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Does it have 3 letters, begin with an M?

Posted By: ??? on 2009-04-27
In Reply to: A happy landing at a new job sm - Whew!

If so, I'm there too...Ain't life grand???


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Where to begin?
Brandy,

Where do you live, most importantly? I am a mom to 3, in Georgia, and am currently homeschooling my son in kindergarten. I can give you some tips, if you want, but there is a lot, too much to post here. IF you want more info, post back and I'll give you my e-mail address or e-mail you privately.
Oh, where shall I begin. sm

The *hoopla* about offshore not being secure is absolutely a valid threat. It may have nothing to do with transmission and everything to do with the value system of another group of people though. At least three VERIFIABLE instances of offshore MTs holding medical records for hostage and at least one where the MT threatened to publish the records on the internet if she was not paid, exist. Hardly *hoopla* my dear. I seriously doubt if the CMT will ever become a mandatory credential and I seriously doubt that for several reasons. After nearly 30 years, the AAMT has fewer members now than it ever had. People are leaving in large numbers. I also have it on good authority that the test the offshore MTs take is not the same one given to US MTs. Personally, I don't put someone down for having a CMT, I just have no great real respect for it or the association. I trust I am allowed my opinion. I worked at a local hospital where the transcription supervisor was a CMT and she could not answer one blank when asked! I actually know a lot of CMTs who are not all that.


Maybe it's your attitude to begin with.

Change your tune.  Be sugary sweet when you think someone is being rude to you and see what happens.  Pay it forward.  Give someone a smile or a kind word.  Let someone in line in front of you.  Just do one little nice thing per day and it will multiply.  People are never rude to me.  Everywhere I go, they know me by name because I take the time to be kind to them.  Gas station, grocery store, bank, school, doctor's office.  You might have to fake it 'til you make it, but you can change your outlook and how you perceive the world treats you.  If someone is "rude" to you, blow it off.  Maybe they're having a bad day and it's nothing personal.


To begin with, I would suggest
Paying for your rent/mtg, food and utilities without fail first.

I ended up in BK 13 so I can't help you with a company name but this is what I learned, food and shelter come first.
That's Why I Posted To Begin With
I didn't make the assumption that 'fast typing' was all it took. I still believe that you have to be able to type fast, but I also have 'top notch computer skills' and can learn well. I wanted to know more about training in this field because I assumed training was a necessary evil. One thing I didn't assume was that the folks on this forum were just downright rude!! Not saying you are, just most of the others that replied to my initial post. I am certainly not looking at MT as a way to pay my mortgage or put my daughter through college. Just a way to fill some free time.

Thanks for your post!
You should have a system to begin with. SM
I recommend mining the Productivity Talk forum for tips and a book such as Saving Keystrokes by Rolland. One high producer strongly recommends Easyscript Express by Levin, an old ABC-based ShortHand method that can be used with a keyboard.

When I first started with expanders, in the Ice Age seemingly, there were no forums like this to consult and I just started dropping definitions in without a good system. I've since had to redo everything a number of times as I wanted my Expander to do more and more for me.

As time goes on, you'll also want to abbreviate EVERYTHING for you, which requires system, both because you can't possibly remember thousands of abbreviations but remembering a few rules is easy AND because you need to have a way to enter various terms that seemingly need the same letters.

One tip just to jump you off: Some systems start two-word phrases with the first two letters of the first word and the first two or three of a second word. However, if you look up "lesions," say, in a medical dictionary, you'll see immediately that starting with three letters of the describing/adjective word and two of the noun (i.e., cocle for cochlear lesion and corle for cortical lesion) would serve you much better. Although if you gaze over just at the ones that start with intra- you'll realize more system than that is going to be needed for more complex terms. I personally start that prefix with "ia" to differentiate from ones that start with inter- "ie". Best wishes.
ADD vs. MT - Let the Battle Begin
Have you tried setting a timer for 20-30 minutes, then giving yourself permission to get up from the desk (setting the timer again for 10 minutes or so), wander around, surf the web a little (on a different computer if you can, it will help keep the surfing bug separate from the MT'ing bug), then when the timer goes off again, go back and set it again for 20-30 minutes and start typing again?

These days, I'm working in bed from a laptop due to back and wrist issues that don't play well with conventional desks, but in some ways that actually helps keep me focused, because it's such a pain in the neck to get up and walk away... I still struggle with wanting to surf while typing though - a problem I never dreamed of having back when my shiny new computer was an IBM PS2 or something like that - where the floppy drive held less information than my cell phone does today!

