If I had just one other skill that allowed me to pay for my modest lifestyle, I'd utilize it.
Posted By: Not having fun anymore on 2005-08-28
In Reply to: I have diagnosed myself with motivation necrosis, possibly secondary to DQS. SM - Woo
Maybe it is the 20 yrs in this business. I now have tinnitus, am absolutely sure that sitting for 8-10 hours a day is having a detrimental effect on my health, am more anxiety ridden now that there is very little job security and I am a sole operation here in my little world, have arm and hand fatigue (it's a freakin miracle I do not have CTS yet). I just really do not enjoy doing this as I used to. I have to really force myself to stay focused and am really really trying to find some joy in it by realizing other people have tedious jobs just as I do that they must also dislike.
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Could be avoided if more would utilize
the good schools instead of trying to take a shortcut.
Other than MQ, what other companies utilize DocQScribe??
Utilize the speed typing engines and begin
storing in their favorite phrases so that a few letters will bring them up. I am working for several physicians. Took me a few months to get all the words into speed typing mode but now that I have, the time I spend typing is cut in half.
Never type a word larger than 4 letters.
chest pain - cp
pneumonia - pnea
atelectasis or infiltrate - aoi
so on and so on - whatever works for you. This is how to make money these days, high production. And the speed typing engines lessen change of typos and other erros.
lifestyle mtso
My impression of the MTSO lifestyle is about like what you said. I did have one that i worked for who lived in a 1/2 million dollar home, but, on the other hand, she went out of business a couple of years ago! Not that I would wish that on anyone.
I like the lifestyle it affords me.
I'm unbelievably rural right now and I'd like to keep it that way. It is at least a 40 minute commute to any sort of "town" where there are jobs...and for my skills, albeit as a medical secretary or whatever I can do for work along those lines or below them, would max out at MAYBE $10/hour where I am. I'd have to go back to college for some sort of degree and still wind up leaving this state because there is just no work where I am unless I want to be a truck driver or a nurse...and then I'm still looking at a 40+ hour work week, plus commute, plus another car payment, plus all the hassles that come with working with people. Ugh. It just doesn't make smart economic sense to me to dump this job in favor of something that still pays less...again, where I am in this country.
I don't have kids...don't want any either, so that's not my reason for doing this job. My husband is disabled and we only have 1 vehicl because that's all we need. If I got a job away from home...that would mean another car and then I'd be working for the car!
I really don't miss office politics and if this job stops for some reason, I think I'm going to shovel manure at a stable on the other side of town before going back to an office setting...but that's just me. I have the mouth of a sailor and have frankly learned to despise panty hose and high heels and can't ever see myself in that kind of atmosphere ever again...I think it would cause me to implode or something.
It is sad to see the pay being offered though...especially for places who want people to be able to "hit the ground running" and yet offer only 6 cents a line. Those "employers" need a good smackin'. However, you can sure as shoot bet they have a ton of applications to wade through and that's totally sad.
Lifestyle lift
Has anybody heard of or had Lifestyle Lift, am considering it. Any info would be appreciated.
you are killing yourself to support HIS lifestyle? sm
How many jobs does your husband work? You're crazy to keep up the hectic schedule you are on right now. Is money really worth you working yourself to death? If that's the only reason you are looking for more work, tell your husband to get another job. Sounds to me like you do more than your share!
Your kids come first, not your husband's lifestyle.
I would never work myself to death for any man, no matter what he did for me. Men are SUPPOSED to be the primary breadwinners in the family. Paying for your school and your computer. Pshaw! I think you've more than made that up already. Who takes care of your kids while you're working all these jobs? You're going to regret it so bad when your kids are grown up and all they remember is being in daycare while you work. Wow, he's got it pretty good with his little indentured servant, doesn't he? What about what YOU want out of life? I suppose you do all the housework, too? You're going to burn out and fry yourself. How much life insurance does he have on you? Since obviously money means more to him than his wife and kids' happiness.  Geez, I'd rather be poor, broke, bankrupt, single, and on welfare than working myself to death for any man.
The "everything all the time" lifestyle..tis sad. NM
..
Where you come off comparing gay lifestyle choices to sm
pedophiles (which can be compared with, say, serial killers IMHO) is NUTS. Pedophiles rape children and break the law. And you are showing a common thread HOW????
