Money Market accounts
Posted By: Stopping by on 2005-08-18
In Reply to: Does anyone know any basics on money market accounts? - Confused
MM accounts do have checks, but you are limited to the number of checks that you can write per month - no more than 3 checks to a third party. Rates are usually tiered based on your balance - the more you have deposited, the more interest you will earn.
Start here:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_home.asp
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Does anyone know any basics on money market accounts?
nm
Instead, if I had $345, I'd put it in a money-market acct. - sm
and watch it grow, rather than putting it towards a bunch of fake 'certification' letters after my name, and seeing that money fly away and earn me nothing.
the market will pay what the market will bear...sm
just the fact that jobs are posted for this pay means people are taking it. You have to remember - we are in a global marketplace now. We are competing against people from India, Thailand, Cambodia for these jobs. If the Mexicans could figure it out, we would be competing against them too. It's like washing dishes. Washing dishes isn't easy. Why does washing dishes only pay $5.50 an hour? Because they can find people to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour. Not only that, but MT work was getting cost prohibitive for a lot of people. That's why some other really, really smart people said, "let's find a way to make computers do this! Then we can sell the programs so docs can buy programs instead of paying MT's." Then some other really really smart people said, "let's not even have docs dictate. Let's have them point and click!" And so MT's are also competing against VR and EMR.
You may say ..."If a company offers me 7 to 9 cpl, I let them know that it is an insult to expect an experienced, highly skilled Transcriptionist to be offered such low pay and I refuse to work for them." But if your current job goes bye-bye, and you're scrambling out in the market and that's all that's out there....well, you get the picture. If you want the job, you take the job for that pay. Otherwise, yes, it's get a job at WallyWorld. Your choice.
Money, money, money, mmonnneyyy. Singing the Apprentice song.
:+
How about zillions of accounts. MQ has these accounts so overloaded even the new hires dont have any
work. I would love to read some of these reports and then they expect perfect QA and no blanks. Did they lose their minds completely.
Now you know the local job market and my
home situation better than I do. For your information, I make more working parttime at home doing MT than I would working fulltime for any of the local advertising agencies. Plus, I don't have to travel or put my kids in daycare.  Thank you so much for your concern about my employment situation, though. And please, get off your 
In the market for a new computer -
I will not buy MS Vista - I hear it's a nightmare. TIA
When you market your services with a
business name and a business license, it shows the doctors or hospitals that you are representing yourself as a professional business and are not just a homemaker or housewife trying to make a few extra bucks. They will treat you with more respect and take you more seriously, and in turn will be willing to pay you a fair rate as a respectable businesswoman. Think about any business in your community or town. They all first procure a business name and a business license before they open their doors. You may be working from home, but you can will present yourself in this fashion. I would also suggest obtaining a P.O. Box to use as your business address instead of using your home address. Believe me, this works. I have been running a successful small MT business from home for over 20 years now, and I support my entire family on my earnings.
job market update
If your skills are excellent and your experience and references speak well of you, then I believe the job market is pretty good.
But!!!!
You have to look carefully at the prospective jobs.
Please, I beg of you, for the good of ALL OF US, please please please do not take a job for less than 8.5 cpl! Please!
It's a very tough market right now...sm.
I have 8 years experience and have been testing left and right for the last 3 months. I have passed several tests only to hear about the company being put on a hiring freeze and I am added to their waiting list. I have also tested and done very well and not heard anything back. I finally made the decision that I am going to go to nursing school but right now is not a good time either (my husband has been out of work since April of 2008). He finished his degree and STILL cannot find a job.
Keep faith..it will come through. Maybe instead of having to drive into town, you could send your resume to all the local doctors, dentists, veterinarians, eye doctors, anyone who maybe has been thinking they are too busy to do their own notes. I have heard that this has worked for many people. It is always worth the effort. If you are a good general Transcriptionist too, don't just stop at medical. Send you resume to insurance businesses, lawyers, whatever might be there.
Good Luck and God Bless.
Are you worried about possible MT job market glut then? I am...
nm
My family went to a flea market that is mostly run and
attended by Hispanics. There were several vendors selling leather goods, such as wallets, belts, shoes, etc. DH needed a new wallet so he picked one he liked and opened it up only to find a tag that said "MADE IN INDIA." (He didn't buy it.) We didn't look at any of the other leather goods, but found it very ironic that the Hispanics are now importing their "handmade" goods from India.
yeah, in today's job market, the
middle class is supposed to be happy we even have a job. Forget any idea of getting any appreciation for hardwork, reliability, knowledge, or any of that good stuff, just be "happy" to be working... in my next life, maybe!
