Ive worked Sundays since I started transcribing 18 years ago!
Posted By: me on 2005-08-22
In Reply to: wants to work weekends and they need weekend coverage. - Well the problem is that no one
..but i know that they always need to be covered and people keep getting sick and having operations... holidays too. we are in one of those kind of jobs. i love having time off during the week to get things done though.
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When I first started transcribing,
it was most comfortable to put the keyboard on my lap, and I spent much of my time transcribing in that position. I did not require a pillow due to long arms and short upper body. One arm is a little longer, so the keyboard was on a little angle.
Everybody's body is different, so you just have to pay attention to what's happening as you type and adjust your position. It's not bad to have more than one position you use each day. And I can't stress enough the importance of exercising. I know you don't want to take the time, but if you would use little free weights and proper form in a few exercises, moving the weights slowly with no momentum (some of the form I see on The Biggest Loser is not ideal!) you would really help your posture and get rid of the knots before they start getting bigger and pressing on nerves.
There are also chiropractic exercises for your neck that have been around for decades that can really help keep neck pain away. It's where you put your hand on one side of your head and push against the hand for a count of 10, with 10 sets. Then do it on the other 3 sides of your head.
You just need your muscles to be a little stronger to support your arms more comfortably. And with exercising you also learn to detect tension.
Are you squeezing your jaw muscles right now? That's where tension starts. Stretch and relax your jaw. Where are your eyebrows? Raised for no reason? Knit together in a frown? Let go and relax your face.
Just started working as an IC for a company, found out something I had been transcribing for
years was wrong. When I questioned it, they explained it to me, but for 20+ yearse no one else had seemed to care. You learn something every day in this business.
It cut off my reply... I worked with one guy who was helping pay thru med school by transcribing...
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did not say she was new - said she had many years transcribing - nm
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agree...have been transcribing for over 16 years
and have never been asked if I am certified. Have never been offered more money to become certified either.
I worked for co. that started doing this and that
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Nearly 20 years of transcribing, and my first dictator with hiccups throughout! nm
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I worked for Cbay for 3 years. I was also part of their lay off back many years ago. sm
Even though I got stuck in a lay off era, I still love the company. They paid well then. The people were nice (exception of 1 person) and if I had the opportunity I would go back again. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depending on how u look at it), I have a great paying job right now, so I am not looking for a change. I do know that at one time, they asked management to accept late paychecks, but never sure of the reason why. My check was never late.
I started using it when I worked for Rodeer. They had used PRD at one time
I like the simplicity of it, and the fact that's it's fast compared to others I've used. I'm not sure why that is.
It doesn't have any prompt that reminds you of your expansion, so you have to have a system of remembering, which is another thing I prefer. The reminders only get in my way and slow down my production.
Started in 1979 when I was 18, worked in office at MQ while it was still
.
Before I started my own business, worked in a hospital in-house with taxes taken out & then went hom
was getting with shift differential 23.80 when I left. Your pay seems extremely low, you could make more as an IC seriously.
I started in the file room of the urology office I worked. And I was not
going to be a file clerk for the rest of my life. I only had 2 semesters of terminology, no other professional schooling. They had a fresh from a Mayo Fellowship peds urologist coming in and needed somebody to help with the typing. First it was half file-room and half transcription. Finally he was so busy, I became full time. I was there from 1990 until 2003. I then left to free-lance and start my own business. He has since moved to Arizona and I still type for him after all these years.
When they first started 8 years ago they were bad.
They have improved with time, experience and consistent feedback.
It bothers me too, but I faced the fact some time ago that the situation is not going to change.
Some of our clients don't know it either. Others specifically request it(lower pricing). Sad, but true.
37 years. started when i was 15. nmx
xx
That's how I started out 30 years ago, too. - sm
Biggest career mistake of my life. My friend went to court-reporting school - tried to talk me into it but I wanted faster results. Back then MT pay was almost comparable to CR pay, too. I figured, why go to school 3-6 years, when I can go for 20 weeks and have a job? So I chose MT and look what happened. It didnt matter after all these years whether I was good at it or not... the field is drying up in terms of being able to support yourself at it. My friend? Steady work, good money, owns a nice house, put her kids through college, etc.
