Make a pros and cons list for each "position" -sm
Posted By: XXX on 2006-06-24
In Reply to: scared to death...what to do - LavenderMT
Also, can your husband get a job where he carries the benefits so you don't have to kill yourself to ensure them. I am sure there will be weeks you won't meet your quota and say bye-bye benefits for a while. Also do you absolutely depend on the salary you make now? The odds are you will make less than you make now and have to pay SE taxes on that to boot. What was/is your cpl? How many hours of working did it take you to meet your daily requirement? Factor 80% ESL into that amount too if you are going to work for a national. Factor in interruptions from family since you would be at home, getting kids ready for school, meeting them at the bus (if you would do that), people calling, etc. Just remember you might be physically home but not available to "see" your family. I know my kids aren't thrilled that I always seem to be working, but part of that is my lack of discipline (which I am getting better bit by bit) and getting side-tracked because I don't want to work or I hate who I am transcribing so it takes me twice as long to do so I procrastinate (I type 10-20 minutes of dictation an hour normally depending on the doc). Yes, there are a lot of pluses to working at home, no gas (big+), no dressing up if you don't want to, possibly flexible hours (I don't work on a schedule), though you may have to work a schedule and STICK to it depends on who you are working for of course, my downside is getting side-tracked by this site, surfing the web, taking care of the animals (we have a 2 dogs, cat, hamster and 10 chickens), laundry, trying to clean, phone calls from the DH, trying to execise if I ever get motivated, burnout and not wanting to work. I am glad that I work at home, and we don't have to have the money I make so that makes it hard for me to stay motivated but I do like the work and keeping my brain active. I really think a list is the best way to go and be honest on it and think of every scenario you can of good and bad. Good luck.
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i would definitely do a pros-cons list
but for me personally, having to go back in to an office environment, the politics, the dressing up, the high gas prices and traffic plus having a direct boss again would be my absolute last resort. could you work out a part time position to get you out of the house a couple of days a week. that might help you mentally but still give you a lot of freedom plus give you and your husband a little time to adjust to you working outside of the house? i know working at home isn't for everyone, but i wouldn't trade it for anything. i've made a lot of cut backs to compensate too-but it's been worth it for me. good luck
MediTech Pros & Cons- Can you make any $$?
I have researched Meditech on this board and mainly found references to spell check software and MediTech. What are the pros and cons? Can you type 3,000+ lines in an 8 hour shift with MediTech and a lot of shortcuts?
pros and cons
Being an MT is like any job, it is what you are willing to put into it and what you are expecting to get out of it that matters. I have been an MT for 15+ years and have been home based for the last 8 and if I have my way I will never go back out of the house to work. Are there days - OH YES. But the rewards far outweight those days. When my children were at home, to hear them say "it is really great that you are at home" made it worthwhile for me. I may have been typing and had a pair of headphones on, but they had access to me and that made a difference. You have to learn what is important and for me, being there for my kids was. Yes, I work long hours, yes I sit in the same spot for hours, yes I type, type, type, (I sit in a big easy chair with pillows propped around me, and a foot stool at my feet, I am comfy) but that is not what I focus on. I have learned a lot about the medical field, which I love. I could set my hours around tennis, cheerleading, basketball games, football games, graduation, etc. I really believe that the bottom line is what you are willing to put into the profession. If you believe that you will be able to type on a so so schedule, you will recieve the equivalent of what you put into this profession. I do this because I love the medical field. It is the most fasinating thing in the world to me. I truly enjoy what I do. I would not do anything else. I would suggest that you really take a look at what you are willing to put into this after you take your training. If you are willing to put as much effort into working as it took into getting the education, then you are headed in the right direction.
there are pros and cons
Never once late on paycheck, reasonably good pay, leave you alone, keep you on same primary, inform you of updates, technicians are helpful for the most part, good equipment.
cons: More like a sweatshopt atmosphere, just shush and do work, hard to get raises, hard to get anything, definitely geared towards the client, not the MT, feel like a number.
For me the important things are being left alone and a good paycheck, so it works out for me.
