I read it... does it mean US patients would have to travel - nm
Posted By: to India for some surgeries? on 2007-04-28
In Reply to: It's not just MT affected - Food for thought
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- It's not just MT affected - Food for thought
- I read it... does it mean US patients would have to travel - nm - to India for some surgeries?
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we should just once, as patients (sm)
go to the dr's office and waste THEIR time!!! Let them know how it feels for a change. But then again, the doc wouldn't wait two seconds on a patient, now would they? Wow, whatta double standard! 
Patients
On a really bad day, I feel like a vampire for making money off of other people's misfortunes.
Maybe sometimes we have too much time to think! I don't know.
Just because 2 patients have the
same dx does not mean they are treated the same and symtoms are the same in many dxs. Do you have your degree?
Well, too bad that they have 30 patients - sm
to see so they don't want to spell things out. Do they cut corners on patient care, as well, when they have 30 patients to see - or is that reserved for us peon MTs? So they're "frustrated" with 30 patients - well, cut your patient load! We're not paid to "guess" or have to look up everything they don't feel like spelling, especially other doc's names. Just won't do it.
By the way, I wonder if they know how many documents we have to type a day (30 maybe?) to even eke out simple minimal wage - but that's OK, I suppose, compared to their 5 or 6-figure salaries.
Just give everybody the bum's rush because you have 30 patients. Suppose we did the same?
You can travel while
There are no restrictions on that. Of course, you are expected to maintain the confidentiality of the records you work on while you are away. As far as a bare bones summer cottage, you would have to make arrangements as you see fit and necessary in order to make it comfortable for you to work in.
I do when I travel.....sm
I dock my laptop when I'm working from somewhere else (i.e. my elderly grandmother's house) and use my own keyboard and mouse. If I'm just going to work a couple of hours I don't do all of that - only if I'm working all day.
Where did you travel to? sm
I guess my main concern is going overseas to England and for some reason not being able to work there. The internet in the house I would be living in is high speed internet but I just want to make sure that my computer would work there and everything goes smoothly.
A party for our patients...
Every year, the staff in our clinic takes it on ourselves to throw a party for our patients. We all cook finger food, make snack trays, cookies, baked good, cheezes, bread, meat trays, the works. We have breakfast foods and lunch foods. We decorate tables in our lobby to spread this out on. We usually do this one day a week for the four weeks before Christmas so many patients will get to enjoy it. We have coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, cokes and punch. We have fruits and dips....something for everyone, even diabetics. The patients are touched that we go to the trouble and we are touched by how much they love it! These patients have gone through enough suffering with their diseases and some are elderly and don't have family members. Some tell us this is their only Christmas! We have been doing this several years now and the patients are beginning to tell us to be sure we appoint them to return on the days we are having our "Christmas spread." I just thought I'd share the Christmas party that means the most to me... and this is definitely it! Just the look on their faces as they are enjoying it is Christmas to me.
It is not our job to judges the patients sm
or why or where they seek treatment. It is our job to transcribe the dictated reports. If you don't like the healthcare system, then go out and change it.
Just how many lives do YOUR patients have?
Apparently mine have more than one because I have one dictator who likes to use the following phrase: Patient was told that he might have death and loss of current life. 
Now we have to insist patients
being treated are actually examined before treatment is rendered?
Wasn't it bad enough medicine when ER docs would proclaim a diagnosis before exam, only to have to backpedal after taking a look?? I guess if they are going to do things in that order, doing physical exams is going to result in their looking stuupid, so their solution is not to do that part.
Big grrrr.
If the patients were aware of that, they could
nm
Do any of you ever feel sad for the patients?
Maybe it is because I am on my period and am more emotional than usual, but today typing all these terminal cancer reports is making me want to cry. I feel so sad for the patient and their families. I just cannot imagine being told that I only have a few months left of my life. And the doctors sound so cold about it. I know they are very used to it....I just know that I could never be a doctor. I could never get used to telling someone they are going to die.
astral travel
Always thought it was hogwash until it happened to me too. I was working in a bank as a teller. On my fourth day as a teller a guy came to my window with a gun, couldn't believe it. It was like a rose above my body and watched this poor girl being robbed. To this day, 30 years later, I can still see the dress I was wearing, hairstyle etc. Back then they called it "out of body experience."