Good luck!
The one time I asked for one, they said no. Ask and if they say no, begin looking elsewhere.
dd
The rules for Op notes are a little different. You may begin a....sm
sentence with a numeral; so, you would never spell out cc for blood loss, IV fluids, urine output etc. In the indications section, if a sentence starts with a number e.g. "Three days ago the patient" or "One day prior to surgery, I spell out the number. Otherwise, in the body of the report or in the headings, I use the number.
Don't get excited. You should have provided it to begin with. nm
x
The head set worked to begin with so
if it was in the wrong hole would it have worked in the beginning?  Because it worked until I downloaded the pedal software.
How do you begin to come up with a line rate..
to pitch to a new account?  Been working for others as an IC, now contemplating approaching an account on my own.  No clue how to not hang myself and selling out at too low of a rate vs giving a quote that's too high and will make them back off quick.  Would it be a good "rule of thumb" to take what you make as an IC on someone else's accounts and add .05cpl?  From what little I've gathered over time, that's about the ballpark of what the MTSO gets paid per line for the account vs what the IC gets paid to do the typing.  Does this sound about right to those of you who have experience with this?  Tks
I promise you - I begin work at 7:00 p.m. - I'm only PT, and my day always begins with
stat, H&Ps, consults, etc! I love it!
When they have me working mornings I am getting special procedures, ops, caths, and don't like it one bit! Maybe 2nd shift would work for those who just can't see themselves working from 11 to 7. Good luck!
Nope. It was a small account to begin with.
The work never went anywhere.  The company has not lost contracts.  I'm not being "phased out" either.  The workload simply doesn't suit my needs any longer.  I can do it in my sleep, so I'd like more work that's more challenging.
I would never begin a sentence with an abbreviation, for one thing. nm
x
I begin my day, every day, with a nice 2 to 3 mile walk with
This gives me time to think, alone time, fresh air and of course exercise. I love to walk and it seems that since I began doing this I am less stressed out. Have you had your thyroid checked??? Just wondering if that could possibly cause hair loss. I wish you the best.
Was taught in my program that all those eye words begin with
s
That is assuming they could even understand the dictation to begin with.
I would love to see the doctors having to listen to dictation.
Utilize the speed typing engines and begin
storing in their favorite phrases so that a few letters will bring them up. I am working for several physicians. Took me a few months to get all the words into speed typing mode but now that I have, the time I spend typing is cut in half.

Never type a word larger than 4 letters.

chest pain - cp

pneumonia - pnea

atelectasis or infiltrate - aoi

so on and so on - whatever works for you. This is how to make money these days, high production. And the speed typing engines lessen change of typos and other erros.


Okay. Where do I begin? I need some advice! My husband is in real estate. sm

               He owns 5 houses (rents 4), and just closed on a house on Friday that he needs to "flip" really quick! Basically, it's a 30,000 profit IF he sells it quick! We've never bought a house to flip before, but have purchased them for rental property and to gain the equity. Okay. I'm spoiled. Very spoiled. Or you could call it blessed! We are both Christians with good jobs. I only work part-time and then we live off of his salary and the 700 we make in rent that is extra after paying ALL the mortgages. But we are in a real bind now. We have renters who owe us 2 months of rent, well now 3 months of rent! They won't take our calls, you know the rest of the story!  This house that my husband bought on Friday cost us ALL of our cash because we had to put some down and then pay closing costs (close to 4,000!).  So now, for the first time, we are broke (NO cash flow whatsoever now). And I'm struggling over here! I mean, we can't even go and get ice cream tonight.  I'm really questioning our decision to purchase this house.


See, we had no idea UNTIL closing (honest to God), just how much it was going to cost! So, we couldn't back out of it. We were thinking 2000 on the high end.  I completely flipped out when the attorney told us how much we needed to write a check for!!!!


 


We've gotten a couple of calls on the house, but obviously no takers. My husband went straight from the attorney's office to the house to put up for sale signs in the yard! It's a cute house. We just need someone to buy it ASAP!


So, if you've ever wanted to meet the people on the Carlton Sheets infomercial - here we are!!! yes, we've made a lot of money in real estate, but there are huge, gigantic RISKS! You could go for the gutso (like we did and buy all these houses) and you could lot a lot if it doesn't work out. The loan we got on this new house is a type of loan I've never heard of before. It's just a "quick" loan where you need to pay it back pretty quick in the hopes that you will make the 30,000 in equity that the house did appraise for.


