I understand how long...
Posted By: sm on 2006-02-02
In Reply to: Actually the flu is a 10 day to 2 week episode, with fatigue often lingering - SEE MSG
of an episode the flu can be. My point in my question to the poster was to make sure that was the actual diagnosis and that there wasn't something else going on. After 5 days, the child may not be "better" but may be exhibiting signs of beginning to feel better. Pneumonia and other secondary illnesses can develop easily from something like this. That was my reason behind my question.
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First, you are not alone. Most of us have been there. We understand. Long message. sm
1. You will never make your husband or his family understand your job. To them you will always have a "work in your spare time" pud job. They aren't capable of understanding, so don't waste your time. Concentrate on helping yourself succeed, for your own satisfaction.
2. Not being judgemental, but it sounds like you either need to look for a new job, or streamline your work process. There are a lot of tips on increasing production from the more experienced MTs, I have learned a lot. Just ask, and you'll receive all kinds of suggestions for building speed.
3. Don't waste time on street names, unknown company names, etc. If you can't find them on one or two good websites, leave a blank or spell them the best you can, depending on the directions for your account. I have one account I blank a doctor's name, one I leave a ? after the best spelling I can get. I check three good websites for doctor's names, maybe four if the hospital is on a state line. I never waste more than 5 minutes looking for things that aren't pertinent to the account (doctor's names are, but the rest aren't).
4. If you are getting 60 minutes of work and it only works out to about 400 lines, you might want to get another account. In my experience, 60 minutes should give you between 500 and 600 lines, depending on what kind of work you're doing. If it is discharge summaries, you may never build up your speed. Sometimes clinic work is faster, you use more canned text. Op reports are good money makers if you have the experience. Use Expanders for everything. Every Expander you put in will make you money in the long run. Also, if the work isn't coming in when it is supposed to, let them know you need it by a certain time. You can't sit at the computer 12 hours a day to do an 8-hour job and maintain a life. It isn't humanly possible.
5. TAKE your days off, do something YOU enjoy occasionally, not always what your family wants. Be good to yourself. This is where burnout comes from. If your husband can afford to pay all the bills, use your money to hire a sitter for your daughter 1-2 days a month, and spend the day with friends. Hire someone to clean your house regularly. Learn to streamline everything you can. Without being selfish, you have to take care of you, no one else is going to.
I too went into medical transcription because I hated working for a company that made bombs. This is much more worthwhile. But it is very hard. You have to approach it as a profession to succeed, and you'll have to do that for yourself, because families rarely understand that sitting at home working is probably the hardest thing you'll ever do, besides raising your children. Best of luck to you.
Oh, I've been doing this many long years, so I understand what SM
you're saying. I've been dept. supervisor, QA, all of it -- all long enough to realize that I am not infallible, for sure.
What I will say is that spending two hours reading reports aloud is not going to help me in any way, shape, or form. If I thought for a moment that it would make my work better, I'd be willing to sacrifice the time and do it.
It's really sort of like a tic, what I do when I transcribe, and I can't help it. I have tried to let stuff sit there and have the spellcheck catch it, but it's like a reflex action. I've backspaced to it before I had time to think about it. I know that I'm not really using my resources very efficiently.
I think I said in my first post that I started on typewriters and went from there to a computer with just a keyboard and monitor, and the only editing tool available to me was the backspace key. Mercy, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I transcribed that way until 1993 (? thereabouts), when I got my first spell check and word expander.
This lady is well know in the MT community and is a long term MT. I understand
your skepticism, but that is not the case with this gal. She has been straightforward from the very beginning and I have practically her entire background. I would ask that we leave skepticism out of the picture and try to help this family out.
Thank you,
Sheri 
I hate Instant Text. It is expensive, long long learning
curve, and too much distraction for me.
How long should I wait after applying for a position before I follow-up. It has been as long as two
without hearing from some. Just wondering if I should send an e-mail to follow-up to see if they received my resume or not. I don't want to offend anyone but feel two weeks should be long enough for someone to at least acknowledge my resume and that I have applied for a position. Right now I would accept anything even a note saying no thanks. Any advice would be appreciated. I haven't had to apply for a job for the past 10 years so I am a bit rusty at this. Thanks again for any advice.
