I'm finding the same, but so many questions...

• Polish up those resumes - network
  • Yes, but can you transcribe? Do you have good work ethics? - (sm)
    • Post was meant to be helpful - network
      • My people skills are just fine. I just want to hire people who want to work. - Not think it's a cake walk (sm)
        • people skills - desertblossom
        • Please leave the name of your company... - MT
          • Company - MT2
    • You sound like somebody who had their post erased - yesterday....
      • Right, and the moderator apologized for deleting it, so neener. - nm
      • No she doesn't...... - Trixi
    • under an hour??? - unhappy MQ oldtimer
      • Actually, no, MT with 9 years experience. So, I can only assume - that she wasn't getting it (sm)
    • Obviously, she can or the offers wouldn't be coming out of the woodwork. - Yes to all of the above and more.
      • Well.... - Trixi
        • What does that have to do with anything? - no kidding....
        • We're paying 9 cpl and everything transcribed plus spaces is paid for. - nm
      • Good for you, but what about others? You perhaps are the exception. - nm
        • same for me - unhappy MQ oldtimer
          • well oldtime, I'll bet that you have good work ethics. But, people like you are far and few in - between. For about every (sm)
            • That goes both ways. I can tell you out of all the MTSOs I've worked for, - it's not indentured servitude
  • I'm finding the same, but so many questions... - gto

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I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 

I want it all, good money, good benefits, job security.  Why is this so hard to find in this business??  Where i'm at now, awful benefits, but i'm at the top of the pay scale and have had the same account going on three years, yet I havent got a raise and it seems my lines are disappearing or its taking me more time to get the money I used to, not to mention sore hands.  So I also want a company who won't cheat me.  I'm so afraid though because I have it fairly well here.  Most companies start out at 7 to 8 cpl which is appalling I think.  One place I  found, MDI, starts at 9 - 10 cpl, but I do not see any benefits whatsoever.  I think if you're an IC, you should be getting 13 to 15 cpl to cover sick days, the incredibly high medical insurance, and also some to stuff away in case of a longterm leave.  All I can say is stick it out where you're at, maybe go to school for something better.

you can deduct something for property tax for state taxes, and the online program asked about this specifically and calculated (because they figure the landlort has basically included at least partial prop. tax expense in the rent).

However, in the online tax prep question, it asks if rent a "home."  That is why I am not sure about the apartment complex.  What the difference might be.

Sorry for the confusion.  Still need an answer if anyone out there knows. 

for many reasons, including supporting offshoring, lack of financial management and not truly representing MTs.  Plus, the "standards" they are trying to set are not accepted nor recognized by hardly any facility. 

For me the last straw (after putting up with the offshore blind eye - or not so blind) was when they came out with the new testing guidelines that are a slap in the face to anyone not doing acute care.  In the past there wasn't such an "attitude" toward clinic work, but now newbies are forced to do acute care - not in their best interest in most cases.

I could go on, but that is the tip of the iceberg.  AAMT could be a viable organization, but at this point it is not.

I was an IC for 26 years, then decided to join the digital world and become an employee for benefits sake. I am on my third company in one year and none of them have kept me in full time work (1500 lines/day). I'm so frustrated. I love the bennies but I need full-time work. So, I'm considering going IC again and trying to get as many accounts/companies as I need to get the lines I need.

I am wondering if the ICs around here are still able to find the amount of work they want...specifically via MTSOs rather than local offices/hospitals...anyone who cares to share, I sure would appreciate hearing your experience. TIA.

Hey ya'll, just found that I need Microsoft Word either 2002 or 2003 in order to start my new job doing VR.  I cannot seem to find this anywhere, nobody is selling it anymore.  I found one copy on ebay so far - does anyone else know of another website or how I could obtain this?  I was really looking forward to this job, I am in desperate need.  I am not the fastest MT in the world but I think one of the most accurate - was hoping VR might be a good fit for me.

Thanks so much for any help.  Love, Cindy

It is very possible your friend is still alive, as they are still finding people alive every day and if he is still in the area, unfortunately there is not much in the way of any phones working in these hard hit areas, so it wouldn't surprise me if he is still alive.  Have you searched all of the Red Cross Shelter lists?  Everyone who is at a shelter has to have their names put on a list and there are new names being added everyday.

