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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Medical Assistant

Posted By: MT2 on 2009-04-27
In Reply to: Wanting to leave MT to be a medical assistant - Dann

My sister taught medical assisting. It is a 9-month program and when you are done you only make about $8/hr. One of the modules is on MT and quite a few of her students went on to be MTs because they could make more money.




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I'm a CMA (certified medical assistant)...
and can give injections with a doctor's order, so I assume a CNA would be allowed to also. Not sure about Florida rules though.
I am thinking about being a Medical Assistant
XX
Wanting to leave MT to be a medical assistant
I'm not sure where to post this but here it goes...I have been an MT now for a little over 2 years, I got into it because it was the only legit profession I could do at home with my newborn baby, definitely was not thinking long term career when I went for it, just something to bring in money while I was at home with the baby.

Now my newborn is going into kindergarten and I have been truly unhappy with the company I am with. So now I am looking to work outside the home and really what I would like to do is be a medical assistant (not CNA). Nursing would take so much schooling, time and money that I don't think I could handle going that route but just something in the middle where my transcription skills would come in to play and I would be working with patients, physicians, paper work and working outside of the house (which would be soooooo nice).

My questions is, does anybody know anything about medical assisting that I should know? I understand it is pretty low pay but then again I am not willing to go to school for 4 years so that is to be expected.

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!
Med Assistant
I did the exact opposite.  I went to a community college to become a medical assistant right out of high school.  It took 2 years and I got my Associate of Science Degree.  However, when I went into the workforce I found out that Medical Assistants don't make much more than minimum wage and you are scheduled to work 40 hours a week for full time but end up working about 50-55 hours a week.  I actually got a job in a Family Practice Residency Training Program Clinic but was hired as a medical transcriptionist.  I did the transcription but "helped out" as a medical assistant just so that I could have the best of both worlds.  Good luck.  I think you get paid more for medical billing.
I use Total Assistant Pro
and it works great for me. You can download the trial version and then purchase after 30 days if you like. It does all the work for you. I love it.
(lab assistant for 7 years)
1) white fluid? sounds like a dirty needle to me.

2) a capped needle does not mean it was not used. a needle in a guys jacket does not mean it was not used either.

3) needles go into a sharps container (should have left it in the labcoat for doctor to pick up). i would not have gotten rid of left it in the jacket, in a box/bag, with a note of caution for everyone else until doctor came in.

3) gloves do not prevent a needle stab.

may sound petty to others....but unless you've worked in an area with all kinds of bodily fluids, this is pretty dangerous.
Virtual assistant....sm please
Does anyone know anything about virtual assistants? I met someone and she said that she makes a lot of money doing this. I am looking to supplement my income, because I just can't support myself and my family off 0.08 cpl. I find that I am working way too much just to make ends meet. I have noticed that some virtual assistants are required to do transcription as well as other clerical duties. Can anyone help me with some info on this? Does anyone know how much they make, and if it is worth my time? Thanks.
I use Total Assistant and like it. nm
xx
How does one get into being a veterinary assistant/tech? sm
Are there schools to go to or does the vet train you?
Personally, if that personal assistant was-sm
supposed to be you, I would ask for an exorbitant amount of money to do this. such a waste of time!!! Wonder who he is trying to show off for. lol.
I love Total Assistant Pro. sm
I have to work with text boxes on office letterhead and I found Total Assistant counts the text inside the text boxes while others didn't.
ABCZ Typing Assistant-

Has anyone used any of the ABCZ files from the following site, in particular this file "ABCZ Typing Assistant Version 2 - TAMed2C " ?http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/abczTA.htm


I have Instant Test and was wondering if there was a way to create your own ABCZ shortcuts with the "importer"?


Thanks


 


 


 


There's a difference between a tech and a veterinary assistant
The main difference is that a tech is certified and has a bachelor's degree or beyond. My son worked as a vet tech while in college because he was a biology major and the vet he worked with found it easy to train him.

A veterinary assistant is more often trained by the vet since it's not so involved. They do vital signs, dispense meds, set up the room for the next patient, etc.

The difference between a vet tech and a veterinary assistant is comparable to the difference between an RN and a nurses' aide.

Either way, it's a very rewarding and gratifying way to make a living.
SmartType vs Smart Type Assistant

Are these one and the same or different?  Does Smart-Type work in Dictaphone Extext platform?


Thanks in advance for any help from anyone.


 


How about starting a virtual assistant business? (sm)

You could do all kinds of stuff (do a Google search under virtual assistant, there are some webpages that explain stuff).  U-Haul I believe also hires people to do phone customer service from home.  If you look on guru . com they have people who advertise for odd jobs and lots of them are virtual assistant kind of stuff.