Congrats! How long have you been a MLS and how long did you study for the test!
Please see message. I have three daughters with long, long hair.
I also have long hair down to my waist and my three girls have hair that long too. My daughter brought them home from school last year. I was devestated and grossed out!!!! I have never had to deal with lice. Anyway, we did the treatments and two of my girls broke out in a severe rash with the OTC stuff. Their little heads were so sore!! I thought I was being meticulous with eggs, only to find them hatching again down the road. A nurse at the pediatricians office suggested I try oil to suffocate them since my girls were allergic to the lice solution. I bought a huge bottle of veggie oil and dumped it on all three heads, plus my own. I then wrapped the heads in platic wrap and then a towel. I left this on for 30 minutes. It takes a while to wash out the oil, but we never, ever had the lice or eggs again!!! If you try this, make sure you put on an old shirt and put a towel around your shoulders. Obviously we were desperate, but we all have such long hair and very thick hair so I was willing to try anything. And I figured there was no chemicals involved so that was pretty safe. And it sure did help my littles ones since their scalps were pretty raw from the solution. Hope this helps and Good luck!
It's been a long, long time since I've used a C-phone, sm
but I do think jobs can be paused.
I had a problem with this for a long, long time sm
I have always worked days, like from 6-3. Over the last few years, it didn't matter how much sleep I got, I became real groggy between 7 and 11. Really shoots the day. Talked to my doctor and he said my blood pressure pills were the culprit but he refused to change me to another brand or dosage since I have multiple aneurysms (2 in the brain). My BP has been stable for a long time and he wants to "keep it on the low side". I tried taking them before I went to bed instead of early in the morning, but then I had headaches all day. So, I am changing to a night shift for a few months so I can sleep when those pills kick in and so far it is working pretty good. I stay mostly awake during my shift and die when I hit the bed from 6 am to 10 am, then I lay down again later in the afternoon for 2-3 hours. I still get 6-7 hours of sleep, it's just split up during the day, plus I am mostly awake now when I sit down to type. I don't have to deal with the heat in my office, either. It tends to warm up real fast in here with the south sun on the house and 2 pc's running all day, even with the air conditioner on.
Way back when, a long, long time
ago and in a galaxy far, far away, I had my own accounts also and some years cleared $75,000. Yes it can be done, but you need to have your own accounts. Also lots of delivery, and other duties involved. I work for a large national now and make much less, but I got tired of accountants, having to deal with hardware problems, deadlines, driving deliveries, printing, printers, etc. So I decided to simplify my taxes and stay home and just type. Don't have to worry about computers either, because the company will just send me a new one.
Long, long files. Seemed like they'd never end! I'd never go back to VA again. nm
s
I've been doing this a long, long time...
I used to make $70,000 and up a year and did so for most of the late 80s and 90s (one girl used to make six figures a year working 7 days a week!) Because we were making more money than the supervisors and Medical Records Directors in hospitals, they began to switch to transcription services which were sprouting up all over the place. Plus AAMT came into existence and even though in the beginning it claimed it was to fight for transcriptionists (although assured us it was NOT a union), they eventually morphed into an organization that was more management friendly. They developed the "guidelines" and the 65-char line. That was the beginning of the end for those high-end wages. Then all those mickey mouse transcription schools popped up, and now outsourcing overseas. YES, we're complaining.
Been in this biz a long, long time, 30+ years and....sm
I love/loved MTing. However, things have changed so much during these years. The job definitely gets easier; don't have to look up much, can decipher ESLs much easier, in other words, you get pretty comfortable with things and you have confidence in yourself. The more experience you have the easier the job, but....
I actually made more money 10 years ago!! We didn't have speech recognition and you actually got paid for headers/footers, demographics, carbon copies, etc., you got paid for what you did fairly; today, I am not so sure.
