I did this..sort of

I still have a couple small accounts but they certainly aren't worth the aggravation and may be giving them up.

The downside is getting used to only having 1/2 the money as before since the taxes are being taken out from the get go and now having to meet production on a daily basis which is getting tougher to do, having to remember to ask ahead of time for time off and vacations and especially trying to remember to ask if I want a holiday off. Having someone tell me what to do.

The upside: Health insurance, pension plan, savings account, paid holidays, extra pay for overtime, having taxes taken out immediately and not having to pay quarterly taxes. .. No more headaches. No more scrambling to find more tax write-offs at the end of the year, getting refunds from the IRS instead of paying in.Incentives for going above and beyond the call of duty.  Having weekends off (first time in 8 years), having part of a day for myself (first time in 8 years).

Need I say more?

• Who has gone from IC status to employee status? sm - anon
  • IC now an employee x 8 yeas - ladydi
  • I had to do this as my main account changed their transcriptioinist status--sm - Debra
    • I did this..sort of - Getting older

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When I came home to type 13 years ago, I was expecting my third child.  Prior to that I did have 5 years on-site experience, but it was all in one specialty.  So, acute care was new to me.  I did it.  My line count at that time was 1000 lines a day.  I admit that many days I did not get to the count, but I tried very hard to make every report perfect.  I learn a lot from looking things up.  I kept my babies close by with plenty of toys, play pens, VCR, Disney movies, etc., and there were many times that one fell asleep across my arms while I was transcribing.

I think it can be done if you want it bad enough.  I love working from home!

My mom's doc told her in 1996 that she had "a touch of emphysema, nothing to worry about." (He was a lousy doctor but I didn't realize it then).

She had lived in a trailer on our property rent free for 10 years independently before this happened, then she got the shingles, "most severe case I've ever seen," was hospitalized for 2 weeks and went downhill after that. I moved her in with us as she developed macular degeneration, plus she was almost deaf.

The last straw came when she was walking through the hallway and her legs went out from under her. She broke her hip and walked on it like that for 2 weeks. I quit my job to stay home with her after that.  She spent 2 wks in a hospital and 6 wks rigorous PT in a nursing home, then came back home.  I did everything for her. She even gained weight, went up to 96 pounds (4'11"). She also came on on oxygen because of her "touch of emphysema" which turned into full blown COPD.

She then got pneumonia, was hospitalized, and then started to develop memory loss. Her macular degeneration got worse and she couldn't tell day from night and sometimes, her biological clock would get mixed up and she'd be waking me up at 11 p.m. thinking it was 7 am. She loved to read but couldn't do it anymore. My son gave her his large screen TV so she could at least see that, but she couldn't hear without the sound being turned up LOUD.

After 3 years, she was almost bedridden. Her bedroom was next to my office and I had a bell that she would ring if she needed me.

 I had a nurses' aide come in every day for 1 hour a day to bathe her and give her breathing treatments. That was all Senior Services could do for her because of her limited SS income.

In the meantime, I got a job through my former hospital working for them at home after she broke her hip. .I also worked full time 1 job, and had a couple small accounts, took care of her bills and checking account, our three accounts (both self-employed).  

We had a lot of friends that would come over on the weekends but where was I? In the house working and taking care of her. I never left the house for those 4 years except to do grocery shopping...and it was never more than 1 hour so the nurses' aide would be with her while I was gone.

She broke her other hip in January 2000.  I spent every day in the hospital with her, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't stay the night because this hospital wasn't set up for that and I couldn't afford it anyway.  I knew she wasn't going to make it this time and 2 weeks after celebrating her 79th birthday, she was gone.

Anyway, I feel for you and know what you are going through with the exception of 1 thing....I have no siblings. Hang in there and keep doing what you are doing. You'll never regret it. Three people know you're the right person. You, your mother, and God. Forgive your uncouth (sic) siblings...and if you get mad enough, tell the one that keeps winning the money to hand some over for a change. He might surprise you. Heck, he may not even know the problems you're having. You should tell him.

But in the meantime, just keep taking care of, and loving, your mother for as long as you can...and don't forget to tell her you love her all the time, too.

I don't hear anything around me.  My husband literally has to come up and touch me to get my attention when I'm working and then I nearly jump out of my skin cause it's like he snuck up on me.

I've been working at home since my son was a baby.  He's 14 now.  He had asthma and respiratory difficulties from birth and so I needed a profession that allowed me to be at home with him.  At first, my production was just gross, but you'll find that you adapt pretty easily.  Now, with both kids at school (my daughter just started kindergarten), I've seen my production shoot way up to the 1800 to 2000 range just because there are no interruptions and no excuses!

Your production will get better and better.  It just takes time.

Do you mean that they are written notes or are they on a dictaphone system??  I am just wondering why you would need someone close by?  bj

If so, I wouldn't be in a hurry to think you'll get the flexibility you desire by applying to these positions here.  Most of them require you work a set schedule, i.e., part-time or full-time. It's tough to find a company that hires true IC status.  They say IC, but then you are required to let them know which days you'll be working with a line quota.  

