It's the "fastest growing" industry in the THIRD WORLD,
Posted By: but here in the US it's just a dead-end job. on 2009-05-12
In Reply to: Really need some professional advice - 91MT
And a low-paying one, at that, with few to no benefits.
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I had a very very mean dad growing up,
by the laws today he'd have been in jail for abuse. Outside the home, people knew he was a rough guy, but he was a good guy, always helping people with their cars, not normally losing his temper, etc. As he aged, he mellowed. My oldest son know what an SOB grandpa could be. My youngest son (10 years difference) NEVER understood or believed when we all said how mean grandpa could be. Grandpa and my youngest son were best buddies. My dad passed away almost 5 years ago and it hurt really bad. He and I had become so close after he got over the mean stage and we spent a lot of time together. I was the one he counted on when he was ill to take him to the doctors or hospital, and he knew I'd do ABSOLUTELY anything for him. I even talked with him about salvation before he died, as I really wasn't sure and wanted to know for a fact that even though he was a good guy, that he was saved and going to Heaven. That was really important for me to be able to deal with his death. So, when he died, I did lose a friend as well as a father and my children their friend as well as grandpa. Life is short, life is tough, but God is good.
This is part of growing up
I believe they have to start making their own decisions at some point in their life and living with the consequences. Same as we all do. I'm not saying he will regret it or not regret it, one way or the other, but either way, it should be his decision. Take it easy, Mom. 
Growing Companies
Well I know of one company that I worked for an never paid. How do they get more business? Well they can undercut everyone else on the playing field because they get newbie MTs to do the work for free. They charge the doctors less per line and make nearly 100% profit. It is a win/win situation for the company. I do not believe doctors check these boards and look for negative feedback. They just go to the company who offers them the best deal, but that is just my thought on the subject . . .
Not dying, just growing!
First of all, HIPAA does not require EMR for all records by 2009. If that were the case, you would have known about it several years ago, because most physicians do not use EMR and have no plans to use EMR at this point. Most HOSPITALS don't use them, either. Even if they wanted to, there aren't that many viable products they could use!
He may be thinking of other HIPAA requirements which have affected his practice and which he doesn't like. HIPAA did require some privacy and security things which he no doubt found irritating. He now has a need to transmit his claims electronically, which probably annoys him.
I would guess that the concept of paying an MT annoys him, too, so he took it out on you by terrorizing you during your recent visit.
Second, nothing about an EMR means you can't dictate and transcribe.
If you're currently doing only small-office dictation, you might want to expand your capabilities so that you can do hospital acute care. I think that job prospects have been better there since internet-based voice file transfers became possible. There are a lot of jobs available with national services and even with large employers who will let you work from home.
Yes, and also what did HE do about the growing threat of islamofascism?
x
Hiring because they are growing, have some hard
left (with the company's blessing). Now they are much stronger and better and in my experience, the most professional company I have dealt with in 10 years.
No extensions..he's been growing out his hair
I've seen other pictures of him on some of his Unicef trips and he's been growing it out. I just wanna get my fingers in there...looks so silky and smooth.
Oh, your poor baby! I had one of those growing up
even with a DOCTOR performing the excision. I can't even imagine -- nor do I want to -- what your poor little guy went through. I'd tie your ex down and burn the soles of his feet to let him see how he likes it! Grr!
Okay, on a less violent note, I agree that your ex had no business taking this into his own hands. I would definitely get something in writing legally saying he can't do anything like this in the future. That's just horrific to me. I can't believe he actually thought this was a good idea!
I've had some experience over the years with plantar warts and will tell you that sometimes they even disappear on their own (my son and I both had a couple after a vacation that just went away on their own). The doctor only treated that one of mine because it had gotten too deep and was hurting when I walked. Otherwise, he would've used treatments, probably similar to what you're doing, and just monitored. I recommend getting something in writing because plantar warts usually will recur (not always) and your son may get another later after these are cleared. I'd be darn sure you have some kind of recourse if the "genius" tries this again.