You go ahead and live your lifestyle--
I don't care what you do as long as you do it in the privacy of your own home and leave the rest of us out of it.
her lifestyle sounds fascinating to me !
x
ROFL! Maybe FBM made a lifestyle change
instead of letting the almighty dollar rule her life.
The homeless enjoy their "free lifestyle
Many years ago when I worked at the sheriff's dept., we tried to get homeless people into shelters, etc. They don't want to because there are RULES. The have to be in at a certain time, no drugs, no alcohol, etc. They live the way they do because they can do exactly as they please, get drunk, do drugs, and nobody tells them what to do. They get freebies from all the missions, the food kitchens, etc., and it has become a way of life with them. They don't want to change.
To lose weight & keep it off, you need to change your lifestyle,
Check out sparkpeople.com. It's a great site for developing better eating habits, starting an exercise program, and becoming healthier (and losing weight!) Best of all, it's completely free.
transcriptions have a skill also
as far as looking up addresses go!
There's a shortage of US MT's because the skill is becoming obsolete
Schools don't even encourage anyone to get into this field anymore because they don't want to have someone take a course and then be out of work in a few years when this skill goes the same direction that shorthand did several decades back.
Like someone said on the Company board, education is the key. Don't allow yourself to be a one-trick pony and learn how to do something else while you can.
MTs with less skill s/b paid less with that money going to the best
I can do xxxx but it makes me sick when the slackers get the exact same pay as me. Please don't give me the xxxx story that I can make more by being more efficient.
This is all part of transcription and the skill
I have had in all of my years of experience many types of dictators. I can honestly say that I have had ESL dictators that were better than your run of the mill American dictators. We are a melting pot, and what's funny to me is that so many make comments about an MTSO sending ESL dicators offshore, yet we have Mexican, Chinese, and Indian restaurants that we eat from and love the food. I think we need to somehow learn to embrace the ESL dictators. I had an ESL that was the most lovely physician. He knew that his dictation was difficult and was always willing to answer questions and would take the extra time to explain why he stated this or that. 
Upping the skill ante.
You might go online and look at Oak Horizons. They have an excellent reputation and are affordable. Also check VO-Technical schools for grammar as they are less expensive but adequate and junior colleges in your area. Good luck and good for you in improving your quality.
Good research skills the best skill an MT
x
If you believe editing is a HIGHER skill, then why are we being paid
Failing national skill test
This is to Vicki. Please do not be discouraged. The MAJORITY of the companies out there (most of them advertising here) actually DO NOT want experienced MT's. They are looking for the stay-at-home mom (not critizing, wish I could be one) that do not actually have to carry an active part in family income. If you are experienced you would actually produce (imagine that-isn't that why we are working cpl?) and that would cost them money. Where a newbie makes the minimal amount for a time and that makes them happy. Not to say that they would not be on the newbie's butt to produce 98%+ etc.
I have 30 years experience, and I have failed tests from a national company. I have kept myself updated over the years and extremely computer literate, and had been in charge of staffing before they recently outsourced our workflow to India, so it is not a case of not accepting the "new ways" of doing things. Many of the "new" AAMT guidelines are grossly incorrect according to the major hospital system that I represent.
Just my say. Thank you.
B.S. in HIM, no MT school, OTJ training for that skill, but the HIM classes for the knowledge. nm
x
It depends on your skill level, your speed, your ability to do the
nm
Editing is the higher skill since it's more brain work,, AND SM
the computers are taking over the finger work. That and practitioners entering directly into the electronic medical record mean that most traditional transcription jobs before too long will be a thing of the past.
So I'd recommend you go directly to editing since you'll end up doing that anyway. If there's a future in this, it's going to be with a higher level of medical knowledge and a more expanded involvement in medical records beyond merely editing dictation, but likely including that.
Plus, with editing you'll be in at least twice as many reports as if you were transcribing them, which means you'll get much more experience more quickly. Whether you'll lose some benefit from not typing every word out I don't know, but you will spend a lot less time getting verbage you don't need to learn on paper. I.e., instead of typing some version of, "The patient presented to the emergency room by private automobile with a complaint of" a few hundred times a week,...you don't.
