Benefits are a concern. I am currently
Posted By: Trying to decide on 2006-03-31
In Reply to: If benefits are a concern... - Jen
working as an IC, and I am sick of the tax stuff - really wondering if I come out ahead to be honest working that way. I definitely want benefits and have a prospective company interested in hiring me that offers benefits. I have always known the doctors I have worked for. I guess it's sort of a new working situation for me not to know the person I am typing for. I don't know if I would miss that. Do you find it hard to deal with a company who is across country that you can't just drive to at a moment's notice if you have a problem and can't communicate by phone or email with anyone?
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If benefits are a concern...
I would just find an job working from home that offers benefits. My job allows me to make money by the line, and also as long as I work full time, I get benefits. As the other poster, I too like being able to work from home and not deal with traffic getting to work, gas, work clothes, eating out, putting children in childcare, etc. It saves me so much money this way.
Also, I have been doing this for six years, and I haven't known any of the doctors personally.
That was with full benefits, which are the same benefits as an in-office employee for the QA staff..
However, I hear that their current QA staff are being asked to reach numbers that are out of sight and goals are basically impossible.
IC positions offer no benefits, employee positions off full benefits, so if you do not need
benefits, then IC would be best.
Thanks for your concern - sm
All of these possibilities have run through my mind too.
In truth, I think the dad was trying to protect her, given the tragedy they have faced in the last year. At least that is the one possibility that I am hoping. That one can be forgiven as compared to other possibilities.
I can't even imagine what must be going through her head. As a mother, I would want to protect my kids too if they had been hurt as she has.
I did a little internet searching on the story he gave me and did find that the accident and deaths really did happen so I don't doubt that at all. I think it's dad trying to do his best and trying to protect her from further hurting but also trying to do the right thing too.
On my steps this morning I found a little bouquet of flowers. I think they may have been from her. Sure, they were picked from my flower beds but... hey, it's a gesture and looks like a little kid put them together.
Again, I'm holding out for putting the best foot forward and try to be a good neighbor.
Everyone deserves a second chance.
Thanks for your concern - sm
I don't think she's going to be a problem.
When my husband and I divorced, my little angels turned into monsters. They were angry, confused, and scared. This little girl lost her mother and her baby brother. They aren't coming back and it's still pretty fresh.
My kids see their dad every other weekend so they know he's still around.
Just try to put yourself in her shoes at that age. Wow, that's a big thing for such a little girl to handle.
I think her dad is doing his best, has her in counseling, has his sister helping him learn to be Mr. Mom, and just trying to be everything to his daughter.
From what I gathered from my conversation with him the day after the puppy incident, he was absent from the home a lot on business before the accident. Said he had no clue what to do after his wife and son were gone. Said he thought he was a dad before but this whole thing opened his eyes to what he was missing.
The guy has moved across state, lost his wife and son, trying to learn all over again to parent his remaining child, and starting a new career so he can spend more time with his daughter.
I think I'm safe with a 10 year old. I'll be more aware of what is going on when she is around but, she's 10. Still a baby to me.
By the way, they have accepted my invitation to dinner Friday night, all three of them.
It's going to be okay.
After my not so nice divorce (husband is now living with the reason for our divorce) I have learned that I really do have more patience than I thought myself capable of. Dealing with the nasty GF of the husband, the husband's betrayal, the kids anger for the separation and then the divorce, and my inital feeling of failure... I could list a million things but, I'm happy now, my kids are happy, I get along well enough with the ex, civil with his girlfriend, heck, this little bump over the puppy is small taters next to the past few years I have had.
I don't plan on saving the girl. I just feel bad for her and I know that her healing is just beginning. Doesn't help if I encourage my kids to alienate her. Not very nice of me as an adult either. Just because of one incident out of 6 months. No, I think she deserves a little understanding, forgiveness, and patience.
Thanks for your concern. sm
I have been in this business 25+ years and have had my own hospital clients for years. I know what happens when administration changes. I appreciate your concern, but believe me, I will be fine.