I realize he thought he was doing a "good" thing for his son, but in any other circumstance, that would be considered abuse! Yikes! I hope your little guy is feeling better and that his foot heals up soon.
No way. It's a huge wave that's just going to keep growing
s
the reason it is the fastest growing sm
industry is because of the schools out there selling MT training! The schools don't know what they are doing, they are just ripping prospective MTs off.
This profession will NEVER be something that can be learned totally in a classroom setting. If you go to school then you have to be willing to work in a facility for several years. you ahve to be willing to learn to transcribe any and everything and the worst of the worst before you EVER EVER go home to work especially on a production basis.
I don't care who it ticks off but at least it can't be said I didn't tell you the way it was.
The poster "hot pink" is telling it EXACTLY how it is but she words it better than I do. Im sorry for the folks who are losing their jobs (especially the MQ folks) to VR and India etc. But I think alot of the MQ employees used MQ as their very first job and didn't get the experience they really need. MQ should have been after you have worked for several years in a facility. With the training in every kind of work type and every foreign accent, etc. etc you wouldn't have a hard time finding a job now. They are still out there.
Whisperers. Ugh. I can do any accent thanks to growing up (sm)
with my mom who had a cleft palate AND a very strong Brooklyn accent! But why do they whisper? Like they are embarrassed someone might hear how badly they dictate? And why can't ESL's at least TRY to improve their speech pattern? Like the poster below who had the dictator making everything plural except when it really was plural, then suddenly it is singular. I mean come ON.
Good venting post Wannie.
Wow! You and I have a lot in common! Growing up in HI and having a Japanese grandmother who
practically raised me, I learned soo much on how to cook oriental and my "American" family loves it!
I can teach you all kinds of tricks - though you sound like you know most of them. Fried rice and fried noodles are super easy.
For anyone interested: Just boil 3-4 Ramen noodles for about 6-7 minutes. While that is cooking, combine 9-5-1
9 T of soy sauce
5 T sugar
1 teaspoon of fresh garlic
Mix all together. Mix may have too much sugar, in which case add more soy sauce or use less sugar.
Then add strained noodles to frying pan and the sauce - after stir frying for about 5 min. add frozen mixed veggies. You can also add a cooked meat such as chicken too! Family's fav.
Fried rice is super easy too. Cook 3-4 cups of white rice or brown rice. Let it sit overnight. When you are ready to fry them for lunch or dinner, use 2 T oil, 2-3 eggs scrambled and then cold rice - to this add approximately 5-6 T of soy sauce, cook, and then add frozen mixed veggies and fry for about 10 min.
I can make home-made sushi WITHOUT the raw fish and we love that. I can also make homemade beef broccoli.
I have tons of super easy oriental recipes. Cheaper too!
Neat sharing recipes like this...
We only have one go around in this life, don't spend it growing roots
x
The service area is limited, though growing.
I don't know if they are talking about WiFi or an Air Card. WiFi connectivity is cheap, but unless you live in a large city you'll find limited access. An Air Card (called different names depending on the company selling them) I then they start at about $249.00 and the fees are pretty hefty. Not sure how good it works though I've heard people who loved theirs and they traveled a lot and said they never were unable to get a signal.
Fast growing does not mean high paying nm
A lot of girls growing up with privilege like she had turned skank.
If your definition of skank is a female who is openly promiscuous with no regard for others, low morals, and is proud of it, there are a lot of them. Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchey, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson (claims to be a religious girl -yeah right), Jenna Jamison, etc...there are a lot of them out there.
Considering all that you mentioned, the fact that the economy is growing is amazing. But,
f
Or.... how about the famous line "we're growing!!!"
and you see the same ad week after week after week after week. I can think of 3 places that continuously have ads out. I have worked all 3. I now know firsthand why they advertise all the time, they probably can't keep anybody more than a month or two.
not only the MT industry
making changes with insurance. DH works for one of the large telephone companies. We now have to pay for a larger portion of our Rxs when previously they cost us nothing, plus office visit copays also increased. It's still better than not having insurance at all. But, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer!