You will feel burned out at times, but that passes and you find you like your job again.
Good luck to you!!
A long, long time ago, I was going thru
a really bad time emotionally and physically. I was suffering, and my transcribing suffered. I assure you - if you are to the point of not paying your rent, literally, and needing food stamps, there is something else going on in your life than current transcription rates. We are all in this industry and many are thriving, most getting along comfortably. If you are literally to the point of food stamps, you honestly would be a fool to continue. I blamed it on my job, on my line rate, on everything but the honest truth that I was ill and was NOT working as I should or could. It is a really sad thing that you keep spreading this propaganda that MTs in our culture are doomed and now destined for food stamps. Food stamps are not something to toss around lightly, as you would know if you ever had to use them. Please let's not be quite so dramatic. Again, if you are really in those dire straits, you really need to face that MTing is not the fit for you, personally, and do something about it rather than blame our industry. You dwell on the past, but we can't do that. While you may have made other wages 20 years ago, may I remind you that we were pounding away on IBM Selectrics using layers of paper and bottles of white out, going crazy trying to rewind tapes over and over to get that dang word, with no idea what an Expander was. Technology is fantastic. Things have changed, but things are still great in this industry, and in this world. Those who change and can adapt will be fine, but you need to recognize that most of us are not ready for food stamps.
Sure did...you been around for a long, long year
A gross line IS a gross line regardless if it's 90 characters long or 1 character long... SM
I'm very sorry that your lines are 90 characters line and you get paid by gross lines. You are cheating yourself - that's not my fault. You cannot change the definition of a gross line. So I gues I'm not understanding what you are trying to say. Now if you are trying to say that your line equals 90 characters and that's how you figure your lines, than you are not using gross lines. You have defined a line to be 90 characters, whereas most MTSOs define a line as 65 characters. If that is the case, then I must say again, you are cheating yourself.
So which is it, do you get paid by gross lines or by a 90 character line?
I would be over there too.....but I also understand where
people are coming from when they say she is criticizing their gov't, etc. I can't say what I would do because I don't know what she is going through, but you can't just assume someone is guilty when there is no evidence to that. Those 2 brothers were held way too long and think about how their parents are feeling. There is no evidence that they did anything and we wouldn't be able to hold them like that over here w/ no evidence.
Don't understand
 I love it when I hear that an MT, at whatever company, is doing 2000, 3000, or more lines a day. I love to hear that because I am trying to increase my line count and this gives me encouragement. I love to hear how they do it and try to take their advice. I don't understand why some get so upset when they hear that an MT has a great line count. Why do they automatically have to be liars or cherry pickers? I think we should be picking their brains to find out how they are accomplishing this so that we can benefit from it.
So I say, keep on talking about your line counts for those of us who want to improve ourselves, please!
what if you can't understand the
customer service rep.....I've had many,many instances while dealing with CS reps from India where I was completely at a loss to understand what they were saying. I say, I you can't speak clearly get out of the field!
Understand
Hope it makes you feel better to know that not all of us out here expect you to keep it to yourself. It gets kind of lonely, and bad days are the worst for that. I have relatively good accounts also, working for a small MTSO, but some days it is all I can do not to come on here and whine. I say, if it makes you feel better, that is all that counts.
Here's what I don't understand - sm
Say we use a template and end up having to delete a lot of unused headings. How is that calculated into the line count? I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if we are typing to make up for the deleted headings, if this makes sense.
And, yeah, I suppose I could ask a company representative but I wouldn't really expect an answer and don't want to rock the boat.
SS is my 1st MT job and while it never quite passed the smell test to me, it was easy to get and quick to get started and is certainly giving me invaluable experience with ESLs, if nothing else. Yeah, the money stinks and I could certainly do without the nasty emails, but the thing is what it is: A foot in the door. And I may even try to keep SS as a backup if my new job turns out to be slow.
as i understand it,
QA addresses the body of the report or dictation, and QC's job is making sure the patient information or ADT is correct.