Pros and cons
There are pros and cons to this. I have been doing this for almost 20 years. I have had some accounts for as long as 18 years. They do expect a LOT. The office staff is sometimes the hardest as they will sometimes treat you like the janitorial service. I do envelopes, printing, cutting apart chart notes, cc envelopes, 24 hour turn around is a MUST or else they really come down on you. Have had one vacation other than a long weekend during the past 4 years. They do not want me to get others to cover for me and one account has asked that I absoulutely do NOT subcontract any of their work. So it is waiting for me when I get back and they expect all of that within 48 hours. But that is just one account. Also when the doctor is gone, you do not get paid and that happens a lot during the summer time. I try to get a monthly schedule from my accounts but it is sometimes hard to do. If you pull on another account to cover for this you sometimes get overloaded and then behind. If they would all take off at once you could have a vacation. Usually have to work one day on the weekend to do the Friday dictation to get back on Monday.
So you ask what are the pros: They do pay me on time within usually 2 days receipt of invoice - never had to ask or had a bounced check. I do give a 1% discount though for payment within three days. I do get Christmas bonuses even from the one account that treats me a little like hired help. I do have templates, auto corrects set up, on one account I can make $45 to $50 an hour if they do a lot of consults/letters. On another I make $30 to $35 doing chart notes. Still not bad but that has to pay for all my benefits and putting some aside for when the docs are gone.
Sometimes it scares me as I am single, 58 years old and supporting myself towards retirement and one of my accounts could pull it and I would be out and looking and so guess that is why I try my best. They also expect 100% correct and when you have to proof your own work it is hard.
Anyway, would I work for a company, doubt it. Am going digital by the 1st of the year and will be looking for more accounts and maybe add on some subs. Have 2 part-timers now. I do work in a clinic doing their EMR's and that gives me the best of both worlds. For my business I bring in around $55,000 with probably 6,000 out to subs and my clinic work brings in 12,000. I put in 40+ hours a week including your unbillable time. But I have write-offs and pay taxes on less than half, usually abour 20K or less. Any more questions ask.
Pros and cons of IC.
Is it more beneficial to be an IC? Any personal pros and cons on this subject would be extremely helpful and appreciated.
Thanks.
Pros and cons
It's not that there's necessarily anything wrong with giving consumers the option to self checkout and bag their own groceries--it's the fact that you are doing it for free. It's great that you think it helps to keep prices down, but everyone, even those that use the full service checkout, benefit from you doing the work of the absent cashiers if you use that logic. The stores should offer a small discount (even 1-2% would be something) for those who wish to use the self checkout stations.
pros/cons
Pro is it is "easier" but con is you don't make as much as MT (or at least I don't...) at 5c a line as opposed to 10c for MT.
My pros and cons
I recently left an in house hospital position to work from home full time. I had worked from home part time for a national also, before going full time with a different company. My main reason for making this change is that I wanted to get paid by production and not hourly. I am now grossing double or more what I made at the in house job. Benefits are about the same as far as quality, but cost me about $100 more a month (which I make up for many times over).
If you are not a high producer, as far as money goes, might be better to take an hourly position. Benefits generally also are more affordable than with a national at home.
I do miss though the company of the other girls at the hospital and sometimes feel a little isolated. But given that I am making twice as much at home, I don't think I will be going back any time soon.
There are pros and cons to everything
I have typed clinic notes paid by page and made a ton of money with small MTSOs but they run out of work a lot and have little if any benefits.
Let us know how you like them and the pros and cons of each. nm
nm
The pros and cons...
If you decide to drop the cable internet completely in favor of a USB broadband connection, you should know:
1) Speeds on the broadband USB are slower than cable. This is especially noticeable if you are in a less than full-signal area. This will NOT impact your WORK, but it will most definitely impact your recreational browsing, especially things like Netflix and youtube and downloading.
2) There are ways to hook that USB thingie up to a router and gain access from more than one computer at a time, but again, speed suffers, and it's a technological issue that I haven't attempted to figure out yet, so I can't help you there.
3) PRO: YES, you can switch back and forth between computers at will, and quite easily I might add.
4) PRO: YES, you can travel to places and work in places that you would never have been able to before. Especially if you're part-time or an IC, this is useful when you want to go visit relatives and not take vacation time for it. I would think it would be a little bit harder to pull off if you're full-time, just because it really wouldn't feel like a vacation then, but I have successfully worked part-time while visiting and traveling. It's really nice to know that my next paycheck will still be there when I get home.