What does this mean for the MT industry? sm
I saw this *** and wanted to share this with other MTs. What is your interpretation of this? Are we going to be out of work for good because I'm thinking electronic medical records are going to replace us, or am I misinterpreting this statement?  What is your take on this?
"...President Obama has also talked about the need to computerize all medical records in five years, creating a huge opportunity for information technology jobs and data entry jobs."
It's the same as any industry...
You have the bottom, the top, and the in between. I happen to be closer to the top, but there are so many others who are not at the bottom. And if you knew me, you would know that I do not have the 'screw everybody else' mentality... and it's not really fair to accuse me of that based on my post, which did not mention anything even close to that mentality. I just do not believe that we have it so bad in this industry, that's all. I think we should spend some time looking at the positives versus the negatives. There are so many people out there who have it way worse than majority of the MTs here.
State of the MT industry
Obviously, you work some place that pays very well and you might even have secure employment. If so, that's great. Some of us worked for companies that were sold or sent all their work offshore and we had to take jobs where we could get them. Don't be so quick to judge other peoples' choices. It's true that in some companies, wages are lousy, but do you really think you'd be a fry cook at the clown's over working from a home office? If you are earning great wages and have a good job, I sure hope you're able to help other MTs find something as good as what you've got.
If this industry has become amoral it's because:
MTs for the most part have always been treated poorly, no respect and low pay. We have to stand up for ourselves and not back down from our line rates because no one is going to look out for us but us. No, not even the docs and/or the OMs, surprise, surprise! I say she should go for the full monty. They get to see more patients and therefore have a higher income. Why should she have to settle for a lower income because they're smart and use time-saving macros?? 
Men make more than we do in any industry.
Sucks, but that's the way it is.
What is the industry standard...sm
Tried to post this on Wednesday, will try again...I need to know what is the industry standard conversion for minutes dictated to minutes typed? Not how much do you do - but what is average for one hour dictation - how many hours typed. Bosses think we're taking too long but we do not get automatic demographics and need to look on log sheets (if they arrive and if they're correct) for everything from patient name to referring doctors, addresses, patient #'s, etc. So I need to give him an "average" number of hours dictated equal "X" amount of hours typed taking into consideration the lack of information, the searching we must do and the various typing speeds. I'm not going to "judge" anyone's advice - just need some input from those that have been there. Thanks for sharing.
I agree - as with almost any industry (sm)
you have to find your niche and the place you can call home. IMO and experience, you can make $60,000-$120,000/year in MT if you find the right hospital, your own accounts, MTSO and/or area of transcription and increase your skills constantly. After say 4-8 different gigs and nothing works out, then MT work is probably not for you. Same for any job, whether it is tech support rep (my former career), mortgage broker, service tech.
Industry Standard for VR Pay?
What is the industry standard for VR pay? Specifically for someone just starting out.
Industry pay is sinking.
With 9 years experience, I was offered 5cpl for straight typing. Nuts if you ask me. Yet the company filled the positions with that pay.
The going industry rates are....sm
Around 14 cpl, 65 character line for transcription, 6-7 cpl for editing.
You can "thank" overseas competition for these pricing because they actually will quote around 8-10 cpl for transcription and 3-4 cpl for editing.
Stinks, doesn't it?
I remember when we used to be able to get 18-20 cpl, gross line and could pay the MT 10-12 cpl and all were happy. Gone are those days - I wish they were back!
You could mention where the industry is going
at all because it may offend someone. The funny thing is that some of the course outlines on line may give you some great material to go by as it explains it pretty well on some of those sites. I think it is a great career, so I may be biased.
Please do this industry a favor sm
CHARGE WHAT YOU ARE WORTH AND NOT A PENNY LESS!
I mean it. The last person I talked to about this has her own company. Clinics she charges 14 to 18 cents a line, depending on the difficulty and the logistics of the office. Nope, does not include printing or tapes, they have to call in, period.
