Do you guys ever feel like just a number? Remember the good old days...
Posted By: just me on 2005-07-03
In Reply to:
When if you had a problem, you could go straight to the manager and they'd take care of it right away, making you feel secure in your position and important? When I talk to my supervisor, I feel like her main focus is to get off the phone with me asap, being very short with me, and quick to say she will get right on something when in fact she never does. I just feel so remote and always worry about how long i'm going to have a job in the MT field because of how uncaring the supervisors are, not knowing us personally, not having a face to go along with the person, being able to yank us off an account we're comfortable with onto some ungodly thing where our line count goes down to zilch, and having NO control over it. I was never one to work around people because of all the backstabbing that goes on with women in the office, but I would love to have a home office to report to periodically throughout the year, and maybe work in-house a couple times a month, just to put a face with people and not feel like a number that would be easy to dispose of.
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oh i remember the good ol days
I could never stand working with people a straight eight hours a day, i'm not an "on" type of person and not gossipy either. Just not my thing. A lot of backbiting went on and you could just feel the negativity in the air. At home I don't have that. My dog/cat never talk behind my back nor are they fake. They really and truly like me. Just kidding. But I remember those days well, couldnt get out fast enough.
I posted a number of suggestions a few days ago...(nm)
nm
You guys must be IC's. Us MTSO's know the days of 19 cpl are over...dream on...
x
Bob Segar - I feel like a number - sm
wow, a bit too much. I have no problem with a nurse, etc. calling my name out. So a bunch of people in the waiting room who you will probably never see again heard your name, big deal. What is next, the doctor comes into the room and say, "okay #42 what is your problem today?" Talk about impersonal service. I don't think the purpose of HIPAA is to go that far. If I understand it correctly it is to protect your information (diagnosis, etc.) from being discussed openly, names mentioned, diagnosis mentioned, docs/nurses going home and saying, Oh Mary Smith was in today, she just found out she has herpes, and obviously keeping your personal address, age, SS#, DOB out of the wrong hands. Basic common sense stuff that apparently they needed to tell the docs and nurses and get it in writing. I think a numbering system is just a tad over the edge though.
This is interesting...average number of vacation days around the world per year..
Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days
We are crazy to work so hard!
boy, do I remember those days
Make an appointment with your doctor asap and explain the situation. Ask for a Rx for Lindane Shampoo. It's more effective than the OTC products, which are also far more dangerous to use over a long period of time. If you are unable to have someone remove the nits, I would recommend using the product every 7-10 days for a couple of months, since that's how often the nits hatch, and within 7-10 days they'll be procreating all your head again.
It is imperative that you speak with the teachers in your child's classrooms and explain the situation to them. With the weather getting colder, coats are going to be thrown on each other and that's how the condition will spread, over and over again, from child to child. A letter also needs to be sent out to all parents about the problem. After that, you have to hope for the best. There's too often a "not my child" attitude which leads to noncompliance. It would take YEARS to finally eradicate the little monsters, despite the fact that you're doing everything you're supposed to do.
Trust me, I know. 
I remember those days
I graduated second in my class (Dean's List) in transcription and A&P. However, the real training was on the job. I had one doctor who was very ESL!!!!! I would work for ever on one of his reports, which would end up full of blanks, and I would only have transcribed a very few lines. He was very frustrating. I can remember one day going for a coffee break, coming back to work and sitting in the parking lot crying. I vowed I was not going back into the office, that I was quitting. Then I thought, my husband will absolutely kill me after spending so much money for schooling and training :-). I went back, and 18 years later I am still at it. It gets better!
I remember those days
They used to say you could make $80K/year tax free, but you had to live in a compound ...
I remember those days, too...
While it was a more casual and friendly environment between doctors and the HIM departments, I remember freezing up and getting so nervous when the doctor was standing there dictating live & watching (both about my speed and my accuracy). I only hope they knew I wasn't always that bad, hehe.
Does anyone remember only being allowed to gas up on odd or even days sm
back in the 70s, depending on what number your license plate ended in? brrrrrrr long, long lines
I remember the days of refunds.. Now all we do is pay pay and more pay
Stinks to be us.
LOL @ both legs! I remember those days!
/
I remember in the old days when you were not hired without
at least 3 to 5 hears working in house - no in house on the job experience? - not considered.
Oh my gosh - I remember those days. sm
I started working at home 18 years ago when my son was born. I would have him in my office with me. He liked the bouncy walker back then. He would sit in it for about an hour bouncing up and down.
I would take him for a long walk and to the playground in the mid morning to tire him out. He would nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon and that's when I did some work. But, I have to tell you, I did most of my work at night when he went to bed. I had him on a strict schedule for napping, meals, bathing, and then bedtime.
Bedtime was 8 p.m. I started work at 8:30 p.m. and was done by 2 a.m. I managed 5-6 hours of sleep a night.
