I have a sinking feeling that the work to type will be unintelligible
Posted By: and editing pay intolerable on 2005-10-03
In Reply to:
so I probably won't be staying.
Will see what they will put into writing. They don't ever seem to find the ink to do that. And with cut after cut and twists and turns I can't afford any more assling around. I need to make a living.
But I have a feeling that the only dictation we will find is the terrible guys and the editing they have already said will be reduced 20% or something to that effect.
Well, I'm not ready to do a steady diet of pulling my hair out over some creep, and I'm not sure I can live on any more reduction in pay.
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If you are really feeling like this is hard work...sm
then maybe you are one of the many transcriptionists out there who are working HARD and not SMART. If you are SMART you will learn how to use your skills to acheive the MAXIMUM payoff.
The majority of Transcriptionist I have met really do not KNOW how to increase their line counts, how to be INDEPENDENT, how to SELL their services, etc. Instead, they are CONTENT making under 30,000 . You have to be SMART in this business and quit SELLING yourself SHORT. Learn everything you can about BEING THE BEST in your profession. The work is OUT there!!!!!!!! You need to seek it and turn down the CRAP that doesn't make $$$$. I am only a 5 year MT and last year I made close to 52,000 after taxes. Get motivated and get moving. The work is there!!!!
Sm..I have a feeling you will have a problem wherever you work. (NM)
x
Feeling too guilty to work after son breaks down.
My son is 9 years old and I love him very much. The very reason I started doing transcription was to be home with him. Where we live we have no family nearby so it is just me, my husband and my son. I recently lost the account I had been on for 6 years and was moved to a new account that is 3 times bigger with 3 times more doctors and all new way of doing transcription. Needless to say, this has slowed me down work wise a lot. I am slowly learning the new account but now I just don't have the get up and go to work. My son just broke down in tears before going to bed, telling me he feels like all I do is work anymore and don't have time for him. The sad part is that I feel the same way but I am having to work more hours to keep full time on new account. I love my son more than anything. He is my life. I really need to find a better balance between work and home but this seems impossible. All I can do now is sit and cry myself, knowing my son feels this sad and upset. If anyone has had similar situation and has any advice, I'll take it.
Had a feeling it was low, my work has slowed way down, just starting looking around.. nm
xx
Industry pay is sinking.
With 9 years experience, I was offered 5cpl for straight typing. Nuts if you ask me. Yet the company filled the positions with that pay.
Sinking boat together?
Speak for yourself because I have finally reached the point, thank goodness, that if transcription stopped dead in its tracks tomorrow I would be getting in more a month then than what I am actually making now at my job. Leaving to me is an option now whereas in the past I could not say that.
nm would you mind if I asked where you work and what type of work hosp, clinic ?
x
Transcription... sinking ship?
Is it just me or does it seem like every hospital everywhere is outsourcing their transcription??? Has anybody in the transcription field changed careers or have thought about changing careers??? I am thinking about going to college for x-ray tech if my hospital gets outsourced. I was going to go to another hospital, but I am scared of being outsourced yet once again. Can I get you guys thoughts on this??? Is anybody else feeling down and out about this field for a career??? I hate I am having these dreary thoughts, but it is just disheartening to me to see how this is affecting alot of people.
Staying on board a sinking ship
I worked at a different company in an unrelated field where all the employees were required (not requested) to take a 15% pay cut and receive stock options in return. I left. Others chose to stay with the company and told me I was crazy to leave; I would "never" earn as much money elsewhere. I thought they were crazy to stay and said so. The older employees said they had to stay or lose their pension. Well, the company went under anyway, the stock was (of course) worthless, and the pension fund had long since been looted by the major shareholders. Staying on board a sinking ship of a job may be more comfortable but not in your overall best economic interests.
Staying on board a sinking ship..maybe
I forgot to add that if you are making top pay at that company and the 1 cent per line pay cut is still better than you would earn elsewhere, it may well be in your best interests to stay on board that ship patching and bailing (grin) but still being mindful that the ship may go under suddenly.
