Another good idea is to write a letter to the editor...sm
Posted By: oldtimer on 2008-09-11
In Reply to: PLEASE.... - BabyFirefly
of your local/state newspapers telling people what is happening with their medical records and the downside of them being sent to India. Most people have no clue.
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A while back I suggested we all write a letter to the editor about this . sm
I did, and they declined to print it. Evidently it's not a big issue in the minds of some. Individually we can't do anything about it. Perhaps collectively. We need a petition to go to ALL senators and representatives from our respective states, and none of this "anonymous" stuff, either.
Idea in letter to Editor in Advance magazine (sm)
Just last night I read a letter in the Advance for Health Information Professionals from a former MR who is now a cancer registrar and loves it. I had looked into that myself a few years ago, although I chose to stay with MT. At the time there were on-line courses through community colleges.
What about coding? I have a friend who works now for a local hospital at home doing ambulatory coding.
Just some thoughts.
BTW, the letter to Advance can probably be found on-line at advanceweb.com/him. It's the Nov 5 issue.
Letter to Editor-Advance
I will write a letter...
I would write one more letter and CC: to
the insurance commissioner and your insurance company. Write the letter to your physician's office, enclose copies showing proof of your payment of co-pays one more time. I found whenever I had CC to the Insurance Commissioner, then people got serious about finding the correct records...
May have missed that letter to editor (small msg)
Hm, I'll Google it and see if I can find it. Or, maybe I just missed it. I was due to renew membership and CMT in January, so may well have not received that one
Where I am we can write a letter asking to be excused - sm
presuming it presents a hardship for you. At the time I was ferrying my 1 daughter to Children's Hospital 2 x a week for speech therapy, to preschool and had 2 kids under the age of 3 and 4 (got called twice a year apart). So I always had a child at home and no family in the area to take care of my various commitments. They excused me both times. Now if I get called now I don't think I will be able to get out of it as both are in school now, we are done with speech therapy finally, and I can always reschedule anything else if I had too. I would see if you could write a letter, call them and ask, explain your employment situation and with any luck they will excuse you due to hardship. Good luck.
Anyone read Letter to Editor in ADVANCE see message
February 26, 2007 issue? Two letters regarding MT and AAMT.
Advance magazine? Anyone notice the letter to the editor?
It's on page 5 entitled Does Walmart or Home Depot pay better?......Gee, I wonder what company this person is talking about? Okay, which one of you sent this in? hahaha!
Well, while everything the writer of this letter says is true about the company, I think we all know most of us make a bit more than 8 to 10 bux an hour. For myself, it's about twice that. If I really were only making that for what I'm doing, I WOULD head over the the Walmart or Target. I would NOT do this for 10 bux an hour NO WAY in HE double toothpicks!
write a letter and send it to the higher ups.
Also, I think PC Magazine and other websites have complaint areas where you can turn businesses in for crummy customer service. The company would rather satisfy the customer than get bad press. Also, complain to the BBB or the FTC. You can make yourself heard.
Manager, if no help, never go back. write a letter saying why
be calm. depends on how big a *bad service* it was - the one I hate the most is where they act like they are doing me a favor to wait on me. That one I always report.
You don't have to hire a lawyer. Write the letter yourself, but
make sure you send it "return receipt requested" and give a specific date payment needs to be received by.
I would write a letter to AHDI and tell THEM, too, why you are dropping. sm
Your opinion and reasons, as someone who was a part of them for so many years and saw NO benefit from it, is a truth they need to be told over and over.
I'm going to write my own letter. Harder to ignore if
thousands of letters, all written differently, still say the same thing. That way they know it's not just a form-letter (like the kind they always send to US.)
There was an excellent letter to the editor in Advance Magazine last month sm
that spelled how why, but here are some of my reasons:
1. In all their years in existence, the AAMT has yet to make life easier for the AMERICAN MT. In fact, the state of MT in this country is worse than I have seen it in a very long time.
2. The AAMT chose to align themselves with MTIA whose board of directors is largely composed of Indians. They also support offshoring and have adopted the motto "work smarter" which to them means pay hundreds of dollars for a CMT that most companies will not even acknowledge and then hundreds more dollars to join AAMT yearly to get their crappy publications.
3. They are now certifying offshore MTs. Yes, nothing like opening the cover of the AMERICAN Association for Medical Transcription and seeing the names of the Indians who have received their CMT.
4. I get less pay than I did 20 years ago and offshoring is the main reason. So pardon me if I am a little testy that I just paid so much money to an organization who stabbed me in the back.
5. I certainly think they SHOULD change their name to something else. How about the I SOLD THE AMERICAN MT DOWN THE RIVER ASSOCIATION FOR MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION. Bitter? You bet. Gosh, they made so many promises and all they did was take our money for a piece of paper rarely recognized by anyone at the same time extending a hand to the reason I am making less money than I did 20 years ago!
6. It's a bloated association full of lots of people who "do things." Everything except stick up for the American MT.
7. Oh yes, and the BOS is ridiculous.
Is there someone willing to write a form letter? See blog post
I will put in on my blog and promote the heck out of my blog.