At this point, I am paying for BOTH cable and USB broadband. Cricket stops short of where I live, so I had to sign a contract to get the USB thing going. Since I so enjoy Netflix, I haven't had the heart to cancel the cable yet.
Oh yeah, one more thing: The USB broadband usually has a 5GB limit per month. With ONLY using it for work, you won't come close to using even 1GB probably. However, those Netflix videos add up REALLY quick! Overage charges are insane, too!
No pros, just cons. Do a search on any
Stay away!
you don't need pros and cons- what you need is numbers.
Run the numbers on leasing, adding what you put down and what you get back. Then call a dealership and see what you can buy the car new for. Then subtract off what you can sell the car for in three years. You will see it costs at least $12000 to lease the same car. Of course, if it's worth $12000 for you to drive a "new" car every 3 years...
Vonage has pros and cons, for sure...
I just spent 2 months with Vonage (have broadband internet) and my understanding is you can use it with cable or DSL or satellite (high speed). But I had a lot of issues where I had to reboot and sometimes there was so much static/poor quality audio that I could not get cleared up by re-booting. The real kicker is when I went to cancel my service, they charged me $97! To cancel it! They told me its all there in the agreement I signed, and it probably is, in very small print. It is indeed the cheapest ULLD out there, I think, but for me it wasn't worth the frustrations. My audio issues may have had to do with satellite, they may not crop up with cable/DSL, maybe somebody using it with cable can give you more info.
pros and cons for own service?
I was hoping that someone out that has been running their own accounts that they could give me pros and cons for running their own service for local accounts or just doing 1 account, I have been seriously thinking of doing this get kind of worried sometimes of being on my own instead of with a company. Any insight on this would be so greatly appreciated. 
Anyone using Vista yet? Pros/cons over XP?nm
nm
Untion pros/cons
I wrote a long post, and it disappared. So I will try again. I am for a union, if it protects the "good" MTs, and not the ones who only "think" they are MTs who continue to harm the profession. I think if we all, and I mean ALL of us working for MTSO chose a day to strike, everybody call in sick, it would OPEN their eyes greatly. I'm tired of every year losing something else. Been doing this for nearly 15 years now, 8 of which was with a very LARGE top 3 MTSO. I have written Obama's transition team 3 times now regarding NAFTA, fair trade, and our medical records being in other countries unprotected from terrorists and HIPAA regulations. What if the terrorists in Mumbai were getting information for credit card fraud off the med records. There are reports in India which includes SSN, DOB, addresses, EVERYTHING required for fraud )and we wonder why it has tripled in so few years!!). The Indian Institute of Medical Transcription is in Mumbai along with numerous MTSO transription companies (most of whom have ties in the US and are branches off our US MTSOs). If the American people really knew where their records were created and maintained, there would be an uproar. First priority, in my line of thinking, would be to educate the public so they can demand their American records be kept in America. Sounds simple really, but not as easy as it should be I know, as they are oblivious as to how/when/where/why a record is created. And I believe every single clinic/hospital/rehab facility, whatever it may be, be required to post in their waiting rooms EXACTLY WHO there MTSO is, and whether or not they are offshored! I would discontinue seeing a particular physician if I knew he/she was promoting offshoring, as I bleieve a good number of our citizens would. Again, I'm for the day strike, everybody sick all across the US at ALL MTSO....talk about puting a screatching halt to production! And to whomever stated the profit margin is low...is in lala land (no offense, but I've seen the proof and know better). Look at the EIC filings for the big MTSOs, their profit margin is in the billions. Spheris alone brags on their profit margin increasing due to their push to "cheaper wager" offshore! Hello, wake up, and smell the offshore poop! I have chosen to keep or not keep doctors for me and my family based on they way "I think" they might transcribe. I actually care about my record being neat, tidy, CORRECT; and transcribed in our own country!
