Doctors documenting hours worked

Does anyone else find it unseemly that some of these doctors are now stating at the end of the report how much time they spent examining the patient, talking to the staff, other doctors, the family members, reviewing chart data, attempting a lumbar puncture, etc., from 9 to 12 and again 1 to 2, for a total of 3 hours?

For some reason, this seems very unprofessional to me.  Am I just being cranky?

• Doctors documenting hours worked - eyetype
  • That is how they get their complexity up...nm - Billing!
  • I totally agree, it reminds me of lawyers. nm - MQ2
  • getting paid - se
  • Docs have the right to document their time - JW
    • You know, your post reminded me of the fact that... - See message
      • You're right .. and here's 1st-hand knowledge -- sm - A
  • Yep, my son's doc charged 111.00 for a 3 minute visit to tell him he had a kidney stone. - What a racket.
    • Stop going to the doc, then! Oh, you NEED them though, huh?! LOL nm - MT
  • where I work - JayRae
  • yes, your cranky; the patient visits are actually coded sm - ex coder
  • I have some docs that say totals if counseling is - omt
  • My ER docs do it alot - ugh
    • And in view of the fact that........ - See message
  • Yes, you're cranky. The docs may be instructed to do so to appease Medicare or other such entity. - nm

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I just have to vent about companies that keep track of your actual "typing time" and then say you are not putting in your 40 hours.  I always come up short and not by just a few hours.  They have said I worked only 60 hours when I worked 80.  But they say "their system is not wrong."

For one thing when you look up old reports or do research on-line or if you walk to the fridge, that shouldnt count as "not working" as long as you are getting your line rate.  Also something is wrong because I dont take that much time looking up things.

Also how can they get by with making you work 40 hours when you are paid "production?"  This is wrong.  Either pay me by the hour or leave me alone!!

you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.

That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT.  Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day.  My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive.  If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.

Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs.  JMO, tho.

You have to be disciplined to make yourself work when baby is napping instead of maybe watching TV or doing housework, etc.   

I might also go the route of having a teen come into your home, or either trying a mother's morning out program at a local church/daycare.   I've been home since my youngest was born and he has never been in all-day daycare, but I did have him in a mother's morning out program 15 hours a week at a local church.   It didn't help a lot with my work schedule because I had an older son in school and was a room mom and tutored other kids, but that might be an option.  The only problem with the mother's morning out program is they are around other kids and tend to pick up every germ.  I finally took my DS out of the program because he stayed sick.  You were supposed to keep them off if they had green nasal discharge and I did, but no one else did.  Every time I got him well after 2 to 3 days back he would be sick again.  Other than that it was very good for him because he would not have had a chance to be around kids his age otherwise. 

I work for a small MTSO, and I have been asked to work on a certain doctor.  It happened to me because I was getting his work done on time and how he wanted it done.  So, yes there are good reasons for this to happen. 

Thanks!

What do ya'll think about doctors who lie in their dictation.  I have come across this twice within the year - so I am sure it happens quite often.  Once was my own personal MR - doctor came in and told me I had a coronary spasm but when I got my records there was no mention of a coronary spasm or anything else having to do with coronary - he basically said he didn't know what the problem was - other than my blood pressure was 220/114 - which I had to take my own medicine in the bathroom to get it to come down -

then - a friend of mine had a bariatric procedure and developed a stricture - he then had an egd under conscious sedation (he is 21 years old) and he became combative on the table.  The doctor came into the RR and told us all about how he had been up and down on the table and how he was not able to do a dilation because of this - then when we got his records - the report said that he had used 3 different balloons and dilated the stricture successfully.  However, my friend was not able to keep anything down - so the doctor went in and did the egd again under general - and could not even find the anastamosis site - he was sent to a specialist who did an egd using dye and fluoroscopy.  Another stricture is forming and the specialist is going to place a stent which is not approved for bariatric patients - it is something they place in people who have esophageal cancer which allows them to eat until they die since the cure rate for esophageal cancer is so low.  I wouldn't let them touch me again - but this is a young kid and he doesn't know any better.  I might also add that the anesthesiologist and the nurse that was in the room on the first EGD came to the RR and told us how bad the situation had gotten before the doctor gave up.

long story long - do ya'll think this is common?  can we no longer trust doctors with our lives?  I realize they are scared of malpractice suits - but, as with my friend, we know that the doctor messed up his tissues - and the specialist told us how bad the tissue looked - like it had been "stabbed through with a knife, inflamed and beginning to scar up".  But do you think that they lie in all of their reports where something goes wrong - or that they color the situation so that they come out smelling like a rose?

Something more fulfilling, most definitely.  At least I won't feel like a doormat.  I am starting to think I am really being stupid to make sacrifices like this.

After all, this is just a job.  We all need to have a life, not be irritated all the time. 

I work from home as an independent MT and presently, I am working for three doctors.  Anyone else out there working for a few doctors.  I am beginning to think it is impossible for one person to do this, as I am working 7 days a week, long hours.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!