Credentialing is a joke
Posted By: MTinNC on 2008-09-01
In Reply to: We don't touch bodily fluids - like nail techs do.
and an expensive one, at that. Why should I, after working 8 years in this and proving my abilities, pay mega bucks to get and keep a sheet of paper??? A friend of mine did, and she gets one more cent a line, BUT has to agree to producing more work to keep her 1 cent! ("Well, okay, we'll give you a penny, but here, work your @$$ off and try to keep it! Ha ha ha!!!") Where did the money for the test go, and the money for the continuing ed? Right in the pocket of the company responsible for funding reduced credential testing for foreign MTs! I don't think so....not me, and the more of us who do test voluntarily will cause more consideration to making it manditory.
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Credentialing
Has anyone really reeped the benefits of being credentialed? I have been fortunate enough to work on site in psychiatry and never NEEDED to be credentialed. I am looking at getting a raise and thought maybe that would help. However; you have to pay money to be a member with the people who require more money to take their test and buy their books. I am not sure it is worth it.
Comments...anyone...
Credentialing
No way Jose. This is nothing more than a money making gimmick. I've been doing this 16 years and have done just fine without. When the BIG nationals start contributing money to this organization, you'd better believe it's not in the MT's best interest and that is exactly what has happened. We've been sold out to the highest bidder.
Why go through credentialing
when it supposedly is all going VR by 2010 or something like that? Why pay the money? I do believe credentialing is a way for that AHDI to make money. There was another thread where the CMT makes 6K, but she's gotta pay for her credits she needs to stay a CMT and do the work of sitting listening to the webinars, which when I looked were neither cheap nor short. Maybe I'm crazy, but there would need to be credentialing for a certain realm of the specialties as well. I do not like acute care. Sure, I can do it after 20 years in this business and working at a hospital, but I have no desire to work on acute care, so shouldn't I then have a choice in the matter to be credentialed for clinic work? I'm not an expert on this credentialing but I also just got a response from a nameless recruiter who expected me to take an extensive test because he/she claims that the ones that have been in this business a long time are not the best MTs out there and cannot pass his/her test. So who is the bully here? The pay was probably going to be horrible anyway, so why bother? I just told her/him good luck in their search. I'm tired of taking lengthy tests; my resume shows what I've done, am doing, and if these companies don't like it then pass me by, but by darned don't come off as greater than thou and degrade a hardworking MT just looking to contract a little bit of work. They can keep it for all I care with that kind of attitude. 
RE: Credentialing
I've seen several online news ads for my area - Washington Post, Baltimore Sun (which uses careerbuilder.com) - for on-site positions which state "CMT preferred" (especially for editing jobs). I've seen plenty of online ads for nationals that offer higher pay with CMT status. If you plan on staying in the field, then at some point having the cert. could mean the difference between you and another candidate for a position or higher pay. Since certification is not necessary in our field, pursuing it is a personal choice. Weighing the time and money costs of certifying versus potential future benefit, it can't hurt to have it IMO.
Credentialing
The nail techs and beauticians that we all go to are REQUIRED to be licensed and REQUIRED to attend continuing education on a 3-year cycle. Why shouldn't those who handle confidential medical information be subject to some form of regulation. We are not just typists, we are professionals at what we do!
Mandatory credentialing
Yes ADHI (AAMT) is working towards mandatory credentialing. Anyone who sees that as a threat or joke, probably should not be working as a transcriptionist. Believe me the more education and professional development you gain- you will reap rewards. They may or may not be monetary or happen overnight. Sometimes it is more about professional development.
Don't be under the assumption that credentialing
means the Transcriptionist is "better" in some way. As far as pay, I have NEVER, EVER seen a substantial difference in pay rates or an employer who will only hire credentialed. Don't get me wrong, credentialing is a good idea as it lends professionalism to our field but unless we are united, get credentialed and then demand better pay for the expense and education of being credentialed, what's the point?
credentialing, schmredentialing
Hey, some of us MTs never touch the majority of the stuff you need to know to become a CMT. I, for one, have only typed in oncology and that is my forte, and I intend to stay in it until I drop dead (can't retire, not enough money).