Why would some be so worried about another's line rate? If it is true concern, it is quite refreshing to see such caring fellow MTs rather than the bitter bunch usually here.
Thanks again, and best of luck to you.
Good luck to you.
no, I do not. thanks for your concern.--nm
nm
Yes, this is a concern.
Can you say which region of the country you are in? I have a feeling when this EMR stuff gets rolling, it's really going to impact MT quickly. My personal physician's group (in Michigan) uses it now for their office notes and has absolutely no need for transcription services.
What was the concern regarding Transform??
\
Overhiring is becoming a big concern.
Frequently, we are asked to get off the account we are working on as there is not enough work to go around, but this is sporadic, yet has been happening a lot lately so I suspect overhiring. If this continues, I may have to find another job, which is a shame because they are good person there but that will not pay my bills.
I think your concern is well founded. sm
I am looking to start re-schooling in the next year to get into a profession that cannot be offshored. Globalism is here to stay, and all jobs that can be used to extend corporation control into the global society will do just that. No sense not paying attention to the handwriting on the wall.
Please take this as intended; as concern
Hair colorants can be quite toxic; you may want to research here. I have no affiliation with this site other than I wish to be an educated consumer and I am concerned about what I put in and on my body. Not trying to be preachy. Good luck to you.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php
I understand your concern....
Sheri would like you guys to know this: When the site goes down and is replaced with old posts, then you will know it has been taken over. Please know she is working to get a new site at mtstars.net and it will be working as soon as possible. I do not work for MTStars and am just a poster but know what cybersquatting is. This is real. Be aware that a person has taken hostage the *domain name* for money (extortion) and if she doesn't comply in 12-24 hours, he will take over the site. This is real!
My concern about newbies getting a job -
In response to a previous post on newbies finding a job - I've been typing for almost 15 years and was lucky enough to "learn the right way" from a great mentor, learning all specialties. Editing speech rec jobs is relatively easy when you have the background in all specialties like "us old folks".
At least for right now, I believe speech rec is only as good as the experienced Editor behind it to eyeball and correct any errors. I hate to admit it, but speech rec has made dramatic improvements in its accuracy over the last few years. It's here to stay, it's improving - and surprisingly, the people I work with really enjoy editing.
My concern though is when the old folks like me in the field retire, and many of us are getting close. Newbies need the opportunity to get in the door and gain their experience in all specialties to take over as the older folks leave the field. There needs to be mentors to continue to be available to these newbies to guide them along the way. There are good schools out there, but to "learn it all" you really need to be actively working in the field on a job that gives the opportunity to learn all specialties.
This is my concern as speech recognition becomes more and more successful. We will continue to need quality, seasoned transcriptionists to become quality, well rounded editors in the future.
I've taught completely green people transcription, and I've taken newbies in and guided them along the way. It is satisfying for me because someone took me green 15 years ago and gave me this opportunity, and for that I am eternally grateful. Putting 3 kids through college was a lot easier thanks to my full time job and another part time job I had.
Best of luck to all you newbies out there - if you can get your foot in the door at a local hospital, even working in house to start, its a good place to begin. Gain all the experience you can. I'm not sure working for these big shlock houses, the nationwide transcription companies, is the best place to start - it can be frustrating when you're given all the ESL docs and junk work and try to plug through it.
Good luck newbies - keep on pluggin.
Hear your concern about
the line situation. I use ShortHand and have shortcuts up the kazoo. The only thing Shorthand does for me is save my fingers and hands as I don't see a huge difference in my lines.
In fact since I have gotten really proficient with my macros, my lines in fact have gone down or stayed the same. I thought it was supposed to be a line booster. One can only go so fast and still maintain accuracy and fill in blanks along the way.
Makes ya wonder what is going on with that?
I can understand that concern. To be honest, I believe
that there will still be lots of opportunity for overtime.
There's going to be a few months of transition and, with any luck, the unhappy MTs will leave and that situation, coupled with constant new accounts coming on board, will generate more work than you're thinking about right now. It will have to be done, period.