Hire an attorney & have the atty write a letter
that if you do not receive pay by (the date), you will file a lien on her business and her house, and may take her to Judge Judy  I guarantee you will get your money faster than going to small claims court, spending less time going to court, etc.
someone just e-mailed me "how to write a letter to your Senator" -
I responded to this e-mail and attached a sample for her (Sarah) to send to her Senator, but came back as not deliverable. Just speak from your heart when you write. Be respectful, "Dear Senator, thank you for representing our state" And then tell your story so to speak, how things are effecting you. That bringing IT jobs (not just MT, but anything that contains our private information, credit card processing, debt collection, etc.) would not only deter the rampant increase in identity and medical identity theft, but would bring American jobs back to America, American MONEY back to America to be spent in America! Good luck to all
It is so easy to post a letter on a newspaper editorial or magazine. Everybody write one.
If you have a story to tell - get busy. Go to news shows, magazines, newspapers. It is so easy. Talk about the MT business or about the whole offshore process and its cost to the U.S. Any and everything written only solidifies our total point of view. GO TO whitehouse.com for sure. Don't wait for others to carry this for you. Support Travelin MT's efforts on the company board!!!!
Idea for sales letter
What do you all this of this? I just graduated, and I want to market to doctor's offices. I made a flyer to send. I thought I would also send a sales letter that is formatted like a SOAP. I don't know how much competition I will have, and I'm trying to stand out. Too silly? Any comments?
Get a good tax guy. His fee is a write-off. He will tell you what you need to do & deductions you
;I
Absolutely not! Most editors do not charge by the line. A good editor
knows that line pay is not fair pay, or let's say a quality editor knows that line pay is not fair pay. I have done some VR editing and believe me, the ones I did you literally had to retype the whole report. Figure out an hourly rate that would work for you and don't take anything less. Editors or QA people should not be paid on production. That's the final step to quality and some of these groups, services, will learn that one day! Some of the better ones already know that. 
why it will be good for MTs. you can see from letter below from CEO
the impact the lawsuit has had simply to start change within the MQ organization.
Here's pertinent part of letter that shows changes coming.
From Frank Lavelle, President
To all statutory medical transcriptionists
July 14, 2005
VIA Electronic and U.S. Mail
Dear Statutory Medical Transcriptionists:
W e would like to thank you for your continued service and support. We know that the key to our success is the people who work so hard for our customers everyday.
At MedQuist, we are determined to become the medical transcription provider of choice for statutory employees. Over the past several months, with your help and input, we have been working on developing a pay plan and comprehensive benefit program that will enable us to set the standard in the industry. We recently announced significant changes to our benefits program for full time employee transcriptionists and within the next few months, MedQuist will be announcing a new pay plan that will address the feedback we received from medical transcriptionists in response to our survey on pay issues.
As you may also know, MedQuist is currently responding to a lawsuit brought by three medical transcriptionists that was filed in response to certain publicity surrounding MedQuist's billing practices involving the AAMT billing unit of measure. MedQuist takes all allegations concerning its pay practices very seriously and will seek to address any concerns raised by the lawsuit. While we believe that the claims raised by the three transcriptionists appear to lack merit, we are diligently working on addressing this matter in order to best serve all of our valued medical transcriptionists.
To enable us to fully and appropriately respond to this, as well as other lawsuits currently pending against the company and governmental investigations, our lawyers from Winston & Strawn are required to collect documents. To ensure that you are completely informed about the materials they are seeking, we have attached a memorandum below regarding MedQuist's document retention and collections policy. Please review this document as soon as possible.
Once again, we would like to express our deep appreciation for your continued patience, cooperation and service to the company.
Very truly yours,
Frank Lavelle
President
Enclosure
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I've also found it varies from editor to editor -
In one case I researched it fully, and found that both of them were wrong, and I had been right all along.
[Sigh........]
Buy if from your husband. Have him write you a receipt. Write it off completely or
depreciate it over a few years.
Sombeody actually wrote a really good letter to Advance a few issues back. sm
It was in the Jan. 12, 2009, issue, letter to the Editor titled, "What Good is Change for MTs?" by Wendy Keller. She does attack AHDI in a very intelligently written letter.
good idea
I think if you have a good hobby then work is just something you do while you look forward to your project/hobby after work. Cut back on work if you can, don't work past your set work hours, don't look at the computer again when you are done. I got burned out when my life seemed to revolve around work, work, and more work, but I got out of it when I found a good series of books to read and then thought about them while I worked and hurried and got done so I could read more. Hands-on projects are fun, too, just whatever works for you.
No, it's not a good idea. sm
I don't even like it when they use MY OWN computer let alone my employers. Absolutely would advise against it.
That is a good idea (sm)
and you said the word, his wife is controlling!
I am sure not going to hobble to their house from the Amtrak station. They could afford to send a cab, but haven't offered.
Thank you everyone for your input! 
I have a good idea most of us - sm
work for MDI. I am really anxious and excited for my account to switch over, but a bit discouraged about the fact that I will still have to maintain my unlimited LD service for my secondary accounts. I have done both C-phone and wav and really didn't notice a difference in sound quality, but I definitely prefer wav.