That's what I started at 9 years ago SM
as an IC at the local hospital and at first, didn't make much money, but as I got more familiar with the dictators, I could do 150 minutes in 6 1/2 hours. That was a good deal. I left because:
1. I got bored.
2. I worked 7 days a week plus all the holidays.
3. I thought the grass was greener elsewhere. I needed bennies and the hospital, even though my work was good, wouldn't hire me as an employee because then they would lose #2.
When I first started out 10 years ago,
my very first job paid $.055 per 55 character line. My next job three months later paid $.07/65 characters. Then I had a hospital job paying $10 per hour plus incentive. Moved up to opening offers of $.08-.09 cpl with nationals. Got tired of nationals. Made very decent money for the next 2-3 years paid $.12/gross line until those two contracts got outsourced or went to VR. Got a part-time job outside the home in a different field for six months until that company laid everyone off. Now I'm trying to find another $.07/65 cpl job. Ten years later and I'm in the same place in life again.
Worked inhouse for years and years
Inhouse transcription from 1973 to approximately 1992 and we had no downtime for answering the phones and when the physicians came into the room (or others) needing some assistance, just part of the job. I did not feel bad about doing it then and I dont see why you would either. You don’t realize that probably you are making right now more than if you are outsourced, right? You have hourly salary plus incentive. Guess how many of us have that now? Probably inevitable about outsourcing so I would say just enjoy while you can. The pay our here now sinks further and further. I make, for instance, 4 cents a line for voice recognition and 8 for straight. Now, more complaining?
If you just started MTing, how could have have been an MT for 10 years?
That's what your post below says.
9 years this month...started in
Well she started out as a reporter 26 years ago.
She's not poor by any means!
I started getting symptoms after about 3-5 years. Nobody could believe it. sm
Fellow MTs told me it was too early, but nope. I had the tests, and had/have bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Think it's anatomical for some. I have very tiny wrists, and I've read that sometimes that can be related.
Some 15-20 years later, I had endoscopic surgery on the right side. I wouldn't recommend endoscopic. If you get surgery, go open. I learned later that it's usually more effective. I still have symptoms in both wrists, can tell no improvement in the right hand.
Best things: Physical therapy was the very best, but Worker's Comp obviously wouldn't pay for that forever. Cat's Paw (exerciser) is cheap and mimics a lot of the stuff I was doing in PT.
SmartGlove when I work. Helps a lot.
Trackball - huge difference.
Shorthand - I have made it my hobby to learn to work smarter instead of harder. I studied the productivity sites and am constantly working on building my ShortHand file. It's rare that something isn't in it. I have gotten to where it shows a savings of about 50% keystrokes, which is something to think about. It's like working half a day and getting paid for a full day.
Rest. Get up at least once an hour, go to your dining room table, put your palm flat on the table and press down. You should feel a really good stretch. And then I take at least 5-10 minutes to break. Maybe not the best thing for productivity, but the best for longevity.
I started 35 years ago this month. sm
I started in a small hospital in the Midwest and spent 6 years there, then moved to the West Coast. When I started, we had two reference books, Dorland's and the Surgeon's Syllabus (a red much used book). We were on Royal typewriters, four carbon copies, all colored with different color white-out for each copy. Our dictation came in on wax records with the stats at the switchboard station. They would call us when one came in and we would walk down and get it. They were on lilac wax and the others were on a salmon color. We had little record players at our desk and we would transcribe the wax records, then put them in a press to take out the grooves and use them over and over. I loved working there. We then graduated to the Norelco reel-to-reel, and then to the Dictaphone plastic belts, then the magnetic belts, and then the MT/ST, then the Mag-Card, and finally to the computer, then to the Lanier pop-up tape system, then to the Sony Network, and then to digital voice. It's been a long joury and I was with one employer for over two decades before being sold to MQ. I had the best boss in the world, generous to a fault, but then MQ came along and offshoring and the MT business went down, down, down. I make half of what I used to and I work twice as hard. Benefits are hard to come by and there is no security. I long for the old days.
I quit for several years and started again.....
I'm a moron. I hate it and I hide it from my kids. It stinks.