There may be some occasions where overtime isn't as readily available but I expect that we will have plenty of times where we have some offer of overtime.
That's my speculation, at least.
yeah, but since capitation, sorry, but how much concern is there
for the patient? Just big business, like Walmart. Push people in, push them out, cut services...
Hospitals now want everything for nothing, and do not want to pay for it, as evidenced by the complete explosion of outsourcing...
Thanks. That is encouraging. My biggest concern is
visiting family at holidays and other times. Do you bring some of your own food or just pick and choose from what is offered? Or do you go "off the lifestyle" and then make up for the damage later?
Bigger concern is your husband!!
Aside from the fact that your husband's friend is a jerk, what is your husband saying about the fact that he will not give you this female's phone # so you can call her back and let her hear a piece of reality here!! It's as if your hubby is saying this is a game here and it's "okay". Does the fact that this lady called him give him some kind of a charge, a little excitement for him? I would question his ethics first, after all, if he's willing to keep this number from you, what else would he think is none of your business? Sorry, but that's the bigger problem.
my concern with VOIP with a C-phone is
how is the voice quality? I would be interested in something like Vonage as I can take that with me and travel.
Thanks for your concern - no internet newbie here
What personal information? MT Registry only requires an e-mail address to register - no other information is required.
The e-mail address I use for any site can easily be dumped. Anybody buying gmail, hotmail or yahoo addresses is wasting their money.
First we have the conspiracy theorist and now a patronizing man acting like all the little women don't know how to protect themselves on the internet.
I actually am on my way out the door, thanks for your concern! but the situation will not change
x
Satellite is not secure so there may be concern for HIPAA
violation. Also satellite downloads are not dependable, sometimes they can be just as slow as dial-up, depends on the weather and how many others are on the server.
The trees are the main concern in a hurricane (sm)
the lake didn't even get close to the house during that supposed "100-year flood" in 1993 (not allison, the other one). We went to the other side of Houston for Rita, came back the next day. It was a mess with limbs all over but no trees down on our property. Next-door neighbor had 3 down. We've decided for the next one, we will stay in the garage and hope no trees fall on the house.
Take concern/questions to MTSO. Ask how line
you are being paid correctly at a certain line rate but if she cannot SHOW you how those figures are arrived at, I would be very leery that she is being less than honest with me. If she knows exactly how she is figuring lines to pay you, she should be able to demonstrate to you how figures are arrived at.
Maybe because of sincere concern for people who once were dedicated?
You probably support illegal immigrants working within the border.
What do you suppose laid off employees do until they get a job? Welfare and foodstamps? Who pays then? What in the world does a country do for its people then provide jobs when it is a 1st world infrastructure?
No holds barred? The man or woman who goes the extra mile for a company and then is dumped on the street - with every attempt made to block unemployment INSURANCE benefit - is only looking at the bottom line.
Believe me, good MTs still can find work but it may take a few months. So, give them some compensation insurance like the contract states. Otherwise, state: Once an MT is no longer needed, Unemployment Insurance will be denied regardless of the situation at hand. Then, I will not take the darn job.
Give me a break.
I appreciate your concern but that would be MY choice - if I wanted to decide to contact them...
of course, if you don't want to name your previous employer, that's up to you. I do appreciate your response.
However, I believe I make my own choices about where I work.
Voice Your Concern about Offshoring - E mail the President - see here
Go to whitehouse.gov/contact or ehow, etc. I did just that today. They invited me to e mail the president - so I did. Not sure he will ever get it but it was a nice friendly letter. I asked him to find out and report how many jobs are being offshored every single day, faster than he can create them. I asked him to try to get specific figures on tax implications and our social security system. No one has ever given out this information, which would probably be a difficult task since the offshoring companies will not fess up to how many jobs really leave the U.S. I figured if any one could find out it would be President Obama himself. As an aside I asked him could it be true that the big banks who received approximately $150 billion dollars of our money actually applied for 20,000 new visas for foreign workers (up 1/3). With our own money?