So what? 8 cpl is what the market will bear. If you don't want 8, don't take a job that pays
x
Sixe of MTSO Market
Does anyone know the size of the MTSO market (how many service providers, how many software co's etc. or a good source for this info?
Going back on the market -- any advice?
Hi y'all,
Three weeks ago I began a new job doing acute care at a local hospital (part of CHS). On Friday they told us that our work would be outsourced beginning in April.... Previously I worked at another local hospital for 9 years transcribing Rad and ER notes, echos, etc. I left there because I need expensive orthognathic surgery and their insurance plan has a blanket exclusion against it. Plus I wanted to brush up on my "big four" skills.
Now I am looking for work. Boy have things changed! I really prefer to work for a hospital or start up my own company again but would work for a service as a last resort. After reading the informative posts here, I have begun compiling a list of "good" and "bad" services so I can avoid certain ones.
Does anyone here have any advice for me? Not general advice about job hunting, but more specific advice about the services -- what to watch out for, etc. I have never done editing/VRT, but apparently that pays less anyway so I don't think I will be doing that.
Thanks.
Really? Hmmmm...you wouldn't know the stock market if it bit you.
Run a stock analysis on MQ under any search engine. Yahoo stock analysts are the ones I use personally. There are advisories and analyses of MQ and Philips in the data base EVERY DAY. There have been "hold" advisories, "sell" advisories, and "buy" advisories any given day. Sorry to disappoint your disillusioned mind. Obviously NASDAQ and regular trade is better, but they are STILL in the ball game, sorry to disappoint you. And you SHOULD be happy at that if you care about the 1000s of MQ employees who have stocks, etc. But, gee, sounds like you're just a disgruntled werker!
If you're an overseas vendor here's how to market....sm
Go by medical offices and talk to them in your native tongue. They just LOVE hearing it. When visiting in places like Florida be sure to ask about the last snow storm they had last winter - that's very impressive! In the northern states talk about the warm sunny 70 degrees in February in their state and ask if they're ready for that this year.
Be sure to take brochures showing the fabulous quality of work you do. Be sure you include impressive sentences such as: "Dr. Jones said he would eat ketchup with the patient to review his lab work." After all they don't find it cute to type it like it was dictated.... "Dr. Jones said he would catch up with the patient to review his lab work."
Lastly don't forget to give them laminated card including all 25 digits they will have to use to call your native country. Be sure they're aware that all of your employees in your native country have new names.... Ben, Mary, Thomas and Amy are of course popular choices. Potential clients like getting a warm fuzzy feeling by talking to "Mary" who has a very heavy accent to the point that they can't understand her talking. But hey - she has an American name (woo-hoo!) so all is forgiven!
Be sure to investigate the housing market in your area
In my area as well as most of the U.S., the housing prices are SKY HIGH! Some say there is sure to be an 'adjustment' (downward) of housing prices in the near future. If the prices have skyrocketed in your area also, you might want to take a wait and see attitude for a year or two and see what happens? Just a thought.
I don't know your circumstances, and there may be reasons you need to buy a house right now, but a waiting period would also give you a chance to straighten up or clean up whatever is wrong with the credit.
I feel sad for my two sons, (one of whom is a store manager, but single income), as I don't see any possibility of either of them being able to buy a house at the outrageous prices nowdays.
My husband and I got lucky (MANY years ago) and bought our first house from an elderly fellow who carried the contract himself and gave us a STEAL of a price! He assumed we would default like all the other renters had and he would repossess the house. Ha Ha, not so with us!
Hey, maybe you could try advertising for a house with owner financing. Might be easier to qualify. Good luck!
This is not a new market. Is being done with all offshore companies I have ever worked for. nm
:+
you should be setting your rates according to what the market will bear...
not what you feel like getting. If you like the account, you're familiar with it and able to make good money off of it, you might want to stay at the rate you are at. As a service owner, I used to plan to hire at 7 but bring everyone eventually up to 10 cpl by 0.5 increases every six months. I also used to be able to raise the rates from the hospital, clinic or physician office every 2 years. Nowadays if I bid on a new account, I am regularly outbid at 11 cpl, with 24 TAT. I have discussed it with my IC MT's. If they want a raise, I can try to negotiate a raise from the hospital...but it jeopardizes our account. Every time you raise your rates, it's a signal for them to start shopping around. So I would say, based on what the market will bear, don't expect to be getting raises. Ever. 
