I am afraid the medical profession is in real

• I am afraid the medical profession is in real - Wannie
  • I agree, MANY don't seem to put the - MOMT
    • Ditto to everything above. nm - IHJB

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I haven't been talking about ME!  You're the one talking about me.  I'm talking about something that concerns us all.  If you can't see that, then you are blind.  Obviously this is a subject you are uncomfortable with.  You've yet to contribute anything of substance or intelligence to the discussion.  You've just wasted space insulting me.  You're a big part of the problem.

So I should get a hobby so I won't care, like you?  A hobby isn't going to pay the bills.  I can't afford a hobby because in addition to working for a living, I also have to study in a different career field in my spare for fear that eventually transcription will be strictly an offshore operation!

and Tessier's The Surgical Word Book, 3rd edition.  Books you could buy used I would say would be Stedman's Pathology and Lab Medicine and Cardiology/Pulmonary word book.  These are all the books I use the most during my day.  You could buy other speciality word books as you need them and could probably go used with those.

I wouldn't bother with buying a drug book, new editions come out every year and I just stick to the FDA website and RXList as my drug references.

Also FYI, not a book, but I use my Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictationary a lot.  It's easier to open the program than it is to pick up a huge 30-pound dictionary.

I am just a very private person and I do not want other people knowing my business unless they have a NEED to know it.

If you want to shout from a soapbox, find something worth shouting about. This is getting boring.

Stop a minute and think about this. What other person on the planet would be allowed to do this to you? Not one. The reason he is allowed to do it is because you let him.

"Tired of working?" Hell, we're all tired of working, but we do it because we have to. You keep your chin up, girlie. Find you a rat-hole and put some money in it. Even if it's a quarter at a time. Save your change, filch from your paycheck. Get a little padding there so you will have some options.

I lived with a horribly abusive man who took advantage of me for 30 years. I'd still be living with him but he's dead. I know I'd never have left.

Don't get me wrong. I adored him, God knows why - I let those "good times" outshine the horrible times and I stayed with him till death did us part - all to the detriment of my poor children. I have a daughter who thinks it's noble to stay with an abusive man. I have a son who, I'm grateful to say, is kind to his SO, but he endured a 10-year relationship with a lying, emotionally abusive girl - all thanks to me.

Do it as soon as you can. If that guy quit his job because he's "tired of working" there's nothing he won't do. Sending a hug. I know where you're coming from.

at least the minimum lines each day.  I used to work at a hospital where the required minimum was I believe 40 minutes, which ain't a lot of work.  Most times (and this was when we were in house) the girls would chat and chat and chat and go for lunch and chat and chat, etc., and never work.  And they got by with it because they were too scared to demand that these people stick to the guidelines by which they were hired.  One day I went in to work OT on a Saturday and worked 4 or 5 hours, and I don't remember what my line count was, but one person typed 12 lines.  And she was supposed to be the regular Saturday morning person.  Some saturdays I would go in to work and there would be NOBODY there.  NOBODY typing in a hospital transcription dept. just because it was Saturday.  They got by with it for years, continued to get by with it, and we lost our jobs to MQ because nobody worked and nobody made them work.  Me, I worked.  I worked a lot.  I had (still have) goals, meet them, exceed them routinely because I happen to like paying the bills and having money left over.  Like I always say, people whine on here about no work but when there's a lot of OT to be worked they are nowhere to be found. 

I'm in my mid 50s, and I'm not sure decent paying transcription jobs will be around until I hit retirement age.  Actually, despite saving, I'm not sure I'll be able to retire period.  I figure I'll have to work at something until the day I drop, and sometimes I think that if that happened tomorrow, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

I've always worked 2 and sometimes 3 jobs, and I've been self-employed.  I didn't mind putting in the hours in my 20s, 30s and even 40s, but I'm getting tired now.  I'd like to have a life beyond transcription.  Back then, I didn't necessarily have to work all those hours but chose to.  Now, I have to work them.  It's too late for me to go back to school.  There's no time when you work 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, and I can't afford to take on that kind of debt.  I'd be 60 by the time I finished, and who would hire me?  How much better off would I be starting all over again at the bottom? 

If you have something else in mind for making a living, particularly if it requires going to school or going back to school, and you can do it time-wise and financially, then I would encourage you to do it now.  You are right to worry, and you don't want to end up where I am.  Best of luck to you! 

This is old, but has anyone read this??  I must research further what the final outcome was.  While I totally agree with what they are doing and why, I totally DISAGREE with their final recommendation for standardizing line counts. VBC is not the way to do it.  

About three weeks ago I began a position with a local health care company (transcribing for local acute care hospitals but part of a national chain).

We are not really transcribing, at least not by my definition (21 years of experience).  Rather, we are recording medical ShortHand (abbreviations [even in DIAGNOSES section], shortened medication names, slang, contractions, etc.).  On the one hand, they claim they want you to type it verbatim (no expansions, additions, etc.), yet OTOH they say to delete redundancies, repetitions, etc., which is hardly verbatim. We are not allowed to expand, add to, or correct ANYTHING except number and tense dictated by ESL docs, who comprise about 60% of the dictators.  In addition, certain dictated terms are to be abbreviated (e.g., "emergency room" transcribed as "ER").

The supervisor had the gall to look me right in the eye and deliver a harangue about how these are "legal documents, and we have to transcribe EXACTLY what they say."  (Conveniently disregarding the bit about deleting redundancies and the other "allowed" changes.)  So ALL of my previous employers, AAMT, etc. did it wrong, and THEIR crackerjack legal department is smarter than everyone else?!     Don't think so.  Cutting costs is the game they're playing; everyone can see that.

Excerpt from a typical report looks like this:  Wrote scrip for vanco 100, patient also to take aspirin 81 and will return next week. I don't think .... [blah blah blah]

AAMT taught me to create a complete, coherent, grammatically correct document that doesn't look like alphabet soup.  Needless to say, I don't feel good about what I am creating and HATE THIS JOB!!

I'm just curious if this is happening elsewhere.  With all of the emphasis on "cutting costs,"  I have to think that it is.

Thanks for listening to my splenic venting.

The reasons you have cited in your message are the exact reasons I chose to stay home and transcribe 30 years ago.  I did not want to leave my babies in someone else's hands, so decided to stay at home to transcribe.  I do not regret my decision one bit!  Yes, in the beginning, it was tough to get used to being paid by productivity, but you learn short cuts, you learn the discipline to stay seated at the computer when you should be.  If you take away the costs of traveling to work, plus whatever you have to pay a sitter, you may even end up making more money staying at home. 

A lot of people have negative things to say about a lot of the national transcription services (I can agree with most things that are said) but in your situation, it is an ideal solution.  You just have to find a good company to work for.  They are all looking for good, experienced MTs, so you should not have any problems finding another position.  The larger ones will also supply you with the computer and all the other hardware you need to do the job.

It is not worth getting yourself all worked up with a baby on board (congratulations, by the way!).  Try to find a good national to work for and then tell your hospital job good-bye. 

30 years or so down the road, you will be glad you "took the plunge."  I wish you the best of luck, I know what a difficult decision it is to make.  Please let us know what you decide.