Anyone here travel and work (sm)
I am thinking I could work while I travel if I had a laptop computer and am wondering if anyone here does this and what is involved. I know many motels offer free wireless internet now. Is that all I need to be able to do this? Thanks for any help!
Does anyone travel with their laptop
and use a Sprint broadband card for internet access, or one of the other company broadband cards. Just wondered how it worked for you for traveling and if you can use it on the road? I've been trying to research this but not really finding the answers. From what I read, if there is good cell phone signal you should be able to get service, but the guy from Sprint told me that his parents tried it down the road in Nebraska and did not work, and I asked why since it said on the site that you would get service if the cell coverage is there, maybe just not as fast as in a city such as Lincoln or Omaha, and he didn't know why but said I could try it out for 30 days. Thought maybe some of you road warriors would have some suggestions. I would like to stay with my mom and use something like this since she doesn't have internet. Thanks for any suggestions if anyone has used this particular method for working. 
Laptop travel
I take my laptop with me every weekend. If we go someplace besides our place in the mountains, I get my internet service to get me a dial up number of where I am going so I can connect with the internet service through dial-up. It is much slower than my DSL, but works like a charm. So contact your Internet Service Provider about numbers in the place you are are planning ongoing and so far I have had not a single problem. I have worked in Florida, in New York, in Oklahoma, in New Mexico, using the local numbers that my internet service provider gave me. I have SBC/Yahoo, now called AT&T. They even helped me set it up the first time as I could not figure out how to do it.
I prefer the CD. I can travel with my
job and used a laptop. I am able to have all my references available because I have them on the computer. Stedman's only allows 2 downloads though, so if you are one who may have lots of computer issues where you will need to reload your computer a coupld of times a year or if you might want to resell then CDs wouldn't be the way to go. The books you can find used on the classified board.
You can use www.drugs.com as a drug reference.
There aren't a separate set of books for clinic work, but I would recommend a book called Sloane's Medical Word Book by Ellen Drake. It is a large book with all the specialities and while obviously not as thorough as the Stedman's books, the terminology used in clinic work isn't as technical as acute care and will probably be good enough for you. I haven't looked at Stedman's lately but they may have a similar book.
Travel and work
As my parents are getting older I would like to visit with them more often. I live in the south and they live on the West Coast. I would like to work from their house, but they don't have an internet connection. I have thought about wi-fi but this presents privacy issues and the inconvenience of having to drive to Starbucks every day. My parents are not receptive to getting an internet connection as they do not have a computer. Anyone have any ideas how I can get some work done and yet still travel to see them several times a year?
My dream job would be to just travel, (sm)
see the world, play, ski, go on mountain bike & hiking trips, and do all sorts of unusual outdoor activities, and indoor activities (drawing) that I enjoy, and then get paid to write about them.
working while you travel
May I ask what company you work for, that lets you take your work overseas? I think this is a great idea, to travel while you work (or work while you travel) :)
A question regarding patients' rights
I was just wondering this. My mother was recently sent to a "liver specialist" who is local gastrointestinal doctor because of concern over persistently elevated liver function tests. He drew a LOT of blood work on her and only told her that it looks like she might have a fatty liver. He set her up to come back in six weeks to "get the results of her lab tests." SIX WEEKS! With her being very concerned, of course, we immediately searched the net and found out that fatty liver occurs in patients 1). who drink alcohol (she never has), 2). Patients who are overweight (she is not) or 3). Patients with diabetes (she hasn't got that, either). It says that a liver biopsy is how they find this out. He never mentioned doing one of those. My question is.. would a physician want to wait 6 weeks to find out lab results? You know it doesn't take 6 weeks to get the results back, they probably had them back within a day or two. In the meantime, she is stressing big time about what could be wrong. 
Not sure when doctors graduate their patients but
I have boys and we stopped when my oldest was 11 because they always made them strip down to their undies for checkups and checked their privates and I didn't feel that was necessary and my boys hated it.
No thanks. Anorexic geriatrics patients don't do it for me.
x
Very true, but a list of patients?
