Have had three major surgeries and mistakes were made...
Posted By: SM on 2007-02-24
In Reply to: I so appreciate your standing up for me - Rita
So, I fully understand how he forgot but admitting to this would have been worse than saying the procedure was completed. However, you do have a case that can be proven simply by no incision lines that correspond to the operative report's description. Finding any physician who will testify against a high standing member of the medical community sounds like the challenge. Sorry this had to turn into a nightmare for you.
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What sort of mistakes can be made, and - sm
what happens if you make them?
Are coders treated with any more respect than MTs? (i.e., not "just typing machines".)
What would average hourly pay be for a newbie, as opposed to someone experienced?
What did the coding course cost, and how often do you have to return for more education?
(BTW - THANK YOU so much for your detailed and informative answer to my original post!!!) :)
Please tell me I am not alone. Just got a report back where I made a MAJOR mistake. (sm)
I normally try to be very, very careful, but I don't know what happened, but it did.
Feeling a little shaken regarding my skills and attention span right now.
Please tell me I am not the only one who has made an error and had the client send the report back.
Boy, you sound so perfect. I guess you haven't made any mistakes then, huh? sm
Wow. Even though you have this so-called knowledge about her and her son, or whatever, you don't have to come on the internet to say that she didn't love her son in a "traditional sort of way." What does that mean? We all love in different ways. I'm with most of the other posters on this board that you do sound harsh, whether you want to admit it or not, and even if you DO have knowledge of her past, you definitely cannot tell anyone of us here that you know what she is going through. No one knows.
She has had to have 5 surgeries on her right eye due to complications of LASIK. sm
I don't know if that has affected her facial features at all, though.
Why are foot surgeries always so long?
It's just a foot! They are longer than hip surgeries, back surgeries, any kind of surgeries. WHY?
speaking of breasts and surgeries....
is anyone willing to fess up to a breast "augmentation". I never thought I would ever, EVER consider something like this, but after having my babies, breastfeeding, etc... have thought about now and again.
This is my base rate for surgeries sm
I have an incentive program, I can make more, but this is my base rate. I had this rate at another company where I did OPs for 4 yrs and I made really good money at it typing just outpatient surgical notes (6 hours a day, 1500-1700 lines a day average during that shift).
In point of fact, it is much easier to get normals set up for this situation than for OPs in a hospital because you have fewer doctors and fewer different procedures.
Yes had 5 surgeries over 24 months with anesthesia and saw several specialists (sm)
after about 8 months to a year I stopped shedding like the dog!! Concensus was that it was related to the anesthesia. My nails split as well and were weak during that time. So it all has to come out somewhere. But it finally ended. I did get (at salon) don't know if I can mention the maker but it starts with an (R) & it is Butter Cream (any good salon will know what you want) & Smooth Down shampoo; and just remoisturizer my hair between shampoo, wet the hair, wet a towel put it in the microwave rung out and then moist heat, about 15 to 20 seconds in the micro!! It sure did help the dry hair.
According to type of report - i.e., common surgeries,
or physical examinations are what I normally save.
I always picture a doctor saying.."Gotta go do 3 brain surgeries day, ho hum"
c
i made $15/hr before and didn't stay long because i made so much more on production. sm
that was with full benes too. i wouldn't do it for less than $20, but i think even with $20, i'd want benes. are you in-house?
There is something major going on here
Accounts that used to be really busy have no work. Multiple accounts are asking us not to work on their account for the day. Last night an updated was posted with 100 something jobs available in one account, and then later an oops, sorry, I meant 0 jobs available. What is up with that? Don't know what's happening with this company.
French Ed. major
with English Ed minor and Music minor. No jobs around here in Northern Indiana, and extended family is here, so once started having kids, kind of just fell into this work. Love it, though, love using the Latin I had years ago.
We have DirecTV and have had no major
issues. I have internet through the cable company and have had lots of problems. If cable is through Time Warner they have the worst customer service. In my area the programming is about the same between cable and satellite, except DirecTV has just added satellite radio. I don't know if cable charges per each box, but DirecTV does charge $5.00/mo per box after the first one. The only complaint I have about DirecTV is that we had a big storm and after that we could not get every channel on every box (we have 3). We're not sure where the problem is, but for them to come out is an automatic $70.00 and then depending on what the issue is there could be more charges. When my internet goes out there are no service fees, although it is a pain in the rear getting anyone out to fix the problem.