Forgot to add--I take Sundays off and
only work a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon.
This really is pathetic. 5 years ago I started out with .07 and they are still only paying that?
started at about 8K PT 2002, last couple years 12K but
I did not work much in 2005 for about 6 months when my 5-y/o got diagnosed with cancer and going through chemo, etc. So I would have made a bit more. I expect to do about $16K this year. I alternate my hours a lot though, about 60 or so minutes of work during the school year a day, but then only 30 during the summer, plus a side job that fluctuates ($300-500 a month). I am shooting for $20K next year, still not at FT (5-6 hours a day). I'll see how it goes. I think $12K for PT is good, but that is my opinion.
Sundays bad news for hospitals
There was an article in todays newspapers about how a lot of hospitals are closing their doors and some going bankrupt because of the bad economy and people out of work coming in with no insurance and not being able to pay bills. Mostly small town hospitals or urban. Or laying off all nonessential personnel, ie, doctors, nurses, rad techs. What about MTs future, will they chuck our services too, whether or not we work for the hospital or an MT company, and go back to handwritten notes.
Yes! My kids (above, age 22 and 24) started out making more than I make after 30 years of MT!
.
I proof as I go. I didn't when I first started umpteen years ago. nm
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I started a neighborhood watch a couple of years ago...sm
we were having similar problems to what you're having and they're gone now. Here's what worked for us. I gave every home in the subdvision a flier asking anyone that was interested in forming a neighborhood watch to come to an organization meeting and made the meeting a week later and on a week night, and gave my phone # in the event someone was interested but couldn't attend then. Out of 150 homes in my subdivision we had 40 people show up and 20 called expressing interest.
Everyone had the same complaints on the same "problem" homes and as a group we decided that each time the noise level was high enough to hear outside of the vehicle or house that we'd call the police. We all alternated placing those calls so the police department didn't think it was just 1 person complaining. The police department agreed to increase the patrols for our subdivision at all hours of the day and night and just having people see them ride through every few hours helped significantly cut down on the problems.
Over time the people that were causing problems either put their houses up for sale or moved out of the rental home and left when they saw that we neighbors insisted on a peaceful and quiet living area. It worked! When these problem homes left the problems with the trash thrown on the roads left as well.
In addition we were having some problems with some of the youth hanging out walking the streets at all hours and it was making some of the residents nervous, especially when the youth were walking through yards. So, we told the youth to stick to the roads, ask permission before cutting through yards to find out who cared and didn't care if they walked through them, and one of the men placed a basketball goal at the end of one of the cul-dec-sacs for the kids to play basketball after the neighbors in the cul-dec-sac agreed it would be fine. It worked - some of them started playing basketball there and they honored requests of homeowners that didn't want them walking on their yards.
Good luck to you!
I've been in MT for 20 years. Started out in the office at a hospital.
Switched to working for services from home for a while and now I work for the same hospital I started out at, but I work from home now. So I guess you can say I've come full circle and now I'm back where I started. I much prefer being an employee of a hospital versus an IC or employee of an MTSO.
It may be that your user profile in EXText is not set up to allow you to add normals. I've found with services they don't give their MTs a whole lot of freedom with their software. 
I usually work a split shift on Sundays
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (there really isn't much to do during that time), then I log back in after 9 p.m. when I get my son in bed and will usually work for 3 or 4 hours. I am usually busy then because the docs are all dictating their pre-surgical H&Ps for Monday morning surgeries. I'm on the East Coast and my hospital is on the West Coast, so it works out good that way.
I will occasionally log in on Saturday afternoons too, but work is slim to none then, so I usually don't bother.
that is what is being worked out, and has been worked on for the last few years already...only
why are we just hearing this now? I know voice recog has been around, but this is entirely different. This will also make coding and billing obsolete.
Don't know why, but it just bothers me that one of our 'own' is the one pushing this...and she is also connected with AAMT. Do they support this, and if so, what is their advice I wonder to the MT?
Perhaps that is one question for their website (I do not subscribe to their mag or credentials...)