What do you do on a budget? What do you do when you are so broke you can't even buy ice cream for the kids? I want to cry now, even though I know some of you out there have zero sympathy for crazy folks like us...Well, I need some ideas on food.  What's cheap to make and cook? I put 30.00 in my SUV last night and that will have to last me until the 15th!


To all of you who struggle every week like this, my heart goes out to you. It truly does.  Now I know what it feels like to live in desperate need every day.....


They're not thrown to the dogs when they had no work to begin with!
nm
Regarding letters
We have an account with our national where all the consults are dictated in letter format.  So for every single consult we get we have to look up the correct names, spelling, and addresses for the referring physicians because the dictators never give them. Once we get them we can save them in autotext, but it's still a pain to have to look them all up.
No letters
My daughter could not use my computer because of no letters left on the keyboard.
three letters: CTS
some of us CAN'T do much else at this point. I can't even write anymore!! And we blessed, fortunate ICs don't qualify for disability pay or unemployment... so yes, it's upsides and downsides, but in the end, right now I'm facing having to quit MT and I have NO idea what to do for a living, at the tender age of 36, and, with the pay cuts and such, no money to invest in an education. So please try to have some compassion... not all bellyaching is unfounded.
Think again - big letters at top saying
Not to post there unless you work for MQ
letters sm
The written word can come back to bite you. Be careful what you say. If they care enough, they'll ask and then you can verbalize. Otherwise, it will become part of your permanent record. Don't say anything to make them angry, One never knows down the road when you will have to list them in your past employment history. Sometimes we would like to pour our hearts out but it would depend on what you have to say. I once wrote a note which was not really that bad but everyone in the company said I left a scathing letter which was totally untrue. The less you put in writing, the better, IMHO.
for me, the only ones that letters don't rub off....
and on the back of mine it does say Key Tronics.......
Use a name that is 4 letters or more and you get the... sm
AutoComplete tip box showing your entry, then you can press F3 or enter to expand it. Make sure the first 4 letters of the name are not the same as the first 4 in another entry or Word won't know which one you want and no tip will appear. You can use less than 4 letters in the name but no tip appears. You'd have to remember it and hit F3.

Just remember that AutoText only works in Word and you might want to think about a true text Expander that works in all of your programs. You can also bog down your normal.dot file if that is where you choose to save AutoText and you will be at high risk of corrupting the file. Make sure you keep a backup.
As soon as I started doing letters...
I would fly like the wind. That is what hourly paid secretaries are for! Good luck in finding something else, but do like I do... let them know from the gitgo I WILL NOT DO CORRESPONDANCE!
Despise letters! UGH...nm
.
DS, H&P, CONS, letters
are the basics. Doing OPs is another level up
letters for keyboard
there's a place called Gold Violin (1-877-648-8400) or www.goldviolin.com that has a set of letters (1-black letters and the other one white) that you can buy for about $10. they're enlarged too which makes it easier as well to see, if you've got that problem. i got a set and just haven't taken the time yet to clean up my keyboard to put them on. i love my cordless Logitech keyboard and mouse as well. i like the touch on my keyboard as well so don't want to buy another one just because the keys wore off, so this fit the bill for me.
Consult Letters
Hello, does anybody know how consult letters are like?  Are they long and difficult?
i enter the first 4 letters...sm
Every time I come to a drug I enter the first four letters of the drug in Autocorrect, capping it if needed.  I think this is quicker than sitting down and entering a bunch at once. 
It's like the chain letters you may have
received where there is a numbered list of people included and you add your name to the list, subtract a name from the list, all names on the list now are shifted and thus have a different number on the list that you create than on the list that you received, and then you send a dollar (or other amount . . . in this case, a pair of flip-flops) to each person that was on the list that you received. The people that you send your letter to are instructed to do the same, and so you wind up receiving (if the "chain" is not broken) money/items from each person that receives the letter that has your name on it (before you are "bumped" from the list).
Letters/envelopes
These are a pain. I worked an account like this and I hated it. What kind of lines can you get typing letters all day, especially when you have to worry about looking up addresses and if you do not live in the area of the hospital/clinic - forget it. The co. I was ICing for lost the account that was like this - and now I am on a much better account - love it - and doing editing.
Do you have to see the letters to type? Should
x
letters/addresses

Can someone tell my how to format a letter so that the Dr.s address in the letter will automatically show up in the envelope box without having to add the envelope to the document?


