I spent over 8 hours trying to get a problem out of my computer yesterday until
Posted By: 4 a.m. this morning. I HATE MTing. on 2006-01-04
In Reply to:
I spend more time on the electronic, computer, mechanization of this stuff - I can't even do transcription.
I use to think being a hooker would be bad, but now I'm having second thoughts. And I definitely am having doubts that "creature comforts" are worth the pain of living in the so called civilized world we are in now.
Oh yeah, by the way, I spent 2 hours on hold altogether just trying to get to a tech support at NORTON! an hour trying to get tech support for my internet provider, another 6 hours screwing around with the computer - 2 hours the other day just moving it from one room to the other.
I am so out of here! They (the MT companies) can find some other *patsy* to sucker these costs onto.
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Symantec etc...I wonder if that is what I just spent 18 hours cleaning out of my computer!
in my computer. Eventually I couldn't even use Email.
It took hours and hours of being on hold to get tech support at Norton/Symantec! Then they were all Inidan/Chinese/French - couldn't understand a word they said!
They were having me call my internet provider - internet provider making me call Norton - back and forth back and forth! grrrr
Finally they sent me to www.symantec.com/symnrt and I had to literally break my computer down and rebuild it.
My computer kept saying "you are already running a Symantec program on your computer....then it said you have done an illegal action/every time I did anything!....then it said the Configuration Wizard is still working (had to figure out how to turn that stupid thing off....it changed the settings in my internet options panel/I never touched it but when internet provider looked in there it had totally been changed.
I couldn't update my LIVE UPDATE! Whatever it was kept locking me out of dialing out or loading the new updates which of course left me vulnerable to viruses.
I have Windows98 - but the Norton Antivirus program is for both Windows XP and 98.
Good luck if you have Norton!
I would love to know how many hours are spent
listening to papers shuffle! Even when I fast forward these annoying reports there are minute-long paper shuffling that goes on and on throughout the paper! I wish these doctors would get organized!
thanks for vent.
I had 2256 lines yesterday in about 7 hours...
I just had a deadline I had to meet and worked my butt off...I use my Expander to the max...I can do 1200 lines in 4 to 5 hours...
I had 439 for an hour yesterday, 1800+ if I don't take breaks in 7 to 9 hours.nm
nm
Just staring at the computer screen can make me feel drugged after 9 hours.
dd
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit
you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.
That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT. Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day. My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive. If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.
Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs. JMO, tho.
My old clinic spent (sm)
over $100,000 implementing an EMR system that claims to "replace dictation." Well, they'd have to sell it to doctors who are interested and have time to type in order to replace dictation. If nothing else, it increased my line count because of all the crap I had to add to get the notes uploaded to the system! I'd still be there if I didn't have to move.
My $375 was sooo well spent...
We have a cat and a dog - We have gone through a Fantom, a Hoover wind tunnel, and a Dirt Devil (not in that order, but you get it, about one vacuum every other year - kaplooey with the animal hair - yes I groom my animals but still...they shed)....I bought a Dyson a little over year ago, after seeing it on sale at Sears, looking it up on the 'net, and just being fascinated by the whole vortex deal. I also ended up using a gift card I had as well, which took a bite out of the price. Before buying, I asked the Sears Service Dept and customer service people their "scoop" on the Dyson - they had never had one returned....for any reason in our region of stores - they looked it up for me. I figured that was good enough for me ! I have had no problems whatsoever and absolutely love it. I should have started working at Sears on commission. I have sold 3 of them just by word of mouth..LOL! Gotta love the Dyson - especially with the extra motor in mine (the purple one) for the animal hair - it honestly doesn't ever lose suction!
90% of my day is spent on OPs and I LOVE it....nm
s
Disagreed with how it was being spent (sm)
I realize when you own property you don't have this option, but we're not into owning material stuff either.
Time spent...
Think about this....There will always be other jobs in transcription or heck anything else you might find of interest, but the bottom line is...Your kids are growing every second, and the time that you miss with them, you can never get back. So, if it were me, I would choose my time with my son any day.. Good luck to you.
If you would take the time you have spent here today
and work on building your expander, macros, etc. you could get your line count up faster. Don't know if you have a line per day committment or hourly committment, but if you have lines you can get them finished quicker with a better expander and have more time to play or do whatever. I am NOT a morning person, but I feel so much better when I do make myself get up and then by 9:00 I've made my line committment and I've got the rest of the day to do what I want/need to do and if I need more lines I can work an hour or two after dinner. I almost feel like I have a 3-day weekend because I'm finished so early that on Friday I'm done early, my DH has an early day at work and is home by 10 usually so we have an almost full day to play.
Reassess your situation. What were your reasons for coming home to work? If you didn't have to work at all, would you spend all day sitting in front of the TV watching all that mindless garbage and letting the housework go? Maybe you're burned out or depressed. Maybe you just lack self-discipline as somewhat else suggested and you really need structure.