For hospitals, she charges 22 to 26 cents a line and she gets it. She usually types as many of the OP notes as she has time for and doesn't sub them out because she likes that. Any lines she does herself goes into the corporation at 100% and she pays herself a salary for all her work, not by the line for MTing she does. She has 20 yrs of experience, all of it in acute care.
She says, DO NOT sell your skills short. Don't try to undercut someone to get the job. Remind these people that they get what they pay for and deliver on every promise, but don't make promises you can't deliver on 99.5% of the time. Incorporating is good, better than not and I know all of the reasons behind that too.
I wish you every luck.
yea but it is industry standard!
and also as i put in my email to my doc... the templates and macros BENEFIT YOU!
What is the future of IC in this industry?
Wide-spread IC, I mean, such as we've had in the past? Sorry for your situation, Blondie. The reason I ask is that the company I'm working for is making it a real priority to make employee MTs work their agreed-upon hours so the work can be kept in TAT and the clients will be happy and not break off blocks of work to send elsewhere. I'm wondering how you think the end of the work-whenever-and-as-much-as-you-feel-like era would affect the large numbers of IT workers. ??
More industry lies...
1200 lines per day at 8 cpl is only $96.00 per day. At that rate, if you worked eight hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, you would earn just over $35K. Who does that? Anyone working full-time for an MTSO can expect to earn less than $25K and you will rarely, if ever, see a raise. This survey is, as they say, in no way scientific. It is all designed to make people think it pays to be certified, which it does not.
Do you have any connections in the industry?
If not, you might as well forget it. The people/companies that land accounts are the ones that know people and have connections at the hospitals, offices, etc. If no one knows you from Adam, then they aren't going to give you the time of day.
Try the Department of Labor and Industry.
You can turn them into the State Attorney General's office, BBB, FTC, as well. And small claims court. I would send a certified letter demanding payment first with the threat that if they do not pay by XX date, you will pursue further legal action against them.
Heartland - the heart of the industry!
Heartland is the best company I've ever worked for in the transcription business.
Check out mtjobs.com, find a post for them, you'll be really glad you did. They are fair, always there to help you. They have great benefits, and one of the few companies where you are not just a number at the other end putting out reports. When I call them, they answer. No automated lines. When I have a problem? They fix it, right now. It doesn't get much better than that. :0)
Men appear to be making more income in this industry
I have worked with a guy here and there. It amazes me that they are able to make more. In one position, there was a guy in a position to distribute work who funneled the canned op reports (vasectomies primarily) to one guy on my account. Another is one I am working with now who somehow convinced those hiring him that he required a certain amount of money to raise a family. And he gets it. Seems to me that this is favortism. The "it's a man's world" frame of mind.
Has anyone else experienced this?
They've done nothing in the entertainment industry
Time to double your dosage and take a nap, dear. Sounds like you've gone over the deep end and are taking this way too personally.
You need to get out more.
Tell that to the cruise ship industry.
dd
The industry is changing and as it stands
now I would not recommend this field to anyone, but I am not worried about not having a job, at least not in the next 5 years. I am good at what I do and can do any work type, can do ESLs with little problem, have done QA, so I feel like there will always be a job as long as I want it. The pay may never get any better though.
There aren't that many jobs available, but there are so many people looking for work that a lot of companies don't feel like they need to pay to advertise. Check with employment agencies or temporary agencies. I worked for temporary agency years ago and got offered full-time positions with every place I worked.
Not sure what your career of choice is in, but you can get just about any degree on-line, or at least do all the basic courses.
Not sure of your financial situation, but if still paying for technical school, going part-time probably won't work for you so you could go to school or get in some type of internship for whatever you wanted to do.
You can sit back and wait for someone to knock on your door and offer you your dream job, but you'll most likely die waiting, or you can get your goal and work towards it. If you aren't willing to do that, then you are stuck where you are.