I understand what you mean sm
I definitely think people who get off on being rude, hateful and just plain nasty to others are not happy people. A happy person is usually cheerful, pleasant and helpful and that isn't always because they live in a bed of roses. I've known people who were always cheerful, pleasant and helpful even when they were dying inside. I guess their attitude gives them a serenity that makes them able to cope, I dunno but I would wish I could be more like those people. Some of them have had problems that would have, seems to me, weighted down a saint.
Hope your editor is in a better mood; meantime, just feel sorry for her/him, I'm betting he/she is way more miserable than he/she tried to make you.
I understand thanks
NM
I can certainly understand, been
there myself, but I am currently working on an account that the second shift person does 5 to my 1, not because I pick or choose when I work or what dictations I transcribe but because of the difference in hours we work I get the responsibility handed to me to take care of things like corrections, researching problem dictations etc, that take away from my production but the other MT thinks I am also a cherry picker but I cannot do anything about what people think, so I do not complain either but rather just do what is required and I know more about the system we work in than anyone else on this account and still produce enough lines to make a good paycheck.
I don't understand. Why should they have to? Maybe they-sm
do a lot of it in-house, or maybe they use a smaller service. I don't know the answer, though. :)
UNDERSTAND
x
I just don't understand....
How people get off demonstrating such grossly childish and rude behavior.  Something's making you unhappy honey--you really should do something about it. 
I understand now.
been working so long my eyes are crossing
I understand what you are saying
I was on one account that I always had to fill in some of the info in order to have the ADT do the search to fill it in completely. Most of those reports were short ones as well. The account I currently work on, fortunately, almost always has the ADT filled in and are longer reports. However, you are correct, we do not get paid for the cc info and that can be time consuming when the doc/address is not in their drop-down list and you have to type all the info in yourself. You made a very good point about not getting paid for this.
I don't understand why someone
who has a 4 year degree would be a manager for K-Mart. It seems weird to me.
I don't understand
Well now, call me crazy, but I didn't respond to you yet. There must be an imposter out there.
don't understand
I must be dense but don't understand your question, do you mean how much does this equal if you were to get paid for spaces? Also how many characters in a line or is this a gross line? A simple test would be to check a document you had typed, using Word, see what your character count is with and without spaces divide by whatever your line count is and see the difference. Also see what your gross line is. Again, my brain could be dead on a Saturday after a very busy week but I don't understand what you are looking for as you don't give enough info.
Yes, I understand both of those
what if there are words following the quantity and unit of measure that make it end up sounding more like a sentence? Here is another example:
ANESTHESIA: 50 mg of Demerol were given along with 75 mcg of fentanyl.
It just looks wrong to me. Most of the time I end up flipping it around to say ANESTHESIA: Demerol 50 mg... etc., but I'm still wondering if it's okay to just leave it the original way.
Try to understand.
There are are three MTs scheduled to work 8-5 and 200 jobs to type. A fourth MT comes on at 8:00 A.M. because he sees a high volume of work. He/she sits down and begins typing for two hours at the end of which time there is no work. The three MTs who should have had 200 divided by 3 work to do for the morning have had 200 divided by 4 work and now have nothing left to do but sit and wait for the next flow of work. The fourth MT goes to have lunch, nap or play with the kids. (His/her schedule does not start until 3:00 PM. But at noon, she/he sees another drop of work, and she/he sits down and types for an hour. Then, the initial three MTs finish up their shift and the fourth MT comes on to begin a shift by clocking in.
Do you see where I am going with this?
When there is an unusually high number of reports, and TAT is threatened, calling for help is necessary but otherwise, I just do not see it as anything but intrusion and theft.
I think I understand her. Unfortunately, when there is
no required signature, people feel free to say what they wouldn't if they had to sign. If the negative posts could just be ignored, that'd be great, but you really have to see both to know which not to click on. Even people trying to be helpful here get attacked. It's very strange.
don't quite understand
I've usually worked at in-house jobs, so am clueless about this stuff....what do you mean by "double-dip"??
I'm not sure I understand this.
