Lost another client - so distraught!
Posted By: Distraught on 2006-03-14
In Reply to:
I'm so distraught I've been in tears since yesterday morning when I learned a client of mine for eight years will no longer be needing my services as he's going to EMR.
He's a one-man practice - orthopaedic surgeon - who's VERY busy between seeing back-to-back patients, performing surgeries, head of a hospital, and running around to meetings in his spare time. I just don't see how he's going to have time to do all of this!
Do you think this point and click EMR thing is REALLY going to work? Does it do IME's, too? How can it possibly include all of the patient's info in a transcript??
Can anyone give me advice, words of wisdom or anything? I'm just plain distraught. Do you think EMR is really going to take over this profession and make us all dinosaurs or do you think there's a real need still for MTs?
Thank you for any info/comfort you can give me I'll be checking the board hourly for responses. Please let me hear from you - the good and the bad and anything else you'd like to throw in.
Signed, a totally distraught MT IC in NC. 
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I lost a big client and a new one to EMR
My own doctor hired me after losing my account to EMR. I sat around for two months waiting for him to start only to be told on an office visit that he too has gone EMR. Good luck.
Yes, I lost a client because they decided to go with them.
h
I was hit by all 3 that summer, I lost power, I lost work, I lost savings...but..sm
NEVER did my employer in any way imply or threaten or dare even mention that my job was in jeopardy because I could not work immediately following a trifecta of natural disasters! My jaw agape is not at your concern about working, but at your concern that you would lose your job because of it. Companies have to have a heart in some situations. You're one MT, your company won't go under without you working for a week or 2 or 3.
distraught
I am so sorry that is happening to you. This is a very difficult field to be in right now. You hsve shown your loyalty but the doctor is looking at what he sees as the bottom line, money. I think you are correct, he is going to have a difficult time accomplishing everything he wants to do, but he will have to find that out for himself. There are no easy answers but I just want you to know you are not alone.
Distraught, I would use this situation
to perhaps consider some other options. Can you explore some of your other interests and talents to see if they could translate into another career path?
It has been difficult in the last few years to see how the profession has deteriorated, but I think it's important to take a cue from the docs. If they're watching the bottom line, MTs have to do the same thing. If they're willing to invest the time and money to learn new technology and try alternatives, MTs should as well.
It's hard to remain objective when you care about the work and invest so much of yourself, but try not to take this personally. The suggestions to stay in touch with your ortho are good ones while you make your own career transition. Good luck--you'll be fine.
I recently lost 20 pounds. That means I lost 80 sticks of butter.
    
I doubt your brother has won more than he's lost. To win that much he's probably lost 3 times
So he probably has more bills than money. Otherwise the casinos would go broke.
FTP Client
I still don't know what an FTP client is that was asked in the original question?
the client always wants a little something...sm
The client always wants a little something for nothing.....so I give them a free line if there is only one word on the line...I give them a 68-72 character line (spaces I do count). I have never upped them in 9 years, but on my 10th anniversary I am upping them to 13 CPL. I also give them their 5 line headings for nothing as it's only 2 Keystrokes for me. They are good to me so I bake for the offices a couple of times a year and give the offices a gift during the winter holidays. 
I do for one client
One of my clients requested that I charge this way. We do 10 words = 1 line, so basically a penny per word. From what I have figured, I'm doing okay when compared to the character count way of charging on this account. I think they requested charges calculated this way because of being ripped off by their last MT. Once I send their files, they can check the word count and keep a running tab to compare with my statement. They're satisfied and I'm satisfied, so it works well.
Have your client do it. SM
Call the office of your client and have them fax/e-mail to you samples of their prior surgeries. There's certainly nothing wrong with asking for this.
the client does not have to have it-- sm
The client can unzip using WinZip or whatever program they have installed, but MP Tools is so easy, some clients may want to use it. I have a couple who are interested in purchasing it just for the printing function, which works really well.