I asked him how his stimulus package was supposed to work. I have always stimulated the economy, worked, and paid taxes. Now my job has been given to a foreign worker who does not pay taxes. What gives? If that is not on a drain on the system, then the lines for unemployment income are. I mentioned that the stimulus checks handed out were never going to trickle down to the average American citizen. Look what they are doing with it. The best stimulus he could give us is to save our jobs. We can't spend what we don't have. I also congratulated him on his new job, financial security, the American people keeping the mortgage up to date on the White House, and that his kids certainly seem to have everything they need. Keep up the good work and get back to me on those huge figures. Oh, and I gave him my figures, unemployment at 50% of your earnings for 6 months.
Your e mail can be one sentence or up to 5,000 words. Can you imagine the President receiving e mails from 300-500 MTs in one week. Do it.
If insurance is your primary concern, then Trans Tech may not be an option for you.
The family insurance is horrid, over $1200 a month I believe, and the single coverage would have cost me $300 a month. I had to pass on the job due to this. I would be working just for the insurance.
Maybe I misunderstood the OP's concern. Pardon if my response doesn't pertain. nm
x
Not to discourage you, my concern would be if you can find someone to hire you. Good luck. I agree
nm
Right Now, we do get benefits
but MQ is trying to change that, of course. They are trying to get our hospital to outsource everything to them, which would then mean i can work for MQ or leave. I hate MQ. I want to see them exposed for what they really are and I want to see everybody that have hurt, be compensated.
You can do that with benefits too, ya know.
:)
As long as you're happy, it pays your bills, and you can make ends meet at tax time, that's all that counts. :)
Is that with or without benefits
Do they have Editor positions as SE?
If you don't need benefits, look into
doing house cleaning for individuals on a weekly basis. Lots of under-the-table money to be made from what I used to see when I worked at a bank (and saw deposits of gals doing housekeeping). Weekly house cleaning is no longer limited to the well off professionals.
I was in QuickLube, or whatever it's called this week, and a 70-something lady was talking about her work as a home aide - light housekeeping and cooking and companionship - no medical stuff. She got her referrals through her church and was charging $10/hour.
Unfortunately, some of us need benefits.
Not even in the salad days did I make anywhere near that. In fact, most of the services I know don't charge that.
It's all about the benefits
Hospitals don't want to pay the benes. The hospital where I used to work was sold and the new owners threw us all out plus the service we used. My benefits alone costed the hospital roughly $5000 per year x that by 15 transcriptionists. Plus they provided everything for us, equip, desk, computer, etc.
Apparently they contracted a service for X amount of dollars per month/year to do it for them. No messing around with line counts and they always know what it will cost them.
Can you name some benefits for
the American MT to become certified? Please tell me how AAMT has changed the average MT's job security, satisfaction, etc. All I see is that they have given up on us and moved overseas to start programs and gain overseas members.
well, there are some benefits to having your own
was asking you to go away. A blog serves a similar purpose and in fact you may find a wider range of readers, interactions and help than what you may get on this web site. Yes, I have seen others here say they would start their own blog and have seen a couple of them, so it wasn't an only you thing (at least I didn't see it that way).
Benefits can add up to $10,000 though. (nt)
Tax benefits
I guess I just like knowing I own my own business and I made it what it is today. I like getting out and delivering. Talking to the people in the office making personal contact. Working as much as I want. I also like the write offs and paying less than $1,000 taxes per year. To each their own. To me this is the answer. Most on this board all they do is say that there is no way to make 50K a year and I simply gave an example of how you can do it. I am not knocking you, you seem to have done it I just like doing it "my way" as Frank Sinatra would say. Best of luck to you.
If you do not need benefits then you would
there is more leg work involved especially when first landing an account. The other problem is that even when you have a contract with them they can break it any time for someone who charges less. So you must remain humble with your pricing. When you have your own accounts, you have cut out the middle man, BUT, you must chase down your money. In my experience, the Transcriptionist must get paid LAST because most weeks, I have to ask nicely or do without. Have a safety net, an account to borrow from until you get paid because a lot of the time they pull OOPS, forgot your write your check, or OOPS doc needs to sign it or you just wonder when you'll get it. Just SOME things to consider, but good luck on whatever you decide. 
