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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I don't think MT will ever be totally obsolete.

Posted By: But it'll be much different than now. sm on 2005-11-25
In Reply to: future of medical transcription? - mt

Speech recognition will get better, but it will never be perfect.  There is always going to be the need for someone to type the reports of the dictators that absolutely cannot be understood by the SR software.  But that means that the only thing left to be transcribed will be the garbage.  I can't imagine 8 hours a day of nothing but garbage dictation every single working day for the rest of my career for what they're paying us.




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WILL NEVER BE OBSOLETE
OP: I am sorry your question has caused such a stir, as you can see, people are very passionate about this profession. I have been in the field for a little over 20 years and can't see doing anything else. I am NOT CMT and probably never will be. I don't think it matters as far as the pay scale. But the other post is very proud to be CMT and we should respect that. I envy the ladies who have taken the time and money to be certified, I think it is great. It is just not for me. I get good jobs without it. As far as VR putting us out of business? Not possible. There are still docs who dictate to tapes, there will always be docs who want to do it the old fashioned way. I wouldn't worry about it not being around. They said that about us 10 years ago, and we are all still here. I would say stick with it, the more you sharpen your skills and improve your creaft, you will be proud, just like our other posts. Hope this helps.
WE WILL NEVER BE OBSOLETE
OP: I am sorry your question has caused such a stir, as you can see, people are very passionate about this profession. I have been in the field for a little over 20 years and can't see doing anything else. I am NOT CMT and probably never will be. I don't think it matters as far as the pay scale. But the other post is very proud to be CMT and we should respect that. I envy the ladies who have taken the time and money to be certified, I think it is great. It is just not for me. I get good jobs without it. As far as VR putting us out of business? Not possible. There are still docs who dictate to tapes, there will always be docs who want to do it the old fashioned way. I wouldn't worry about it not being around. They said that about us 10 years ago, and we are all still here. I would say stick with it, the more you sharpen your skills and improve your creaft, you will be proud, just like our other posts. Hope this helps.
1st is obsolete
x
being obsolete.......
I have been told to watch out, my career is going since I started. When and if that happens, I will move on to to the next new thing, until then I work hard and I have a good life. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Don't give in to negativity or naysayers.
Are they becoming obsolete? tia (nm)
nm
I don't think we are obsolete but (sm)
I think the major MT companies are not going to hire the real experienced folks and pay them what they are worth. I think to make the money you are going to have to get with a hospital, office or company that still does actual MT and not automated stuff. We are always going to be needed. My opinion is the money now is shifting back to the "in house" places and not the at home services. But the bottom line is the services are settling for "second rate" MTs who put out inferior work after 1 year experience and don't care.

I have been an inpatient 63 times in the last 10 years and I always get my records after a hospital stay. I can tell you the quality is horrendous. The MTSOs are treating MTs (not all of them but the majority) as robots and like the medical field itself it has all become about the "money" and not the patient.

Pharmacy technology has a lot of automated things too but the demand for pharmacy techs is high. Plus there are pharmacy techs that work in compounding pharmacies, hospital pharmacies that put together TPN and other things. That cannot be done by a robot and that is where I intend to use my skills. Also registered pharmacy techs work for the insurance companies too. I intend to find a job working for the patient not against patients. If nothing else, I have thought about putting all this together and staring my own consulting service....(just like the independent case managers that help chronically ill patients get what they need) fighting to get patient's the drugs they need and not the drugs some insurance company wants them to take because that is what cheap but not the best.

Its still possible to make a living in these fields and be satisfied with your job also but its a long road and you gotta fight!
I am becoming obsolete!

I have been a Transcriptionist for 18+ years, the last 12 for a large hospital. About a year ago, "they" changed the definition of a line so that it was much harder to make incentive. They said they had been figuring the line wrong and that they were now going with industry standards. They have never been very specific about how a line is counted, but we did go from a 70 to a 65 space line. We currently get paid hourly plus incentive. We are now waiting to hear if we are getting outsourced, with the possibility of working for that company, or if they will keep us themselves and just pay per line, and you can bet they will pay us as little as possible. I work in-house, and they no longer want to take into consideration downtime, even though we have to answer phones and troubleshoot for doctors!


