Home Contact Us

Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Lisa - your 1st post was so optimistic....sm

Posted By: but now?......*sm* on 2006-05-20
In Reply to: thanks - Lisa

Lisa: Your first post was upbeat and optimistic/positive. Then in walked the panners of MQ.....outside of a few clear realistic posts. Now, this current post of yours saying something to the effect of *now MQ isn't lookin too good* is indicative that you HAVE, indeed, let the panners influence you.

Again, hopefully you'll get a GREAT supervisor....(not a given) - the supervisors can make it or break it for you...hopefully you get one with NO POWER OR EGO problems!! I always said, the day my PS leaves, I'm gone!! *lol* Good luck to you whichever way you choose!

Complete Discussion Below:

marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

Other related messages found in our database

I am optimistic
as a student. I am almost done with school. And I am not worried about how much I make at first. I will be happy to get my foot in the door and work in a career I enjoy and stay home with my kids. As a student/new MT I am not discouraged by such posts!

Thanks, Lisa! (sm)

I was pretty sure it wasn't illegal, since I signed all this paperwork and they did a credit check and everything to issue me the overdraft protection insurance, but it's nice to hear it from someone "in the know". Thanks for the reply!

On a Halloween sugar high, back from Trick or Treating with the kiddos, back to work and hoping I actually get paid for it....

(Sending out about 12 resumes tomorrow....)

Yes, you can Lisa if you look :o]

For instance if you have applied to a smaller company and they've filled the spots, you can offer assistance in the future with a backlog or to cover vacations. Keeps ya' networked, plus gives you some extra cash. If I had anything that I needed help with that is what I would do. I don't see anything wrong with advertising for temp/vacation help. Why not? Sounds like a way to meet quality transcriptionists that you can count on. The other ideas posted here are good, too, but if you need a vacation then you just need a vacation. Taking work on vacation just doesn't seem like much fun to me. I wish more people would network in this fashion, but I think there are people out there that might try to steal your accounts, so you might want to be very careful. JMO. Thankfully, I have not had that happen.

Hi Lisa
I do not think that this is the trend, but have seen a few companies who are doing this. In a way, it makes sense because then you are getting paid for airtime and all the BS like conversations with staff, etc. that you would normally have to listen to and not get paid for. Most folks that I've seen post here on the subject would not do it for less than $1.00 per minute, but it really is about how long it takes you to type it (obviously) and how much your time is worth to you. Since a general figure of how long it takes to type 60 minutes of dictation, from what I've heard and experienced, is about 3-4 hours, at 0.67 cpm that would work out to about 10.05 to 13.40 per hour of typing time. Of course, I've had work that I could fly through, and then I've had work that would take longer than the norm, so like everything in this biz, it all depends. Hope that wasn't TMI, since you asked only about the trend thing :)

I also hope you are not talking about losing the account with the flashdrives, as I know that would be really disappointing after what you have done for them.

Have a great night, and a Happy New Year!

MedQuist - Lisa
With your experience, I would have to say it depends on cpl they are willing to offer you. I know of many companies that are generous in cpl due to the number of years of experience. I agree with earlier posting about it depending on if you get a good supervisor. The raises are not much to be desired, you will have to fight for one in the far, far future. Again, with your experience, don't settle for anything less than what you feel is fair. Worse case scenario, if you don't like the job, move on to another company until you find a job you do like. I don't think anyone can answer this ? for you.

Lisa - subcontractor
There have been people here who would like just a little extra. If you get the account and once you are settled, why don't you put your need on the board. You might find some bites. Some people like to do a little extra. Of course if it is something digital you could even go away from your state. Just a thought. I happen to enjoy helping others when on vacation. It has worked for me in the past as well when I needed a vacation .

I would love to help if I can, Lisa....sm
I love to help newer MTs, because back when I first became an IC, I was so shaky, I had my first two babies at home, my husband was gone most of the time for work, and this ANGEL that I met on another message board happened to see one of my questions and since she lived in my state and my area, and she had been doing MT for many years, we hooked up....she was so wise, and so helpful, and we became really good friends until she had to move to Italy with her husband. Also, if you are doing IC independently, I found so much info from my local SBA (Small Business Administration), they will actually let you know the laws of the state regarding setting up business, tax laws, tips, and they will just mentor you along in growing a business. Anyway, please feel free to e-mail me anytime, I will help if I possibly can! You'll be great!

To Lisa - Going Rate in Area
I would try Career Builders and look for on-site MT jobs in your area and see what the hourly rate is and try to figure how many lines you would do in an hour for this account. I'm no expert, but that is probably what I would do. It seems strange to me though that the Nationals pay pretty much the same line rate to their MT's, yet they are all over the US. Will you have to pick-up/drop-off tapes? Do you have to print? If yes to these two questions, bid in the middle to higher range. If it is all digital and you only have to e-mail the reports back to the office, then maybe consider the low to mid range. I'm on the East Coast, and the cpl ranges from 10-15 cpl (65 characters with spaces) or anywhere from $13-17 per hour. I hear though in some other states such as Texas, the going hourly rate is $9-12 per hour, so this would reduce the cpl rate. I guess it would depend on the type of program you are using. I only use Word and the line count built in. I do not have a separate line counter. I hope Patti has ideas, and she very well may. I think she said she's in Oregon, so that would be considered West coast, so I'd be anxious to hear what her opinions are on the average rate. She's pretty knowledgable and from her posts "plays fair". With all that being said, I think either 13 cpl or 15 cpl depending on the program and method of retrieving dictation and sending back reports once they are transcribed. Hope this helps! I tend to get real chatty! Sorry!