Article? As in one? This is an entire industry, and
has been going on for decades - I believe it was the 1960s when the food processors and dog food conglomerates figured out their partnership would profit them both. Its not an article, and to think so is honestly just ignorant. Also most huge dog food producers are actually other companies that have no interest in dogs at all - Del Monte and Heinz are in the dog food biz. Have you seen labels lately of the name brands that now claim to have some tomato enzyme in them? I can't recall the name, but it is literally a tomato enzyme that they claim is a new discovery for being great for dog joints. Its literally the tomato swill that Heinz and Del Monte use to have to throw out as its the slop that lands on the floor after Ketchup production, etc. Now, they just hose it into vats and throw it in the kibble ooze with a fancy label that most consumers fall for- tomato enzyme. I only wish I was making this up!! And its not a scam industry nor are we extremists. Most of us don't promote any brand at all - best thing for Spot and Fido is boring old meat, marrow bones and a few veggies steamed, and brown rice. The leftovers that our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents used to feed their dogs - table scraps - were fine! Again, do the research. Decades ago, dogs used to have an average life span of 20 to 25 years - now its 10. Cats used to live longer - 30 years - now its 15. And our parents and their parents would have laughed hysterically at the thought of spending good $ on Gravy Train or Alpo. We have been "had" as American consumers, and you are actually gonna argue about it! Your vets - bet they support Pedigree, too, which is absolutely garbage - dead animals and loads of corn filler, which, by the way, most dogs are intolerant of. They don't digest corn well. But its cheap for the manufacturers! Pedigree is well known for keeping lots of vets on its payroll to praise its products - gee, ya think they might like the $$. There are thousands more vets who know Pedigree and the like is garbage and are finally getting the courage to speak up about it. They are getting sick and tired of treating the animals who are NOT benefitting from this dog food. Nope, sorry, but way more than 1 article - its knowledge, and knowledge is wisdom, and wisdom is priceless.
I'd love any advice also. I'm new to the industry...
... and anything that will help me up my productivity is greatly appreciated. I love this board and the ability it provides to get advice from those with more experience. THANKS!
No, we who have worked in this industry don't have a good
we've been sold up the river! Can anyone say OFFSHORE?! That is the very reason our rates of pay have gone down the tubes. How COULD anyone maintain a good attitude? What I post to newbies here is just fair warning. No one can make any kind of living on 5 cents a line. Newbies are also fodder for crappy MTSOs. It may sound negative, but it's the absolute truth. It's pretty sick when offshore companies are now training US MTs. My suggestion to anyone thinking about going into MT....don't. Find another line of work. There are other things out there you can do.
And the healthcare industry DOES have integrity?
.
I believe the goings on in the industry affect us as MTs?
x
If US wipes out its MT industry, it better be prepared to
I know I'm at an age where, if US MT disappears entirely, I'm too far from Soc. Sec. or retirement to be able to take advantage of that, and too old to go back to school for the length of time it would take to learn a new skill that would pay the rent/groceries/gas/etc. So most likely I'd be on the government dole. Multiply that x tens of thousands, (hundreds of thousands if you add in all the OTHER US workers in other industries, but in the same boat age & skill-wise, and you've got a whole 'nother Katrina going on.
The industry imposed this platform on me.
I have to stop and wait on the st*pid platform to catch up to me. Type, pause, type pause. It ain't me, it's the software. That's what I was talking about.
You get a pin now? To stick in your eye out of disgust at the industry? :-)
x
i'd minimize the 'where the industry
is headed. I'd start with what 'transcription' means, the various ways it is done, technology, talents needed and challenges (spelling, grammar, anatomy, medical interest, typing, investigative skills, persistence through trials, accents, rules/regulations etc), recommended education, how to find schools/information, ways you can perform the job (in office, in hospital, at home incl. mobility with laptops), how our work relates to patient care...i could go on and on. Tailor your talk to basics and what the school is trying to do for the students as well as future courses they might offer. I'd also include some work-related humor. Good luck!!
The reason I said suck it up, is because you are new to the industry...
and have to put your dues in...we all have had to do that...I care about my work also and obviously not in it just for the money..
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