I have been an MT for 9 years and I agree on most of what you say but
Posted By: there are hospitals out there that don't care e on 2006-10-23
In Reply to: I need to gripe or vent - please don't kick me off board - mfras
When placing a job ad, where do they put it? Under general or Office/clerical, not under Healthcare, Medical, or professional. If you could see some of the reports I see, you would cringe on these so-called MTs. Don't number a list, don't use references, don't look at their account specifics, just type and think they're doing great...and graduate from a school that teaches MT (and not an online/correspondence school either). Everyone is out for the almighty buck. The local hospitals here hire TYPISTS because they want to keep their expenses low.
While I take pride in what I do and in believe quality-not quantity, you have these services chasing the big bucks. You get what you pay for and that is why the MT profession has gone so far downhill. We are considered TYPISTS or CLERICAL workers, not professionals and so, we don't get paid what we're worth. It's enough to get anybody down and not give a darn anymore.
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I agree.. but, my son was 5 years old
His first time in school and he wanted to play with it at recess. We did not know it was in his backpack or obviously we would not have allowed a toy of any sort at school rather it be a gun or a doll. The reasoning behind the suspension was that other children may be frightened it was real. PLEASE!! It looks like a plastic toy.. and then the principal proceeded to grill my son "do you know what you have done etc".. He was FIVE years old. You would have thought he was in a gang and he was treated as such with the whole zero tolerance in school but in kindergarten.. I think we're under no direct threat.. Thanks for all the opinions out there. Goes to show we are all individuals with individual beliefs.
I agree - MA programs are 9 mos to 2 years
There is no licensing or regulation on who can work as a medical assistant, so one can even be hired and trained on the job, but these days, most MAs go to vocational school or a 2 yr CC program to learn the job. MAs most often work in doctor's offices.
CNAs can get trained in 6 wks. CNAs almost always work in LTC or hospitals.
The focus of training is entirely different. CNAs assist the nurses, MAs assist the docs.
PA vs MA has been well covered already so I skip it.
I have worked for BTS for nearly 3 years and agree
with everything said. The pay is direct deposit and always on time. The MT manager is an AWESOME person to work for/with. I too have had disagreements (several) with QA, but overall they are very helpful and do their best to work with you to become a better MT. And best thing is...I have NEVER run out of work.
Oh, I totally agree with 30+ years
how can you go wrong? Me with 20 years, I have been there and done that. This CMT jizzjazz just came about as far as I'm concerned. I've had a wealth of success and have my own accounts that do not require I know a book. They go on my integrity and no I'm no where near perfect, but who is? I have seen a lot and have experienced quite a bit in my years, and I'm only 37. So go figure? Wow, has this profession evolved? I basically had 3 years of transcription in high school/medical secretary, and fell into it, but gee whiz, how this has become a production oriented/dog eat dog profession!
I only IC for one company on-line along with having my own accounts, and I can say the company knows the difference between IC and employee. Yes, believe it or not, they will ask if I am available. To me, that's true IC status. I work from a pool, which is fine by me because if I get busy with other things, I know someone is keeping that client happy with that company. I only do it for the experience and thoroughly enjoy my work.
I'm glad someone else is feeling it though with regards to IC versus employee. Some will really get upset and say that the MTSO needs to cover the account and need to know when you are going to work. WRONG!!! The MTSO needs to cover the account. Period. The End. They do not need to know what your hours of operation are or how many lines can you type in an hour. 
agree...have been transcribing for over 16 years
and have never been asked if I am certified. Have never been offered more money to become certified either.
I couldn't agree more. Lost my mom 13 years ago sm
this coming August. I miss her the most on Mother's Day.
agree - haven't had a car payment in years
paid $6000 cash for a 93 Volvo wagon back in 2002. Too many people think they need a new (or pricey) vehicle and really have better things to do with their $400-600 per mo. Every time I look into getting something new or simply newer, I decide that I neither want to take that much money out of savings, nor do I want to have such an outrageous car payment. I would totally prefer a brand new car, but it seems like such a waste of money.
Ouch. I happen to agree with her. 15 years sm
here - and I would not recommend this field to anyone. She asked for opinions and we gave ours - we did not "make" our problems anybody else's.
With 33 years' experience, I agree. It doesn't sm
get any easier, because there is a constant influx of ESLs into this country who can barely make themselves understood. If you want to translate, yes, translate, and transcribe pidgeon English
day in and day out, make less and less money as the years go by, then this is the career for you.