With cancer increasing at horrible and alarming rates (why so much cancer these days?) my job feels secure, unless we go to the electronic medical record across the board or they get robots to do our job. I consider myself a professional because I know my specialty very well, having typed for 15 years in it exclusively. If they insist on credentialing, then they had better have different education and professional levels or requirements or categories because I have no idea how to type an EKG and never would want to at this point. I have beaucoup respect for those who type the whole shebang, but not all of us do.
One size does not fit all.
MTIA's statement on credentialing
x
In my most humble opinion, I think credentialing is a crock. SM
You hit the nail on the head - its a test created by a group that requires you pay $100 or so for membership (I haven't checked what their fees are for a while), $80 for their rule book, and then $300 to take their test. And for what? A penny more per line, maybe?
Not to mention, the organization which is supposed to be setting the tone and the standards in the medical transcription industry continually and consistently subverts the interests of the American MTs that were the life's blood of their association at its inception back in the good 'ol days. Without us, their little club would not have grown as it did. Instead of focusing on the needs of the American MTs and championing causes that would improve our industry and our pay checks, they have embraced offshoring, calling it the globalization of the workforce and say it the wave of the future and its progress. And as they ride this wave of the future, they leave the American MT in their wake betrayed and alone and poor.
I have have a deep moral objection to giving one cent of my hard earned money to the AHDI. They can keep their credentials and their membership dues. Seeing "CMT" behind someone's name doesn't make me respect them anymore that them not being a CMT. Quite the contrary, I start thinking their $300 sold out another American MT. Good Job! You're a CMT, yay! 
I agree. MTIA is not a government organization. Credentialing comes from state government and
sometimes at the federal level. This mandatory credentialing is ludicrous and a scheme to make money, in my humble opinion.
I have to agree with the other poster, if not having CMT after my name after 25 years of experience prevents me from being employable, I have a very good lawyer who will take up my cause!!!
Is this a joke?
You are a joke!
I would bet the farm that you are in management or just someone playing on this board, because I know the facts, my dear, and MQ DOES NOT PAY FOR SPACES and lots of other quirks are out there that we do not YET know about.
If you don't think the joke is
Why don't you just head to Walmart now and go buy yourself a new sense of humor - LOL LOL LOL
what a joke
or go to Walmart. The field is now paying close to minimum wage for newbies,really! At 6 cents per line and 100 to 150 lines per hour,it only equals 6 to 9 dollars an hour. That is great pay.......in India!
Joke of the Day
It's a beautiful day in the neighbor. Sun shining, have been outside with my short sleeved scubs, sat on the porch drinking coffee. TAT is 15 minutes, life's good. Check e-mail and my lead thinks so too. She sent this joke and I had to share it...
THE SHORTEST FAIRY TALE EVER TOLD
Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy "Will you marry me?"
The guy said, "NO!"
And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, dancing, drank cocktails, always had a clean house, never had to cook, had sex with whomever she pleased and farted whenever she wanted.
THE END
IT WAS A JOKE!!!
No sore loser here. I could care less.
BOS ... what a joke!
What is most comical to me is that the BOS in one edition says "abc" is correct and in another changes its mind and says "xyz" is correct. My view is they need to keep "making up" stuff in order to keep publushing something to make money!! Now don't get me wrong, some of their information is good information, but, IMO, some is definitely not.
is this a joke or serious??? i can't tell! (nm)
///
it most certainly was not a joke...sm
and did you even open up that post of mine and go to the link I provided with an explanation and a diagram of exactly how to do the Lion Hatha Yoga exercise for TMJ?
Sheesh............incomplete are ye? *rofl*
It has to be a joke. Please tell me it is
nm
What a joke . . .
 Got an offer for a job -- specialty that I just love, but only 5 cents a line? Come on now! I have over 2 years just in this one field of transcription. Plus they expect me to pay for malpractice insurance? Okay 5 cents a line at 100 lines an hour for example -- less than the state minimum wage plus I am supposed to pay for malpractice insurance. Hey -- I'm not the doctor! Doctors are leaving my state because they cannot afford malpractice insurance. Get real.
