Charge by the patient. Makes for easier accounting practices.
Posted By: lynn on 2007-01-29
In Reply to: Charge for faxing reports (sm) - KM
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You need a macro to rearrange the name. Excel makes it easier to extract first or last names. nm
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If you charge for the macros, what makes you think
p
Do any of you IC's use accounting software?
If so, which do you recommend. My SIL does my taxes. I can get by with just listing everything down, but if software will make it easier for both of us, that would be great. I have an old copy of Quickbooks, I think 1999, that I bought when I was going to be an IC before and never did use. I have Microsoft Money 2005. I know the Money is mostly for personal finances. Now I find myself an IC because I had to have a job immediately, and this is what I found.
Accounting software
Can anyone recommend a good software for keeping track of charges, supplies, taxes, etc?
Accounting software
I have looked at Quicken, it does sound like what I might need. A silly question though, do you have to buy a new version each year? Thank you for your reply.
Sometimes it is a matter of accounting error
when the time sheet is sent to payroll. If they have you under certain budgets they may be trying to pay you from multiple departments and somewhere somehow the proper hours are not being sent to payroll. Usually they will rectify the situation, but I can feel your pain. This happened to me a lot when I was typing for several different departments. If one manager forgot to put my hours in then I had to wait sometimes up to two weeks. Hang in there! 
The MT software I use has an accounting package for my docs - SM
My docs can search on the software I use by entering date parameters to see how much their transcription costs are. They can break their transcription costs down by date, by dictator, by type of report, by report, etc.
The first of each month, I e-mail them my invoice; they merely check the accounting package of their software to see if the figures tally up.
This really takes the mystery out of billing for my docs.
No, parents don't usually sit there through football practices.
Games, yes. Practice, no. Cut the apron strings already. The kid would probably get teased with Mommy on the bench every single day watching him practice. It's just not done when kids hit middle school and high school. Let the coach do his job without parental scrutiny.
Take you emotion out of your business practices. sm
If she can not get the job done, she can not work for you period. It should not matter if she is family or not. She is a contractor to you and this is your MT business. No emotions and don't take things so personal!
Unfair labor practices
I'm an independent contractor and the company I work for is offering bonuses to some ICs, but not all. I know I could choose not work for them, but this is a pretty shady practice. I'm also routinely shorted on my pay, though they make it up the next month. I would like to do something about it if possible. Has anyone ever filed a complaint with EEO or Labor Relations for something like this? Thanks.
hospital hiring practices
a recruiter for a very large MTSO is a convicted murderer...and she met and married her husband while she was incarcerated and he TOO is a convicted murderer. Has not seemingly inhibited her career growth. I think you have nothing to worry about...go forth and get that job you want.
Their business practices are a little on the shady side and the pay is low and
they only pay you for half your lines on this pay period and the other half on the other pay period, which is fairly stupid. They said thats how the particular account pays..i verified and found it to be untrue. The owner also has some "illegal issues."
Question re: hospital hiring practices
Recently I have found myself wanting to apply for a couple of in-house positions at two local hospitals in my area. The main concerns I have that are preventing me from sprucing up my resume and just going to apply are: First of all, I have not ever worked in a hospital before, and even the positions which seem to be low-level clerical positions want hospital experience. I'm hoping that my medical transcription background coupled with my secretarial/office/customer service background would suffice for the 1-2 years of experience I see that is preferred for these types of positions.
Secondly, I am wondering about the background check process. Unfortunately, I have a very distant past, about 20 years ago. Our state has a First Offender Act, which I received, and this is supposed to provide, if all of the terms of the court are satisfied, no record/no conviction. I have spent some time reading about this on-line, attempting to find answers about how far back hospitals go when checking, as I would prefer to not have to mention anything at all about this if possible. I know that what one hospital does may be different from others, but was wondering if any of you have experience with the hiring process of hospitals and could offer information about what your experience suggests in regards to this. I would really appreciate any information you could offer, as I have really been nervous and anxious lately, and I think that the 8 years I have spent working at home have taken somewhat of a toll on my social skills, so kind of feeling down in the dumps about whether I could successfully get through the interview and hiring process without the above problems, but hoping that some information from you all who have knowledge of this would ease my mind somewhat and enable me to get through this.
I really appreciate you all taking the time to read this and offer any advice you can. TIA, and a very Merry Christmas to all of you!!!
Charge what the credit card companies charge when they don't get paid on time!!!!
Audio hour charge - what is fair rate to charge company?
Link to a good article on WalMart biz practices
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Doubt you can charge 15 cpl for VR work to the docs - you can't even charge them 12 for straight
x
Putting patient versus The patient (sm)
When did this "rule" come about? I've been an MT/Editor/medeical records tech/ART for 30 years - Never, ever was I told to put that. You cannot make the sentence be "The patient sent to Radiology" but you can put "Patient sent to Radiology."
