I proof as I go. I didn't when I first started umpteen years ago. nm
Posted By: PAIG on 2006-05-30
In Reply to: POLL - Do you proof as you go or proof when finished? sm - AzMT
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Been doing this 20 plus years and still proof after
always catch a typo or two and am glad I took the time to proof. Just can't seem to catch them all when I proof during transcription.
Yep, I had to work today, didn't get dinner started until 1:30
So just got done with dinner at 5 pm!! But just thankful to have a job at home where I got to spend the day with my daughter, rather than if I would have had to go out to work today, like some people did! Maybe someday I will get the holiday off, but this is second best!
Okay, call me weird, when I started I didn't feel...sm
that way. I read about becoming in an MT and I read all 3 books then available on the subject. I found the names of only 2 schools, HPI and At-Home Professions. I found out all I could about them both before making a decision. I didn't go in ill-informed. HPI said right up front that at least 60% of the people who take their course can't do the job, or find it too difficult. My thoughts? It wasn't the program because the advice from those books about a training course was what HPI offered. I felt that what I put into my training would pay off in my successful career. I over studied. I didn't fudge on anything. I wrote out every term 3 times to memorize the spelling (I was a horrid speller then, top notch today). I WORKED for it.
I think that is why I had a good career going pretty fast and by 3 yrs I could make full time money on full time hours. I did a fair amount of job switching and not always for more money, but rather for the experience of the work. I had a plan. I had a goal. That goal was to transcribe OP notes full time. It took about 7 or 8 yrs, but I ACHIEVED IT!
So, after the way I approached this, I make it very clear that it is hard work, that the pay on the face of it isn't great, but hard work and continuous learning will get you there in time.
I didn't assume since that post was on there before I started my shift at noon
...........and this post for help was posted only a couple of hours ago. I couldn't imagine leaving a note up for that long.
But, you are right, ya never know. :)
When they first started 8 years ago they were bad.
They have improved with time, experience and consistent feedback.
It bothers me too, but I faced the fact some time ago that the situation is not going to change.
Some of our clients don't know it either. Others specifically request it(lower pricing). Sad, but true.
37 years. started when i was 15. nmx
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That's how I started out 30 years ago, too. - sm
Biggest career mistake of my life. My friend went to court-reporting school - tried to talk me into it but I wanted faster results. Back then MT pay was almost comparable to CR pay, too. I figured, why go to school 3-6 years, when I can go for 20 weeks and have a job? So I chose MT and look what happened. It didnt matter after all these years whether I was good at it or not... the field is drying up in terms of being able to support yourself at it. My friend? Steady work, good money, owns a nice house, put her kids through college, etc.
That's what I started at 9 years ago SM
as an IC at the local hospital and at first, didn't make much money, but as I got more familiar with the dictators, I could do 150 minutes in 6 1/2 hours. That was a good deal. I left because:
1. I got bored.
2. I worked 7 days a week plus all the holidays.
3. I thought the grass was greener elsewhere. I needed bennies and the hospital, even though my work was good, wouldn't hire me as an employee because then they would lose #2.
When I first started out 10 years ago,
my very first job paid $.055 per 55 character line. My next job three months later paid $.07/65 characters. Then I had a hospital job paying $10 per hour plus incentive. Moved up to opening offers of $.08-.09 cpl with nationals. Got tired of nationals. Made very decent money for the next 2-3 years paid $.12/gross line until those two contracts got outsourced or went to VR. Got a part-time job outside the home in a different field for six months until that company laid everyone off. Now I'm trying to find another $.07/65 cpl job. Ten years later and I'm in the same place in life again.
If you just started MTing, how could have have been an MT for 10 years?
That's what your post below says.
9 years this month...started in
Well she started out as a reporter 26 years ago.
She's not poor by any means!
I started getting symptoms after about 3-5 years. Nobody could believe it. sm
Fellow MTs told me it was too early, but nope. I had the tests, and had/have bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Think it's anatomical for some. I have very tiny wrists, and I've read that sometimes that can be related.
