MT dying
Posted By: Work isn't dying - pay is on 2008-07-25
In Reply to: Is transcription really dying? - lolabug
I have been working as an MT since 1992. I started at $7.50 an hour - no incentive - just a flat $7.50 an hour - that company was gobbled up by another bigger company - and the gobbling has continued on. I went to work for a smaller MTSO and at one point was making $80 an hour transcribing a very easy radiology account that was mainly normal reports - everything was a template and the template was the whole report. I now make no where near that - and have trouble getting up to $18 or $20 an hour. I am thinking of going back to school to becomeo a pharmacy tech - besides - it gets depressing working at home all the time and never having interaction with co-workers, etc. The school is just a thought at the moment. I definitely would not encourage anyone to go into MTing at this point in the game - not with voice recognition and outsourcing to other countries.
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MT Dying profession
I don't agree with you. I'm betting that MT is good for MAYBE 5 more years. Maybe. Thinking they won't perfect VR is only fooling ourselves....they will. I wouldn't recommend MT to anyone looking to enter the field. Money better spent on something with a better future but what that would be, I don't know. Seems everything that can possibly be offshored is being offshored. Maybe we should move to China Then we can be sure to have jobs seeing nearly everything in the U.S. comes from there anyway. Or maybe, the way things are going we had all better learn to like rice, cuz that's probably all we'll be eating before long.
Regarding MT being a dying profession...
I have actually read in numerous places that MT is a job with future opportunity, in light of the baby boomers beginning to get old and sick. That's going to supply us with a lot of medical reports for a very long time. As for voice recognition taking over...I'll believe it when I see it. I know an MR who does VR and I've seen the gobbledegook that it comes up with. Eventually all these companies will realize that they were sold a bill of goods by these VR vendors, but because they've invested so much in this technology, they're going to stick with it until the bitter end. Just my opinion of course. Finally, outsourcing. I'm pretty confident that something will happen that will put the kybosh on sending private medical records off to Calcutta for transcription. I think that practice will also stop eventually. I could be totally wrong and maybe I'll have to put away my rose colored glasses, but for now, that's my prediction.
MT Dying Profession
Sad when you work for a company that you thought was great and all of a sudden the work is yanked away and you sit with nothing yet you see the company advertising multiple times. When you look at what many posters say, that seems to be one major problem with this profession. The companies have no loyalty to transcriptionists. The best places to work are small local services, if you can find them. I don't recommend to anyone who asks me that they get into this profession. I used to, but not any more.
MT dying profession
I totally agree, Dano. They have absolutely no loyalty to MTs OR QA for that matter - we are nothing to them. I don't feel like a respected professional who is rewarded for her expertise and hard work anymore; I feel like a factory worker in an assembly line (no disrespect to those who work in factories, BTW)who just has to pump out the work as soon as possible - it's all about numbers to them. That's why in addition to working in this field, which I have been doing for 10 years (and would have quit by now if I could!), I am going back to college to get my degree in dental hygiene. I can't wait to get out of here. Used to make good money - no more. Used to be respected -no more. They only want cheap labor. Anyone looking to get into this profession - don't be fooled by the lies - do something else!
Is transcription really dying?
I have another question for all of you...is transcription really dying out?  I haven't seen that where I'm located, we are pretty much in high demand. I didn't even go to school and I got a job in-house at our hospital starting at over $13.00 an hour. But, now that I am reading all of these posts I'm starting to wonder what the chances are of me being able to continue this profession, esspecially since we are thinking of moving to a big city in the near future. I am really considering going into coding school starting in September so my husband and I will both get our degree at the same time. I'm just wondering if I should get out while I'm ahead. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
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.
MT is a dying profession??
Hmm...
I don't think it is dying, I think it is changing sm
There will always be a need for a hand typed medical narrative. Having said that, how much need is anyone's guess. FOR NOW, many companies are moving towards at least some VR. I have watched my company ramp it up and now ramp it down again. Why? The quality isn't there and part of that is the MEs who are doing them.
Being an ME usually only appeals to someone who can't actually type the report with any speed and accuracy (not a real MT in my book) or an MT who can longer tolerate the wear and tear on her hands (a real MT). The pay is less, which might not be a problem IF the software didn't require so darn much editing! Either the software needs to be a LOT better or we need to be paid more, if they want to the best quality, so that real MTs are doing the ME thang.
What I see happening, even now, is that companies who will hire a traditional, old-fashioned typing MT want the very best they can get at the best price they can get her. It is and will be increasingly a buyers market for our services. It will edge out any MT who is marginal...in speed, in accuracy, in attitude, in work ethic. That is to say, those of us who can stay glued to our desks and produce 99.5% or better accuracy AND do it with speed, will still be around for quite a while yet. The tolerance that some companies for not showing up on time, not getting your minimums, not producing very good work, is decreasing. I see this as a trend.
Less work? Not for some of us. No work, as in we don't need the chaff of this industry? You bet, and it is happening already.
The truly top-notch MT will always be needed. Do you have any idea how very few of us there are? I have not talked to a company who has more than 1 or 2 of us that they consider the cream of their crop. If you want to stay, look at what you need to improve, be it work ethic, speed, accuracy or scope of knowledge. If you don't, you'll be in one of the first groups out of this business.
Anyone else dying for school to start? (sm)
Grandchildren had been going to the LatchKey summer program, but they closed for the last 2 weeks before school starts to get the schools ready. So guess what? You got it. Memaw is trying to type with children. I have to totally admire those of you that do this on a regular basis. My hat is off to you.