With satellite you may have to put the dish in your yard on on your house where it might be an eye sore, but if the dish is on the house they only have the run the wiring down the house and not in the yard. If you have cable they have to run it from the pole to your house and they barely bury it, so that you have to have it located every time you need to do any planting/digging.
With satellite when it rains real hard we lose signal, though it doesn't usually last long. When we used to have cable we might not lose signal entirely, but it would be very fuzy. Cable really utilizes satellite. Our local cable company has huge dishes setup and the cable feeds from those.
some major issues!
If the post set off some "emotions," then keep them to yourself, or scream them out loud at home where no one can hear you. The person who posted this did not do so to set off YOUR PERSONAL "emotions." I think your major emotion just might be jealousy!!
These are not petty! These are major sm
things that any experienced MT should know. You need to take the correction as it was intended...........not to be petty but to fix things that you have been doing wrong for years! The docs don't know formatting and unfortunately most of the hospitals don't either. Be glad you FINALLY have some correction! Why you would waste your time checking everyone elses transcription is beyond me.
This kind of transcription is why I don't get too excited when I have an "experienced" MT call me to test for a job. I have tested MANY MTs with experience even more than yours and gotten the same thing! Sometimes people have been working for the same place for years and never been corrected.
This kind of stuff is why (in my opinion) that all MTs should have at least 2-5 years experience in an acute care facility before going out on their own! This "new wave" of going to MT school and then opening your "own business" is bringing this profession way down! It needs to stop.
major discrimination
My husband works for an agent with a major insurance company. He is not the agent although he does have to have agent's licensing. We were told probably 15 years ago, that a white male would not be allowed to become an agent for many, many years due to people (this happened to be two women) who declared that they were discriminated against in this company. So to compensate for discrimination this national company will not hire a "white male" for the appointed amount of time (which was a very extended time period of many, many years) unless that "white male walked on water." That was their quote too. I have heard (but have not verified this) that this same "discrimination" is going on in the medical field. Therefore, you have all the ESL's who are able to get into med school but the American Caucasian is not chosen because you cannot discriminate. My question is "Who is really being discriminated against?" In my husband's company -- It is the Caucasian white male and I have a feeling that it is the Caucasian that is discriminated against in the medical field as well.
What is a major bummer is...
A lot of the older MTs in this neck of the woods have lost their jobs not to outsourcing, but inability to keep up with technology, and it's not their fault either. All of these transcribing companies seem to have upgraded their technology so now people NEED high-speed internet/cable, and dial-up just won't do anymore. Imagine losing your job because the cable/phone company won't string up cable or DSL in your neighborhood because your're just too rural. It's a huge problem and I can see why that would make many people (including myself) jaded. What in the heck do you do for work when all you've known is transcribing? Hardly any hospital hires in-house these days either. Scary times indeed.
me too... lost major $$$.. sm
I lost my derm practice to EMR, $1500+ per week. That was my only account. Very humbling experience. I know a lot of you are in the same boat. Now it is taking me about a month to make what I made in a week. Have a couple PT accounts and am working for my FP doc that has EMR. He dictates part of the note and I put the typing where he wants it. It is slow as I have satellite but at least it is some income. I think EMR is the wave of the future. Hopefully it doesn't become a law soon.
For me, a major consideration is, would you be
nm
MAJOR PROBLEMS!!!!
Okay first of all I updated to XP from ME, lost my Microsoft Office so had to reinstall it. I use Express Scribe to play dss files. Before my update I updated ES to version 4.16. Found out that does not play dss files so uninstalled that and reinstalled v. 4.15 and it worked. After the upgrade, I reinstalled version 4.15 and it does the same think at 4.16 did. WIll not load dss files. They appear in the file list but with a duration of 0 seconds. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, restarting and everything I can think of. Even with the extra dss .exe that the website said I needed. Is there a possibility that XP doesn't not run with ES or dss files or do I need to install another component to make my files play on XP?
Please help, I am getting backlogged and starting to freakout.
major errors
Only 2 major errors allowed? When learning a new account that seems a little strict. I understand they can't have major errors but give someone a chance to get things right and learn the way of doing things.