Some 15-20 years later, I had endoscopic surgery on the right side. I wouldn't recommend endoscopic. If you get surgery, go open. I learned later that it's usually more effective. I still have symptoms in both wrists, can tell no improvement in the right hand.
Best things: Physical therapy was the very best, but Worker's Comp obviously wouldn't pay for that forever. Cat's Paw (exerciser) is cheap and mimics a lot of the stuff I was doing in PT.
SmartGlove when I work. Helps a lot.
Trackball - huge difference.
Shorthand - I have made it my hobby to learn to work smarter instead of harder. I studied the productivity sites and am constantly working on building my ShortHand file. It's rare that something isn't in it. I have gotten to where it shows a savings of about 50% keystrokes, which is something to think about. It's like working half a day and getting paid for a full day.
Rest. Get up at least once an hour, go to your dining room table, put your palm flat on the table and press down. You should feel a really good stretch. And then I take at least 5-10 minutes to break. Maybe not the best thing for productivity, but the best for longevity.
I started 35 years ago this month. sm
I started in a small hospital in the Midwest and spent 6 years there, then moved to the West Coast. When I started, we had two reference books, Dorland's and the Surgeon's Syllabus (a red much used book). We were on Royal typewriters, four carbon copies, all colored with different color white-out for each copy. Our dictation came in on wax records with the stats at the switchboard station. They would call us when one came in and we would walk down and get it. They were on lilac wax and the others were on a salmon color. We had little record players at our desk and we would transcribe the wax records, then put them in a press to take out the grooves and use them over and over. I loved working there. We then graduated to the Norelco reel-to-reel, and then to the Dictaphone plastic belts, then the magnetic belts, and then the MT/ST, then the Mag-Card, and finally to the computer, then to the Lanier pop-up tape system, then to the Sony Network, and then to digital voice. It's been a long joury and I was with one employer for over two decades before being sold to MQ. I had the best boss in the world, generous to a fault, but then MQ came along and offshoring and the MT business went down, down, down. I make half of what I used to and I work twice as hard. Benefits are hard to come by and there is no security. I long for the old days.
I quit for several years and started again.....
I'm a moron. I hate it and I hide it from my kids. It stinks.
This really is pathetic. 5 years ago I started out with .07 and they are still only paying that?
started at about 8K PT 2002, last couple years 12K but
I did not work much in 2005 for about 6 months when my 5-y/o got diagnosed with cancer and going through chemo, etc. So I would have made a bit more. I expect to do about $16K this year. I alternate my hours a lot though, about 60 or so minutes of work during the school year a day, but then only 30 during the summer, plus a side job that fluctuates ($300-500 a month). I am shooting for $20K next year, still not at FT (5-6 hours a day). I'll see how it goes. I think $12K for PT is good, but that is my opinion.
Ive worked Sundays since I started transcribing 18 years ago!
..but i know that they always need to be covered and people keep getting sick and having operations... holidays too. we are in one of those kind of jobs. i love having time off during the week to get things done though.
Yes! My kids (above, age 22 and 24) started out making more than I make after 30 years of MT!
.
I started a neighborhood watch a couple of years ago...sm
we were having similar problems to what you're having and they're gone now. Here's what worked for us. I gave every home in the subdvision a flier asking anyone that was interested in forming a neighborhood watch to come to an organization meeting and made the meeting a week later and on a week night, and gave my phone # in the event someone was interested but couldn't attend then. Out of 150 homes in my subdivision we had 40 people show up and 20 called expressing interest.
Everyone had the same complaints on the same "problem" homes and as a group we decided that each time the noise level was high enough to hear outside of the vehicle or house that we'd call the police. We all alternated placing those calls so the police department didn't think it was just 1 person complaining. The police department agreed to increase the patrols for our subdivision at all hours of the day and night and just having people see them ride through every few hours helped significantly cut down on the problems.