As far as insurance, check with your local senior center.  They may have information on health insurance providers. 

the same problem but in a different way. My doc puts a check mark on files he supposedly dictates, but sometimes, he messes up. I think he puts the check mark on it first, then when he's rushed, sees the mark and bypasses that report. It usually happens when he's overtired.

Anyway, he used to call telling me he's missing certain files which, usually, are a month old. He used to use tapes, so of course, they were erased and long gone.  I cured part of the problem by getting an internet system for him to dictate on and now must keep these voice files forever. He's still stating he's missing a few files and I can't get it through his head that it's on his end.  I spent 2 hours one day listening to all the files looking for a certain record to no avail. Then on top of that, he makes me put "re-dictation" on the note when I know it's not a re-dictation. He really got mad at me the one day over this crap and I also got mad, but kept my big mouth shut.

It frustrates me but I've been with this doc for 18 years and soon to retire, so I'm keeping him because he at least pays on time and it is good money.  He's keeping me because he gets his work on time if not earlier and he says I work cheap (which I don't- I get $.17 a line and I don't think that's cheap).

Just keep track of your files forever. That's all you can do.

secretarial service and got a call from an x-ray tech who wanted to know if I would transcribe her tapes because she didn't have time to do it herself. I knew a little medical terminology, but not much. She would bring me the tapes and come back the next day and sit with me to fill in the blanks, which weren't too many, I might add. That lasted a week. After that, I had most of it down pat. She told me I was good at it and should really take a course in it and become a "real" MT. So I did.

Before my course was done, I got a call from a doctor who needed his transcription done plus from a school for troubled youth to do psych evals on these kids. After my course, I decided to go to the local hospital for a job, was hired, and from there ...picked up more doctor offices....the rest is history.

Had my own accounts, 1 pod, 1 attorney, 1 ENT, f/t for a hospital, and part time for a service. I worked from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later. As my name states, I was getting older and just couldn't keep up with it anymore plus taking care of my mom, 5 checking accounts, hubby, making sure the bills were paid, and all the grocery shopping.

I gave most everybody up last year except the pod and attorney because they "won't let me" because I burned out and now work f/t for a service. I still don't have a life, but I'm a little happier. Hubby now goes to the bank and does the grocery shopping because I buy too much, so that's a big help and also saves money. Hopefully, your hubby will help you out with things like that.

If you're younger, you might be able to handle it for a while. I was in my 40s when I did all that. Just call me "semi-retired" for now.

While it is true that change is the only constant, change should not be accepted uncritically.  *New and improved* is often neither.  While *if it ain't broke, don't fix it* can be taken to extremes such that it inhibits any kind of innovation, change merely for the sake of change doesn't result in improvement either.

Students anywhere, not just those who are financially poor, are often eager to learn when they start a new course of study.  Perhaps the difference you see between third world countries and the US is that transcription pays relatively well in third world countries when you consider their economies (not ours).  It's not a palace, but it's not a shack in the country either.  They believe they are on their way up and may eventually push for higher wages as they want to continue to better themselves and their families.  It's an immigrant's mindset without actually having to go anywhere.  In the US, on the other hand, middle class, and even financial poor, students are in for a shock when they find that they may only be making $20,000 to $25,000 a year and can't afford the average 1 bedroom apartment in their area, much less a house.  If they know any *old* transcriptionists, they may find that wages have been, and are continuing, to fall.  For them, this is not a step up nor will it allow them to do better than their parents, and the bloom comes off the rose pretty quickly.

How much feedback you get depends largely on where you work, not how many years you have in.  It's a function of how much your employer values quality.  How feedback is accepted also has a lot to do with how it is given.  Constructive mentoring that is actually helpful and collaborative is vastly different from the adversarial merely playing *gotcha*, and the response to each will be similarly vastly different.

As for the Book of Style, some clients want it and some don't.  Long-time transcriptionists aren't the only ones who say *but we've always done it this way.*  Long-time dictators have been known to get in a rut, too.

Good long-term transcriptionists have already learned to be adaptable.  Is anybody still transcribing on a non-correcting Selectric and using Dictaphone belts?  Is anybody still using WordStar?  We are already teachable.  Medical care in all sorts of specialties available today little resembles what was originally learned 10, 20 or 30 years ago.  We know how to use resources whether it's books, books on disc or the Internet and are grateful for the increased resources.  Gone are the days of only having a Webster's, a Dorland's and a PDR.  We must continue these good habits.  School is never out!

What needs to happen is for this current exacerbation of the newbie vs oldie fued to die down.  Both bring strengths to the table, as well as weaknesses, and both could learn from the other.  It was easier when we worked in the same place, but if we want to strengthen transcription as a career, we have to do it together.  Fragmenting ourselves into newbies, oldies, mommy trackers, career people, us, them, simply allows employers to play to our fears and play us off against each other.  Transcription as a career cannot survive this way.    

where you just click on it and press the pedals as it requests.  You can also change the function of the pedals - for example make the left one rewind and the right one FF, etc. 

Some software will only work with certain pedals.  Generally a USB-1 pedal will work with the majority of the software, but not always.  Some software requires a special foot pedal.  

Anyway the programming is very easy, takes 2 minutes tops.