New Orleans not only below sea level but sinking 1 more inch a year.
nm
I don't know where all that type work is..
and its not that I don't know medical transcription, I've been doing this for 30 years and I am certified.. so that's not the problem.. it's the bad platforms and the "clerical" duties like looking up these doctors! I hear your frustration and mine too! I KNOW there is good stuff out there, but why can't I get it??
every work type has a different TAT by
H&P 24 hours
Consults 24 hours
Ops 24 hours
DS 48 hours
from the time of the event occurred. 24 hours from time of admit. 24 hours from time of consult. etc. (unless JC has changed those guides) Some hospitals want a quicker TAT by the MTSO for patient care or billing reasons.
Many preop H&Ps are needed stat because the anesthesiologist will not administer anesthesia until they review it.
Does not matter whether or not it is placed in the chart, as long as the document itself - whether on paper or in EMR - is completed by the time guide. It has been this way by Joint Commission standards for at least 15 years (that I know of). JC will put a random number of charts and look at the date/time stamp on the document to determine compliance. They have no way to gauge whether or not the document was in the chart as soon as it was transcribed or a week later.
This is where many hospitals lose points, but in the scheme of things, these points are minor.
I was once asked my the MR director of the hospital where I worked to go back in time and change dictated/transcribed dates and print new documents to place in the chart on the eve of an audit. I showed her how to do a global replace for dates in WP 5.1, reminded her she would need to get signatures on them before the next morning, then clocked out and went home. Whether or not she did it, I never asked. I don't believe she did it after the reality of not getting signatures hit her. She hinted at my being fired for not doing it, but I was not going to alter legal documents. Nothing was ever said again about it.
So is this the type of work you do?
Beause that's very helpful to know if you're doing nonmedical, two-person audio recording transcription. I have nothing to compare this to since I've never looked into it before. If it turned out I could do the work and liked it, I could ask for more money, or apply at other companies that do this kind of work.
Anyone work for Freedom Type sm
Do they have SE and employee status or just employee? TIA!
 
work type/TransTech
Don't be afraid to email QA and ask for help. I work for TT, too, and our QA Dept. is top notch. 
Most productive work type?
What is the most productive work type? Radiology, OP, etc? Which one can you really make the money on?
Bebo
getting the wrong work type
I work for an MT service and do discharge summaries per my request. My production is quite good when I work on this work type. However, quite often I end up transcribing an OP note here and there. This really slows me down and affects my line count. I realize that it probably happens because the doc keys it in wrong. Or it could be that when they are out of summaries, my 2nd work type is OPs. I am really out of practice with OP notes and just getting one here and there throws me for a loop. Any advice on how to handle this? TIA
I would type it and be thankful I have work.
Eventually you will get good at it. It takes practice. If you start complaining, they may just send you less work.
It is different for every MT. My favorite work type is....sm
operative reports, other MTs hate them. It depends on what catches your interest. I dislike H&Ps. In general, the most difficult work types are the BIG 4, H&Ps, consultations, discharge summaries and operative reports, or "acute care".
It may depend on the type of work?
If it is extremely easy dictation, i.e. clinic notes, than it may be worth our while as MTs with years of experience. I have almost 20 years experience but I'm making 7 cents for extremely easy work. Just a thought...
Will they let you do a work type at a time?
Or maybe a couple of the specialties at a time?
depends on type of work
Recent experience shows that working for a service with radiology accounts pays anywhere from $1.25 to $2.25 or so for a page or report (depends on how computer program / system counts a page) with diagnostic x-ray being short and quick and longer MRI/CT reports paying more. I've heard of psych reports - IMEs which are longer with very dense line count per page - being paid higher page rates but many years since I have done this work, no idea of average $ amount now.
That depends on the type of work
I'm in the same boat. I like doing this type of work, -sm
and the solitude. Don't know what else would interest me at this point, and I'm close to 59. I DETEST school, too. So something would have to be really interesting and motivating for me to work a full day, then get in the car and drive at night in the rain to a campus somewhere to take classes. And what I REALLY hate about school is all the prerequisite classes. Like the time I wanted to brush up on my computer skills, and before I could take that class or the labs, I had to sit through an entire 20-week semester of "The History of Word Processing". Boring, boring, boring!