An invoice by the patient? Some clients need to do their own book keeping. It is bad enough you have to worry about the content of the reports. To have to retype a patient name into an invoice with the line count is utterly ridiculous especially as an IC. IC's get taken advantage of. As an IC, yes you should be charging for "everything". If you're an employee, they can put it under "other duties as needed". Business is business. If it takes more time, that takes more money. End of story. Don't do nothing for nothing. Your clients sure do not. They go all this time with this Transcriptionist with her invoicing and then all of a sudden decide they want each patient name and line count? Cut me a break. You don't think there should be a charge for that? You can work for free, but I certainly WILL NOT! To make statements like be paid to walk to the computer is really being a bit of a smarty pants in my opinion. Keep it to yourself if you want to work for free, most people don't! Have a great day making nothing to do A LOT!
A lot of physicians refer to their patients
as heterosexual or having same sex partners, it is very relevant in some aspects, as in exposure to AIDS/HIV, etc.
New Doctor, some patients already typed
I got a new doctor. They girl who had been working for him left him in a big mess, undone dictations, etc. The office gave me a flashdrive to do with about 30 patients on it over the holiday weekend. Today they've told me ten patients had already been typed, how did I want to handle that? It seems they don't want to pay me for these. My husband says to bite the bullet and not charge them, since this is a new account and I'd like to keep it, is possible. What do you think? I know it's a land of confusion there from what is done to what is not done. Thanks!
It's called BEING FAIR TO PATIENTS
. Why should patient care suffer?! The patients haven't done anything wrong, even if management sucks. I thought that's what MTs were ultimately hired to benefit, the patients.
I travel quite a bit. I used to have satellite, but no longer
do. Wireless is only good if you are in a place that has wireless service or you can get WiFi. Most of the chain hotels now have free WiFi and there are lots of other places that have free WiFi if you are on the road. It's always good to have a plan B too, just in case.
they require your uncle to travel; thus, pay him to
nm
question for those who travel and work
Does anyone have to use a C-phone for their work and use a long distance plan that they can use while away from home? I looked at Vonage, but I looked over previous posts and it sounded like the voice quality was not that great, which for obvious reasons I cannot have. Thanks for all input/suggestions!
What? I am a low income MT, can't afford to travel anywhere.
I can't even afford to drive out of the state...gotta fix my motorcycle.
I am not taking all this too seriously but I think your post is a little inflammatory.
Nobody expects tourists to speak whatever the native language is. I think it is reasonable for local medical professionals living and working here to be able to speak easily recognizable English since the accuracy and quality of the medical record depends on it, not to mention turnaround time. My time is valuable too. Forcing me to relisten over and over just to decipher simple phrases is not fair. And that applies to the native speakers too (who tend to rattle everything off too stinking fast and IMO just as bad or worse than ESL).
help me understand laptop travel
I'm a hard-wired girl but I got a good deal on a laptop and would like to know exactly how you travel and work. I remember mention of air cards - where do you get these and is there a 1 time charge or do you have to sign up and pay monthly fees? Now - I still have to figure out how to connect it to router at home - TIA.
How does outsourcing dictation allow doctors to see more patients?
In an article in the MT News section, it states this. Do they really need to see more patients? Most of them herd them in and out like cows.
And that is because the GYN forgets to tell his patients that when changing pills you have to use an
alternate method of birth control for a month until the new level of hormones in the pills kick in, whether higher or lower. That is how come so many get pregnant on the "pill." The facts...my cousin is GYN and he tells all of his patients that.
Just wondering, for you MTSOs, about how many patients/reports per day...
For, say, an orthopedic surgeon, or a family practice doctor. Or, maybe, how many minutes of transcription on average per day.
THANKS.
these are the docs that I don't think care about their patients. my opinion. nm
ss
Travel to Florida/Disney - experiences?
We are planning a trip to Florida for the Daytona 500 in February - we are having problems lining up a hotel in the Orlando area that includes suites with kitchenettes and also has shuttle service to the major parks in the area. We want something in the mid range, maybe 3 star or 4 star, and will only have 2 tweenagers traveling with us - the rest will be adults. Can anyone recommend a place to stay with some atmosphere, pool area, restaurant, etc.?