Thats just insane.
you don't have to charge $60/HR - all you have to do is charge a good rate and then..
work smart, not hard. If you have a great dictator, charge him 14 cpl on a 65 char gross line, then set up your templates and word expanders, you can make $80/hr. But you need all three to work together, otherwise you might only be making $60/hr. Some people are just really good at what they do - shouldn't they make more if they are more productive?
I'd still charge by line, just charge a lower
rate, like maybe 8 cpl. Do you have to pickup and deliver work? You could also setup a one-month contract until you see how it goes and then you can figure out the best way to charge and go from there. You could also charge a flat rate per page and keep it fairly low.
One office I charge .12, another I charge $2.25 page--nm
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Unfortunately it is legal..so yes it is business and they will continue with bad business practices
x
It's a lot easier to get rid of a BF than a DH
I wouldn't put up with it, but that's just me.
I think it's easier but.....
I also think MTSOs add them so we don't get paid for them, after all if they add them we do not actually type them. Just my opinion.
It will get better, and easier. My one sm
inhouse experience was awful. Not only was I transcribing for $15 an hour, I had to make copies and go down 2 flights and stuff their mailboxes with copies.
I so much prefer working at home of a national, where all I do is transcribe, and they take care of the distribution of the records. I just push send. Plus I find the dictators a lot more doable than at that hospital. They were a mess. They didn't even have a standard format. It was just, whatever.
We have it easier than we think
My youngest sister came by this late night after getting off work. She works 2nd shift at a local factory. It has provided an okay and steady living for her and her family but it has taken its toll on her.
Her beautiful young face is worn and tired. Her clothes are nasty from the oil and sweat and metal shavings. Her poor little hands are literally worn out, muscular, rough with callus. Her back hurts all the time from all the standing. Some of the attitudes she works with keep her humble little soul in discomfort.
She gets in trouble by management and by every line worker if she has to miss. She has no opportunity to move anywhere really within that plant.
We don't always have the work we want in this business and sometimes we have to really take a stand to get where we need to be. All said and done, though, we have it easy.
I don't have to wear my self out physically. I can get up and stretch and take a break. I can be somewhat flexible with my time. I don't have to put up with people who try to control or intimidate me. I have a marketable skill, though that market is changing rapidly ... it is still a skill that I can adapt and use. There are so many ads on this very board that I can explore if I need a change or additional employment ... all those opportunities and I don't have to move anywhere, I don't have to uproot my life .. just go to work for someone else.
We have it easier than we think.
Again, easier said than done.
I have found that many transcriptions who say they want to work for me have one of three issues:
1. They embellish on their experience/quality.
2. Time off--they want more time off than I get and they usually wait until they're walking out the door to say they're not available. Deadlines are seen a "negotiable".
3. They are asking for more per line than I am able to pay (usually they want .12-.14/line--I only charge .12/line on my accounts because that's all the market will bear)
Many of these are newcomers to the field who have somewhere gotten the idea that they can get away with all of these behaviors. (I would bet more than one of them are some of the criers on these boards as well.)
I would LOVE to find someone who is dependable and experienced, who knows how to work and is not looking to take my accounts on a permanent basis; someone who would do as good a job for me as they would want someone else to do for them if they needed some time off. Apparently, they're all working for other companies and are happy, which is great for them.
An easier way...
If you are typing in Word, there is an easier way. Where you have the ?? in your document (I am guessing it is a template), erase the ?? and hit CTRL+F9 This will insert {} Use this throughout the document where you need to insert things. When you load your template, you can hit F11 and it will automatically take you to the next field.
is it easier to use
the CD for the computer...easier to use than the 2007?
This will get much easier sm
I was nervous about first podiatrist as she talked fast, used some not so good English, etc., but after the first few days, I realized she used almost all the same terms repeatedly. I bought a book - don't have it with me now - but one of the "word books" which helped me tremendously, it covered podiatry as well as other such entities. Just look up on the book search, believe it was a Stedman's. After that first week, I knew exactly what she was going to say next. I made more progress on this account than others. Just hang in there and it will be a breeze. I almost refused to do this account and was very surprised at my progress and earnings. Go with it! It only hurts for a little while. It's only the lower extremities usually and the rest is "history" which you should be able to figure out. It is important in podiatry that they mention diabetes and other such history which would bring on podiatry problems. They only know their own specialty usually and will admit they don't go outside the box much. They are insecure out of their box so you are helping them trememdously. Be patient.
easier yes, but a job
is still a job, and that part is not so pleasurable. but i do think after 30+ years that i would enjoy it much more if i were working only 3-4 hours a day. I still get great satisfaction from doing a job not everyone can, and doing it very well.
do you guys think it would be easier on the
To work a split shift, example 6-10 n then 3-7, OR would it be less painful to get it all done at once so you have more time to rest fully? My hands kill me constantly. I've tried everything. Don't want to be in more pain if the split would end up being worse. Thanks.
It would be faster and easier to ask
which companies treat their MTs well than to go through the masses that haven't treated people well.
Is doing QA easier than transcribing? nm
nm
It's easier if you are in India, I think. nm
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I am MT/ME and ME is easier on the hands...