Good idea!! I wish I could do that
nm
good idea
The TV helps but if I have it too loud then I can't here my dictation. Yes, I hear everything she says with my ears plugged and everything. Probably just mentioning I overheard her may be worth a try. Although she did tell me one day she heard me sneeze. She has to know I can hear her. Maybe if I just say I can hear her (without mentioning the cursing) it will get the point across without having to be unkind. Thanks. I feel a little more calm now anyway. It has just been getting to me day after day. And she stayed home from work today and I had exra dosage. Thanks.
Thanks, that's a good idea! nm
nm
That's a good idea.
I'm going to try that approach. Thanks so much. I think she might be approachable. I've smiled at her and she smiled back. That's a good sign. I don't think she is trying to be rude. I think this apartment was empty and she got used to it.
Not a good idea -
why would you want to get friendly with a person who is not honest on a simple thing like an apt. application? Does she have something to hide? I'd keep my distance, you may open up Pandora's Box. A few years back I had a lady who lived upstairs (supposedly lived alone). She lived with her boyfriend who was about 300 lbs. and paced all night long and slept all day. Without going into detail, they ended up moving out, but before leaving, they sold a car at a local car dealearship that ended up being stolen.
Good idea. I'm trying that.
One question, do you buy your Parmesan in a bag or a chunk?
Good idea!
x
Good Idea
They do tend to like the warmer humid weather of the southern states. I lived in VA for two years and saw many brown recluse. One was in our shed and actually "jumped" at my ex husband when it was threatened. He hit it with a hammer and it still survived. The person I had seen after a brown recluse bite, lost the skin around the bite for six months afterwards. The area of necrosing skin spread to an area of about five to six inches. This was on her face and it was VERY noticeable. No amount of antibiotics or any medical form of treatment helped her. It just had to run its course and scarring was a side effect. I have the utmost respect for those vicious little creatures.
I don't think it is a good idea
I've seen/heard many reports about child predators that see myspace.com as a feeding frenzy. Bottom line is, he may say he is her age & he may come off as a nice, normal kid but who knows if he really is who he says he is, or if he is just another predator. for online dating, I would suggest sticking to sites that have good reputations & do background checks, etc. good luck.
Good idea
Thanks for the idea about linking the macro to Shorthand. Maybe I can try that. I don't have hundreds of docs, so it should work out fine. I wonder why they don't make it like Autocorrect where you can just highlight and everything stays the same?? Why make life difficult with codes?!? 
Anyway, THANKS for your suggestion! BTW, you said you've used a few different expanders. Which one did you personally like best?
Good idea
Yes, that's a good idea. Do you know how I'd find those programs or if they are costly?
Thanks so much.
Good idea
I am surprised (and disappointed) that there isn't already something like this available and readily accessible on the internet. Please keep us posted on what you find out.
In the meantime I'll do a quick search to see if I can find anything similar on the internet.
That's a good idea
Thanks for the idea. I will most likely do that. However, it is somewhat upsetting when the head of transcription assures you she will take care of it and then forgets about you. Also, even though I can contact them and let them know I was not paid for that time, I could use that money now, not sometime in the future. Oh, well, live and learn. I should have refused to train and just concentrated on my own line count, I guess.
That is a good idea ..
Thanks. That is a good idea.  I had done a search on laptop desks on the internet thinking I could find something that folded down and could travel easily but I couldn't find anything.
Paula
that's a good idea
I'm already getting tortured by having to listen to it. Yours is a lot worse though! How ridiculous...
That's a good idea. I try to do that.
My goal is to finish working by noon so I can pursue my hobbies and spend time with the kids. It's just so tough to get started. It's nice to have alone time in the house with nobody demanding of me or to run to the grocery store without the hubby or kids. Then I find myself working in the afternoons and evenings, which is not what I want. So why do I do this to myself?
Very good idea
You have a very good point... how many times they say something repeatedly and the third time they say it, it sounds much clearer or they even decide to spell it that time. Excellent idea. Thanks.
good idea...
or you can "bum" off of someone else's wireless if you get really desperate. My neighbor "bums" off of mine but I don't mind because it doesn't effect me and I live out in an underdeveloped area and it can be hard to get an ISP out here. I know some people consider it stealing but I figured if you didn't lock it down, then it's open season.
Good idea
I have been thinking of asking if I can work more, shorter-hour shifts too.
I get really tired out and have issues with my legs if I sit for too long. The 8-hour thing is too much for me.
I am happy to hear many have better production this way. Maybe I can actually speed up and make more money.
Definitely worth a try.
NOT A good idea
It is NOT a good idea to "fast forward" while the doc "flips through the chart" IT IS A LEGAL document -- and that is first and foremost when it comes to patient care which a lot of 'BABIES" dont understand
good idea
that sounds like a good idea. I have my sign language degree and might look into transcribing for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in a college room setting, so that might be a good thing to do to get away from the usual transcription, although the only thing that holds me back from that is they don't pay by the line, and the hourly rate is not very good, but I am going to try and convince them to pay me by the line.
Good idea
I need some motivation - maybe this would help!
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