Just some things to think about. Working at home isn't the fairly tale that most people think it is.
I spent/no make that wasted
trying to get my supervisor to understand I DON'T NEED TO BE TYPING IN 10 HOSPITALS!
I need to be left in one hospital that I can learn. That means I need to know the surrounding doctors, doctors in other hospitals, streets, area SNFs, all that comes with the territory.
I never got one glimmer of hope that she understood. Dense as a brick.
That's what happens when you have people in charge of MTs who HAVE NEVER TRANSCRIBED!
They think we can just sit down.........turn on the "machine" and just spit out transcription because we know medical terminology. WELL SORRY - IT DOESN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY.
Yet they want HUGE LINE COUNTS.
They aren't going to get good TATs or HUGE line counts flipping me from one hospital to another at THEIR LEISURE.
Somewhere along the line they have me CONFUSED WITH A MACHINE
Spent 8 years in Florida
Have you tried the realtor sites? If you are looking to rent, use rent.com, apartmentguide.com, forrent.com. Also, go online and look at the online newspaper for that area.
The price of real estate is ridiculous there because of the demand. We once looked at a mobile home and I kid you not, the insulation was hanging out the bottom, no skirting, chickens running around, and the neighbors horses within 5 feet of the back door (free flies too). They wanted 800 a month with 2400 to move in. Even the apartment prices are pretty high for what you get there.
Too much time usually spent working (sm)
Like the saying goes, "How many people at the end of their lives say, "I wish I had spent more time working." NOT - being with those who mean the most to us more important, of course.
Time spent with your mother will be a much better
gift than anything you could buy. I'm sure your mother has every material thing she needs or wants.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I've spent over an hour on this.
s
I spent over 2 evenings testing
Filling out their interview questions, answering questions about my computer, and it would be just my luck they would either send an e-mail in just four words, "we can't use you" or not send one at all. That would just bite.
The test was not really difficult just that I have no control over it, I cannot speed it up, slow it down. I kept stomping the floor looking for my nonexistant foot pedal. LOL. I am afraid there might be something I missed on the test.
Here I wanted to apply for a few more companies to see if one could offer me a better deal than another, but I bet I will have to go through the same thing, and I am not real sure I want the job. What if they offer too low of pay? What if their line quote is too high?
That is my vent. whew.!!!! I am going to bed.
Clinic I MT for spent big $$, too, but I am still doing work
ik
If you spent some time working instead of
you might make some of that money that you find so elusive. All you are trying to do is stir up trouble. I dislike AAMT as much as the next person. I am an MT myself first, and MTSO only because I have more work than I can handle myself. I get 14/15 cpl. That's it. I know in your dreams you think MTSOs are making so much more and getting rich. I am telling you it's not true. Maybe Medquist is getting rich, but I'm not and neither are any of the other small MTSOs I know of.
I would agree that energies could be better spent.
I agree--this is a losing battle.
The world is becoming one big place and I foresee a time when you'll not be identified as a citizen of a country but rather an employee of a company. Government is not supposed to be micro-managing business or our lives. Social responsibilities should be handled at the "ground level"--where we live, work, and worship. When the churches stopped doing the social work needed, government stepped in and now government is not doing the job so who's next--companies. There are many companies that are doing the right thing.
There is so much energy being spent here on trying to stop change. That's just not possible. You would better serve yourself if you would adapt to the change in whatever way necessary so that you are ready when it happens.
Went from coding to MT 'cause I had spent
was unable to pass the exam to become certified, missed by 3 all three times of taking the exam. I love being an MT, but I do miss the coding. Guess I just was not cut out to be a coder, :)
When I tried them, spent much time toggling
x
I was hijacked like you once and spent all day trying to get (inside)
rid of it, it hijacked everything and sent me to sites I had never been, could not get to Yahoo my home site. Finally I downloaded Hijack (that is what it is called). It is a free program and that did it. I had everything back to normal. I just followed their instructions and walla it was back to normal.
not all the time is spent in the bathroom..
one has also to eat, wash etc...don't you?
This whole discussion is just ridiculous.
Don't you find something better to do?
they spent 40 years in the desert.....
i was pointing out to my friend that in the bible they spent 40 years desert before they arrived...CMT spent 40 years collecting our money and we were snookered and got nowhere. In half a century (and AAMT were going to do great things for us, must we wait for the 100 year mark?). Paying dues, and nothing to show for it with the exception of their having meetings in fancy restaurants at exotic locations on your tab, and for this you get a pin, a piece of paper, and a magazine describing what a wonderful time they had at their seminar and to send more money.
If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.