I used to love what I do. It used to be rewarding. Now I feel like I'm following behind elephants with a shovel.
I agree, easier but I worked on production years ago
as I think the original poster Patti also did and I was, shall we say threatened 1 time for being cutoff from production and having to do paper work because of the fact I out typed the other transcriptionists there- it can be done, I have done it working on production, now is more simple time and I also like using goggle, etc. When working like that years ago I never took the time to read over each report- waste of time- do not do that now. I have been in the situation 2 times in my career of being told how much I make, etc and most did not like. One hospital I worked for in the 80s only had 2 transcriptions for the entire 300+ bed- we never used outside work, kept things up and yet told look what we make! I see lots of people who only do this job so they can stay at home. I stand by my original posting.
I agree. It's an impossibility for me even with years of experience AND good dictators. nm
m
Agree with poster... it takes 2-3 years from graduating from a program sm
to start to make any decent wage. I personally love this job. Where else can you get a job that requires no college degree that you can make 40,000-50,000 per year???
I agree with Misty, after doing rescue work with cats for over 20 years, they do adjust and become v
x
Agree, agree, agree! Just listen to Benny Hinn..
he speaks perfect English, especially when asking for money! Also, in my opinion, blanks should be left in the doc's dictation if not able to be transcribed, maybe then they will know that are NOT understood. With QA fixing them, what need is there for them to care if we understand them or not?
58, AHP/self-taught, trained at hospital 5 years, now with 2 of my own accounts for 10 years, employ
Also worn out 2 keyboards in 4 years. I will never retire. DH will come home some day from work and I'll be slumped over my keyboard. I put in 14 hours a day 7 days a week.
Pack years = packs smoked per day x years of smoking - sm
25 pack-years = 25 years of 1 pack a day, or 12-1/2 years of 2 packs a day.
I don't think pack-years applies to someone who smokes only cigars. But I don't know for sure.
I worked for Cbay for 3 years. I was also part of their lay off back many years ago. sm
Even though I got stuck in a lay off era, I still love the company. They paid well then. The people were nice (exception of 1 person) and if I had the opportunity I would go back again. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depending on how u look at it), I have a great paying job right now, so I am not looking for a change. I do know that at one time, they asked management to accept late paychecks, but never sure of the reason why. My check was never late.
I know it used to be 5-10 years back, but the laws changed within the last 2 years. They can only g
x
6 years legal then switched to medical 17+ years ago. sm
I don't mind doing legal and will do it now from time to time, but be prepared to be totally bored out of your mind.
At least that's the way I feel. I love to transcribe, learned legal in college, went on to get my paralegal degree, etc., etc., but I did temp work when the kids were younger, which was about 90% medical and I would never go back to legal except for once in a while.
Booooooring.
Only 3 years away from reaching total years for retirement
but if I had to do this and raise a family, would feel exactly like you do. The pay is terrible compared to what I used to make. I work 32 hours a week, hope to be able to continue even after full retirement age. I have worked on VR now and unless places get to where they really do not care about how their reports look, think they will need MTs. I very seldom do a report and it is 100%, just cannot remember 1 like that and most take a lot more editing. Working now because want to, not have to anymore, thank goodness!!
I dumped my ex 20 years ago, but got lucky 13 years ago
It would take me all night and pages and pages to describe what a bad person my ex-husband was. After six years of putting up with his OCD, verbal abuse and alcohol, I left him the house, took the kids (5 and 1) and didn't look back. That was 20 years ago.
I wasn't looking to get married again, but I did. After 13 years I only complain when hubby doesn't see things my way. :)
My older kids, who were 5 and 1 when I left, are married and have kids of their own now. My husband gets the Father's Day cards. Their "real" father sits alone in the perfect little house I left behind and let him have and he drinks himself into oblivion every night because nobody is "perfect" enough, including his kids and his grandkids that he never sees.
Sad, but true. So glad I smartened up and got out of there when I did.
We have been supporting other countries for years and years now.
What is the big deal. Look at your clothes, cars, items in your house. You will see mostly China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan etc., etc. We have not supported our own people like we should have for years now!!!!
Only 2 in 13 years for me. First Edix for 8 and now Webmedx for nearly 5 years. nm
.