My monitor is slowly dying...sm
I have a Dell computer and monitor, but my monitor appears to be on its last leg. I'm already looking for its replacement but instead of ordering another Dell, does anyone know of any other brands that are compatible or not compatible with Dell? I'd really rather not pay the shipping from Dell, but I do remember when I originally purchased the computer my printer was not compatible. Thanks for your help.
So, if you were dying in the bed and needed a STAT
You wouldn't mind that the person behind the document only cared about the money? You wouldn't care they put a post on this board like "why does anybody do this?"
Patient would feel slapped in the face.
That would be dying you slapped in the face.
I am really shocked and saddened to see who we serve is forgotten for the sake of money. Yes, we have to survive, and we do well. I have 3 jobs, am exhausted, but proud to say I am behind the document to help a very sick child or dying person, or recovering person, or person who was saved from suicide. I guess the idea of self rather than others is prominent around here, but not where I come from. After 27 years in the business I am proud to say I work behind the scenes and give the best I can for the patient, the doc, the nurse, my boss, the patient's family and so forth. After all, I would expect the same for me and my little boy.
Not on my budget. I usually can find something on if I am dying to watch T.V.
(NM)
Call, please. The rest of us are dying to find out something. nm
.
The main problem with this field is it is dying
And there isn't anything that we (as MTs) can do about that.
how did you give up cigarettes, I am dying to quit.
nm
Is medical coding a dying profession like MT?
My income is in the crapper and keeps getting worse and worse. I love working at home, been doing it for over a decade, so looking into something I can do at home. So what about medical coding? Offshore problems? Technology advances pushing out the "real person" coder? Any disadvantages? Worth learning and getting into at this point?
Over 100. Burnt my bare feet on concrete. Plants are dying.
dd
I am feeling so stressed by changes at my company, holidays, friends dying,
not sure where to turn next. I really feel like I need to dump my whole situation and start from the beginning by doing a job where I am around people during the day instead of the curt phone calls from the office, and not having enough time to even talk or go out of the house to do anything. Why can't these companies have a little time to just say hello, thanks for a good job, or just something nice once in a while. Everything in the communication is negative, negative, and more negative. Team leaders are the pits, too. It is jusd do more, do more; they don't care if you are sick, and it means nothing to them to pile on more stress and more demands so they look good. They want you to work every day of the week, but they sure do take their days off, don't they.
Dogs dying from 'miracle drug'. Heads up, doggie owners
Marketed as a miracle drug for man's best friend, Rimadyl is one of the most popular painkillers available for dogs. And it's killing dogs by the thousands.
Vince Sharkey was faced with the decision every pet owner dreads, whether to euthanize his beloved dog King Billy.
Arthritis and deteriorating bones made it too painful for the 8-year-old golden retriever to walk.
His veterinarian recommended putting the dog down.
"He had so much life in him. I said, 'I just can't do that'."
Then Sharkey discovered Rimadyl, a prescription anti-inflammatory drug heavily marketed to owners of older dogs. Sharkey says Rimadyl saved his dog's life.
"Before I had him on the Rimadyl he was not even able to walk. He would drag his back half of his body. The moment we got him on Rimadyl, he was back to being his normal self again.
But Lynne Bradburn tells a very different story.
Her Saint Bernard, Honor, was just 22 months old when he died after taking Rimadyl for a sprained knee.
"He'd been sitting in my lap. And he looked up at me, and he died," Bradburn said.
Honor died after taking just four doses of the drug.
"They tell you it's as safe as aspirin. But it's not. And yes, I'm angry. And I will always be angry," Bradburn said.
The FDA reports some 12,516 complaints about Rimadyl dating back to 1997, including more than 2,300 cases where the dog died or had to be euthanized. The largest number of cases involve liver or kidney failure or internal bleeding.
Rimadyl's manufacturer, Pfizer, maintains the drug is safe, saying some 10 million dogs have taken over a billion doses of the drug, with less than 1 percent of them experiencing any negative side effects.
"There are side effects just as there are benefits with all medicines, with all medical procedures and certainly with Rimadyl. The good news about Rimadyl is that for the overwhelming majority of those 10 million dogs, plus, it has provided safe and effective pain relief," said Pfizer spokesman Robert Fauteux.
But the FDA approved Rimadyl after it was tested on just 549 dogs, raising the question, were the rest of the dogs that took the drug acting as guinea pigs?
Retired veterinarian turned attorney Paul Mabrey says a drug for humans would never be allowed on the market with such a small sample.
In response to continued concerns about the drug, Pfizer sent a letter to veterinarians across the country warning them that some side effects may "occur without warning" and, in rare situations may result in "hospitalization or even death."
Still, veterinarians continue prescribing Rimadyl more than any other drug in its class. But they're careful to warn dog owners looking for a miracle cure.
"There's a lot of people that want the medication not fully aware of everything that's entailed with that but we make sure to do everything we can to educate before they go on the medication," said Dr. Deborah Feltz, a the Elliott Bay Animal Hospital.
It's a warning echoed by those who know first hand what happens when a miracle drug proves imperfect.
This is our profession -- a profession which is dying, I might add. SM
So I should get a hobby so I won't care, like you? A hobby isn't going to pay the bills. I can't afford a hobby because in addition to working for a living, I also have to study in a different career field in my spare for fear that eventually transcription will be strictly an offshore operation!
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