I hope it was okay to e-mail you Lisa.
NM

Lisa/MT Student (see mssg)
I don't think you would have to pay to place an ad. See if there is a "Letters to the Editor" section. If not, it might have to be done the way the doctors do it: Their papers are submitted to JAMA for consideration of publication. Even though we MTs are not doctors, it is their work that we are transcribing. And sometimes (if we're lucky) we even get to transcribe those papers that they are submitting for publication! I don't think there is a single doctor or medical professor out there that would want their JAMA submission, book manuscript, etc. transcribed by an ESL MT.

Lisa, the truth of the matter is ...
that there *are* actually MT's out there who are still happy in their jobs and who make good money still in this profession. In truth, I still love the *type* of work that I do; it's the rest of what's going on that I'm sick of as well as the downward trend in pay. What we're commenting on here is the *overall* mood, feel, and status of the industry right now ... and my personal belief is that it's not going to get better.

I say hold true to your dream. If you really want to be an MT keep looking for that company that's going to be a good fit for you. It's going to be hard with you being a newbie, but it's still possible. Don't put all your eggs in this one basket though as some of us have done. Keep a back-up job in another industry so that as things continue to degrade on the MT side you'll have a soft cushion to fall back on. Keep reading the boards with an open and critical mind and decide for yourself if the common challenges that you see MT's as a whole facing are of an ilk that you can tolerate.

I hope this helps.

Hi, Lisa. Have you added macros to SM
your Expander yet for many of the common VR changes--such as for backspacing over a comma, adding a period, and capping the first word of the new sentence? How do you drop common words like, say, "she" into a sentence on the run? I hit "k" and in it goes, but I'm off scanning the next line by then and don't actually see it. Do you constantly use your program's function for jumping the cursor to the point of dictation and vice versa (assuming it has one)? This is a big speeder-upper.

And a reality that's hard for some to run into: Editing skills and talents are different than transcribing skills and talents. Reading fast and accurate becomes big. Punctuating fast on the run was always desirable, but it's more significant now as the ability to simply get the letters on paper becomes less so. Are you one of those this work suits or one it doesn't? If yes, keep working on speed. If not, move on sooner rather than later.

Hi, Lisa. Just wondering how the meeting
Hope everything went well!

Hmmm, interesting theory on Lisa. Maybe so, huh?
x

Hey Lisa - I'm from Lyons - give me a shout!
X

Lisa B - my rates and a long message

Again, I am from the old school, old way of counting and have had my accounts for many, many years - some 18 years. I do the simplest and easiest for me which is just doing gross lines per Word -- which I know counts the spaces but that is how these accounts were started and when I inherited some of them was told to count top to bottom -- but with that in mind -- I keep my rates a little lower. I am from .11 to 12.5 cpl. The lowest is for my Psych accounts as they give me 3-5 days turn around and we insert a lot of templates. The others are internal medicine, surgery, surgical oncology, Plastic/Hand surgery and Dermatology. I do pick up delivery, print, envelopes, cut apart chart notes but I average $35 to $45 and sometimes over $50 an hour (depends on how many Op's and consults that I have) and cannot see raising my prices. So I am happy and content. My pick up and deliveries take me an hour each day (depending on how much I visit with the office staff and docs) and I usually stop at the store or something but it gets me out of the house and I really do not mind that at all. I figure this into my work day to get my average hourly rate and am still happy with it. I will probably raise my rates at the end of 2007 but it has been two years. So with all of that said -- again it depends on your variables -- pick up and delivery, printing, etc. But for a ballpark figure I would go for 12 cpl for digital and 12.5 to 13 for pick up and delivery knowing that it will take 3 to 6 months to get your average up there while getting to know your docs, etc. I have used Sylcount for another account and to me that was too cumbersome. I tell my accounts the simpler, less time consuming we keep it the more savings I can pass onto you. And yes, they do appreciate me, pay on time, Birthday cards are received, Christmas bonuses received, included in staff parties if I want and the doctors actually talk to me and treat me as a person with a name and joke with me. Nobody can really answer this question for you as only you know what the account entails, your experience and what you want to make. You can always raise in a year or after doing it for a while. Good luck, e-mail me if you need any other additional info. Patti

That's why this is a great Site! Congrats Lisa!
Way to go Lisa

The 1st giveaway had 92 entries with Lisa I. of CA as the winner.

Directly after announcing the first winner, the second hunt began. There is indeed an I FOUND IT message posted and will be awarded over the weekend.

GOOD LUCK!