What a joke
Wow! Liability insurance via AAMT is $700.00 a year! No, this was not a VR editing job. It was typing reports in word as an IC. No way am I even considering it. I do not have 20 years under my belt but I do have a few years of experience and I am worth more than 5 cents a line.
Me neither, must be a joke (sm)
someone is playing, and they probably haven't posted anything yet.
Obviously someone who can't take a joke
Lighten up.
What a joke.................
Only a couple of companies I worked for EVER mentioned BOS. The companies I work for now couldn't care less about the BOS....they think it's a joke. I think so too. Who knighted them the know-all of the transcription world? None of that junk was around when I started, the doctors don't even know what you're talking about if you mention BOS......nuf said!
And I QA their QA - it's a joke! - nm
x
they are a joke
33 years ago they contacted transcriptionists through the mail at their place of employment, preaching their primary goal was to get us recognized by all and confirmed through pay as professionals; after all, your average gum-popping secretary/receptionist could not do this work without the education adhesed to this field. Compensation was to reflect this.
33 years ago. 3 decades.
The only thing that made my pay reflect any degree of profssionalism was the start-up of production programs (NOT, I might add, created by the AAMT) when I was making 60 - 70k, until the supply and demand changed.
AAMT, however, took in a ton of money in memberships, and changing to ADHI has not shed one ioda of their diligence towards deliquency. Now mighty advocates of outsourcing and soliciting membership outside our borders, you'd think common sense would jump in to keep us from going global - now THERE'S a goal! Oh, but wait...there's no money in that, is there?
What they could and should have done differently was left us alone.
It's a joke
It's a joke. It truly is. I have been editing for many years and my cpl has gone from 9 to 4. I am struggling to pay my bills and they think because you do twice as much you make more. what they DON'T tell you is that there are all these little glitches they use to "ADJUST" your pay and if you don't make production.. yes, production as that is the key word now for what they want you to REALLY do, then you lose more and they have to pay you minimum wage versus what you actually make.. which is 4 cpl now in Escription.
No, it's not a joke...
It's called common sense. Supply and demand. There are only so many OPs to spread among a million MTs. We've already suffered from the over-supply of new MTs in the last 120 years or so due to all of the MT courses available (instead of learning on the job), which has resulted in lower pay. So now you want to do the same with OPs? Call me selfish if you want. But that's the way it is.
It was a joke. Do you REALLY
have no sense of humor? How sad.
Ahhh, its a joke...
I have a father, son, and BF whom I love and care for. BUT THAT IS TOO TRUE! HA HA HA! That is what makes it funny!
It's a joke - lighten up
f
AAMT is a Joke.
From Pressure Valve Board:
Regarding the AAMT Book of Style? That is the biggest farce on this planet.
Further, let this Book of Style (BOS) be known as the Book of SLANG. I resent that this organization represents transcriptionists, when in fact, the Transcriptionist is the last person they do represent. They constantly change the rules for how we are to transcribe something, make up the most ridiculous rules and expect us to adhere to them.
For example, in 2000, it was "plantar flexion," in 2005 it is "plantarflexion." This is the same organization that states it is okay to mix English and Latin language in a prescription dosage to write q. day and q. week. Please. That would be like writing a sentence in English and Spanish.
I suspect all of the freaky changes to the English language are to justify their existence and feel like they have some sort of purpose for being. Frankly, I am over the AAMT, and their Book of Slop.
What? I dont get the joke.
x
These MQ checks must be a joke.
 According to my taxes last year my salary, which had remained at a very stable figure for the past 6-7 years, suddenly decreased almost $11,000 dollars in 2004 after beginning DQS at the beginning of the year. There is no way in hell that this check for $140 bucks is going to make me happy. How convenient that there are no dates on the letter indicating what the time frame is on this "incorrect compensation." Love the general "Dear Medical Transcriptionist" - cannot even humanize us by putting our name. Such jerks. I am furious! 
I thought it was a joke
or some program I had never heard of. :)
If it's such a joke, I wonder why companies are willing...
to waive the usual 2-year experience requirement for M-Tec grads??? Of course the program is self-study. What did you expect? Try a community college MT program and see how far you get when you're finished with it and want to find a job.