Do commit to developing an expansion base that will cut the Keystrokes it takes to do your work to the very minimum. As long as anyone's paid on a production basis, and as long as we're using keyboards, someone using 5 keystrokes to make 2 edits will BOTH make a lot more money than someone who takes 9 keystrokes to make one correction AND be a much more valuable productive worker--i.e., worth keeping on and developing as most traditional jobs disappear.
And do sign up for more medical classes, the ones people preparing for nursing and medical school take.
Whether you'll make more or less money one way or the other right now probably depends more than anything on the particular talents you bring to the job and the particular skills you choose to develop. Unlike the previous poster who does better transcribing, I make more editing, but I'm a fast reader and a slow keyboarder, so the less my income depends on what my fingers are capable of the better. Best wishes!
Yes! We're talking critical skill developement here! nmx
x
Totally agree. They're no longer paying for this so-called skill
and that's part of the reason the quality is down.
This is a very basic computer skill/concept. You copy files to another drive using Explorer.
There are very detailed instructions in the Help files that accompany Windows. You can read those for more information.
Basically, you open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer). Locate the files you want to copy, highlight and right mouse click. Choose Copy. Now, find the location where you want to copy these files (usually another drive like D: or H:, whereever the flash/jump/thumb drive is located) and paste the files there.
Good for you, Linda! SM First, editing's a desirable trend. Higher skill, easier SM
I feel it may be like a train about to rush around the bend at me.
For the discussion, editing is a higher skill and it's easier on the hands--absolutely no carpal tunnel problems since I started editing. And the WAGES ARE ABOUT THE SAME--you go through approximately twice as much dictation (some people more, some less depending on talent) in the same time it would take to transcribe it and get paid half as much for that amount of dictation, ending up without a drop in wages from editing. This is fair and market-driven.
Fewer editors would be needed, but some would be needed for the stinkers, even scary-good as VR gets with most dictators.
The big threat is from the electronic medical record, where physicians and their assistants check boxes on a handheld device they carry around with them and there is NO text report to come to us at all. England has had this for some years; go look and see how MTs are doing on the Emerald Isle.
No Chicken Little here, guys, AND not burying my head in the sand either. I don't have a view into the future, but the one thing that's clear is the future will require developing new skills, professional or trade level, of one kind or another. I just hope and pray it doesn't require going back to suits and office politics. School's okay, even at my age, but am guilty of putting it off to see if I'm going to be allowed to continue pretty much as is until I'm too old to work...huh--maybe there's some sand obscuring the picture after all. Best wishes.
It's not funny when you're on a board where language is one skill you're selling.
.
It's not even a sport - these guys aren't athletes - it's a SKILL not a SPORT
x
And is QA allowed to let her know
about these errors? Or is the company afraid she'll be offended if errors are pointed out? Some people get very upset when they are corrected, so I always wonder if anybody has the courage to pass on corrections to good producers who might go elsewhere if they get offended.
And is QA allowed to let her know...
I've been reading with much interest all the debate going on about QA but this particular post really caught my eye.
As a former MT/supervisor/QA employee in a major MTSO and having differences in the amount of MT training of my staff, which would determine how I would mark a QA error, I also used the "how would I feel" quotient. Were the remarks I might make be taken the wrong way; after all, I was just trying to "educate!"
I still feel passionately that all employees, MTs and all, should be treated fairly and with dignity without taking into account whether a person might or might not leave. In today's MT market, sometimes we "step on toes" because we're human, but I would like to think that most MTs just continue to love what they're doing---even in the bad times. When compassion and yes sheer joy for the job dissipates, then it's time to move on!
Editing is the higher skill. I earn more editing SM
because I'm able to produce more--if the company doesn't adjust the way production's figured down and down again to keep the account from going elsewhere (when that happened to me on EditScript with no explanation of why my income was dropping, I went elsewhere also).
Live and let live. Don't force your lifestyle on me.
x
This is not allowed at our school.
They used to have volunteers, but these volunteers were given assignments in various areas. Now the parents have to drop the kids off outside and drive on. If a parent needs to come inside, he goes to the office, not to the student's room.
Not allowed at our schools either. sm
You can volunteer and go in and do reading with the kids, etc., but all visitors need to check in with the office and any "in class" volunteering needs to be approved by the teacher and the principal.