Lisa, you make a very good point. sm
I guess I should have been a little more specific. If ALL MTs were to go on "strike" and not accept the low wages these MTSO's are offering, they eventually would HAVE to offer a decent wage we can live on. But, the other side of the coin is, if the MTS WOULD STRIKE, then the MTSO's would no doubt just hire those non-U.S. MTs anyway, because that is the reason in the first place they are paying so little. The U.S. MTs have no support, that's for sure. (and I apologize for the misspelling of a word in my previous post.)

N-n-noooooooooooo!!! Not Kev! Did you see how crushed Lisa Tucker looked
because she didn't get the boot? As she walked over to the host, she looked very unhappy. Then as soon as she went by Ryan she put on a weak smile to walk back over to the other contestants. She wants to go home.

Congratulations! Lisa I. of California on winning the first dinner!

Email to admin@mtstars.com with your full mailing address and your choice of restaurant and we will send out your gift card immediately.

Thank you for playing MTStars Fall Scavenger Hunt!

Administrator
MTStars

CONGRATS to Lisa R. of Wolcott, NY on winning the $10 gift certificate
/

Should just post all their open positions in one post and only be allowed to post one of those a day
nm

NOTE: The above sticky post prize changes as someone wins. Inside that post is
/

I don't understand what your post has to do with original post of TIMED tests. NM
x

Post deleted -- Do not post e-mail addresses. (NM)
Goldbird

Ignore my post. I finally found the post on how to do this. nm
n

Yes, I tried to post same last night about 10 times, and it won't let me post.
I used to breed lab puppies (please no activist flames)! I had a champion female white Canadian lab, and people would be on a list for years if by chance I bred her, which I did twice, and so that I could continue her line. Anyhow, she's my sweet Skye who passed away 2 months ago? At any rate, we had the same problems with kids in the "hood" who wanted to come over and play once the puppies were old enough to be exercised daily and played with. At first I thought, how cute, right? Puppies and little kids - what better picture! Well, the majority of kids were adorable, but there were always 1 or 2 sick ones who would smack the pups, smash and hold their heads in the dirt (a real common thing, but I don't know why - psychiatrist anyone). At any rate, I finally had to ban the whole group due to the 1 or 2 creeps, had to call the police, the whole 9 yards, and that's EXACTLY what the police officer told me - next thing is there will be poison meat or a donut in the yard. He told me to always go out and patrol my yard, especially alone the fence line every day before I let the dogs out, particularly at night. I went out with a flashlight. It was about a month later, but sure enough - poison meat. Because there were so many kids involved, we obviously couldn't pin point the exact family, but the police went and read the riot act to them all. It would stop and not happen again for a year or so, but every now and again we would find something. My dogs were NEVER out and barking, so it was nothing like that - it was just over the puppies and the cruel kids.... Not trying to freak you, but that's the way these kids and their families are. You can really judge someone's character by ill treatment of a PUPPY, of all things. And the parents?? They sound whacked. Please be careful.

Sorry, I posted this post under the wrong post
Sorry

The job post has been removed and they are unable to post further.
t

my post did not all post in the subject, my apologies...
I think you can get the idea.

thanks.

Excellent post! I copied this post and...
am going to show it to my shrink so he can understand my frustration with my new "profession!" By the way, how much you wanna bet he pulls in 300$ an hour and has two years of schooling on me! Hmmmmmmm. Okay, you flamers, don't tell me to go back to school...I am thinking about it. Hmmmm

Because my post was deleted in reference to the above post, sm
Ladies-once again, I apologize for coming across as a witch in the above post. I appreciate the links and the time spent on posting them.

OOPS. Post for magnent post below...nm
nm

Ah, I really meant to post that under the original post
Though it was gourdpainter's post which inspired me to post that suggestion.

Ah, I really meant to post that under the original post
Though it was gourdpainter's post which inspired me to post that suggestion.

Here's an URL for the medical transcription division of PRN Funding, BTW:

http://www.prnfunding.com/medical-transcription-factoring

what mean post made you post your post

Which mean post was the straw that broke the poster's back.

Yes, she had post partum depression AND post partum psychosis. I posted on this a while back, and
it explained the two. The psychosis actually develops after the depression. Scary stuff.

Instead of clicking Post Quick Reply, go to the box further down on the left that says Post Reply to

Post about Companys on the Company board, post job ads on the Job Seeker board
/

If your post is removed, it is likely because you did not post on
the right board. We only have 9 boards now, so if your post fits in one of those categories, do not post on the Main board or your post will be deleted with no explanation.

Administrator
MTStars

My 1st post was to post about person who has
z

Yes, you can. Click on any post and your post
x

Don't they post that information when they post the
job listing?

Thank you for your post
You posted it like it is. What about this young boys parents?? What was he doing out at 2-3 in the morning?? What kind of parent would allow that?? No where have these posters who are blaming the victim even tried to put blame on this boy. Amazing. I hate to say it but the old cliche is true. very few women stand together or help each other, the claws come out and they attack each other. This young boy has told several different accounts of what happened that night. My take is that they put a date rape drug in her drink, as some of her friends said she was acting strangely.

that's all I can do regarding this post-

Yes, we see that. However, this post was done before her post.
Was there even a need for your post?

Your post really says it all!

Best post all day. Thank you. (nm)
x

is this post from JMO ?