I would say those are major. Hospitals SM
often have this sort of policy and expect the services doing business with them to enforce it.
Major error?
That is not a major error. They are just two straggling headers that got left behind, an oversight at best but not major error category. What is wrong with these people? If they call that major what do they call a real major errors that could possibly affect the outcome of patient care? When you consider all the malpractice that goes on with direct patient care involving doctors and nurses, two straggling headers on a report is really very minor.
The major obstacle is the ...sm..
long distance phone charges for the C-line. Check into Magic Jack. Some people have been very happy with it and have used it for long distance while using a C-phone. It makes no difference what kind of computer you're using when you use a C-phone.
Link to Magic Jack info is below.
A Major Rant
A rant letter to a couple of doctors:
What has happened to the medical profession in this country? Why is it that doctors forget their Hippocratic Oath? Why is it they forget the purpose of their career choice? I've transcribed this week on numerous elderly patients who have been with their doctors for five, ten or even fifteen years, but they have to seek care elsewhere because so many doctors are refusing to accept Medicare. How would you feel were if it were your own mother or father being refused care with their established physician just because they became classified as "elderly" and qualified for Medicare? If it weren't for your "connections," your parents would face the same dilemma that other elderly people face.
Why is it that when a patient comes into your office complaining of feeling fatigued and achy that you automatically assume they're depressed and pop out a prescription for them to pop a pill? Why not LISTEN to what the patient is saying and realize that while some MAY be depressed, others have a legitimate medical problem going on? Why not do some labs on them to check for anemia, hypothyroidism, etc.? Oh, I get it -- let them wait two hours to see you after their appointment time and then spend two minutes with them... after all, time is money. By the way, I guess that kid who came several times a couple of weeks ago complaining of abdominal pain wasn't just trying to get out of school since I saw his obituary in the paper this week. Even when his mom and dad brought him in a second and third time, you brushed them off. I hope seeing his obituary hurts your heart at least half as much as it hurt mine. I can't imagine the pain those parents are enduring right now, but I doubt you've stopped earning money long enough to let it bother you. And, no, I won't cover your butt if I get a subpoena when his parents sue you for medical negligence.
Why is it that you cringe when I tell you I need to raise my rates when I've not had a rate increase in three years or longer when in the mean time you've raised your rates at least three times a year every year? Oh - ok - your expenses have gone up? Do you think they've discounted my electric bill, gasoline, supplies and everything else?
Remember that last check before Christmas that I asked about when you were late paying me? You know, the one where you said you didn't have the money to pay me until after the 1st of January - although my contract with you explicitly explains payment arrangements? That was hard to swallow when your wife was standing there while I was waiting to talk to you and making out a check for $8200 to have your home decorated for Christmas? Yes, it ticked me off that you had the money for that in your budget but not the money to pay me my measly little $702. It also ticked me off when you took your three-week vacation to France and left me waiting for payment.
I do understand - its all about the money. Of course, that is why I work. But, if I ever get to the point that I'm so cold-hearted or money-oriented that I cannot try and give the best of my abilities in my transcription for every patient I type on, I have common sense enough to know its time to get out of my profession. Yes, to you I'm just a "typist", but how many times have you picked up the phone and called me asking, "Do you remember the names of the tests that I need to order for Lyme disease?" Or, what about when you can't dictate a proper letter and you say, "This is what I want to say - can you fix it for me?" What about those times when I've flagged a lab result and said, "This patient would be dead with a potassium of 988." Regardless, I remain just a "typist" in your mind.
In spite of all your faults, I do my best for you. I give you accurate work every day of every week because I know one typo (on the transcription work you don't review) with a drug dosage could mean the difference between life and death of your patients. But in the end, does it really matter to you?
At least 200; FT account is a major
trauma center, PT is a major surgical center. Both are teaching hospitals, so I have all the residents thrown in too.
Most mistakes are not mistakes at all.
They are merely personal preferences other than those found in the the AAMT BOS which, incidentally, is not an "Official Rule Book of Medical Transcription" as AAMT would like it to be in order to sell more copies. 