I had a client ask me to look
They provided a patient list for the date of service, but if the patient was not on there, then I had to view on-line the past week of patient lists to look for the name. Yeah right - that took 15 or 20 minutes sometimes uploading and viewing. So now, they get an inaccurate spelling of the patient name with a comment when I send there report, pt. not on list. Hello? Like the low wage isn't bad enough, and then add in that kind of junk. It is pathetic.
What the client says is law, if that is what they want, then
that is what they expect and they have the right to tell an MTSO who can and cannot work on their accounts.
Even with this, the client is always
BOS is a style guide, which I do not own. However, I aim to please the client. So, if the doctor wants to spell something his own way, then so be it. He went to medical school, not me! A book of style means absolutely nothing to a client who wants things a certain way. End of story. 
It is just according to what the client
wants. Most do I would think, but some want them in a paragraph form and not captialized. Need to check with your supervisor or client.
Oh my! Do you have your own client? sm
I don't know of any MTSOs who pay 13 cpl. If you found one please share.
I'm not sure, but if the client does not
get a cut for using ASR, they why would they care whether their physicians use it or not????
We would be a lot more valued if they all thought ASR was as good as originally touted and had no editors to fix the darn reports it spits out.
First off..there is no way the client is getting a
And ASR is NO WAY 3 times faster...that will never happen. Most transcriptionists type the speed of the dictator to begin with. ASR could be a great tool for those of us needing a break from transcription, but it does not warrant ripping off our cpl's..ESPECIALLY when the client is charged the same...the have NO WAY of knowing whether the report is goes to ASR or not. Lastly, an ASR Editor needs YEARS of transcription experience, becuase to insure a correct report
It would be according to what the client
wants. We just type the numbers if they are dictated that way.
Unless specified by the client, I only
expand in diagnoses, procedures, impression, etc. I always type what they say when it comes to drugs, you don't change things like two a day to b.i.d. unless directed to do so by the client specifically. Also, on my client we are not allowed to use slang, so if they say "sat" we expand to saturation, bili is changed to bilirubin etc. A good MT never takes it upon herself to change something that is dictated UNLESS they are specified to in certain instances by the client or it something is wrong--then if it is changed you flag it for your QA.
I think relistening to a certain client until you
are very used to them is a good idea. Just put it on high speed and go over it. That won't take near as much time. I am QA and I can most certainly tell the difference between those who relisten or at least reread and those who do not.
never a client from a national, but...sm
A client approached me AFTER both HE and I had quit working for this one particular MTSO...I worked for him, she found out and tried to sue ME for $20K.
I sent her back a play $20K bill and told her that was about as much as her "lawsuit" was worth. Never heard another word from her.
Own client question
Those of you with your own clients. What do you do when you want to go away for the weekend, or get sick? I can see this as being about the only reason to stay with a company. The ability to get someone else to pick up your accounts for a few days is appealing.
Depends on the client.....sm
At any rate you have too many commas, imho.
"I told him to clean the area with hydrogen peroxide and after that he can apply the Neosporin ointment." Works just as well.
It just depends on what the client wants.
I have some that still use tapes and some that I do through a TASP. So for the TASP, I have a wav pedal for the computer, Express Scribe, and that's it. For the tapes, I have the usual trancriber setup.
Maybe the client requested the
x
Pleeeez help. What is an FTP client?
I was asked that when applying for a job. I know it means file transfer protocol, but how the heck am I supposed to know how my audio files get transferred?
And I thought I was pretty gosh durn smart.
Client rate
It depends on the rate in your area, but I would charge no less than .12 per 65 char line. I think this rate is not too high and not too low. You have be careful about charging too much as someone will undercut you. Practicount is a line count program that will allow you to charge for headers, footers, bolded areas, underlines, and so on. This way if you have to drop your price in order to get the client you can charge for other things that will make up the difference.
Good luck!!!
it's really client preference......NM
x
In general no, but your client may need you to
nm
Well, if that's how she's billing the client SM
then that's how you should be billing her (just characters and spaces). I'm sorry you're going to be losing money. I'd be unhappy too. Maybe you can work on your shortcuts/macros more so that you are typing less for the same amount. No real words of wisdom for you...sorry.