I completely understand transcription is changing, largely due to voice recognition and other computer advances. If they said they were paying us less because of that, rather than trying to make us produce more for less pay, we would all appreciate the honesty rather than trying to make us look and feel bad. I am good at what I do, but I guess I am becoming obsolete!


we are definitely obsolete, and hanging on sm
by a thread. The old timers who are only hanging on for a few years will make it, but nothing for a newcomer to think of getting into. AHDI will make will make wild claims and try to intice, but it is pure BS. No money here any more, any way.
There's a shortage of US MT's because the skill is becoming obsolete

Schools don't even encourage anyone to get into this field anymore because they don't want to have someone take a course and then be out of work in a few years when this skill goes the same direction that shorthand did several decades back.


Like someone said on the Company board, education is the key.  Don't allow yourself to be a one-trick pony and learn how to do something else while you can.


Updates keep the money rolling in for useless info that becomes obsolete.
This is the stupidest con I have ever heard of on MT world.
Horse & buggy obsolete, would love to have saved them - gone and can't fight it!
...
I would have been a hooker at Bunny Ranch (they make $1200/hr). My equipment is obsolete now

common sense dictates you read the writing on the wall. technology has made you obsolete.
and the government has seen to it that american workers are no longer necessary and allows business to outsource many middle income jobs. 
Totally Special, totally HOT! NM
z
You are totally right.
You are totally right. It would be nice to be paid hourly for what we are worth but that probably will not happen but it is the Transcriptionist first priority in my eyes to make sure the report is accurate before how much they produce in one particular hour. I would never just put anything because I did not know just because I wanted to make more money that hour that is why it takes experience in this business to make any real income. I know when I started out, I made more money babysitting than I did transcribing but as you gain experience there is less and less you have to look up and then you begin to make a real income.
I totally
Some people just don't know how to leave well enough alone.
This is totally different than having
Many prisons have work release however, they would NEVER allow an inmate to handle the US mail. Sheesh!
totally....

I have been at this only two months and am bored already - its the isolation and the repetitive work I have.  I have a clinic account with a small learning curve, so now my blanks are for the most part garbled words or medications that are unrelated to the specialty area.  I'm still building up speed of course, but now getting distracted/bored/daydreaming is slowing me down.  I count my blessings that the work is not that difficult but its a trade off.


I KWYM about short vs. long. I usually have 1-2min reports and that keeps me going but when I get a 7 minute one, especially if it is the person who talks very softly, pop goes the Diet Coke can!


I thought I would like working alone at home but now realize that I like to be around people.  Funny the things you learn about yourself that fly in the face of what you think you are like. 


I think I would be able to do better in house, but what I really want is contact with other human beings and a little more variety in my duties.


Empathizing right there with you.


The first one I get totally
My BF of one year does that. He does things that he knows irritates me because I have told him and then wonders why I get so upset with him. He might pinch me and I say stop about 5 times and it continues and I get totally ticked by then. Then he wonders why I am so angry all the time. Well DUH!
Totally
My worst experiences have been with Mom and Pops MT services...
Not sure totally following? sm

Just in case I'm not understanding, but seems okay to say ALL MTs; probably programmed so they can hit one key and it automatically goes to all MTs entered in this particular email function.  Just like they have a feature where when on vacation you can have email sent "i'm on vaction, will return such and such time.


Using own email, I think we all do?? At least thought so.


 


 


totally
would like to know too!
i totally
understand where you are coming from but I also understand their point. They have burnout!
Totally
I totally agree with Kyrie
it totally seems like they try!
like they know i'm in here (trying to be) working and they rev up the leafblowers on purpose! i think they might have heard me yell SHUT UP GO AWAY!!! one day
We Must Have Totally -
See, I don't equate "great pay" to "great company." I've made more money at other jobs yet been completely miserable for one reason or another. I've found that I would much rather make a litle less and actually enjoy what I'm doing. While I do consider salary when accepting a position (obviously, otherwise I'd be a total moron), I put a little more weight on benefits, flexibility, communication, my level of interest, and other areas rather than excusively on salary.

I never look on it as a threat to anyone's job security, mine or my colleagues, if I praise an employer and suggest someone apply there. I figure if that person can get past the resume and interview process and ultimately land a job, it's up to me to be at the top of my game to ensure my job security. I expect my colleagues to all be at the top of their games as well.