We've been there before when our kids were young and stayed in very basic motels which was fine. We hardly spent any time at the motel anyway. This time, with some going to the NASCAR race, there will be down time for others, so a nice pool/outdoor area would be a plus.
Why not just ask a local travel agent? You don't have to commit thru them. nm
s
I guess I should say who work for a company that has you travel
to different on-site facilities and work for a few weeks providing all travel expenses and then on to a different facility?
I travel frequently and I have not found this to be a problem.
You can either search on-line or go to store like Office Depot and look at keyboard trays. They have them that will clip on. You can clip one to a table. Many times I've propped a pillow against a table and put the keyboard tray on the pillow. I've worked at a picnic table with a folded towel on the edge of the table. The height isn't the best and the towel kept the hard edge from pressing into my wrists. I've used a bed tray and put my laptop on top of that and placed the keyboard underneath.
I'd try a few things now before you go. I found that if I had to work I found a way to get the job done. I've even typed on the laptop keyboard with the laptop on my lap as we are going down the road.
I travel with a laptop, printer, and keyboard - sm
My printer is small enough to fit into a backpack - about the size of a portable DVD player. So the printer, along with the laptop go on the plane with me. The keyboard and mouse go in my suitcase that gets carried under the plane. Now, if i have to take a transcriber with me, depending on where I'm going, I will either ship that ahead or TRY to take it with me on the plane, but it depends on where I'm going and how long I'll be gone. I have had to replace a transcriber because of security deciding to take it apart when it was packed in my suitcase. Lesson learned on my part.
oops... travel program should be LogMeIn.
The clock does play into how much time is spent with patients
The way the CPT codes bill insurance have guidelines for the physicians built into them that give amounts of time spent with the patient (in addition to certain information covered in the ROS/PE), especially in consultations (whether inpatient or out), hospital discharge codes and critical care time (inpatient or out).
Yes, that computer is in fact billing the insurance company because it not only saves not having to pay an MT, it bypasses a billing clerk (eliminating that salary), and if the doctor's office space is paid for by a hospital, that file is sent to the hospital's database where a *scrubber* compares what the MD submits versus coding guidelines. If it is an independent office, the MD can upload all that day's billing before he walks out the door and leave it unattended to update patient accounts and reconcile the days money intake.
In a nut shell, your doctor is no longer just practicing medicine. Your MD is doing the documentation and billing and saving money on two warm bodies.
I understand your concern as I see it more and more in today's medical care, but yes, this is the way things are going. I am fortunate that my MD has been very computer literate for a long time, so the amount of time he spends with his laptop is minimal. Once he enters the info, he kicks his shoes back and we chat and get into a deeper discussion both professionally and personally (we've known each other a long time). Give your MD a chance to play catch up to what he or she is doing with that computer and you should see a more relaxed physician soon.
Good luck.
We need actual examples of patients harmed by outsourcing
to take to the media. Then we could probably get enough interest for someone to do an expose on it.
oh yuck, I have to travel to NY next week for a hospital job - now I'm going to be cold!!
x
I do reports all the time where patients have asthma, COPD, emphysema, and
even cancer and continue to smoke. In our local paper they are following a woman in her battle with cancer. She continues to smoke, as does her husband. They were broke before the cancer diagnosis, having to borrow daughter's babysitting money to pay bills. Just think how much money they've blown on cigarettes.
I've even known one man with a trach who smoked through his trach.
I wasn't clear. I guess patients' names is what irks me the most. SM
and you know how famous they are for dictating "Krenazcyssky, Jane, that's J-A-N-E.
neat web site 'chemo angels'. Help cancer patients
http://www.chemoangels.com/
Doctors patrolling themselves? What a joke! They barely have time to see ALL their patients....
Doctors today are totally incompetent for the most part. YOU cannot worry about it when it comes to transcribing their gawd awful reports. THAT is between the patient and the doc. Just knock the report out as fast as you can and make sure it's accurate and then after that, forget about it.
The docs make the big bucks - you don't! Let THEM worry about things that will eventually catch up with them, one of which is called the Karma bug, and that little bug ALWAYS bites those who don't deal fairly right in the butt! And big time, too! 
My nurse said most patients make calls with their cell, no problem
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