I don't think so, but if the pros outweigh the cons, I guess you
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What are the pros/cons of FlashType, IT, Shorthand
nm
Is anyone familiar with SwiftText? Pros and cons? TIA nm
:}
How do you move from MT to QA in this business...and what are the pros and cons for this.
nm
Anyone lease their vehicle? Need pros and cons please - sm
Am considering trading vehicle, and was advised because of the low miles I put on vehicles (under 25,000 miles in 5 years), that I would be better off leasing than buying. Would appreciate any and all thoughts and things to watch out for when leasing from those of you that have gone this route. TIA.
Need specific pros/cons on IT, Flash Type,
nm
Anyone using DirectTV- what are the pros and cons in comparison to cableTV? nm
nm
Pros & Cons of ESP word expansion program?
Does this work pretty well? (I have Word 2002) I'd like not to have to buy any software. Any opinions on ESP? Any other Word-compatible programs that work well, also?
Emachines anyone? Thinking of buying one just for MT/wordprocessing. Pros? Cons? Don't want to p
nm
Pros and cons on SOAP transcription versus MediVoxx? nm
s
INMO, pros and cons to both -- easier on the hands but harder for me mentally.
nm
Any Stedman SmartType users? Pros & Cons? Will it retain bold formatting without using DOS command
DOS commands like ShortHand does?
Make a list
Make a list of what you love about him and what you hate and see which list is bigger. You haven't mentioned a single reason for staying with this person. Sometimes it's hard to make a break, but think ahead to days without stress and arguing.
I'd probably do it but you need to make a list - sm
of pros and cons to it versus your home IC job. Break it all down and then it should be clearer to you. I am currently thinking of getting out too, so I can have a life at home. All I do is sit at the computer, every day and night. My kids really hate it. I do break to help the kids out with homework and projects but sometimes it is hard to do so because I have a deadline to meet, and on those nights where I help them I end up staying up until 12 or 1, then getting up at 5:30 so I have an hour or so to work before getting them off to school. So I am generally always tired and then I work a lot slower. It sucks. So I am thinking of applying for an 8-5 job about 20 minutes away that is offering $30-42K that is right up my alley and which is a lot more than I make now. It will make things harder in terms of afterschool activities, Brownies, dance and twirling; but I guess if I am lucky enough to get a job offer I will have to see what I can work out at least for the Brownies (every other Monday at 3:15 at a location I have to drive them to); dance is not an issue as the school bus can take them there; and twirling is at their school; so not an issue except I'd have to leave work about 90 minutes early to pick them up unless my DH is around to do it (luckily this is only a temporary thing they are taking). So there are sacrifices to everything. In my case I would actually have more time with my kids and my stress factor would drop, my income would go up and I'd have some great benefits (state job). I am going to try for it as I have nothing to lose. If I get lucky enough to get this job I still plan to do MT, though only about 8-10,000 lines a month; gas money basically; but at least I can do it after the kids go to bed and still get to bed by 11. I am scared just to apply as things will change a lot here but again, I have nothing to lose by trying and can always say no.
Thank you so much. Will make a list of these.
x
i buy almost all generic, make a list when i
go shopping and don't buy things that aren't on it (unless it's a necessity like t.p. or toothpaste.) plan ahead on meals and buy in bulk and freeze. it's just me and my 3 yo so we can get 2 almost 3 meals from one, that is if you can handle that much left overs. keep curtains closed in the rooms that get direct sun to keep them cooler-opposite in the winter. i don't buy extra 'goodies' like candy/chips/snacks. i'm really regretting that one today-i need a chocolat fix right now :)
only buy things on sale, if you must buy 'new' clothes wait until the end of the season and by then it's usually 60-70% off. buy gifts all year round when things go on sale, the person you're getting it for will never know plus if something comes up and you need something last minute, you've got it! the other things that i would consider a luxury i wait and use them as gift ideas for my family to get for myself and my son.
Every day I make a chore list. Nothing major, just...
one kid has to empty the dishwasher and take out the trash. The other has to pick up the family room and vacuum it. I make the list each day and leave it on the counter. They aren't allowed to turn the television on until it is done.
I would list but make sure you put "do not contact."
And put your reasoning. I looked around for another job and listed my present employer without instructing them not to contact and my supervisor had a fit. She called and confronted me about it and wanted to know why I was looking. I tried to explain I was looking for a part-time job to supplement, she told me it was against company policy for me to work anywhere else while I worked for them. Then she refused to even give a reference for me. She basically told me she wouldn't return the call to the HR rep who had called for a reference. I was shocked at how personal my supervisor took it.