Maybe so, but ultimately it is the client
x
The needs of the client have changed.
They can say they need the work whenever the fancy strikes them. You can either provide it or not. That is just the way this business works.
Losing a client
You have my empathy.
This happens with the big companies too. The MT is the last to know that client whose account they have worked on will not renew a contract. I worked 60 days in a row on an account to help catch it up not knowing the Co. was losing the account. I felt betrayed because during that time I could have been trained for something else. I was on a C-phone at the time, and others had already been trained on newer systems. Things really can be quite thoughtless/heartless when regarding the MTs feelings. Makes one feel like just a number. Or as they say a "Human Resource" I that that word..... it sounds like an entity that uses-up, wads-up, and then discards. What ever happened to personnel? Once again, you have my empathy.
Of course, forewarn the client.
Let him/her know that should you continue to be required to provide service over the weekend there will be an additional charge for doing it. Your work week is M-F and if you must provide service over the weekend you will have to charge a higher rate. I have had clients do this before and most of the time after talking with them they would change their mind about the ASAP timeframe. If you are getting slammed with a week's worth of dictation on one or two days then you should be allowed a longer TAT or charge a higher rate.
One client wants it, the other doesn't. :) nm
nm
ICs work for more than one client, always.
x
How do I set up a digital client??
Hi,
I just got an offer to do transcription for a doctor about 20 miles away. Only problem is this is a pick up tape deal and I do not want to have to travel especially with winter/snow coming on. I'm sure this isn't a big money maker account, but I would like to be able to have the voice files come to me encrypted and deliver the work that way too. I am not very good at things that are overly complicated, so any help as to what to suggest for a recorder and such would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping they will go along with buying digital, but if need be, I suppose I could provide it just to save driving. Help please. Thank you.
I have a PS client, and he does put pt's together when asked...sm
Lots of times he has new patient's talk with other patients. Not sure how, probably has current patient call the new one or something. You should ask. Wouldn't have plastic surgery without talking to someone who has used him, actually more than one and would want to see pictures too.
DocShuttle Client
 Does use DocShuttle Client? Can I use Express Scribe or do I have to use the Wav player by Bytescribe? I really like Express Scribe. Does not matter either way, just wondering . . . . Thanks!
DocShuttle Client
 Thanks! Good to know!
Meditech Client (sm)
How many of you are using Meditech Client and like it? Is it something you get used to?
That's up to you and the client to decide.
If you're concerned about whether or not to count the content of the header or footer, that is something that should be decided by your and the client, not the people on this board.
It's up to the client how they wish their work done.
Yes, I know it is our initials on the report. I've done work for hospitals and physicians who want pure verbatim, modified verbatim, an old version of BOS and their own modifications, updated BOS, no BOS and no verbatim, and "just type what I say that's what I pay you for." The one thing you can do to cover yourself is just save your work to a CD/floppy/Zip. If you don't feel comfortable about something, flag it for QA and let them make the last decision, but at least you have your original to go by in case something happens along the way. You have proof of what you typed and what was changed at the other end.
Yeah, I get it, but what I'm saying is my client went to using them and
g
Your client will not run out overnight
Palleeassee...... If the IC is repeatedly not making an effort to support the contract, then let it go. Geez............ You can't be beating yourself up about a bad IC. Just cut your losses. My goodness, I think you've been burnt too many times. 
This is for the client's that ask for timestamps
to be put every 30 seconds or so in the document meaning you have to type them in. It is a big pain which is why i charge a bundle for it. Usually I am not asked to :)
You always do the reports the way the client wants them, whether you
consider it right or wrong. They are the ones paying for the work. Their way is the RIGHT way, no matter what.
That's because how the client wants things is the way it
s
Client dictates which way, but I have
NEVER in 20 years seen it with the first letter of each word capped, so Low back pain would be correct, unless otherwise dictated by client/BOS.
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