IC - No benefits with this doc
I was total IC before. I dropped my other accounts and went the employee route for the bennies and so taxes are taken out. Now I get days and holidays off, too. That's a first. Worked 9 years 7/7, 12-14 hours a day, 3 days off a year for family.
What no one seems to realize that in my area, money is tight and so I can't charge the same as someone in a city or heavily populated area can charge. Jobs just aren't here.
Benefits
They cannot give you benefits if you are an IC. If they did they would have to turn you into employees. This is not just my opinion they are IRS rules.
My pay is okay - just no more benefits
It has become a matter of taking a higher cpl w/o benefits or lower cpl with benefits in this industry...as well as those employers who want (example) 7 years of experience for 5-6 cpl. Anyone accepting that should be ashamed to call themselves an MT. I make only slightly less than I did 5 years ago. Now I make 11 cpl on a 65 line count versus 11-12 cpl on a gross line - the difference though, is that I had paid benefits then which I don't have now. The other difference is that when I could work in DOS and create all reports into one file to send at the end of the day, I could routinely produced over 350 lph (and never, ever work more than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week!). Now that I have to work on a platform that requires individual reports being submitted, I've really taken a hit in how many lph I can produce. I still work less than 40 hr/wk, though.
I truly believe in working smarter than harder. If a company offers a platform or dictators that prevent me from making a minimum of 200 lph or more, then I don't work for them. If I can't use my abbreviations that I've built over the past 10 years, then I won't work for that company. If I can't have benefits paid by the company AND the cpl I want, then yes, I will be an independent contractor and take all the tax benefits I can. Last year, I only paid $268 in federal taxes for the entire year.
I have to work around my child as well (I am single) and I am fortunate that my training days are well behind me. I still have a good life and good income, but I am choosy about the company I will work for. When I am older and things change significantly that I make less than $40k/yr, then I will go back into coding and have a job with good pay and benefits. I can't see staying in a profession if it doesn't benefit me the way I need it to.
About benefits
After I wrote my last post I was just thinking about the benefits. I was with Keystrokes for a while and you can be an employee with them and still get the flexibility of 24 hour TAT and therefore you can get the benefits. So it's not impossible to get benefits and flexibility. I know the Keystrokes ortho accounts offer 24 hour TAT, not sure if it's all of the ortho accounts, but I know some of them do. I'm not sure if they have other specialties that have the 24 hour TAT. Good luck.
Benefits
The only "benefits" an IC gets is being able to make their own schedule. We do not get any medical, dental, retirement. We furnish our own equipment, do our own taxes, and do not get paid vacation or holidays.
benefits?
I know people who would change bedpans, just to get a hospital job because of the great benefits package. No judgement on types of jobs some of us would or wouldn't actually consider doing, but bottom line for some people is a steady paycheck and health insurance.
benefits
They do have good benefits and I did look into the kitchen job a bit more. I have not called HR yet. I guess my main point is I am surprised that the HR person did not follow through and let me know there is not an MT job. She did not indicate that when I met with her. I am also surprised that the application went to another department but if that is the way it is done, ok, fine. I do not feel I am a prima dona. I would have understood them passing the application on to perhaps the business office or something else in the medical record department. The job asked for an experienced MT so I was just responding to that particular job.
No Benefits
I'm an independent contractor and so I don't receive any benefits. The reason I stay as an IC is because it allowed me to obtain one degree, and now I'm going back to obtain my nursing degree, and so I like the fact that as an IC, I can set my own hours and that kind of thing...so unfortunately, the penalty for that is not having insurance, paid time off, etc., but I hope it will all be worth it in the end when I'm a nurse! And, I don't mind answering any questions at all...so feel free to ask.
Have a good day!
CMT benefits
Company I work for pays 1 cent per line more for CMT, also provides gift certificates for several webinars a year so does not cost me much.
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