other duties at the office and their home transciptionist is SOL.

So-if they had not opened a new office, they would not of put out for the money, but with the new additional office, this system will be taking care of the 2 jobs above for both offices. Doctor was most definitely considering sending all of this kind of work to India, as he is from India, but when the American office manager found this out, she put a stop to it immediately. So-that is my horror story for the week that makes me have even more knots in my stomach.

Please do not post names or phone numbers. (NM) - Posted By: Goldbird (Moderator)

Goldbird

What is the main board for? - Posted By: Bonnie

A week or so ago, I responded to a post from someone who was asking about Files To Go. My message was wiped from the board after a very short time. This morning in my email box was a digest from MT Stars by a person asking where her post went...she was asking about keyboard trays. I can't find either one of her messages on the board.

Why are our messages being deleted from the system?

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.

ER transcriptionist - Posted By: Daphne

I have been an oncology Transcriptionist for over 6 years and getting a little bored with it, so was contemplating doing ER. Can any of you ER pros tell me what you like about it or don't like about it. Is it difficult to learn the lingo and get the lines you need to produce? Any info is appreciated.

Thanks for your input.

doctor wants me to abbreviate everything I can . . . . . - Posted By: sara

has anyone had to do this and has it really hurt your line count?

Does anyone know how to get Stedman's - Posted By: sh

spellchecker to work in WordPerfect too. Thanks for any help.

thomson education direct - Posted By: doris

Can any one tell me about this program for medical transcription? I have started the course, but feel unsure about it. It is it an okay course?

WAV pedal-.dss format - Posted By: Polish girl

My doctor just switched from using the regular WAV pedal program using the WAV format to using the .dss format. This is coming up in Media Player and I cannot get the WAV pedal to work with it. What am I doing wrong? It leads me to believe I have to work online rather than download and work off line. It brings up My Documents and it looks like I should be saving it there. (I used to have in My Documents in Word a file set up for My WAV files, and one to Archive the dictation to keep for a while before deleting). This does not come up in My WAV any more, but is still in Archive. Any help or direction is appreciated. Please email me at maplehil@rea-alp.com as soon as possible. My work is piling up and I cannot be typing one line at a time. TIA

VR Production - Posted By: Loves to Type

Does anyone consistently edit 450 lines per hour on EXT VR? That is what I need to do to keep my salary the same and so far I am not even up to 300 lines per hour. Any suggestions to improve my line count would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Converting Shorthand to AutoText - Posted By: How do you do this

Well I have used my trial versions of Shorthand. Speedtype has not responded to my trial version request. So is there a way to convert my ShortHand dictionary so that I can use it in AutoText? Not Autocorrect but AutoText. Thanks

Kids schedules outside of school....sm - Posted By: Southern belle

It's amazing to me how many parents push their kids to the extreme with extracurricular activities. I saw a cousin this weekend and her 2nd grader is taking 4 dance lessons (4-1/2 hours a week), an acting class (1 hour) is in some special gifted program that meets 1 hour after school each week and is in the church kid's choir on Wednesdays. This means this 7-year-old has 7-1/2 hours of extracurricular activities scheduled.

I told her that my 6-year-old chooses 1 activity to participate in outside of church kids choir (meets on Sunday) and that's all she does.

What about your kids if you have them? If you have your child scheduled in a lot of things aren't you worried that they will burn out? I've recently read stories that a lot of kids that are overscheduled are getting depressed and I can see why.

Has anyone used acai berry? See message. - Posted By: Pokey

A friend just told me about it and swears by it. It is from Mona-Vie and contains a gazilliion types of fruit juices as well as acai berry juice from Amazon Rainforest. It is supposed to help with blood pressure and other ailments and make you lots more energetic. It is fairly expensive, too, so I just wanted to hear if anyone else has any experience with it before I buy some. Thanks in advance.

What do the little flames alongside - Posted By: job postings mean? nm

xx

FLASH word expander. - Posted By: camry

Is Flash word Expander a good one to use? I'm just trying to get my production up, so any comments would be great.

Thanks tonz!

Do you care if your company offshores? ... - Posted By: wondering

It really chaps my buns, and I will not work for any company that sends work out of the U.S. How do you feel about it???

will Infinity pedal work with Inscribe? - Posted By: Lee

I'm switching companies and foot pedals and don't understand. I'll be using Emdat-Inscribe, and the pedal I have is an Infinity USB1. Are these compatible? I've done what it says to do on the site for other pedals and it still won't work. Does anyone know if this Inifinity foot pedal will work with Inscribe?