I love ASR (automated speech recognition) aka editing as it's easier on the hands for some (me!!). It does pay 20% less per line but I'm very fast with editing. I like it a lot but to each his/her own opinion on it.
Good luck!!
I can tell you how to do it using Autotext, which is easier.
I'm using Word 2003 with Instant Text as my Expander software. I have been trying to figure out how to insert *stop codes* literally for months using Instant Text. I finally gave up and here's what I do. There may be easier ways around it, but I just learned today. lol
I transcribed the report,, which is a pain center report. I get the same doc everyday who has a style that he sticks with pretty much. After I was finished, I copied the report and went into a new document to tweak it up. I left in basically all of his repetitive phrases along with the exam, and all of the headings. Anywhere I wanted a stop code or field as MS Word calls it, I pressed the combination of ctrl+ F9. When I was finished I highlighted the document and clicked on Autotext. If you've never used autotext, when you want to retrieve an entry you've created, you start typing the name you've assigned to it, and either press F3 or enter and BAMM there it is. The stop/field codes look like this { }, but you can shade them gray. To access each field you simply press F11 and it takes you right to the next stop. I hope I didn't confuse you.
I just bought a book that is truly a MUST HAVE for MTs working with Word. It's called Tips N Techniques to boost the productivity of the medical transcriptionist. It was put together by an MT. I think you can find it under www.cherylflanders.com.
Good luck!
Rin
Thank you all!!! i do use templates, but its easier for me to just add the cc on the ones i need as
i put the cc: in autotext and it is working like a charm!! i have never used autotext, just autocorrect and it wasn't working in autocorrect. never knew what autotext was about. thank you so much!!!!!
I think that as long as you are available, it is far easier
than learning where to look for things. When I worked in an office when someone would ask me, I would show them how to look it up. Somehow, that came across wrong and I got in trouble. If I asked for help, I wanted to know where to look the next time. I would sit and run down the entire list of fractures, or whatever, to see if I could find the correct one, rather than leave a blank or have to bother someone. I think some people have had things done for them for so long, they don't know how and don't care to.
Yes, it gets easier. I do find it to be (NM)
dd
Found an easier way for me
I have the voice file load in ExpressScribe and type it in Word and copy it over. So much faster for me and I can use any of the pedals I have.
Easier (cheaper) for HIM! OMG,
that would slow me down so much...trying to leave out those little words. Tell him if he really wants those words left out to white them out after he gets the report. Hah!
Being an employee may be easier.
As an employee someone else takes your taxes out of your check before you get it. As an IC, you set it aside, but you do pay less because of business deductions. If you make as much as an employee as you did as an IC, you will pay more taxes, not less. I am hoping to switch to employee for the paid time off and benefits, but I want to always keep a little IC work for the tax deductions.
Another--usually easier--way is to use CONTROL-K. sm
When you are in the entry box and ready to type the text you want bolded, type CRL-K. It'll tell you the next keys you type will be assigned to the entry. Then you hit the same keys you normally do to turn on bold (CRL-B). It'll then ask you to accept what you've done. THEN you type your text. Then you repeat the CRL-K/CRL-B thing to toggle off the bold (just as you do normally).
Remember, CRL-K to turn on and off special functions in your entries. :)
It is much easier to train a new QA
to break the bad habits of an old QA that believes they are infallible.
It's would easier to view
some of this disorganized dictation as a delightful 'quirk' and a way to serve the customer, if it were not so expensive for US. Every time I type a paragraph and then have to take it all out and retype it in slightly different language [which does not change its meaning at all]; every time a dictator starts every sentence with 'the patient' only to change it, every time a dictator starts and restarts a sentence several times, it costs me time and money.
I've never gotten the knack of typing behind the dictator to eliminate this problem, though I've read that's what we should be able to do. I type right with the dictation, which means I often have to delete stuff and retype it when they change their mind.
I think it is just easier for some people
My mom is a fast typer. She was over 100 wpm on an old manual typewriter. She insisted I take typing in high school. My fingers fly, however, that doesn't translate to the piano, lol.
Even when I was at MQ on Medrite, I got over 250 lph, and I was a newbie, right out of school. I do use a lot of expanders, but honestly, my fingers are just fast.
When I worked on an ER account, I was able to do 425 hour (lots of templates, but still)
However, the older I get, I wonder if I will be able to keep up the pace.
Easier said than done. Quit blaming the MT for this!! nm
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it's supposed to be EASIER with the program - ha!
i always get the line that since we went on DQS that it's so easy to just put MTs on other accounts where they're needed. that would be true if the client profiles were all consistent, but have you seen some of them with all of their nit-picking - bunch of crap!!
A lot easier to scam people for $11.75
This sounds like a similar scam that used to post here. Non-MT work-at-home jobs that sounded a little too good to be true and the email addy was always HR at something or other dot com.
People are probably not going to pursue losing $12 in a scam like they would several hundred.
I agree that boys are not any easier.
I have raised 2 girls and am now raising a 13-yo boy and 2 11-yo girls. I think boys are worse, although the girls are no picnic.
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