Mistakes
If the majority of us were QA'd every day they would find mistakes on all of us with the quantity that we type. We are all human. But is there someway TAT they can give you everyone else but that one doctor. I am the other way because I have one doctor that comma's me to death and so I hate to use a comma. You have been with them for four years for goodness sakes that should be something especially if this is the first complaint against you. They should bend knowing that since you are now aware of it you will be extra careful. Talk with them again and explain to them you need more. Good luck. No one is perfect.
Patti
There would be less mistakes if
there wasn't such a nursing shortage and the nurses and physicians spoke English reasonably well. Our American HMO's and PPO's recruit these foreign physicians. Most hospitalist (and other specialties) are from foreign countries and only take care of patients who are associated with their HMO's and PPO's. With the nursing shortage, recruitment has been heavily extended to foreign countries. A friend of mine recently had CABG and could barely understand some of her nurses, nor could they understand her. The health care system in this country has become merely a business rather than a service to the sick and the system is broken!
mistakes
I caught my QA person making changes to my work a few months back - not small changes, but life-altering changes where a medical record is concerned. She is no longer with the company - having been let go on Friday after I reported it on Thursday. Have had no problems since. I would speak up. If the company has any integrity - they would want to know what you have found and correct it.
Mistakes
Are you noticing any pattern to the types of mistakes you make? Try to notice (if you haven't) and some answers as to how to fix the problem might come from that realization.
I am fairly new also and understand all your frustration. I get so frustrated with myself for not being able to retain info that I have repeatedly looked up.
I absolutely cannot imagine how people did this job before there were word expanders! Hats off to them!! :)
This was a major national. You can mess with just about anything...
as long as you have a space bar.
to fellow psych major
I would like to start working in the field before I get my BA. Do you know how many credits you would need in order to do that, and is an AA degree far enough to begin work? You're a lot closer than me so I figured you might know this. It would be a big weight off my shoulders knowing I could work within three years rather than 7, which seems so long. Thanks in advance
Major patriarchy brainwashing.
Having sex does not make you a "wh0re." It usually means you are a functioning adult capable of making your own choices and not having your entire life dictated to you.
We have Publix - MAJOR stores all over....sm
Publix says tipping is not allowed. I do not agree with that. They are loading TONS of stuff into cars, why shouldn't they get a tip? I tip, their bosses are not outside watching anyway and I don't know that anyone ever lost a job with Publix (one of the largest employers in the SE) due to this
to each his/her own I suppose 
Dude, what's your major malfunction? sm
Since I've been working for the last 1-1/2 years with a company and more recently with my own accounts, I daresay that I am doing just fine with or without the RMT. I wanted to take the RMT for my own fun. I am sure there are others that either want to take the test or that are waiting to hear their results after waiting several months.
It is not a major deal to set up Meditech....
I went remote over 10 years ago and I set up most everything myself with installing the program for Meditech with dial up. Now I do it VPN which they installed but I probably could have done myself. More hospitals should look at contracting or hiring the MT directly. It is so much cheaper for them. After increasing my rate a couple of years ago, my hospital looked into hiring an MTSO and was surprised at how much more they would have to pay (more than 3 times what I charge) even if they did offer health insurance and taxes. As to the poster below, I rarely miss work because if I don't work I don't get paid. And when I can't, the hospital has a back up they hired themselves. There are always somebody willing to do extra work somewhere.
Me too.. Lost major account
to EMR.. basically put me out of business. I could have "stayed-on" in house doing limited transcription and scanning for 1/2 the money. System was not very friendly to transcription, had to constantly switch screens, etc. would have really lost $$$ if I was paid by the line. Either way hourly/cpl, less money for me. I decided to just stay home and go with national. Hopefully I can hold out for the next 5 or so years, or else I guess I'm off to Walmart!
Major bummer dude!
This is my 2nd Saitek...the first one had silver keys and oh ya, I got the paint on them babies worn off within 6 months. I'm totally bummed to hear this one will do the same thing, because I really looked at it hard before buying and saw the letters were "etched" in and not painted on. It's no biggie for me, being a touch typist, but when family or friends want to plink around, they got totally lost...plus it looked fargin' ugly too.