I lived on coffee and any other type of caffeine I could ingest. Not very healthy, but doable.
Back then, I had my own accounts, picking up and delivering tapes, etc. I took him along with me in the morning to deliver and pick up. It was very difficult, but somehow I managed.
It gets more difficult when they are more mobile, around ages 2 to 4. Then at age 5, they go to kindergarten, and you kinda get your work day back.
You know your child better than anyone. You sort of have to schedule your work day around him or her.
IC status worked for me in this situation. I don't think I could have done it as an "employee" type job with a strict work schedule.
Good luck ~ I hope this helped in some little way.
By the way, I still work evenings and night 18 years later, and I have daughter 16.
Hey, Brandi! I remember your stories about those days...
lol! Too funny. Yah, you Transquickers certainly did live on the wild side. I'm sure some still do!
Yeah, some days I do too, until I remember the typewriter.
Then I quit cussing my computer! lol
I remember this being in our local paper a few days ago nm
x
Hah!!! I remember the days of 2000 lines!
Not with my company...A good day is 1600 lines. Horrible platform. Wish line count was better.
I remember back in my hospital days...
when we had the more personal contact aspect with the docs. The ones who cared could/would actually walk back to where we were and you could ask them questions, have them correct something, etc., or the MR director could tell the heavy ESL docs to enunciate their English better, ha-ha, which sometimes actually worked. Our county coroner would tell us some interesting stories late in the evening. One lady plastic surgeon loved what she did so much, if you asked her a question, she would draw you pictures of what she did. I once handed an awful resident doc my earphones so he could hear what he was dictating; he was so embarrassed he slowed down from then on, so it made a huge difference. For a few years, to get the docs to get their charts done faster, the MR director held a contast; the winning doc would get a free trip somewhere. You would not believe how some of these guys would compete for this prize, cracked us up.
Yeah, those days are gone, but I hope to live to see the work goes back to the local hospital level. A hospital system the next town over to me did post 5 full-time Transcriptionist jobs last fall; I applied, just wanted an interview. I never heard back so I don't know how this panned out. I think I'd apply to return to in-house work if that ever happened. The job was definitely more interesting then.
OMG I did too!!! Remember the raunchy equipment and "blue belts". People these days should
.
I feel your pain, but remember there is always tomorrow.
Hopefully, that will be a better day for you! Hope the sun shines on you and you feel better!
Happy Holidays!
Some days I feel so mentally bored I wonder if I am losing my mind. nm
xxx
Your number was 88, good luck!
/
Hooray for the Good Guys!
This was very courageous to post here. If we can continue to expose these companies, we can fight to win back OUR jobs! Great job - way to go!!
I felt crappy for 8 days..while coming off carbs..but now feel great..don't forget calories still
for those who are carb sensitive..its a godsend and a lifestyle. I really like this site: http://www.lowcarbluxury.com
there are TONS of wonderful recipes. I made the chicken cordon blue for the whole family and mock mashed taters..yummy!! Obviously not the same but I was a happy camper to have mashed again. Good luck!
I assume you are assigned number much like a license number that can be verified through the AAMT.
Beyond that, I have no idea.
Good Luck To You, and remember
Sometimes finding the right MT job is like finding the right man, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince. Hang in there. Apply to job posts every day they come up. Also, take notes when you do the testing. You will find a lot of them are repeat questions from company to company. Be persistent and determined in your work effort - it takes years so don't get discouraged early. Wishing you the best.
not a bit homophobic. love queer guys for straight guys.
these guys are clever and witty and have good taste. they are who they are. not a problem. i have problems with boy-men who are currently trendy now. that's my taste. and it's kind of scary that women are attracted to these unisex boy-men culturally. no big deal unless you make it one. this is a board to exchange ideas right?
Yup, good change - but I remember huffily saying SM
the day they banned smoking at MY desk was the day I walked out the door.
How those people sat in the transcription dept with us puffing away all day is beyond me. Tell you something else. If you smoke in front of the computer, you will turn at least ONE contact lens brown. True story. I had a brown one and a clear one, and it wouldn't come off.
Actually the good old days
were in the 70's and 80's when MT was first being outsourced. Then the companies who were pioneers in the field would kiss the back side of an MT or do anything else to get and keep them, provided, of course they produced quality and quantity. Editors and Q.A. hadn't been heard of, we were expected to edit and Q.A. ourselves. Many of the companies in the good old days provided full benefits and the pay was much, much better than working in house and much more than it is today.
This is from one who started MTing when it was a MINIMUM WAGE job in the clerical section of medical records located next door to the morgue in the hospital, rose to the peak in about the mid-80s just before the advent of computers and I guess everyone knows about the decline since. Guess it'll have made full circle in another 10 years or so.