So you're saying we're all capable of murder, rape, etc. if that's what we want? I'm certainly not! We're all capable of desiring the same sex if we choose to? I don't think so.
I don't understand....
Do you live in a small town or something, and that's why you feel finding your own accounts are few and far between?
It is and has been my experience that clinics/doctors are SCREAMING to find good MTs,but that's the key - GOOD MTs. There are tons of them who claim to be good, but - well, uhm ..... never mind - we won't go there!
There's a LOT of work out there - a lot of it, but you have to do mass marketing and mailing and stay on top of it like a bird on a worm to find them. After all, you know,they're not going to come knocking on your door, right? Good luck.
I understand....
Don't let some of the posters on this board hurt you. In an abusive relationshup, you do what you have to do. You cover your bases, which is what I think you are suggesting. Different people have different experiences and you are just relating your experience! If she is not careful and has no documentation of abuse, her husband COULD convince the courts that SHE is making things up and HE is the better half !! Yes, you are probably sorry for your choice of the words *push his buttons* But you are just telling it like it is/was in your reality. You need to get proof to establish credibility. Probably, the better way to state it is...the NEXT time he is physically abusive...call 911 IMMEDIATELY!!!!! No bargaining, no questioning.
i don't understand
what your problem is. I don't mean to sound mean, but really 350 LPH, I wish I could do that. I type, at best, 250 LPH.
Sure, I do understand that, but there should be a way to (sm)
meet in the middle or something. For Pete's sake, SHE is the MTSO. She should be using a professional line count program. I understand that the Word count system is cheaper for her, but it isn't intended for medical transcription, it's intended for the kids writing their history paper to know if they've gotten to 500 words yet, you know? I should be paid for indents and returns just as I would be for the letter "p" or the number "5". I do totally understand your point, though. Do you think there is any way around it? Like perhaps that she needs to get on a professional line counting software and have us use it? I will not switch to the Word method without an increase in basic cpl pay.
Any ideas on how to phrase the conversation?
Exactly but I understand men can sometimes be such big ?!!?!
??!!
I sometimes get that. I understand
that magnesium can help. It is a natural muscle relaxer. Do a search on www.fatflush.com as they discuss achy legs there. Take care.
I understand that -
I admire someone who does not let themselves get distracted! I bet your boss likes it too!
I understand what an SE is. I am saying that if the
IRS has audited you and says you owe $$$, you for darn sure are probably going to have to pay them that $$. They don't just pull stuff out of the air, and they are, unfortunately, more powerful than our government. Sure, one can fight them, but you need to shell out big $$ for the tax attorneys.
maybe you can understand..
It can be done - it has been done.
There is a balance between MT and kids, it's the reason I took this job.
My kids do not suffer and my work does not suffer.
I never said it was a crime to put your child in daycare, and I never will say that.
My only point is to say that the attitude of "it can't be done" will get you nowhere.
I might add - I have only asked for one weekend off - it was for my brother's wedding, I had to go out of state.
From what I understand, it's all about the...sm
What I do understand about scientology, which is not a lot, is that if you follow the *practice*, you are supposed to become wealthy (I think, don't quote me)!
I did attend a small conference at church where the guest speaker was a former scientologist, and she had horror stories to tell. The people in *management* were not allowed to have their own money or babies! They lived on a compound, no TV, no personal items of their own. Not even a washing machine or dryer in their apartment...they had to go to a laundry mat! It's so sad that people get caught up in these so-called religions just because they think they'll get rich, when everyone knows the real treasure is in Heaven! Amen...
I don't understand...
 I'm not trying to be mean here, but I would think that after 17 years of working as a Transcriptionist for other services, you would know what type of equipment you'd need and where to go/who to target to find accounts.
From what I understand
Microsoft has complete instructions for this in their FAQ forums on their website, but from what I understand, you must locate your normal.dot file and save it to your desktop. Then the transfer should go smoothly. At least that was how I understood it. Good luck
i don't understand this?
what do u mean stop complaining on the board?
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