I use the angry red lights when typing that ESL crap (red alert!), and the happy purple the rest of the time. The old one was just blue, so I'm kinda sick of that for right now, but it is so much fun to mess with the mood lighting. Simple pleasures for simple minds 
Currently working for a major national, they use BOS because they want
all MTs transcribing the same. What the client wants comes first, then BOS on the majority of accounts. This is SUPPOSED to make QA-ing a report easier.
Making major purchases
Dh and I were looking for a house about 3 months ago because the one we are in is too small. We put that on halt. For one, I am worried about my job. I work for a hospital. OM announced we are going to upgrade to a new system. One of our MTs got to see this new system (I don’t know how) and she said it was great. She told about those 3 doctors that say when doing one of their DS to cut and paste from their HP and then they begin with the hospital course. We get paid for all those lines. Well, now the HP is just going to feed into the DS so we won’t have to cut and paste. Plus some, not all of the docs are going to be able to do VR. They will still need us for editing they said. They already took the headers and footer pay away from us because it automatically wraps into the report.
Now assuming that if the things that already wrap into the report we don’t get paid for, those wonderful DS that we love to get with the free lines is coming to a halt. Also, assuming from what I have read on this message board and others, pay decreases with VR. None of this has been said yet by OM but I am expecting it to come. The other MTs are saying oh this is wonderful, oh this is great. I haven’t mentioned any of my concerns to them mainly because I don’t want to let on that I am worried. I just quit looking for a new house. One of the MTs did purchase a new house recently because since they took us off of hourly and put us on production, she is making great money and we are, actually better than what most the MTSOs pay. I am just afraid it is just going to come to a halt. Do I have a right to be paranoid? Has anyone else put big purchases on halt because they are worried about what is to come? I am kind of the worry wart pessimistic type.
Preparing for a major cut in pay is scary.
I am without an emergency fund :( and no one seems to be responding to my resume.
This is so cruel.
I lost major $$ when they discontinued that. nm
X
I think the majority of mistakes are
merely typographical or expander errors. If MTs weren't paid such rotten line rates on production, maybe they could afford to relisten to and reproof every single report. However, the people responding to the original post have evidently never made a single mistake in their entire lives. Ah, yes, condescending, snotty superiority complexes on the rampage. I'd be interested in seeing the MT profiles on those quoted reports, how many lines per day they produce, how many years of experience, and so forth. For that matter, we could all sit here and rip on the mistakes we've found on completed reports, but personally, I don't feel better about myself by trashing other people. My self esteem isn't measured by how stupid I think everyone else is like some people on this board.
I make mistakes too
I have almost 9 years' of experience. I still make mistakes and always will. There are many things that I still do not know. I still come across things I have never heard of. I still get corrections here and there from my QA.
However, I think that is a good thing, QA. I like getting corrections back when I have made an error. That alerts me to the problem. That makes me a better MT. Also, I take some comfort in the fact that something I overlooked may be caught by another. It is supposed to be team work. The MT and QA are supposed to work together to produce a perfect report.
It is all in how you look at it. It is very easy to get your feathers in a ruffle when given a correction. I believe that reaction is soley out of embarrassment over making the mistake in the first place. That is silly, however, seeing that we all do make mistakes and no one knows everything.
Mistakes/errors
I read below about the mistakes and I have to admit, I make mistakes, I am human. My accounts know I am human. I just re-read one of my physicals and I had somehow put "See expensive data base in chart" and it should have been "See extensive ..." it is not often but it does happen. If we were perfect we surely would not be here on earth right now. It is hard for us to see and find our own mistakes. But for those who say that they have 98 or 99% error free, what does that actually mean -- for every 100 words you can have two errors, or what. Never have been able to figure that out. If I do 3000 lines per day, can I have 30 to 60 lines with errors? All I know is that the majority of us do a darn good job and the best we can and those that make continuous errors, just like in any line of work, won't be in it for long but mistakes and errors do happen to all of us. For those that have no compassion for anyone that does make errors, be careful as it is a long way to fall off of the pedestal. My two cents worth go ahead and flame me, I have broad shoulders.
PS --my accounts have been with me for 5 to 15 years and I make over $50K a year but I do make mistakes.
I'm not defending their mistakes whether
by intention or accident. That was not in my post whatsoever, so learn to read.