Right now I have 10 keys without letters
on them and it works fine. I don't seen need to replace unless the keys are sticking or not working.
I have received a few letters
so far.  Keep those letters to The White House coming you guys!  I am so trying to get our voices heard so that our careers may be saved.  I am addressing outsourcing, offshoring, patient security, voice recognition and anything else that can come to mind concerning transcription.  I want to have a packet of letters to mail off because that will have a greater impact versus just sending one letter here and there.  Please join me!  Deadline for sending letters is 1/28/09.  Email me if you wanna join me:)
Please send me your letters!

I have received only a few letters to the President about transcription.  I want to send a packet full of letters is my goal!  Now I know a few of my friends are still working on their letters.  I want to address outsourcing, voice recognition & offshoring with the President.  So please join me to help get our voices heard!  Email me & I'll give you my address so that you may get your letter in to me by the deadline of 1/28/09.


 


*** MTSTARS DISCLAIMER ***


MTStars does not accept any responsibility for your privacy nor personal information in contacting any individual on this board. Sending your information to this person provides direct contact information to an unknown person. 


MTStars Team


 


Be careful about writing any letters. sm

Look at it this way, another account will be around the corner for you.  I have been there.  It is business.  Most of the time it is about who knows who, whether you understand that or not.  There is so much politics involved in some hospitals, so don't feel bad.   A friend of a friend who works there...... etc. 


I would just call whoever it was that you met with about the proposal and account and ask if they made a final decision on their transcription provider/vendor.  Be graceful and professional, they may call you again for that account.  Don't burn bridges.   Even though it is very frustrating for you, keep your cool. 


There are other accounts out there, go get them!


 


Good luck to you and best wishes.


 


 


I agree. And what about "black letters"
Not sure why only the "black letters" count. If you type what is in the header, should you not get paid for what is in the header?????? (I don't care if the letters in the header are red, black, blue or green......)
You have to get the numbers on one side and the letters on the other,
then come up with a common denominator.
B=2/3-1/8
B=16/24-3/24
B=13/24 (which does not simplify down)
brochures/letters/flyers

Okay --everyone let me have it.  I don't feel I am better than anyone but several of you have asked for me to E-mail you my brochure/flyer/letter that I use when contacting doctors and I am having a hard time doing so.  It took me a long time to do the research, many hours/days and weeks designing my simple brochure that reflects me and my business and I guess I am scared that someone will scan it and just replace my name with yours and it took me a long time to do it.  So am I wrong?  I basically just have a logo, state what services I provide, price and what experience I have but it has worked for me.  I don't like ignoring those of you who have asked but I am having trouble sending it to you.  I have no problems offering any of you support, advice, tips on what I do but have trouble meeting this request and not thinking that any of you would simply duplicate it and guess it wouldn't be that big a deal  so am I really a horrible person?


brochures/letters/flyers
No you are not a horrible person - and having owned my own Transcription Service for 15 yrs until my husband passed away 12 yrs ago....I WOULDN'T SHARE my hard work either!!

I think it is extremely kind of you to offer support, advice and tips. I can't fathom asking for another persons/business brochure, it is just not right and personally I think it shows lack of respect for you.

My two-cents...
Are you for real! Whoa...two big letters!
You may not need detox but you certainly need some compassion and you also need to get a life! ; )
Looking for black keyboard that letters don't rub off.
Been through several, haven't found one yet that numbers didn't rub off.  I have this one approximately 2 weeks from Logitec and I can see signs already where the letters and faiding.
keyboard letters/numbers
I had the same problem with the Dell keyboard that came with the computer.  I bought a Logitech keyboard then ordered a protective keyboard cover from protectcovers.com.  It fits like a glove and was under $20.00.  I'm hoping this will prevent the same problem.  All you do is tell them your keyboard model number.  And, of course, it keeps crumbs, dust and other assorted things from getting down in your keys.
question about cover letters
If the job ad says send your resume, do you send a cover letter also?
I'll send out letters
I write letters all the time to different government bodies, politicians, school districts, you name it and I'll write. I think this is a wonderful idea. My letters and/or phone calls always get public attention in my area - I have even put in for a presidential pardon for a relative who is in the federal prison system. I've exposed a principal who was abusing special ed kids, problems with taxation in Texas, and many other issues. My motto is - if things aren't being done properly, you can always write a letter. My pen is poised over pad and paper......