I am, however, one of those annoying people who politely declines to give any of my friends a job reference unless I know first-hand that they're 110% qualified for the position and share my work ethic and dedication. I'm always fearful of recommending someone and that person, no matter how much I may think of them on a personal level, turns out to be a professional disappointment, then my credibility would be questioned in the eyes of my employer. I guess I'm just as paranoid in this particular area as you are in the area of sharing OP reports or the name of your employer.

That's what keeps life interesting, all of us having different attitudes, perspectives and expectations.

Thanks for the conversation...I always enjoy seeing different viewpoints.

I use ones that go totally over the ear - sm
I cannot stand anything else, and as I have the hearing of an owl I can hear just fine what is going on around me, obviously muted somewhat, but this way I can hear my doctors just fine. I use Maxell NC-II, about $30 at Wal-mart or on-line. First pair lasted a couple years, my next only about 6 months, on my 3rd set now. Very comfy though, though get ear zits now (4-6 a year) and then, guess from the sweat, etc. of having them on a lot, that part sucks.
I totally agree
This is a 10-year-old girl, not a mass murderer. She is in a lot of pain, having suffered a most significant loss, and is trying to reach out, not always in positive ways, but the flowers are wonderful. Where they came from does not matter. PLEASE do not read anything nefarious into her actions.

She needs help, and smiles, and maybe a hug when she is ready.

Fear is a terrible thing, particularly when it turns normally rational folks into masses of paranoid jelly. I despise that we have come to this.
I agree with you totally, thank you!

Not when I'm totally concentrating....sm
But if I get to the end of a report and realize my mind has been wandering, I'll go back and read the report.  It's usually fine, which makes me realize that after 30 years it's rote.  But I wouldn't take a chance.
You are totally freaking me out.
Same name, same lettuce, same wine, same seafood for dinner.  Are we living in a parallel universe, or are you stalking me?  Don't tell me, you grew the lettuce in your garden yourself?
I totally agree with you..
I have been editing work that would just BLOW YOUR MIND. On top of mispelled and misused words, we have bad grammar and punctuation and then typing something different than what the doctor says and if you read it, it doesn't make sense. For example, I cam across this yesterday, "which was done when he was very-very young apparently a ditch is inspected." He actually said "which was done when he was very, very young. Apparently, it did get infected." I come across contractions, etc. This gal actually argued that her scores are always 98%. There were so many redlines on her work, I might as well have scrapped it and typed it myself. I don't know if this is due to schools or not, but when I was a newbie, I don't remember making that bad of mistakes!!!
Thank you, I agree totally
Get over it already.  They cheated you, are cheating  you.  You MUST like it if you stay and continue to be treated that way.  How many other MTs have had a bad job????  Trust me you guys at MQ are NOT the only ones.  There are TONS of jobs out there.  Go get one, that is what the rest of us do.  Go do it.
I so totally agree sm

I posted my resume on MT Stars a couple of years ago and, like you, I was flooded with calls.  The company I selected, I didn't even know existed.  I have been a very happy camper for 2 years, plenty of work, decent pay, great tech support, wonderful people who make you feel like "family."  Best move I ever made.


I think maybe the reason why people keep allowing themselves to be used and abused by companies with sporadic work is the known versus the fear of the unknown factor.  Believe me, the stress of starting a new job is small potatoes compared to never knowing you will have enough in your paycheck to cover the bills!


I totally agree with you!!
I have stuff come up on my screen that just blows me away. Most of it could be fixed if they just read over their work and saw that the sentences do not make sense.
VERY WELL SAID!! Totally agree with you!!
x
wow! totally speechless

OMG! I can totally relate to this.
My stepgrandfather has suddenly started pulling this crap with me.  He's an older man in his early 80s.  He's been in my life for almost 20 years.  Suddenly, he wants to hug me tightly, give me slobbery wet kisses on my mouth, and all sorts of stuff.  He nuzzled me in my ear during a bearhug and asked me if his cologne turned me on.  He's slapped me on the backside, too.  I wonder if it's not some form of dementia or confusion from alcohol or something.  It just makes me so uncomfortable to have ANY man do that to me, with the exception of my husband.  I've been avoiding him for over a year now.  I won't be alone in the same room with him.  I told my Mom and my husband about it.  Everyone just blows it off as a "harmless old man" or "he was just drunk and teasing you".  I know about boundaries and standing up for myself, but it's just really tough when other people think it's "nothing" or that I'm "overreacting".
Totally disagree