Good old days
I worked for a mom-and-pop MT service who gave bonuses, Xmas parties and gifts, and were good people. We never worked holidays unless we asked to and a lot of us never worked weekends. There were no line count macros. DOS counted the lines. We were paid very good wages and were told we were appreciated. Hard to believe but true!!!!
Tell me about the good old days....
Hi all! I've only been doing the MT thing for about 9 months now......so I need to know: What were the good old days like for the MT business? Were you really able to make good money? Did companies really take care of their employees? Did you really have the feeling of family?
And, more importantly, how can we get things BACK to the good old days?
Good ole days?
Let me think back,,,,,back,,,,, back,,,,,,, I started about 6 years ago and have worked for 2 companies, a large national and a small national. My pay has gone down at each company, causing me to tell the large national that I didn't want to take a pay reduction at this stage of my career and I gave my two weeks notice. At the small one, couple of years ago I took a 50% pay cut because the company was just starting out and there was a chance it would have to close altogether. That pay has gone back up a little but certainly don't ever expect to be making what used to be made. Am figuring out ways to work smarter, since I can only edit and type efficiently and correctly at a certain speed, though I expect that to slowly get better. I am afraind we are at the tail end of the quickly vanishing "good ole days."
good old days
 Ah.... I remember them well. My first transcription job for a service was in 1983, owned by a local m.t. and had about 4 transcriptionists. She treated us well, the second year I was high producer and she took my husband and I to Las Vegas for 4 days (all expenses paid of course!). I worked for her for 5 years and then she moved away and quit the business. I think of her often. Wish there were more like her who knew us, we weren't just a #, and she didn't hesitate to tell us (and show us with extra $) how much she appreciated us. Those were the days!
good ole days
 Sadly enough, I do believe you are right! With very few exceptions, employers don't give a rip about their employees anymore (not just M.T.'s, but ALL employers). It's a shame. If we don't have integrity, there is not much incentive to do our best and do a great job. But we CAN and we DO!!! AND we can sleep at night!
These are the good old days....
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still making darn good money. The trick is you have to know how to sell yourself and then make sure you deliver consistently good work. Now I'm talking IC, of course. Working for another company, I don't know. But MT is like all other jobs when you work for someone else. You get what THEY decide to pay YOU! And the sense of family? I think that probably all went out years ago, not just in MT but most fields, wouldn't you think?
GOOD OLE DAYS
yes - i had told the first doctor i worked for that i should have been a painter - i used so much white-out i would go home with my hands covered - used a selectric typewriter, and dictabelts. I swear I got hired for the sundress i was wearing - ahhh to be 18 again.......been doing this 30 years!!
the good old days
Oh Boy! Do I every identify with you! A selectric typewriter, 24 hour turn around, doing this in my garage! My then husband getting up at 4:00 a.m. to deliver and pick up work. One doc wanting me to transcribe his daughter's thesis! Two little boys, still asleep, three hours sleep for me. Eighteen docs! Fun, fun, fun! Bless your sweet heart, I was there too! Still doing it, but for a hospital, fantastic salary, boys raised, one a Gsgt. in the USMC, the other a Lt. in the USN! Divorced, thank almighty God. During those days I was working to pay his child support and alimony! I got skunked in the divorce, but nearly 70 and still going strong! The Lt. is getting married next month...the Marine is married to a stellar you woman and I have one adorable grandchild. My moto is, never stop, never give up, I have "mountains to climb and promises to keep", and believe me, I will!
GOOD OLE DAYS
A dictabelt is what came before the standard size cassettes.
Ahh yes...good ole days!
I began typing clinic notes on Avery sticky paper using a reel-to-reel machine and an Olivetti typewriter!! I used to get up at 4 a.m. and drive to LA to pick up and deliver tapes, too (I was 18 back then)!! I remember when I purchased my first Lanier word processor with great, big floppy disks to save and make normals on!! That thing was huge, 'bout 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep!! Now, I use a laptop and can transcribe anywhere, anytime and have my docs using a digital call-in system on a website! Thanks for the Internet..what would we do without it? 
the good ole days
I used to have a provider that every day he would start his tapes with a joke, usually pretty corny, and at the end of the tape would always say "i hope this wasn't as boring for you to type as it was for me to say, have a great night"....made me feel very appreciated :)
Good ole days.
Hear you! Been there and done that and times have certainly changed. The hospital I worked at didn't outsource too much but they let go the long-time manager of 30 years and hired a CEO right out of college, no experience and tripled his income. Then they became real picky as to whom they wanted on their payroll.It was great for the chosen few but not for some of us who had been there 25+ years. Sadly, it was the final curtain but most of us were ready to move on after the change in management.
the good ole days
I remember at MRC when we were going to have clients or upper crust visiting, a sign would go up on the bulletin board to please wear a bra and shoes to work when we had visitors.
Those were the days!