Just some ideas.  You could also do daycare, pampered chef, that kind of stuff.  :)


sounds like a job a regular assistant could do rather than higher wages for a QA to do.
no speciality needed to look up addresses.
I would buy new a Dorland's Medical Dictionary, Stedmans Medical and Surgical Equipment...SM

and Tessier's The Surgical Word Book, 3rd edition.  Books you could buy used I would say would be Stedman's Pathology and Lab Medicine and Cardiology/Pulmonary word book.  These are all the books I use the most during my day.  You could buy other speciality word books as you need them and could probably go used with those.


I wouldn't bother with buying a drug book, new editions come out every year and I just stick to the FDA website and RXList as my drug references.


Also FYI, not a book, but I use my Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictationary a lot.  It's easier to open the program than it is to pick up a huge 30-pound dictionary.


Medical Transcription In The Era Of Electronic Medical Records
EMR has revolutionized the healthcare industry in recent times. Many experts felt that EMR & Voice Recognition would totally replace Medical Transcription - however; the industry soon realized that transcription has certain advantages over point & click charting and many physicians preferred to dictate notes rather than document the data at the point of care themselves.
At ease, soldier! This isn't a medical document. I repeat, this isn't a medical document. nm
x
I've thought about coding. My DH does medical coding and I think with an MT's medical termino

background and anatomy and physiology knowledge, a transition into coding wouldn't be hard at all.  From what I can tell by looking through my husband's books, an MT would have to learn insurance regulations and legalities.  We've basically got all the medical background down or we should be if we're worth our salt as an MT.


I even contacted AHIMA and found that the qualifications for taking the CCS or CCP coding exams are completion of the a coding program, RHIT program, or RHIA or related work experience.  Transcription is part of HIM, albeit the red-headed stepchild of the HIM department, but a part nonetheless and so satisfies the qualification of having work experience.


The test is tough though.  My husband didn't pass it his first time out and I think I read something like only 20% or so pass it the first time.  So it would probably be best to take some sort of formal coding class, in my opinion.


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.

Your English teacher does not do medical reports. This is for medical reports.
.
It's not a MEDICAL spellchecker. You have to convince them to add the medical spellchecker.
unless you feel like adding 10,000 medical terms on your own time LOL
QT Medical does not. nm
 
medical ins
Thanks for the info. Did you like working for them? 
IC but not medical
From what I understand there are online "marketplaces" where a Transcriptionist (medical, legal, or other) can bid on jobs. If you don't want to work for a week you simply do not bid that week.

One is called Guru. I can't remember the name of the other one.
B. S. in Medical Technology

I worked in a hospital laboratory for 33 years and retired in 2001. I found out about a year later that my husband was losing his medical insurance after he retired on disability and so I had to go back to work. I had dabbled with transcription in the pathology department and so I decided to make it my second career and I just love it. I get to work from home and don't have to deal with the office politics and all the bureaucratic red tape that comes with working at a hospital.


Color me happy!!!! 


Ellen S.


Medical experience
I guess I should have worded that different...I've been in the medical field for a total of eight years (medical assistant, medical secretary/admin. assistant, EEG Tech), but only being doing MT work full time for 4 years. I've also taken A LOT of extra classes on terminology and anatomy/physiology. Plus, MT is just one of those things that came naturally for me, it's been really easy to pick up the "language." So I guess I'll stay with this company then, if that pay is not bad. Thanks.
Medical Dictionary

Does anyone know if there is a place to download a free medical dictionary?


 


 


Medical Dictionary
MT Mom
Hey thanks guys for the suggestions. I am going to be doing transcription at home for they physician I work for and am using Word perfect 12. It has a spell check on it but was looking for a medical spell check I could download and use along with a general spell check.
Dragon-Medical 7
Got mine on e-bay for half of Softscan.
An MT is a Medical Transcriptionist...sm
Here is a link and some helpful information on desertion in the military. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Desertion

Good luck!
ME = Medical Editor. nm.
nm.
You ARE a medical transcriptionist, right?!
Geez, how idiotic can you be?!

It addresses ALL medical transcriptionists. Again, the new definitions for two classes of their transcriptionists have apparently been updated. That does NOT exclude SEs! LOLOLOL

Ya can't see the forrest for the trees can ya?! LOLOLOL

Medical Insurance??

I am looking at moving back to working from home, I am currently 'in-house' working for a hospital clinic but I need more flexibility for my children's schedules.


I have a decent lead on an IC position, but I am trying to figure out if I can find/afford health care.  I really only need catastrophic type care and plan to pay for my own routine care.


Does anyone know of a decent insurance company??