Only because I have a neighbor in her 50s, she's tall, still thin, not a wrinkle, so obviously she has kept herself up.  Its not about age, but about wearing the right clothes for the right shape.  She wears tanks, and also long form fitting dresses, very stylish and i've also seen her wear shorts.  I hope to look so good when i'm in my 50s.  Of course if she were out of shape, dying her hair the wrong shade and wore black eye liner, it would be a whole different story.  50 is supposedly the new 30.  But if you have as great of a figure as you did in your 20s as you do in 50s, show a little of it off, we don't die once we reach the age of 40! 


I TOTALLY agree with you...
What looks cute and hip on a 20-year-old just looks cheap and classless on a 50-year-old.  I'm 45, so I'm not some young thing poking fun at middle-aged women.  Older women can look very classy and actually YOUNGER if they "dress their age" and by that I don't mean mumurs and bedroom slippers or stretch pants and sack-like tops.  When I dress up I might wear a nice tailored pinstriped suit or something like that.  I do NOT go out in anything from the junior department.  There's a reason for "junior" clothing and it's not size, it's the style of fashion.  To all the women who disagree with you, I'm afraid the notion that older women look young and cute in daisy dukes, a belly shirt, and a navel piercing comes from those who dress that way " thinking" they look hot, not necessarily the opinion of others in general.
I totally agree with you. sm

We never went on vacation with our kids and left them with grandparents to come back and find out that our own lack of parenting resulted in somthing that our own kids may have been doing behind our backs all along.


Give me a break. Blame it on gramma?  How about staying home with your kid and taking a good look around to realize that he's the one that's hiding things, not your MIL.


There is obviously a lot of hatred between DIL and MIL here. 


Message for you mom, "get a grip."  This stuff doesn't all happen because their at gramma's for the week. You're obviously doing something wrong here.  Forget your "vacations." and your "rules" and be there for your kids. Teenagers LIE.  It's been going on for centuries.


You can go on "vacation" when they're all grown up and gone.  By the sounds of your message, I would say the sooner they go, the better.


THIS IS TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR!
How rude!
I agree totally.
sm
I totally agree! Thank you!
The people who are criticizing seem to think that the president can just snap his fingers and immediate help will appear. There are people all over the country who are going there to help, donating money by the thousands, etc., and nobody says anything positive about that. Nobody could have predicted a disaster such as this and it takes time to get things rolling, but it IS being done.
I totally agree
Many physicians, young and old, are not on the technology coat tails.  They have absolutely no interest in changing the way they do things.  I think that as long as using this technology does not become an across the board required mandate by some governing agency, transcriptionists will be in high demand until doomsday.
totally agree
!!
I know. It's totally pathetic already
It would be comical if it weren't so tragic.  I have never seen anyone with such low self esteem.  She has to come on here and browbeat people who aren't even complaining.  Then she wants to brag(?) that she made $200 in NINE hours????   I do feel sorry for her, but I am getting really sick of listening to her venom.
Totally agree with you
He always was respectful and nice to everyone, a good guy but when he sang, it was a different Marty. I only tuned in to see him perform and then would change the channel. He reminded me of an Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam when he sang with so much angst. Loved it!
I totally agree. sm

I used to be married to a hunter.  The whole idea felt wrong to me and I hate guns. I haven't had to deal with hunting or guns for 20 years now.


I'm sure I will get blasted by some NRA people for saying I hate guns, but oh well.


i agree totally
I have taught children who were mainstreamed in 5th grade who wanted to do extracurricular activities. Social skills are lacking. Around here, they test them and sometimes they have to be put in a lower grade. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and look within. Some behavioral problems are learned responses to what is going on at home. What is the attitude towards authority in the home? See other avenues.
Totally Agree
I would prefer to work for a little bit less money and have a wonderful boss than get paid a ton and hate my job.

I work for 7 cents per line now and I don't mind it at all. I have a wonderful boss and love my job.