Obviously it wasn't for you. It's still the best MT training available.
AAMT is a joke
I was transcribing long before anyone dreamed up the AAMT, or the "CMT" degree/rating/whatever, that members can earn. Yes, they DO support offshoring, and also speech recognition. They also are getting rich by convincing Newbies they must join these organizations in order to get a job, or must have that stupid "CMT" after their name in order if they want to get higher-paying jobs. They are also the ones who came up with the job title "transcriptionist". It seems like ever since that title became the norm, the transcription field (which USED to be a good, respected, middle-income white-collar job) has begun a downward slide towards being unskilled sweatshop labor. At least that is how it is often perceived today. Back in "The Day", we were called "Transcribers", and it was something to be proud of. The "ist" in "transcriptionist" not only feminizes the job title, it also seems to demote it to the level of other low-paying "women's" jobs, such as "receptionist", "hair stylist", "typist", etc. I refuse to use the new term, and still refer to myself as a Transcriber. I laugh when people correct me and say the machine I get my dictation from is a "transcriber", because it doesn't actually "transcribe" anything! It is a dictation system. Or a transcribing machine. Or a Dictaphone. Or whatever. But I am the one who ultimately transcribes, so I am the "transcriber", not some lame machine!
And I refuse to be railroaded into testing for that dumb "CMT", either. According to what I've read and heard, you not only pay a wad to take the test, but few, if any, people ever pass it on the first try. I think that is the whole idea, 'cuz then you have to pay AGAIN to take the test again.
I earned my reputation as a TRANSCRIBER through years and years of hard work, NOT by paying my hard-earned $$ to a couple of broads who dreamed up this get-rich scheme.
You're right about the help and support on this board. This is the best MT board I've ever seen. That "other" board, even when it was free, was a small "clique" of AAMT-people with what often appeared to me to be very narrow-minded views on just about EVERYTHING, not just transcription. And then then started charging $$ to use it, and I stopped going there. MTSTARS is everything any Transcriber could ever want, and I love it.
PS: You can also find useful things, such as drug spelling, use, etc. on Google. How did we ever exist without the Internet?
;)
It was just a joke, gee whiz. nm
x
Haha! the joke is on me.
I reread my post right after hitting enter and saw I spelled "their" instead of there! It must be getting to me tonight! Sorry!
HIPAA is a joke
as long as these private records continue to travel overseas beyond the reach of the long arm of U.S. courts and law enforcement.
To Mac: HAHAHA - NO JOKE - sm
I absolutely love DEAL OR NO DEAL - *ROFL* - so JOKE OR NO JOKE - answer is NO JOKE sweetie!!!
*winks* @ Mac and laughs!!!! 
That was a joke, because nobody replied for a while.
The site can be addicting, but of course you can run it in the background. If you have the foghorn on you can hear when a bottle comes in. :o}
12-15 cpl as an employee? That's a joke right ; )
x
I like it when they make a joke...sm
It shows they are human just like the rest of us and it makes the day much nicer to have a little laugh !!
Ya, definitely not a joke. I shoulda said that!
I'm guess I'm kinda known for being slightly "off," but this video is most definitely not in any way humorous. I actually felt my neck veins twitching as I was watching it. Gotta love big business.
HIPAA is a joke
Sorry, but I edit reports for a large department in a major medical center that are all transcribed, you guessed it, overseas. Names, medical record numbers, Social Security numbers, etc., etc., are ALL included. Nobody truly follows HIPAA where I work. I even had to bring a shredder in from home to shred patient info sheets sent to me from the doctors' offices. Not only that, but patient letters WITH identifying information are e-mailed back and forth all the time without encryption. Until HIPAA is actually enforced by anybody, I'm afraid nothing will ever change.
is that a joke. thanks for the virus
i went to you link and it has a virus. thanks
What do you mean? It's not a joke and it has no virus either.
I had no problem with it.
LOL! Is that a joke? I don't ancticipate SM
an overflow of people doing ops, because, at my company, they are given to the more experienced MTs who have been there a while.
If anyone wants to try them out, and I believe they should, so what?
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