Shorthand and MedRite XL? - Posted By: Whorn

Hi!

Would anyone know if ShortHand can be used with MedRite XL? Thanks for any info!

actual typing time versus hours worked-venting here - Posted By: no name

I just have to vent about companies that keep track of your actual "typing time" and then say you are not putting in your 40 hours. I always come up short and not by just a few hours. They have said I worked only 60 hours when I worked 80. But they say "their system is not wrong."

For one thing when you look up old reports or do research on-line or if you walk to the fridge, that shouldnt count as "not working" as long as you are getting your line rate. Also something is wrong because I dont take that much time looking up things.

Also how can they get by with making you work 40 hours when you are paid "production?" This is wrong. Either pay me by the hour or leave me alone!!

s/l sclera are injected? - Posted By: please help!

I have never heard this on a routine physical, could this be correct??

Thanks!

Work Discipline - Posted By: crystal

How do you stay disciplined while working at home?

I have found using "MyTimeManager" helps show how much/how little I have accomplished during the course of the day, but with a 4-year-old running around, it's easy to slack off and get off track.

Just wanted to see how everyone else stays disciplined while working at home :-)

if you transcribe 1 hr of dictation per day are you pt or ft? - Posted By: confused in my world

nm

Anyone have a recipe for this certain type of brownies?? sm - Posted By: Sweet Tooth

I had them once and they were delicious! They were brownies crumbled up and had a layer of strawberry's (the frozen ones I believe) and there was some whip cream and maybe some cream cheese in them too. Anyway, would love a recipe if anyone has one. Thanks

Can Shorthand be used with EXText? - Posted By: MT Mommy

Hospital is switching over to EXText next month and I'm worried! Without my ShortHand I might as well go work at McDonalds!

Barbara Tice - I trained you 10 years ago - Posted By: Ronnie MT

Hey Barb:

I was looking through some of these boards and came across something you applied for in Raleigh in September. I worked with you all those years ago and would like to catch up. Write me.

Info on minutes converted to lines - Posted By: vera

Hi everyone. I have a potential job offer and two of us are going to split the minutes. Does anyone know what 100 minute's worth of dictation would equal in lines per day. I know there is probably a formula for converting this, but I cannot find my information that I used to have. Thanks

Noisebuster headphones ? - Posted By: Noisy Nora

Just got mine delivered and am wondering if any one else has them. I used them and I noticed that between dictations or when I'm not pushing the foot pedal, there is buzzing or humming, I don't know if this is normal. Anyone know?

Acute care/radiology transcription - Posted By: tia

I have asked this question before but have never really gotten a response. On one account (hospital), I type their basic 4 and all their radiology. I get paid the same rate for both. Radiology is about 1/3 or more of the work I do for this hospital. Should I ask for more for radiology? It just seems like from what I read here, if I got paid what some of you are saying you get paid for radiology, I would get paid about three times what I am currently getting for radiology.

Northern Counties Secretarial Services - MN - Posted By: MTME

Anybody ever work for Northern Counties Secretarial Services in Minnesota in the 90s? Used to be what seemed like a great company, but in the end, they did a few really good MTs dirty.

Anyone know anything about Superscript out of Michigan? - Posted By: ce

*

Why do we MT without - Posted By: demanding what is a line?

WHAT IS A CHARACTER?

WHAT IS A LINE?

WHAT IS THE FORMULA A COMPANY IS USING TO PAY.

It doesn't appear MQ is paying by the old line like was AAMT - so what is the formula they are using. I want to know this. I want to be able to check on them. I am a contractor. I want to follow my pay.

A building always "extends" out his bills from the lumber company to make sure he hasn't been overbilled for wood, and the same with concrete. THAT'S BUSINESS.

I have a real problem with national transcription companies not wanting to treat contract people as BUSINESS PEOPLE. We are not their minions. We are business men and women.

This is insane!

Does the general work force work "by the hour".............and not know what constitutes an hour?

Think about it.

Then realize we need to demand from these nationals to have in writing several things like

--what is a line..are they paying by the line - what is a line? Our old contracts we signed with MQ was the old AAMT line and I don't recall signing a new contract yet they have changed the platform we are typing on suddenly - nice slippery slide there.

--I want a program I can buy from a third part to double check line length any given time I want to...day, night.

--policy when there is bad weather, line failure, no work, and how it affects bonuses we are eligible for etc.

--where does WORKMAN'S COMP COME IN if we are an employee and work from home?

just things like that.

why are we providing a service and not know how we are billing?