 


Thanks VT_MT


It is a Medical Transcriptionist
and Medical Editor. I was confused at first too but you can do both. They never had ME's before.
medical trancriptionist
I am looking for a medical transcrioptionist job in the following area:  Clarksville or Nashville TN.  I have experience in medical transcription work and would like to work from my home.  I am eager to hear from anyone in this area.  Thyank you Nancy Seymour
Sorry, don't know about Cort Medical,
are they in Wisconsin also? Also, do you do SLMC ER for Accustat?
OMG! I think I worked there, too! Except it was a medical
insurance company. We had to be at our desks 10 minutes before our shift started. Then my coworkers turned the company in to the Department of Labor and Industry for unpaid overtime to the tune of approximately 40 hours per year. So the company changed it to 5 minutes and rewrote their OT policy. We had to give blood to earn time off. The same thing for personal phone calls. They actually had recorders on our desk phones for beneficiary purposes, but that didn't stop them from using it to monitor our personal calls, too. I found out that the recorders were recording us while we weren't on the phone as well, so any nonbusiness discussions between workers were recorded and listened to. That's how they targeted who would be fired next. Our Internet usage was tracked, even though we were allowed to use it on our breaks. They were firing people with 15+ years or more with the company because they could get younger college grads for a fraction of the wages the "older" workers earned. When I was hired, it was to replace someone they fired, so I had zero training and had to figure it all out myself. The boss' pet got special treatment and was recruiting people for her Internet business by bypassing the proxy server on her work computer during business hours. We got in trouble for snacking at our desks, but the pet took long lunches to run errands and then ate her lunch at her desk when she was supposed to be working. I got in trouble for taking too many bathroom breaks (I have kidney problems) even though I skipped my regularly scheduled breaks to make up for it. There were so many "unwritten" rules that I didn't know, so my coworkers backstabbed me for not following along. What, being psychic was a job requirement? I could go on and on, but my blood pressure's going up just thinking about it. I quit and even gave a statement to the fired older workers to sue. I think they dropped the suit because most of them got hired by a competitor. I vowed to never again work for a big corporation after that.
if it was in my medical record?

It would depend upon whether or not it could have a negative impact upon my medical care. If the doctor dictated something like, "The patient has diabetes" (when I don't), yeah, I would ask them to correct the record. But for something like what was stated originally ... heck no. Let it stay.

But that's me ... I don't have OCD and I'm not anal retentive about this business like others. Never have been and never will be.

I still think you need to lighten up. There's a lot more to worry about in life than something like that.


medical transcription ?
Does anyone know of a legitimate work from home transcription company who wants someone with there training but has no experience yet. Thanks!
IC to medical secretary
Thanks everyone for your input.  I have a lot to consider and you all have been a great help. 
This is why every MT should own a medical dictionary. NM
x
www.medical-speller.com
You get a free trial of the spellchecker. Later, if you choose to buy, I think it is $29.99. Don't know of any others.
BS in Medical Technology
I worked as a medical technologist (lab tech) in a hospital laboratory for 30+ years before retiring in 2001. I was interested in transcription as a second career so I volunteered to cover the pathology secretary's days off just for the experience.......and here I am and love it. The pay is only half what I made in the lab but there is much less stress and I love working at home. Obviously, my many years in the medical field helped tremendously with terminology but there was still a tremendous amount to learn; it's a continuous learning process. 
Medical expenses

January, 2000 - DH tore rotator cuff, needed MRI/arthrogram, followed by rotator cuff repair.


January, 2001 - I had foot surgery in podiatrist's office. 


January, 2002 - DH had cervical MRI/myelogram, followed by anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion, two levels.


January,  2003 - DH had knee MRI, followed by arthroscopy.


January, 2004 - I had LASIK surgery. 


OMYGOSH, it's almost January again! 


He can't discontinue medical. sm
I am sure he will be bound by law to continue the children on medical insurance if he has it available to him. My ex-husband did and my present husband is bound by law to provide it for his children even though their mother provides dual insurance. Check with your lawyer.
new job - no medical spellcheck

Hi all ... yesterday I started a new job - hospital MT, decent pay, great location. But guess what - the program is so old there is no medical spellcheck in it!  And the old lady that works the other shift, who's had the job for light years, does not use the AutoCorrect feature of MSWord!  The boss told me feel free to use it (thank God) - but can you imagine that?????   Any advice ? 


Thanks guys!


What about Gov't medical for kids?
I am a single mom, kids 15, 10 and 7. My husband died 5 years ago, so I am solo parenting.

My kids are covered medically by the state run 'Dr Dynosaur' program, which is essential a medicaid program. There are different criteria for kids than for adults in my state. I don't qualify for Medicaid (I am an IC), but my kids qualify for Dr Dynosaur, wch I pay $80/month for.

You may want to see if there is something similar in your state.

Good Luck.
it is likely they are processing your medical
claims. 
getting a job as a medical transcriptionist
I am getting ready to graduate as a medical Transcriptionist from an online school.  How long does it normally take for a new graduate to get a job?? I have noticed that no one wants to hire a new graduate..