MQ chose the public forum for us to ask questions.

Do you have any better idea?

They offered a job.  They are not producing the goods.  They don't return phone calls and they don't have any policy manuals for employees or contractors.

There is no other way to ask the question.  They brought us to this place through their misrepresentation of facts.  The fact is they offered work.  So why shouldn't they be looked at for unethical work practices?  I was looking for a job, they offered one.  It's not my responsibility now to go look for another job.  They need to reply as to why there is no work.

• QUESTION: Why is MQ hiring???????? - yet there is NO WORK.
  • QUESTION: Why are you still there? Quit whining and go to a different company. If you stay there, - keeping you "poor me" to yourself. nm
    • Where is there a decent company??? - Inquiring mind wants to know
      • The "perfect" job? - No whining
  • the answer is - MQer
  • MQ chose the public forum for us to ask questions. - They don't take our calls.
    • Nope. Not true. Someone has already - MQ MT
      • You must be from New Jersey office. - If you were working for MQ
        • Nope. Dallas. :) - MQ MT

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I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 

I always wanted to work in the healthcare field, but did not necissarily want to be a nurse or doctor.  I can handle the blood and guts....that really doesn't bother me one bit.  It's the vomit that I can't take.  Have a major problem with it.  So, in being a transcriptionist, I get to work in the medical field and learn a lot.  I get to type a lot...which I love to do.  I get to work from home, which is great because I have a son and I can be here when he gets home from school.  I am a fairly shy/introverted person, so this job works wonderful for me because I can do it from my home and do not have to deal with people face-to-face every day.  I put in many years of working retail, customer service, and waitressing.  Then, I finally decided to go to school for this.  I have been happy ever since.

I was working as a paramedic and knew if I worked at home as an MT I could still take calls. My training was medical, from my paramedic courses. Ended up working in house first though, and at various places such as the Coroner's office. I also worked as a medical assistant and did transcription on the side. I ended up getting a small account of my own and when my daughter was born, I decided to go for completely home-based work. Ended up actually owning my own MTSO and making very good money. It was the best thing in the world to be home with my kids but after watching the field very closely, I've decided to go back to school. I've got one year left in a Bachelor's of Nursing program. I'm in school full time but since I only have to run my company to get a salary, I'm managing it. My plans are to go on to a Master's so I can be an advanced practice nurse. Looking back -- I still would have done it this way. I actually enrolled in nursing school 20 years ago but dropped out due to health reasons. I'm mostly glad I was home with my kids and had the opportunity to make a bunch of money to sock away so I had choices...like school now.

When I trained 13 yrs ago.  I looked at them both.  I ordered the first packet of AHP and I didn't like the way it was presented and sent them back because I could get my money back within a certain time.  I really liked the HPI-SUM program syllabus.  I liked it particularly because it seemed like more work and was harder.  I knew that this job could not possibly as simple it was presented with AHP and I was right.

I never have worked in house for anyone. I have been at home for 12+ years and I do quite well with accuracy, speed and scope of knowledge.  Of course, there are still a lot of things I don't know and I'll learn a lot of them over time, I hope.  Which brings me to the last point, that being no program is really going to prepare you for this job and even with training, there is no guarantee you'll ever be able to make a living at it.  AAMT (or whatever they call themselves today) stated that something like $26K was the average yearly wage for an MT.  Given that many of us do ohhh so much better than that, there have to be plenty who don't come near that figure.  HPI-SUM stated in their packet that 60% of the people who complete their course will not be successful MTs and I have heard that figure about other courses too. Success for me means making a full time income for full time work at around the $25K a year mark (though I do better, that was my goal then).  I personally know 5 other MTs who don't make $12K a year for full time work, that is not success when every one of them has been an MT for 5+ years.

However...there is no reason you are not part of that 40% who WILL succeed!  I was.

what please is the difference in ability to connect between:

802.11 a/g/n (cannot remember if it was wireless)

802.11 a/b/g wireless

802.11 b/g wireless

..................

Re speed, I saw somewhere the a/g/n is 5 times faster, true?  or is the speed in the gHz or in the hard drive rpm...????

I would really really appreciate some input, and thanks.

for myself?  Geez, the service was bad-mouthing ME to the client as the reason the TAT was not being met.  And the MTs were given contact numbers for the client accounts we worked on.  The service expected the MTs to contact the client with problem issues like faulty tapes and inaudible dictation.  They also allowed the clients to contact the MTs directly.  The supervisor didn't want to deal with the clients unless they were happy. 

I simply did what I had to do.  And for your information, a company CANNOT withhold payment for a service unless that service was not performed.  I performed my service, I typed my lines, and I expected to get paid for the work I did.  I took them to court and the MTSO LOST!  Business is business.  The judge actually told the service that they may not like that I took the account from them, but they still had to pay for the lines I typed when I was contracted with them.  End of story.

I'm not losing any sleep.  I don't think what I did was unethical.  What the service did was unethical.  Trying to throw me to the wolves.  What I did was just good business sense.

there are always people who are sarcastic.  Yes, sarcastic will be among us, just like the poor.

By the way, what is your point besides needing to lash out at someone today?

That's why I want my friend mentioned in my above post to go to the TV stations about this and expose it if it is not resolved -- NOT the particular MT in question, but the working conditions that make this kind of mistake possible.  This hospital is HUGE, one of the most well-known in the country.  I want TV there.