Just tread lightly and best of luck to you!
Take the time to make a list for a day of all the common editing tasks you do.
That should give you a good start for productive macros, then start making macros for those odd circumstances. BTW, Instant Text is great for handling these types of tasks. You can run your macros with a short form that makes sense to you or you can create "command" entries that make corrections--meaning that you can lump a whole bunch of keyboard shortcut commands into one entry. This is a great feature if you're queasy about creating macros.
I need step-by-step instructions to make a macro in word that aligns automatic numbered list to the
HELP!!!!! Thanks in advance.
DS, H&P, CONS, letters
are the basics. Doing OPs is another level up
What pros
Doing the same work but making less?
What are the "pros" of IC?
Please elaborate.
Hello I have a question for the MT Pros out there
 I am finishing school with M-Tec and I am afraid of what is next. I know for a test it takes me a very long time to search and spell and make sure I'm correct on some terms. So how do you make money at this? I know experience and time will bring you speed but WOW how do you do it? Any secrets to share for a newbie coming out soon?
A question for the pros
I was taught years ago that generic medications were to be in "lower case." However, I then worked for a facility (for 14 years) who wanted all medications capitalized. I am now back to at-home transcription and back to having to transcribe generic medications the correct way, but I am having to look almost all medications up, not for the actual spelling, but to see if it is a generic medication or not. Any suggestions on how I can streamline this process? It is really slowing down my production. TIA
Any op report MT pros out there? (sm)
What books, websites, etc., do you recommend for someone with lots of MT experience but just starting out with op reports? I have the latest Stedman's Med & Surgical Equipment Words and Stedman's Abbrevations, Acronyms and Symbols books but a previous edition of Stedman's Surgery. I also have the AHDI/AAMT op report practice modules. TIA!
Pros of Digital
When I was an MTSO I had to go digital because I couldn't find good MTs that were willing to drive. Pick up and delivery was a big issue. So the pros to going digital for me was: My MT pool opened up to include the entire nation, got the office to quit calling for lost reports because I sent them the files - they could look for it themselves, no more printing (the office did it), better sound quality, back up of voice file (no lost tapes), etc.
The key is to keep it simple and there are simple ways to do it - although with the electronic medical record and headers I'm not so sure how I would set that up.
agree there are many pros .. I just don't
in the digital environment and platform systems. I had one account that I did in Word with an expander; I just could never achieved the same lph.
Really wish I could. I love the retreival aspect. But on a personal level, I haven't seen the personal benefits of investing the money to set up a digital system.
I'm in a me, myself and I situation. And, as weird as it sounds, I enjoy delivering and picking up. It's my non-kid contact with the outside world (besides church). Although if gas keeps going up, I may change my mind on that .. LOL
:P
mega search site for med pros
this website can be searched by just a partial last name and wild card and the state. any medical professional MD, DO, NP, psych ... anyone who gets paid for medical services has to have a provider number from the gov. so their name is here. Also can search by group, i.e. clinic name, etc.
Would anyone care to share where you work? I love OPs, but do CONS and DS all day.YUCK! nm
x
medical abbreviation list and medical drug list
Hi,
Anyone there who could help me out finding the latest abbreviations list.
I even want the latest drug list because my current program does not have many drugs.
So if anyone could suggest anything which is available online for informationd quick look purposes.
any help for medical abbreviation list and medical drug list would be very helpful.
You spending 3K in gasoline to make 4K plus all that time on the road?That doesn't make sense Pat
How nice that the world revolves around what you make and no one else could possibly make more. sm
Marla in So. California pays 11 cpl for a 55 ccl, Oracle pays 9-1/2 cpl, MDI-MD 11 cpl, JLG 10 cpl for gross line, etc.
Of course, these are rates negotiated and paid to qualified MTs.
When I see mistakes I repeatedly make, I make a quickcorrect for it (sm)
for example if I type we plant o instead of "plan to" I have a quick corrct so that if I type plant o, it replaces it with plan to, etc. It is hard - I was with the same company for 8 years. I do not work for anyone with an accuracy requirement though.
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