My version of the Good Old Days
My "old days" started in 1985 working for the first HMO I'd ever heard of. Yes, electric typewriters... hard copies, white-out...learning other aspects of medical records when MT work slowed down...knowing and seeing and being appreciated by and sometimes teased by the docs I transcribed for. Then on to a mom and pop company, highly appreciated for my work (the first computer/word processing for me). Then onto the first transcription service I'd ever heard of - I loved it. I worked in-house, was paid well, was regularly appreciated, got reviews AND raises. Line counts and pay all made sense.
The next larger service I worked for was even better, started working at home for them in 1991, same company since (well, bought out by a MQ).. back then, felt like so much of a team player, like what I did really mattered and counted. These were years of annual picnics, Christmas parties, review and raises, knowing who I worked with and for by name and face, meeting with other local MTs (this was encouraged!), getting cards or flowers from the owner for helping out on a brand new account. I too felt I could count on my job, my skills, no matter what.
The changes, the "good old days" becoming just that (old and no longer current!) have been coming on for a while now. I guess I'm finally taking my head out of the sand and, though I wish it wasn't this way, take some small comfort in finding I'm not alone.
I will always take pride in my work though, that won't change. Twenty years 20 years of MT work is hard to just throw away! Wish I could be more encouraging to those entering the field, as the "guts" of this career still fascinates me.
Hey, thanks for letting me have my say.
My good old days were great..SM
worked full time for a local hospital from home, making 14 cpl, 1 month off a year to start, full health insurance, short-term, long-term disability, all equipment and phone lines supplied. Those 2 years I made more $ than ever and haven't been able to reach that level since. They outsourced.
The good days started unraveling when
The nationals started buying up the mom and pop MT businesses that started cropping up in most cities in the late-1980's and early 1990's. Most of these were small businesses with a few local doctor's office accounts and hospitals, had a guy who ran back and forth picking up and delivering tapes, and everyone got along fine for the most part aside from the expected competition between local companies. Then came Medquist, Transcend, etc. who swooped in and started scooping up these companies by the handful, and pretty soon we had what we have today. It happens. What started out as a good thing (computer networking) making us able to leave the offices and work from home, continued to evolve into what this business is today. Now it's taking off in another direction with voice rec and overseas MT's who work for peanuts. I've seen this business evolve from the IBM Selectric, a tape player, and a bottle of white-out to what it is today, and it's amazing what changes there have been in the last 27 years. Who would have known!
1200 to 1600 on good days (nm)
x
It's good to know there are others who feel this way.
Like many others, I got into this field to "work at home." I loved MT and I worked my way up into management, QA, and instructing. Now, because of the trends to outsource, eliminate mid-level management positions, and change employee positions to home-based IC positions, I'm back at home again with no benefits, no paid time off, no job security, feeling shut off from the world, with no professional "friends" other than nameless, faceless internet acquaintances. As you said,I feel as though I'm losing my social skills because the only one I talk to for 10 hours a day is my dog, and I have gained the dreaded 10 pounds because I have no motivation to get up out of my chair and exercise! I agree that it should be obvious to anyone that the future of this career is not bright, to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I make a lot of money and I have a lot of flexibility, which, to some, may make up for the negatives, but in my case, the negatives outweigh the positives, and I feel the only answer is to get out now. I haven't always felt this way. As I said, I have been an MT instructor. I painted a beautiful picture for my students of what a fabulous job MT could be. It's only in the past few years that I have developed such a negative outlook. I commend you for your decision to complete your degree. I wish I had done it a long time ago.
While you may feel good about yourself,
your attitude really isn't professional. I had an attitude like your's about 20 years ago at the start of my career - days of tapes and paper. Sent back a report with a note that I could NOT type it - could not understand it at all, and my boss sent it back saying "you have to hear it - its your job"...I struggled thru it, and many others and I developed an ear for ESLs. Lots and lots of professional MTs have developed their ear for ESLs - all ESLs - fast or slow. They are understandable by your peers. So, I feel sorry for your attitude - you will never learn the business in full. And I'm sure you'll spout that you're proud of not doing the hard ESL's, but that's just an excuse. You can't, or won't, let yourself hear them. And I totally relate - years ago if I even heard an accent, my brain froze, and that was it for me - zero understanding. You have to want to hear it. And now, for lots of us, ESLs are no big deal - no difference at all, so nothing hinders us! Much better environment.
The good old days were not so good for me. sm
Transcribing from tapes on a Selectric typewriter with 3 or 4 carbons and white out, no spellcheck, no expansion program, no internet for research.
It does feel good looking forward.
Thanks MTPockets! You bring up a good point. I AM moving on and it is going to be okay. My kids need to see me normal and happy. That's two things my younger two have never seen because he's their daddy. This post became so fun and I love that! Thanks again to everyone to who posted!
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