What I said is true -- and the posts above just proved it. It doesn't matter if they owe you money or not, you're going to gripe about it. There's nothing anyone can do to change the past. They found a discrepancy, no matter how or why, and they are righting it by sending the money that is owed. That is the RIGHT THING TO DO...it is also the LEGAL thing to do.
You were po'd because you felt cheated on your pay so you griped. Now you're getting that discrepancy paid to you, so you gripe. You gripe because they didn't make changes. Now they are and people are still griping.
The whole start of my post was directed at the idiot who was complaining over the letter - the letter announcing upcoming changes, whining because it didn't include SEs (in her severely compromised comprehension). I responded to that.
I didn't say anything about defending their actions other than they are making a wrong right by paying money that is owed. They are legally obligated to do so. And no one is relieved about it regardless.
I'm saying what many of us feel and that is if you don't like MQ GET OUT. If you aren't leaving, SHUT UP. It's a good thing we work remotely -- the pathetic pitiful peons who can do nothing but drag their hind end around on the ground whining, "look what happened to me" don't seem capable of saying, "Hey, I'm not going to take that. I'm outta here. I don't think you're treating me fair so adios MQ." Instead, they have to just continually lurch around with their bellyaching and griping and try to keep everyone feeling like they do. They LOVE to feel upset. Makes 'em feel justified in some sick way. Justified perhaps because they're not able to do anything else maybe. Who knows why? Who cares? I don't.
I'm tired of hearing the griping about a situation you're doing nada about. Shut up and do your work -- maybe you'd have some MONEY in the bank then. Otherwise, ship your worthless self out to sea and find new populations of people to cry to.
As for your "...it is not the people on this board who short-changed their people..." remark...you are WRONG. By continuing with a company that they believe is doing them wrong, they are short-changing themselves and their families -- their kids, their husbands, their relatives, their friends. EVERYONE. You have a responsibility to not be poor, provide for your family ADEQUATELY and BE HAPPY. When you don't take care of that situation at work and feel that way, it bleeds over into your life every other way. I bet you people are a JOY to live with. What a horrible negative environment to live in.
I usually let this crap on this board roll off my back. It's usually good for a few laughs. I'm not angry but rather tired. Tired of having to wade through the mires of people who have imprisoned themselves. If MQ did you wrong, GET OUT. If any of these companies did you wrong, GET OUT.
I would be ashamed to sit here and constantly gripe about the same problems over and over and never take action and change it for myself. How handicap is that?
Lately, coming here is like jumping into what appears to be a nice cool lake to enjoy a good relaxing swim only to get out and find there's hordes of blood-sucking leeches on you. It's really pathetic and it's that way because you won't get over what has happened.
Well, guess what? IT HAS. Whatever made all the pay issues happen -- IT HAPPENED. You can't change it. It won't go away. GET OVER YOUR SITUATION. GET OVER YOURSELF. You're not the only people in the world with problems.
Absolutely the biggest group of losers I've seen in a long time. Losers -- Losers every one because you REFUSE, not just fail - which we all do, but REFUSE to get up and get past these problems.
Get over yourselves. This is a great line of work and there are some great companies. MQ is one of them - for MANY of us. If this work isn't paying you enough to live then guess what?! IT ISN'T FOR YOU unless you like to live hungry!!
I agree that everyone has a different experience but you know what? You seem all too familiar now with MQ at least and you are still there -- voluntarily. No one makes you stay.
If you're tired of defending yourself for being so upset about MQ, why don't YOU go start yourself a board somewhere?
I don't believe this board was designed with MQ-haters in mind, was it? No.
So, excuse me, but YOURS isn't the ONLY attitude around! I don't care if you like what I'm saying or not! I have just as much reason and rightness in what I am saying as you do.
Hope you people sleep happy in your little tight little drawn-up world!! I can tell you without any hesitation that I have no problems sleeping and no problems making my bills and no problems going to work because I don't have the attitude you do!
Good night, little ones! Sleep tight!!
and you know the mistakes that happen
!!!
Speak for yourself. I want and need to know my mistakes.
I'm sure there are those who get offended but not all are that way.
The mistakes were trivial
They did not tell you the rules and you did it correctly. They should have told you that you were to change it. I just hired on with a hospital system who really appreciates good MTs and you can find someone who will, too. Hang in there!
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