It's all about the benefits
Posted By: sm on 2005-11-14
In Reply to: You know what really surprises me? - C-msg
Hospitals don't want to pay the benes. The hospital where I used to work was sold and the new owners threw us all out plus the service we used. My benefits alone costed the hospital roughly $5000 per year x that by 15 transcriptionists. Plus they provided everything for us, equip, desk, computer, etc.
Apparently they contracted a service for X amount of dollars per month/year to do it for them. No messing around with line counts and they always know what it will cost them.
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That was with full benefits, which are the same benefits as an in-office employee for the QA staff..
However, I hear that their current QA staff are being asked to reach numbers that are out of sight and goals are basically impossible.
IC positions offer no benefits, employee positions off full benefits, so if you do not need
benefits, then IC would be best.
Right Now, we do get benefits
but MQ is trying to change that, of course. They are trying to get our hospital to outsource everything to them, which would then mean i can work for MQ or leave. I hate MQ. I want to see them exposed for what they really are and I want to see everybody that have hurt, be compensated.
You can do that with benefits too, ya know.
:)
As long as you're happy, it pays your bills, and you can make ends meet at tax time, that's all that counts. :)
Is that with or without benefits
Do they have Editor positions as SE?
If you don't need benefits, look into
doing house cleaning for individuals on a weekly basis. Lots of under-the-table money to be made from what I used to see when I worked at a bank (and saw deposits of gals doing housekeeping). Weekly house cleaning is no longer limited to the well off professionals.
I was in QuickLube, or whatever it's called this week, and a 70-something lady was talking about her work as a home aide - light housekeeping and cooking and companionship - no medical stuff. She got her referrals through her church and was charging $10/hour.
Unfortunately, some of us need benefits.
Not even in the salad days did I make anywhere near that. In fact, most of the services I know don't charge that.
Can you name some benefits for
the American MT to become certified? Please tell me how AAMT has changed the average MT's job security, satisfaction, etc. All I see is that they have given up on us and moved overseas to start programs and gain overseas members.
well, there are some benefits to having your own
was asking you to go away. A blog serves a similar purpose and in fact you may find a wider range of readers, interactions and help than what you may get on this web site. Yes, I have seen others here say they would start their own blog and have seen a couple of them, so it wasn't an only you thing (at least I didn't see it that way).
Benefits can add up to $10,000 though. (nt)
Tax benefits
I guess I just like knowing I own my own business and I made it what it is today. I like getting out and delivering. Talking to the people in the office making personal contact. Working as much as I want. I also like the write offs and paying less than $1,000 taxes per year. To each their own. To me this is the answer. Most on this board all they do is say that there is no way to make 50K a year and I simply gave an example of how you can do it. I am not knocking you, you seem to have done it I just like doing it "my way" as Frank Sinatra would say. Best of luck to you.
If you do not need benefits then you would
there is more leg work involved especially when first landing an account. The other problem is that even when you have a contract with them they can break it any time for someone who charges less. So you must remain humble with your pricing. When you have your own accounts, you have cut out the middle man, BUT, you must chase down your money. In my experience, the Transcriptionist must get paid LAST because most weeks, I have to ask nicely or do without. Have a safety net, an account to borrow from until you get paid because a lot of the time they pull OOPS, forgot your write your check, or OOPS doc needs to sign it or you just wonder when you'll get it. Just SOME things to consider, but good luck on whatever you decide. 
IC - No benefits with this doc
I was total IC before. I dropped my other accounts and went the employee route for the bennies and so taxes are taken out. Now I get days and holidays off, too. That's a first. Worked 9 years 7/7, 12-14 hours a day, 3 days off a year for family.
What no one seems to realize that in my area, money is tight and so I can't charge the same as someone in a city or heavily populated area can charge. Jobs just aren't here.
Benefits
They cannot give you benefits if you are an IC. If they did they would have to turn you into employees. This is not just my opinion they are IRS rules.
My pay is okay - just no more benefits
It has become a matter of taking a higher cpl w/o benefits or lower cpl with benefits in this industry...as well as those employers who want (example) 7 years of experience for 5-6 cpl. Anyone accepting that should be ashamed to call themselves an MT. I make only slightly less than I did 5 years ago. Now I make 11 cpl on a 65 line count versus 11-12 cpl on a gross line - the difference though, is that I had paid benefits then which I don't have now. The other difference is that when I could work in DOS and create all reports into one file to send at the end of the day, I could routinely produced over 350 lph (and never, ever work more than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week!). Now that I have to work on a platform that requires individual reports being submitted, I've really taken a hit in how many lph I can produce. I still work less than 40 hr/wk, though.
I truly believe in working smarter than harder. If a company offers a platform or dictators that prevent me from making a minimum of 200 lph or more, then I don't work for them. If I can't use my abbreviations that I've built over the past 10 years, then I won't work for that company. If I can't have benefits paid by the company AND the cpl I want, then yes, I will be an independent contractor and take all the tax benefits I can. Last year, I only paid $268 in federal taxes for the entire year.