I don't want to be a nurse, and I'm leery of getting into something like coding, which will probably become much like MT, if it isn't already, in terms of low pay and offshoring.
I'm not a front-office 'people person'. I despise ringing telephones, and hate answering them even more. I'm lousy at math, and that cancels out things such as accounting, and things I've always found interesting, such as physics, astronomy and geology. I like where I live and don't want to move, yet there's no on-site MT work anywhere around here. The closest job available right now that I'd consider taking would mean a commute that would eat up all the extra money I'd make, not to mention 2 hours of my time in each direction. Nope, not gonna subject myself to that torture.
I'm good at embroidery, but it's a slow, tedious process, and although it would make a nice sideline, there aren't enough hours in the day to squeeze something like that in.
Cooking? Forget it. I can make grilled-cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs and cookies - that's pretty much my full culinary repertoire!
If I wanted to go back to school for a LONG time, I could probably get into management, and I have the problem-solving skills, but then there's that people-thing again. I just don't have people-skills, or even the desire to learn them. So that pretty much rules out SALES, as well. Real estate interests me somewhat, but not dealing with the people looking to buy. Plus the market is in a nosedive right now, anyway.
So, although I carefully study every community college brochure that gets sent to me, I haven't yet found anything that would be worth the torture of sitting in a classroom again!
Silent Type is not a bad company to work for but
Depending on how many pages you type determines what your page rate is and everyone gets paid the same because of it. Obviously, like with any other company the more you produce, the more money you will make. Bi-annual bonuses, again based on your production. Starts at 40 page per day min (which is supposed to be 1000 lines) is $1.50. I think it does to 1.80 per page somewhere around 80 pages per day.
Not sure about the benefits (health insurance). You get paid every other week. Not a very large company, maybe 400 or less TLs.
If you like working for a friendly, family atmosphere, check it out.
Trouble with work type change
I need some help with my Transtech Extext program. Having trouble getting a new work type selected and sound.
I type radiology, but have done some clinic work
I briefly tried acute care, but felt that was a little too hard to do working from home. I have done some clinic work, which worked out fine. The hardest part of that was learning lab values, specific tests, etc. I feel your pain, as it is very difficult to transition. I've done cardiology, internal medicine, and nephrology clinic notes and have done well with them. Things like wound care can get a little tricky because of all of the terminology with bandages, sutures, etc. My advice would be to get some reference books and maybe try to find a part time job, where your livelihood would not depend on the account, and give it a try! With this job, you won't know if you can do it until you try! I know it's hard with the national companies. They don't like to take time to help you learn. I learned my clinic stuff from local doctor's offices, where they gave me sample reports and I could take as much time as I needed to look stuff up. I wish you luck!
Unless there's another work type to choose with Ctrl/W, I
s
Opinions please, which work type equals $$$?
Who is making the most average rate per hour? Radiology MT's, ER/Clinic MT's or Basic 4 MT's (DS, OPS, CONS, H&P).
Thanks!
How do you find a balance in this type of work...
with family, friends, hobbies, etc and still have time to type! Is it possible, if so, how?
Email from an Indian asking to type my work!
I received the following email today and I am not sure what to do with it. Should I report this to someone? I would give my work to someone in the US before someone overseas! gesh!
Here is the email below:
"Hi, i am monank from india, i have 6years of expirence i can help you to increase the line count, you can send me little bit of workevery day i will do that for you,you can pay me 5 cents per line & rest of the moeny will be your profit, in this way you can make more money."
These docs think a machine can type their work, sm
So why should we bother to clean it up? They want the cheapest transcription possible, they deserve it, and yes, years ago we WERE expected to know everything. Now they think a machine or anyone can transcribe their work. The doctors deserve it.
Does satellite internet work to type into Meditech?
I can't get cable or DSL, and wonder if satellite will work.