Thanks, for the input!
all that PLUS, when I started 13 years ago, electric typewriters were still used (smile!) no message
xx
I worked for MQ for 11 years.....
and about 5 years ago was fired for not meeting my line count requirements. I started there when they were still sending out typewriters to work on and sending tapes back and forth by FedEx. I worked for the Warminster office. If I got work on a daily basis (even 11 years ago!!) I was lucky. The girl that was supposed to pack up my envelope daily "forgot" to send me stuff at least twice a week. As they moved to computers and internet, etc. they still were so unorganized it was pathetic. The account I was on NEVER had work. And it was the big hospitals in Philadelphia. I would try first thing in the morning, all day and half the night to get work, but there was never anything. And yet they fired me for not getting my lines......go figure!
I worked as an IC many years ago
and paid my taxes yearly instead of quarterly. I am going back to IC as I cannot make a living as an employee. Can you still pay your taxes yearly? Anyone know or can anyone tell me how they pay their taxes? TIA.
I have worked for BTS for 2 years
And have really enjoyed it! Pay is always on time, they are very thoughtful (like sending Christmas gifts to ALL employees and MT day). As an MT, I've had arguements with QA, but think they (QA) are great overall, as is the company.
It's been about 2 years since I worked there--
but my whole family was covered. There was a prescription plan. I can't remember how much copays were, but not more than $30, I'm pretty sure it was less than that. You could also get dental and vision.
I worked for them 5 years. They won't, lol.
nm
Not sure, as I have not worked in WP for years, but....
I think if you hit the Windows key (one with the Windows logo) twice it will release it. Hope this helps.
never ever worked for MQ. I have 16 years
experience in medical transcription - both in hospital and doctors office/specialties.
I worked for them a few years ago...sm
I believe the owner's name is Lisa - she was nice to work for. Platform seemed a little slow, but it could have changed by now. I would go for it. The work was pretty easy. I was an IC and she had in mind what hours she wanted me to work, which didn't work for me. Left because I was interested in becoming an employee somewhere.
I have worked for 2, 13 years for the first and 3 for the second. nm
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Yes you can. Worked that way for 3 years. nm
Have worked for co several years and this 1st
x
the doc i have worked for for 4 YEARS
still spells his name at the beginning of his dictations. And when i talk to him I joke with him about it... he STILL DOES IT!
(I am the only MT so that's not the reason that he doesn't know who might get his work)
i worked for them for 7 years too...
LOYALLY, skipping vacations and not taking on new accounts, just to keep my "favorite" office up to date with a 24-hour TAT for the 3 doctor urology practice.
It was very very upsetting and a total slap in the face and the minute I realized, nobody cares about us...
You are probably right about employee status being unhappy, I probably would be too. I know I am lucky as an IC... however that comes with paying the price too, absolutely NO benefits... and constantly being nervous now that my job will be taken away and given to cheaper people... :(
Years ago, I worked for a guy who actually said
I should consider myself his wife at work! He expected me to take dictation in ShortHand (revealing my age here), fetch coffee, and told me that if I gained weight, he would lay me off until I lost it because I was projecting the image of the company (it was a pasta manufacturing company). What a PIG! I was 18 years old and totally naive and sooooo stupid. I quit the job after a couple of months.
Your post made me look back and thank GOD I'm sitting at my desk, looking like a complete slob on my slightly fatter rear and don't have to deal with creeps like that anymore!
I have 13 years experience and just started a hospital job working from home making $16 an hour
and with a really good incentive plan. I live in the Kansas City area. $10 seems like a low starting point even with only two years experience which is the usual benchmark for hospital MT jobs.
It's been my experience that the low end of the pay scale for hospital employed MTs was around $12 an hour. Also, it's been my experience that the pay offered is usually based on years of experience and how well you perform on the transcription test.
I would say if their pay is that low, they should at least be making it up with incentive and it doesn't sound like they are.
JMO
If have worked for TransTech for two years,
you undoubtedly know that Debbie and J go way back and used to work together at another company (reference a recent email you should have received from T, the new president that states that she, J, S, and D all worked together before TransTech). I received an email from Debbie stating that she was sorry I was dissatisfied with tech support, but that they had never ever had any complaints about them before mine. Kind of shows me where I stand in all of this. Many times when managers and tech support are friends, it's the MTs who suffer.
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