I have found this a good thing in light of the world changing. Fathers have shown up in the past to get their child when a protection order had been filed and they were not allowed to have unsupervised visitation. Of course the mom would forget to inform the school and the kids would always run to daddy.
I have one child left in the elementary school, my older two have graduated and one will be a freshman in high school starting day after tomorrow. (Yay! can't wait to see that bus! :)) I have seen a lot of changes, both with parents and with policies. The staff at the elementary school know me by name, but I would never dream of picking up my child without checking with the office first. Every time I check in, the office staff says, "Oh hi! Go on up to the classroom." I still check in after 18 years.
These parents that interfere should be told to sign up for when volunteer help is needed in the classroom or other areas of the school. And only then. They need to stay out of it. If they're so worried about "little Bobby" and have so much time on their hands, they should home school and leave the teachers to do what they do best. I've been through 25 elementary school teachers and only had a problem with one who was finally fired.
No way is my dog allowed in my office.
I'm working in here, not entertaining my pet. I love him to death, but this is my workplace, not a hangout for my dog, my cats or my kids.
But I know what you mean. I miss my pup when I'm working. It was just too hard to deal with so he was banished from my office along with the 2 cats. Too much fur on the carpet for one thing and, like you, every time I got up, my dog thought it was time to play or go for a walk.
My only other suggestion is a "porta potty"? 
You are not allowed to work
more than 40 hours in a week; Sunday through Saturday; that is considered overtime and they will not pay you for overtime; you will get a WARNING.
If you work 40.5 hours one week and 39.5 hours the next, which equals 80 hours for the pay period, you are over and that is a NO NO.
Gladly would add a little here and there but you cannot without permission and after 40 hours for the week we are wiped out from switching from account to account to account, etc., etc.
No cherrypicking allowed here, but....
I know some reports do get shot back into the pool now and then. Luckily for me, they're nearly always LONG reports by my favorite dictators (ESLs are my specialty), so I don't complain at all. However, the rule here, which is hard to enforce, is that any skipped jobs or cherrypicking is grounds for being severely chastised for the first offense and immediate termination for the second.
IMO, why not just type it and be done with it???? Doing that takes less time than anything else, and time is $.
Are you allowed to work outside your sm
schedule to get in your line count if you can't get it done in 8 hours or do you automatically lose your benefits?
Sorry - did not realize I was not allowed to do that. Really, sorry..nm
nm
Not a mom, but mine allowed me when I was
My cats were allowed outside until...
I got tired of all the medical bills due to things they were picking up from other animals that were outside and were not being taken care of. The last straw was the last episode of worms, which were roundworms. Having kids, I cannot take the chance of them getting sick due to this. Also, I had a stray cat I fed all the time and took care of because the neighbor just left it when she moved, not to mention the fact that she didn't care for it while she lived there. We were moving and found someone who would take the cat, but only if he was fixed. We were going to fix him, but noticed his glands were very swollen. Turns out he had feline leukemia. I put him down, cried the whole time, and came home and buried him by myself while the kids were gone. I was soooooo angry. While my cats have their shots, that is a chance I am not willing to take. I have had my oldest cat for 11 years now and he is like a kid to me. I am very much for animal rights and go above and beyond to help animals in need, much to my husband's dismay, but there are times when not letting your animals outside is justified. My dogs are inside/outside dogs, but they cannot get over the fence....the cats can.
Venting is allowed. :o}
You go right ahead. I had a sweet ESL lady today. I actually liked her accent because she at least said all the syllables for me, but I could tell she was putting in an extra effort with certain words to help. It was so sweet of her. Wish the spanish accent dictators would do that for me, LOL.
We are not allowed to keep any patient sm
records on our computers, at all. They should be stored in the provider's files if they want to keep them for access.
I was not allowed to have both MQ and Precyse on my
nm
Are we allowed to swear? I can't believe that!
If that is the quality of the transcription they are getting back, how on earth are they passing audits with hospitals?
I just do not get it.
We are not allowed to put the patient's
name in a record and only "the patient" if dictated.
US should have never allowed it in the first place
for our records to be handled outside of the US. I think the terrorism thing is everywhere; as another poster said, we have had them here. This issue is about the US taking money out of our hands, then expecting us to work for beans AND improve a failing economy? Impossible. Hopefully at some point the people who can do anything about outsourcing (government) will realize this and bring MT and many other industries back where they belong.
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