Unfortunately, I had to bite the proverbial bullet and buy a new computer, which came of course with Vista.  One of my accounts uses dvf files and the sony plug-in for that for use with my gearplayer is of course not yet compatible with Vista.  (sigh)

Does anyone know a good converter I could download to convert the dvf files to wav or dss and IS compatible with Vista? 

Thanks for any help. 

I routinely use a kitchen timer and keep track of my hourly line count (write down each job's tally which shows up on my platform after each job is sent) ... if I'm doing ER reports, I aim for 6 an hour (some are short, some are long, some hours I don't get there) ...

Also, depending on your employer, working two hours, taking a half-hour break, working 2 hours, or otherwise breaking up your day can increase my productivity and actually make my work day SHORTER (I have flexible scheduling)  if I'm just too hopelessly distracted and more than willing to read every e-medicine article that comes up on my good word searches ... lol!

Changing my hours helps too ... hate to admit it but I am just a good at 0500 or 0400 (after a cup of coffee) as I am at 0700 or 0800 and I am MUCH less distracted and irritable ... when all else fails, I get up when I wake up in the middle of night -- oddly enough, I "settle down" to work much more easily then.

Good luck!  What works for one person undoubtedly doesn't work for everybody but that works for me.

with working as an MT, the ebb and flow of the business of IC working from a pool, being a mother of a 10 year-old and a wife.  How do you find the time for a well balanced family and work life?  Finding time to be with your growing children, teaching them values, finding time for your relationship with spouse so that all of your family are happy, working as and MT at home.  I find I work way too long although I am still in the learning phase of my company just starting full time.  I find my daughter is growing up and I barely have time for her or for my husband.  I want to provide a happy home and I want my daughter to learn values.  She is having trouble at school and at home with her attitude. 

Due to finanancial difficulties we had to move in with my mother-in-law and father-in-law and it really is not the best situation but could not be helped.  I am slow as an MT.  I just have a hard time finding a good balance for my family and working.  I wondered how some of you out there do it and are happy with your work life and family life raising children and finding time for a well-balanced relationship with your spouse.   My huband is trying to find a job now working as a cook in a hospital.  He just has to wait for the hiring manager to contact him. 

I appreciate any advice.

I have been following the Job Seekers Board and other MT jobs boards very closely, have applied at a few, tested, passed, etc.   Apparently, I am delusional, because I am not finding these GOOD jobs!  I do not think 8.5 cpl is GOOD.  I do not think being told to work a weekend day is GOOD.  I do not mind working a schedule, but having to work every weekend?????

I have been an MT for about 15 years now.  I make 10 cpl and despite the job I am at right now... (yes, the Q).  I am sick of ASR and sick of watching my work go to India. 

Having said that, someone please tell me where all of these jobs are that pay close to what I make, happen to be US PROUD, and not required to work every blessed weekend.  

My husband's friend hasn't heard from his brother yet and is understandably frantic.  His brother was in Biloxi, Mississippi when the hurricaine hit.  Last time he was heard from, he was boarding up his house.

I know this is far reaching, but does anyone have any information on finding someone in Biloxi?

Thanks!

When you have a good platform, have been on your account(s) long enough to know what they are going to say next, make good use of productivity software and references, $50k a yr gross is certainly possible.  I got there in 3 years once I started working from home only working 30 hours a week after leaving a $32k/yr 40 hr/wk on-site hospital position.  I could have made more but I wanted a life away from the keyboard too.  It may mean moving a couple of times to find the best situation for you, but you can do it.  I remember someone who made over $80k a year several years back with a hydraulic desk so she could work standing up or sitting down to keep her fingers flowing.

While it may be human nature for some to inflate their earnings in public, others do not and I am one who doesn't.  My earnings are W2, not 1099, so I get benefits too.

When I divorced the ex, we had just bought a house.  We live in a community property state - everything you accrued during the married is pretty much split 50-50.  I hired an attorney for $600 !!!  He hired a real-property attorney for $350 as he was worried about the house.  I gave him the house and the dog and I took the child.  It is a joint custody state but I was the primary custodian. 

It's worth it to hire a divorce lawyer, and like you said you're only married 2-1/2 years (I was married 12 yrs) and you probably have little to no equity in the house at this point (just like us back then).  

Check out cheaper divorce lawyers and see what you can do.  Best of luck!

How childish!  Just another embarrassing post by an American MT !!!