I have to work around my child as well (I am single) and I am fortunate that my training days are well behind me. I still have a good life and good income, but I am choosy about the company I will work for. When I am older and things change significantly that I make less than $40k/yr, then I will go back into coding and have a job with good pay and benefits. I can't see staying in a profession if it doesn't benefit me the way I need it to.
About benefits
After I wrote my last post I was just thinking about the benefits. I was with Keystrokes for a while and you can be an employee with them and still get the flexibility of 24 hour TAT and therefore you can get the benefits. So it's not impossible to get benefits and flexibility. I know the Keystrokes ortho accounts offer 24 hour TAT, not sure if it's all of the ortho accounts, but I know some of them do. I'm not sure if they have other specialties that have the 24 hour TAT. Good luck.
Benefits
The only "benefits" an IC gets is being able to make their own schedule. We do not get any medical, dental, retirement. We furnish our own equipment, do our own taxes, and do not get paid vacation or holidays.
benefits?
I know people who would change bedpans, just to get a hospital job because of the great benefits package. No judgement on types of jobs some of us would or wouldn't actually consider doing, but bottom line for some people is a steady paycheck and health insurance.
benefits
They do have good benefits and I did look into the kitchen job a bit more. I have not called HR yet. I guess my main point is I am surprised that the HR person did not follow through and let me know there is not an MT job. She did not indicate that when I met with her. I am also surprised that the application went to another department but if that is the way it is done, ok, fine. I do not feel I am a prima dona. I would have understood them passing the application on to perhaps the business office or something else in the medical record department. The job asked for an experienced MT so I was just responding to that particular job.
No Benefits
I'm an independent contractor and so I don't receive any benefits. The reason I stay as an IC is because it allowed me to obtain one degree, and now I'm going back to obtain my nursing degree, and so I like the fact that as an IC, I can set my own hours and that kind of thing...so unfortunately, the penalty for that is not having insurance, paid time off, etc., but I hope it will all be worth it in the end when I'm a nurse! And, I don't mind answering any questions at all...so feel free to ask.
Have a good day!
CMT benefits
Company I work for pays 1 cent per line more for CMT, also provides gift certificates for several webinars a year so does not cost me much.
Benefits
Just found out benefit premiums are going up over $100 more a month. I am hardly getting by as is, let alone when benefits go up. I have to carry the insurance for my entire family (husband is self employed). If someone works for a company that offers good coverage (deductible $1000 or less and copays $30 or less) and cheap premiums (i.e. less than $500/mo for family coverage), could you please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Benefits (sm)
115V AC
3-prong grounded plugs
dust cover provided
I have benefits.
I am an employee though, so make less per line than an IC, and don't get to choose my schedule. Worth it to get benefits though. You just have to find a company willing to hire you as an employee.
do we get benefits?
What's a benefit????
No more benefits, either
I didn't either think about benefits when I posted. I got two weeks paid vacation a year plus paid health insurance and matching taxes deducted through paycheck. Now as an IC, I don't get any of those things. The one thing I have now that I did not have even in 2002 was cable internet, but didn't really need it as much then.
Have you added in the other benefits
The company has great benefits that can add up to several thousand a year. Paid downtime. Paid holidays. Vacation/PTO starting the first year. No equipment rental fee. Big discount on word books. Rental library for medical education. Reimbursement for continuing education. Decent insurance. Might make a difference.
ICs don't have benefits, so you'll have to get
outside insurance. I don't know of any insurance that will cover pre-existing conditions or if they do your premium will triple. Go to e-insurance.com and you get rate quotes there. You can also call insurance companies in your yellow pages that write health insurance policies. BC/BS is one of the cheaper ones. You might want to look into just a major medical policy, very high deductible, lower premiums, basically only good in the even of a catastrophic event. You can also look into a medical savings account to see if you qualify.
Whatcha got? Pay? Benefits? SM
How does your deal work?
Benefits Question
I am curious as to if anyone has found a company that pays benefits after 90 days. I have heard horror stories of companies who don't. Thank you for your input.
What are the benefits of IC status? nm
I would suggest only if you need benefits.
a
Medware has benefits???
The only benefit I heard of was their paying half of self-employment taxes. They said they do not offer full-time employment; they offer statutory employment which means they offer one benefit--the full-time employment tax half-payment. Where do I find out about the medical, dental, etc. you mentioned?
Do you find BayScribe easy to use and to learn?
About how many lines per hour is your average? How many on a good day? I'm just wondering about what productivity people are REALLY having in the company, as opposed to what a recruiter might tell me.
Yes, they do offer benefits.
I wasn't aware that they hired SE or IC. I was only offered FT or PT employee status with a set schedule.
I would take it just for the insurance benefits. sm
Those sound awesome.