When I trained, back years and years ago
We did not have spell checking nor the internet (Google for instantaneous help). OMG, how did we do it? We used Correcting Selectrics with the lift-off tape to correct errors- you only had dictionaries, both English and medical, to look up things so yes we did have to learn to spell all those big longgggggggggg words.
MT: 24 years. Same company: 11 years same co. after buyout.
x
Grammar Question: 9 years' ago or 9 years ago? *sm*
 I have a terrible time trying to remember this rule! HELP!
Worked inhouse for years and years
Inhouse transcription from 1973 to approximately 1992 and we had no downtime for answering the phones and when the physicians came into the room (or others) needing some assistance, just part of the job. I did not feel bad about doing it then and I dont see why you would either. You don’t realize that probably you are making right now more than if you are outsourced, right? You have hourly salary plus incentive. Guess how many of us have that now? Probably inevitable about outsourcing so I would say just enjoy while you can. The pay our here now sinks further and further. I make, for instance, 4 cents a line for voice recognition and 8 for straight. Now, more complaining?
19 years old...married 26 years. nm
n
they've been doing this for years and years (nm)
IMHO
People have been saying that for years and years - SM
however, I am working fewer hours and making more money. I think maybe the answer here is working as an IC for a one-owner company. MTSO was an MT for many years and she knows the secret to making lots of $ is putting your MTs doing what they do best and leaving them alone.
I don't think it is the "national" part of services that hurts. I think the low wages can be gauged by the number of suits in the company. More suits = less $.
And why pay QA? Just hire people experienced/good enough to do the work correctly the first time.
I have been doing Radiology only the last two years after several years (sm)
of acute care. I love it and find it easier although not as interesting as acute care. I was told by those who hired me that a good medical Transcriptionist will be able to do Radiology even with no experience in it. There are some specialized terms but easy to learn. I would never go back to acute care unless there were very good dictators and good sound quality.
30 (!) years; OTJ (don't think there were schools 30 years ago) nm
:)
Years ago it was 7 years. Not certain as to status now.
10 years here, too, and making 8.4....same as i was 5 years ago. nm
f
Shame on me.. Am I the only one with 4+ in 2 years, but with my last one 2 years.
Lots of little "stints" in between, just trying to keep my head above water.
24 years MT, 7.5 years with the same hospital nm.
x
22 years, same company 10 years nm
nm
32 years, longest was 28 years at same co. (nm)
*
28 years, 9 years at 1 hospital..sm
9 years at one hospital, 8 years with 2 services, then went out on my own (11 years ago) and got a bunch of surgeons and I moonlight on weekends for a national (9 years with national).
If I knew what I know today, with how the MT business has gone down $$-wise for us over 20+ years, if I had my druthers and could start over again, I would have stayed with CODING/BILLING instead of MT work (though I love MT work) as billing/coding is still lucrative in this country....
just my 3 cents 
32 years, 18 years at hospital...
7 at Medquist, 7 at Spheris. Starting at Transtech Medical tomorrow.
Do you need to have 2 years full time experience or just 2 years' experience? nm
..
49 years old/self taught/daughter 20 years old/self taught. I'm a CMT, and daughter is studying t
take the test soon.
I know I'm old - 30+ years as well
but I do remember specifically being told "double". Maybe there is something to the reason being that they used to "talk good."
I'm going on 35 years of doing this
and I try to keep my goals realistic dealing with rheumatoid arthritis, etc. I don't like to see a minimum of 200 lines/hour; occasionally can reach nearly 300 lph but depends on the dictators. Seems the account I do now mostly has dictators from India, the ones I dislike the most. I love Russians, Japanese, Germans, French, etc., etc., but for some reason I find the Indian accent very difficult!!!!
I, like you, do not use expanders or "normals" etc., mostly because I'm from the old school and I type every word. I'm sure if I used some of the crutches I could easily reach 275 to 350 lines/hour, maybe more who knows! I keep telling myself one day I'll relearn how to do all that but right now, I don't care....when the time is right I'll know. Mainly I just keep trying not to stress myself out too much. I've put in my time and paid my dues and do a great job. I'm not a young chick anymore and don't expct myself to produce these huge line counts, but believe me, I know I could if that was my wish!!! Don't worry.....Be happy!
My Dad is gone now 10 years....