Does Flash Type work in CScribe or ExpresScribe?
could it be used in the MTtest windows? That would be great.
So what do you do to keep motivated to type during the work day? Sometimes I find it so hard to...
stay focused. When you're working at home it is soooo easy to turn on the TV, take frequent breaks to answer the phone, talk to hubbie, play with the kids, take a hot bath, play solitaire on the PC, surf the net, post on a message board, etc.
I just wondered if anyone had any miracle cure for the wandering mind?
Do all companies now use a full template for each work type? (sm)
What I mean by this is: Is it becoming the norm for the company to fill in every single heading that might possibly be dictated by the physician and use that as the template for the report? I have typed for two different companies that do this and I find it very, very cumbersome. In one company I was told to modify each heading and delete those not used. In the other company we were to leave the templates as is and just fill in the appropriate information where it is supposed to go. This can be extremely time consuming as the docs don't always dictate in the same order as the company-supplied headings. Nor do they dictate the same way in all cases. As an example - Company supplies heading - family member history. Doctor dictates - family history. In one company we take out the word medical. I feel this eats up line counts because we spend more time jumping up and down looking for these headings and then modifying them when it would just be quicker to type them. I'm wondering if this is just another way to cut down on the MT's pay because most of us have all these headers as expansions anyway. Any thoughts?
We have a separate work type for Short Stay
Usually the summary looks almost like a DS, but sometimes they start out like an H&P, where they appear to be dictating a combination H&P and DS.
would you mind sharing how to get started with this type of work
typing insurance claims? Thanks
1000 to 1700, depending on work type
on the slow days, its usually because I cannot get myself motivated! I think it really depends on the work type as well and the doc. If you are straining to listen hard to every word and have no idea what he is talking about, then you aren't going to make a good line count and if you have those kinds of reports throughout the entire shift, well, there you go.
I type a lot of letters, would Dragon 10 Preferred be something that would work well?
Does anyone know if the Dragon 10 Preferred would work for just typing letters? I was thinking of investing in that product but worry that it may be a complete waste. Anyone hear or experience this particular product?
the work first goes to the supervisors (if they have to type too) and they pick the best. Then filt
If I work during the day I get junk dictation, if I get on later or after midnight the work is normal. These people you call "leads" have to type too and are at an advantage to get the best dictation. I guess they feel this is a bennie. They can't see our face so what do they care, we are like a number in Auschitz to them.
I think you would have to charge an hourly rate for this type of work.
I seriously doubt that type of work is as complex as medical reports.
nm
Is Keystrokes a good company for any work type other than radiology? sm
I have seen really good reports on this board (and others) about Keystrokes being the place to be for radiology but have really not seen much discussion regarding other work types. I am primarily interested in op notes as I understand they will only hire if you have spent the last several years in a particular work type and ops are it for me. I wonder about their platform, pay scale, flexibility, whether or not weekend work is required, etc. I have left my email address in case anyone would like to privately email me. I would really appreciate some input. Thank you.
Is it your shift or work type that makes your job unique? Autopsies maybe? nm
s
Generally 200 lph, but depends on work type, I can do more with OP notes, has to do with motivation
I hate HP, consults, and DS, but that is the majority of what I do. I always, always do better with OP notes.
Oh and don't you love the "WOW, you work from home?? HEY! I can type - hook me up!" sm
That burns my hiney more than anything else. Working from home is NOT a piece of cake. I can relate to those who think since we work from home we can just get up anytime. I don't know how many times I have tried to explain that if I were working in a "traditional" office, that they wouldn't just walk in, call, etc. etc. but I don't think anybody will ever really get that our time is money, literally.
RE: I used to work for Freedom Type - VERY nice people - didn't do VR, just straight typing (nm)
\
I work for an agency, type for a major hospital - no hourly wage - just production. nm
x
Acute care work is operative reports, consultations, H&Ps, emergency room, DS basically the type of
dictation found in a hospital setting as opposed to a clinic setting in which you just type office notes and minor procedures.
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