Be aware that your benefits will SM
likely be less than what you are getting now and more importantly, THEY WILL BE TIED TO WHETHER YOU MAKE PRODUCTION QUOTAS OR NOT. Spheris has a rule where if you are not making your production quota for whatever reason you are placed on PART-TIME status and are not eligible for full-time benefits for something like 3 months.
Well then, you will be an IC. Are they taking away your benefits? nm
x
hourly plus benefits sm
Not sure what they pay by the hour though.
If benefits are a concern...
I would just find an job working from home that offers benefits. My job allows me to make money by the line, and also as long as I work full time, I get benefits. As the other poster, I too like being able to work from home and not deal with traffic getting to work, gas, work clothes, eating out, putting children in childcare, etc. It saves me so much money this way.
Also, I have been doing this for six years, and I haven't known any of the doctors personally.
Benefits are a concern. I am currently
working as an IC, and I am sick of the tax stuff - really wondering if I come out ahead to be honest working that way. I definitely want benefits and have a prospective company interested in hiring me that offers benefits. I have always known the doctors I have worked for. I guess it's sort of a new working situation for me not to know the person I am typing for. I don't know if I would miss that. Do you find it hard to deal with a company who is across country that you can't just drive to at a moment's notice if you have a problem and can't communicate by phone or email with anyone?
You say you need the benefits, so I would definitely hire in
I did transcription at home, bought my own insurance, got depressed and gained weight and lost almost all my social contacts. It really changed my personality for the worse. But for another person with stronger family ties, or real involvement in the community, it might not turn out that way.
In the past 5 years I've had to have some medical attention(comes with my age group) and I have been SO thankful for paid time off and for health insurance. I now also have some hope of having a decent retirement income so I don't burden my children when i get to that age.
It's such an individual thing. Best of luck in making the decision that is a great fit for you and yours.
benefits after notice
the norm is a cobra period of 3 months - most states require cobra benefits. But you have to pay.
Vacation and benefits - really!
Is there really a company out there that provides long-term benefits such as insurance AND VACATION and that will be around when we get ready to use it Just wondering if anyone out there really has any benefits doing at home MT work.
Webmedx has the best benefits, all around sm
that I have encountered with a service. I end up using my PTO for sick days and other, but if I didn't, I would have 10 paid days of vacation; 5 days the first year, 10 days the next 4 years. No sick leave, per se, just all called PTO. Health insurance is reasonable for an individual, high for family. But the insurance is really good coverage.
So could you tell me the name of these companies that have benefits?
Thanks for responding with this information. I am tore between going to work in-house for benefits and staying home, but really need some benefiits. Could you tell me the name of these companies that offer the benefits.
THanks
RE: Vacation and benefits - really!
This will take you directly to the home page of the company I work for, and you can click on careers, and it lists the benefits they offer: http://www.transcendservices.com/corporate/
I don't think anyone offers PT MTs benefits - sm
at least I have NEVER heard of any. I don't think I have ever even heard of any PT job that had benefits. All you can do is start making phone calls to said companies and ask them. Good luck.
can we ask what is the pay for your new position? any benefits?
x
No benefits as an IC but more money because (sm)
you are cutting out the middle man. You just have to pay the IRS out of your own pocket instead of having a national and that can get expensive.
As for the same rate to a company that they pay to an individual, you have to watch that. Being an IC, you need to KNOW what the going rate is; otherwise, you may undercut the going rate and/or make those working as an employee for a company worse off; i.e., I think that's part of the problem with the rates for employee status are going down...nationals must cut their rates because of the competition and...well, you know the rest of the story.
I hope this made sense.
Unemployment benefits
 I'm hoping someone can help with this question before I call my local employment office tomorrow. I was terminated last week as a med records employee with a small practice, but they still want me to do the transcription work as an IC at home. I agreed, because some income is better than none! In my letter of termination, it stated that because of the terms of my employment and since I was still in the probationary period when let go, I could not apply for unemployment benefits.
The more I think about this I can't understand it. I've worked as a temp in the past, was laid off after approximately 2 months, and still applied for and received unemployment. Anyone have a similar situation? Help!
Thanks very much!
No benefits with own accounts
You will not have any benefits with your own accounts and if you take any time off you either lose money by paying someone else to do your accounts or come back to all the work. Basically you have to either send out flyers, brochures, or postcards or make cold calls to offices. You have to be prepared to do tapes or ditital. Not all accounts are like mine and pay within 2 working days and so you have to be prepared to wait 10 to 15 days for your check. You have to be prepared to work sick, give up time with family or holidays when you first start out because you are the only one doing the account and you want to keep them happy or your pay check stops. Simply to start - advertise yourself and your business. Just like selling a house or any other business- gotta get out there and tell them you are available. But be prepared to give it 200% in the beginning and 150% to keep them at times. Again, no benefits except the knowledge you are working for yourself and making a go of it.
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