Over time the people that were causing problems either put their houses up for sale or moved out of the rental home and left when they saw that we neighbors insisted on a peaceful and quiet living area. It worked! When these problem homes left the problems with the trash thrown on the roads left as well.
In addition we were having some problems with some of the youth hanging out walking the streets at all hours and it was making some of the residents nervous, especially when the youth were walking through yards. So, we told the youth to stick to the roads, ask permission before cutting through yards to find out who cared and didn't care if they walked through them, and one of the men placed a basketball goal at the end of one of the cul-dec-sacs for the kids to play basketball after the neighbors in the cul-dec-sac agreed it would be fine. It worked - some of them started playing basketball there and they honored requests of homeowners that didn't want them walking on their yards.
Good luck to you!
I've been in MT for 20 years. Started out in the office at a hospital.
Switched to working for services from home for a while and now I work for the same hospital I started out at, but I work from home now. So I guess you can say I've come full circle and now I'm back where I started. I much prefer being an employee of a hospital versus an IC or employee of an MTSO.
It may be that your user profile in EXText is not set up to allow you to add normals. I've found with services they don't give their MTs a whole lot of freedom with their software. 
all that PLUS, when I started 13 years ago, electric typewriters were still used (smile!) no message
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Yes, I do. Have for 5 years. I didn't ever do SM
that well at a larger national, could barely feed my family.
I do the same rather large pool of doctors every day. I only do operative notes. These are not teaching hospitals and I don't get much weird stuff.
I have 13 years experience and just started a hospital job working from home making $16 an hour
and with a really good incentive plan. I live in the Kansas City area. $10 seems like a low starting point even with only two years experience which is the usual benchmark for hospital MT jobs.
It's been my experience that the low end of the pay scale for hospital employed MTs was around $12 an hour. Also, it's been my experience that the pay offered is usually based on years of experience and how well you perform on the transcription test.
I would say if their pay is that low, they should at least be making it up with incentive and it doesn't sound like they are.
JMO
POLL - Do you proof as you go or proof when finished? sm
I proof after, but would love to proof during. I'm working on it. I'm curious as to what percentage of MTs proof as they go or proof at the end?
Thx for responding.
I worked for SS a few years ago and while we didn't have the
line count issues they were HORRIBLE. They e-mailed me last week asking me to come back so they must be in dire straights cause I gave them an earful when I left.
I didn't file for 10 years (sm)
and have had absolutely no consequences.
The state of california, however, doesn't fool around.
Didn't pay taxes for 10+ years (sm)
and had absolutely no trouble with the IRS, because I filed. My girlfriend, however, was hounded daily because she didn't bother to file. You just fill out their little financial hardship forms for a few years and watch your balance due melt away as the statute of limitations expires.
I didn't file for 10 years either and finally
went to my accountant. He filed all 10 years and then went to the bank and borrowed the money. Took me 4 years to pay it off with nothing to show for it at the end of those 4 years except the satisfaction that it was done.
Right after that, I went out and bought a new truck, paid for it for 4 years and had something to show for it. It will take a little of your time and effort to make the payments, but it's worth it for peace of mind. I remember hearing the phone ring during those 10 years and waiting for the IRS to come get me. Don't live in fear. Do something to get out of it.
depends on state, I didn't for 9 years...sm
occupational with the city I live in and then the county.....florida is my state.....they didn't require it as long as you had no *traffic* - but the laws/rules changed over time.....
i resisted for years, thinking i didn't need it.
but i finally gave in and accepted the fact that some things have changed, more than a few companies go by it, and i'd better not be such a stick-in-the-mud. I have been very surprised that it has really been so helpful to me. I do recommend it. and no, i don't agree with every morsel of it, but sometimes it is better to go with the flow, than against it, and at least have it for a reference...
didn't realize this video was 10 years ago
I also saw a video of Hunter Hays when he was older, and I thought it was so weird that there were two boys with the same name that both played accordian. I missed the part on the younger version that said it was an old video... still almost too cute to be true.