They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
I agree, it's all about $$$. Vet wanted my sister to spent 4,000 on a
x
Error reading, spent the money for nothing
x
Spent 3 months in Brazil, traveled all over. Great
booze - really knocks you for a loop.
I spent the entire time after the show trying to vote
/
That sure beats the $900+ I spent on my Aeron Miller chair ! - nm
x
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.
If you spent anytime here at all, y'all know how I feel about offshoring. :0) SM
 What most don't realize is while there are laws protecting your medical data in the United States, these laws are unenforceable overseas. So basically, a patient's supposedly "protected health information" isn't really protected at all once it electronically crosses the borders out of the U.S. I think it is important that all patients be aware of this fact and have a say whether or not they want someone in India having access to their medical data!
I've been talking to a newspaper reporter in my area who is interested in running a story on this subject especially because I have firsthand knowledge of a local hospital who is outsourcing all of its transcription to a MTSO that offshores to India. I'm very excited because I've been pushing for public awareness of this subject for a while and I feel like I'm finally on the threshhold of effecting real change in my little part of the industry.
Anyway, change has to start with us, the MTs. We are MTs and we are patients. We have valuable knowledge as MTs about what happens to our protected health information and we should pass that knowledge on to those patients who don't have the benefit of being employed in the healthcare industry and are unaware of what happens to all that electronic information that makes up their medical record. I've told my whole family to ask "who does your transcription" at the doctor's office, the hospital, etc. When the doctor's office or the hospital hands you a HIPAA disclosure, that's your opening to ask questions about who all sees your medical record, who does the transcription, and is your medical information protected even if it is sent to India to be typed.
Okay, that was my soapbox speech for the day. 
Cheaper health insurance or time spent with
Why would you want to work until 11:30 at night? You risk driving late nights being exhausted in the a.m. when you are trying to get your children off to school. Why not wait out the nursing school call and continue working at home until then. You will be so busy once you start nursing school that I can't see you having the time or energy to work a full-time job on-site (3-11 p.m.) I'm not so sure why you believe that a secretarial job will prepare you more for nursing school. If you want to prepare for nursing school then why not purchase some anatomy books and get a head start, stay home with the children keeping the typing job. Believe me, you are going to learn way more doing transcription than you will doing secretarial work. JMO. Good luck in whatever you decide. Is there a reason you are trying to get away from your children/husband at nighttime? I feel it is more important to spend time with your children than at some hospital being a secretary especially at night. ??????? 
Spent 20 min. researching with very little info, and at the end, Dr. said 'Just take that part ou
I hate it when I spend so much time looking up things I do not know (terms or medications, or even a referring or copied doctor's name and address) and then the doctor changes his/her mind and says to just take that back out.
Or, you spend all that time looking things up and researching, then at the end they say 'Oh, by the way, here's all the information you just wasted your time looking up.'
Ggggrrrrrrrrrrr.
I'll be back to rant more later because this has REALLY been getting on my nerves lately, and seems to be happening a lot more often.
Rates have simply gone up. We've spent over 500 since Sept. on propane.
x
Should company pay for time spent on a required conference call? (sm)
My company has been having conference calls on one of my accounts in which they request that you attend (they take roll call) to learn new rules, changed rules, updates, etc. on the account. This has turned into a real pain because it takes so much time out of your production that day. They say it will become more "routine" as time goes by because of the volume of the rules, etc.
I was wondering, do any others have had that situation and, if so, have you been compensated for that time?
I should note, I am an employee, not an IC, and am paid by the line.
Thanks!
Don't complain! I spent years married to the coldest fish around....
nm
Is it their computer? Why are they installing a firewall and autocorrect on your computer? That sm
is usually the responsibility of the transcriptionist, especially if an IC or SE. Which company?
I spent about a month in India and they do speak English but sometimes I had a hard time
understanding the way they pronounced the words so I would ask them to spell it.
Question about transfering computer into to another computer.. sm
I have a dumb question - Just bought a new computer and someone told me to get a flash drive to transfer all my info. But I'm assuming that ExText that I work off of and Escription will have to be downloaded again by the tech people onto my new computer. I can tranfer these can I?
Thanks
How does one find out the computer specs on my computer?
I should know this, but I just don't remember how to do this. I am hoping I have enough RAM, or whatever, to load work platform on my own computer and begin working on it, rather than paying *rent* on the company-furnished computer. Thanks so much.
A computer is a computer, whether it be laptop or desktop.
I have both and use both and I bought both of mine...most companies do not provide computers...
Yesterday
They just billed it yesterday, the day of my new statement, that's why I got an over-the-limit fee tacked on, too  . Thanks so much for your support. It really helps to have kind, supportive people helping me. Thank you!
That was me yesterday, except it took me
14 hours off and on to get 1,000 lines in. TMI = too many interruptions I can't wait for school to start again. LOL
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