The last present he brought for me was an anniversary clock which I placed on my fireplace mantel in the center....Well that's Dad's spot because whenever I move that clock to any other spot it stops working, but the moment I place it in "the spot" it works immediately. My youngest daughter was almost 2 when my Dad died. After his death she would wake up and tell me "Grandpop was here last night"....I know my Dad comes around many times.
18 years.
nm
As an MT for 25+ years
I wouldn't recommend this profession in this day of voice recognition being on the horizon. Most of us who are doing MT are 40+ years old and there's a reason for that. Most community colleges and junior colleges no longer teach this skill. There's a reason for that. It's soon to be a thing of the past, whether one chooses to accept that fact or not, it is.
Second, this is a great job for awhile. But if you notice that over time people start to get nutzo when they've been out of social circulation too long and start to get a mean, angry edge to them. This is not a healthy way to live, sitting by yourself all day with no contact with the outside world except over the anonymous internet.
This is a great part-time job if you want or need to earn some extra income, but if you're thinking of going to school and have the time and means to do so, I suggest earning a bachelor's degree, which will open your options to many, many different possibilities rather than winding up limiting yourself to being a one-trick pony in a dying field.
I'm leaving this field within the next week - hopefully forever. I have accepted a position that's totally unrelated to MT and want to start building a resume in a profession that has a future. I've also completed my bachelor's degree, at age 48.
I'm not going to paint myself into a corner and wonder what hit me five years from now when this profession no longer exists. I respectfully suggest that you take that into consideration as well.
Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do, but so allow yourself as many options as you can and don't lose touch with the outside world.
I was a MT for 15 years before going....sm
into a supervisory role. My current day consists of such things as:
Teaching new physicians at hospitals/clinics how to dictate and the information we need to provide a complete medical record for them.
Keeping up with information to assist clients and employees with current 5 different platforms as well as staying aware of changes these platforms foresee coming in the future. Yes, I'm always learning new things.
Answer questions about various accounts that arise. Some of these answers are by the MTs who don't look at the written information we give them on an account but the majority of the questions are "one time" incident items for an account.
Answer questions about turn around times, process stat requests, vacation requests, schedule changes, questions about bills and all sorts of other things during the day from clients as well as employees.
Answer inquiries and provide insight to senior management about things going on with a current client, which of course means I'm talking to the current clients frequently to ensure there aren't any problems not being resolved as well as looking for future additional business with the client.
I also transcribe when needed, usually averaging transcribing between 1000-5000 lines a month while filling in for the accounts having peaks or MTs out for various reasons (including, like Dano said, the one whose grandmother has died 6 times.). I currently have 1 employee who has I presume about 8 grandmothers in nursing homes on feeding tubes in 8 different states and of course all of these grandmothers happen to develop "potentially life-ending" medical crises 1-2 days before a holiday. I do "wonder" how this employee is going to handle it when all 8 of these grandmothers do die if they die at the same time!
I do love what I do, even when I get a phone call from a hospital waking me at 2:30 a.m. stating that the entire hospital computer system is down for maintenance and they forgot to tell me it was scheduled previously and that is why our transcriptionists can't get in to work).
About 20 years
Used to raise a lot of animals but not many anymore, kind of winding down, ya know? I used to organize an annual rare breed animal and pet expo in Tennessee. Most animal people are just really nice folks and it's a pleasure just chatting with them. I have a lot to say about the posts regarding animal cruelty and PETA but that appears to be a good conversation to stay out of.
I did for years and so did DH
I was a foot carrier, my brother was a foot carrier, and DH he was a motor carrier and route manager. (In fact, that's how we met.) He also delivered for another paper later on as a motor route. I actually do miss the smell of newsprint and the route. I'd do it again except we live in a very rural area now.
Ten years ago....
you could make good money working at home as an IC for a service. I made a bundle working part-time with 3 little kids. Then they just slowly and incrementally (it's still going on I gather) stripped you of more and more money. I bet I would make less than half of what I used to make had I kept working for the national. I am now making over 30,000 a year working less than 40 hrs a week, but I am home based for a local hospital. I am a regular employee, have full benefits, paid time off, 403b plan, retirement plan, the whole thing. No, I don't have the same flexibility as I work a set shift, but at least I feel good about what I do and feel that I am fairly compensated and actually receive a raise every year. I hope the pendulum swings back to more hospitals having their own department and they get away from trying to save a buck using a national service.
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