I didn't increase my line rate for over 10 years!
I am an IC and have one office of three physicians as well as work for a smaller MTSO and have to totally agree with what MTSO said. You have to take into consideration so many things. Do we deserve a raise, you betcha - I think most of us do. However, if you are making good money, love the accounts, and things are working well for both sides, are you willing to jeopardize them shopping elsewhere? I haven't been, but due to the increase in gas prices which are now going to be reflected in many other ways in our cost of living, I find I really need to increase my rate and I did. I sent a memo and simply stated that in 30 days the billing would reflect a 1 cent/line rate increase. Yes, I held my breath waiting for the phone to ring or the OM asking to speak to me in her office but so far I have not heard anything. I am not sure if this is good or bad but I think they have had a great deal for 10 years and I deserve a raise and I need to increase my rate just due to cost of living.
MT, proof as I go. ME, go back and proof afterwards
I have only been editing 3-4 months, and I find I make at least twice the stupid mistakes on ME as with MT, so I do scan the ME reports --find double periods, caps where they are not supposed to be -- stupid stuff.
good luck!
I quit once for 3 years, but then started again. (Quit cold turkey when I did)
Well of course we know that now. Back then we didn't because he didn't allow unfettered access.
c
right we children didn't tattle to the administrator did we. BTW, didn't you think we were &#
because some half-witted idiot said everyone was jealous because some other anonymous poster said they were going to be a doctor. Didn't they call it doctor envy. Oh yeah, that was all about you wasn't it busy-body MT. You with your degree and premed but yet you still post here and acuse others of jealously. I dunno but you and dano seem so close, I can't put my finger on it but I would say you could be computer clones. Jealous indeed. Children indeed. I think you are blowing your covers) dano and busy body MT. This whole "jealously" thing makes me think that you may be one and the same poster.
I didn't go into labor until 2.5 weeks later, so it didn't work. Sorry!...nm
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I proof as I go...nm
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I proof after - sm
I finish typing...every line of every single report that leaves my desktop. I may find a typo (and, of, or, etc.) rarely, but I still proofread. It's just something that I do  .
I proof after.
k
I proof after
Depending on the report/dictator I can proof during... but I find I catch things better when I proof after. One day I will have the proof during mastered. 
Proof as I go, always have...
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Proof as you go DEFINITELY
I was trained to never pass over a word or something in question just to finish the report - you will invaribly miss or forget about it if you skip over it for a "final proof."
Have been an Editor for years and I am amazed at what even seasoned MTs will miss because they figured they would "fix" something when the report was finished. And, yes, your spell check or grammar check is never going to catch the difference between perineal and peroneal, etc.
Proof, of course.
Always have. Never proof again. sm
If I catch something other than spellcheck catches, I change. Otherwise, off it goes. Never, ever proof the entire report again.
No Proof
There is absolutely no proof. The Labor Board DENIED her request as I have been in contact with them. This is an ALLEGATION. The Labor Board does NOT handle Indendent Contractor situations. The paperwork sent in by Doris Latta in reference to Lynn Jester of Jester's Touch was FRAUD. It has been dismissed! If you wish to continue to let just anyone post items about MT Services without PROOF, that's fine with me. I care not! The litigation is between Jester's Touch attorney and Doris Latta at this point so I am not concerned because I am very fair and good to all ICs that have and do work with me. 
I proof as I go and sm
There was a time when I really did have to proof each and every word. Last time I had an audit, it was better than 99% which is quite good enough.
There is a way to learn to do this and I can't really tell you want it is I do or how I do it exactly. I have pretty high production (1500 to 1800 lines a day) and few mistakes. I think it is just finding a flow because I have my off days when I have a lot of difficulty.
I proof as I go along
I have so many macros and templates, and because I only do H&P I bascially type the same things all the time for each specific doctor.
if you use playback and proof at the
same time that this feature would not be of benefit to you. Oh well, thanks for being honest.
and you proof read IMs too
!!!
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