Never heard of RMT. In my experience, CMT is worthless in the job market.
x
It's called competition in a buyer's market (sm)
or vendor's (hospital's) market, not low-balling.
Here are two free market listings. You can google search for
freelance writing or editing market/job listings, too.
Writers Write market database
http://www.writerswrite.com/paying/
Writers Weekly market listing
http://www.writersweekly.com/markets_and_jobs/003118_11302005.html
Yeah, but are these other companies trying to put stores in every market in the country?
I think that is what makes Wal-Mart so "evil" and scares me so badly. Soon we won't have ANYONE left to buy our goods from because they force all the other competitors out of business (particularly the small business owners) and then we are FORCED to buy everything from overseas countries/Wal-Mart.
Various analysts are predicting the housing market will collapse soon. sm
Cannot be sustained at the level it is presently at.
No I don't think so. Everytime I see postings about the MT market failing it gets pegged as "n
that's what I think OP is referring to, postings about the dismal future of MT.
You are in a global market now Darlene. If she doesn't do it, someone overseas will.
x
You're asking for part of their market! It'll be a competition
You go ahead though. Keep us all informed.
In the market for a new ergonomic keyboard. I would love some suggestions!!! What are you using??
Right now I'm looking at the Comfort Keyboard ($289) and Ergoflex ($179) that are on e-bay. If you haven't seen them, they basically look like a regular keyboard, just in two halves. I've also been looking at the Microsoft Curve Comfort and the Logitech Wave. I HATE the big, bulky ergonomic split keyboards like the Microsoft Elite. I cannot use them at all. I also tried the Kinesis Classic and after a month, couldn't get used to it either.
Right now I'm using the A-tech AntiRSI keyboard. It's okay, nothing great.
I would appreciate ANY suggestions. Price really is a factor even though the ones I listed are outrageous. I'd rather not spend a ton, but will if I have to.
THANKS!!
Does anyone have any good ideas for back and hip pain from sitting all day? Anything on the market?
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
Make money? I'm not making any money because of my decision. You read my reasoning
You can agree with me or not, but don't make false assumptions please.
The accounts are old and she keeps her accounts TRUSTING she hired the right MTs
who if in doubt will ask questions regarding reports. No one can find all mistakes in all reports and that is human to have a report with perhaps a typo. You think anyone reads through all the reports of a national company before they get to the hospital? Not a chance. Some random QA is supposed to correct all mistakes? Not hardly. Doctors/dictators make mistakes too. We all do. So do QA people. So the thing is this person hires good people who are trustworthy, the hospital likes the way she does their account and life goes on quite nicely w/o hovering editors/QA people. BTW, who QAs the QA people on your accounts. Ever wonder?
You're working to make money, not to spend money.
These people should be ashamed of themselves taking advantage of people this way!
I also blew some money signing up with Quixtar... The only way to make any money is to bug everyone
you know into signing up. I felt like a snake oil huckster. I hated it. I was flushing money down the toilet from the moment I handed over my money.
RUN, do not walk away! I do an entirely different side business now that I really love (in addition to my MTing, which I also love!) Find something you're good at and that you truly love doing. Then make a business out of it. That's the best way to have a side business. Selling discount toilet paper through Amway/Quixtar? Not so much.
The CMT exam is overrated. Don't waste your time & money. Use that money on
paid anymore just because you have it. There are a few CMT cheerleaders that post to people like you but they are pretty well sucked up into that association.
Yeah, money, that's it. I paid $20.00 for my dog. Money is NOT THE ISSUE
walk him daily, play ball daily, he sleeps in my office daily while I work. Yeah, I got a lot of money, NOT HARDLY. And, my dog is HORRIBLY HORRIBLY ABUSED because he wears a collar around his neck. It's people like you that make me sick. I am done defending my use of the shock collar. I am going to continue with it and my dog will continue to be pampered , educated, fed, kept warm, and love me for everything that I do for him even when I remind him that his barking needs to stop. So, with that said, I will not respond to any more of your CRAP in reference to the shock collar.
Money is money and most people will do whatever it takes when in need. sm
if you do bring it to the attn of the office manager, why not offer her a raise to compensate. it is obvious she just needs or wants more money than your office is paying her. I agree, it is a free country and although it seems odd, unless you had it outlined in contract, she can work for whomever or whereever she pleases on the side. at least she is typing and not at a strip joint, lol. I see no conflict of interest, she has experience obviously in whichever field you are in and what is wrong with doing extra in that field. i agree with MYOB "nicely" and concentrate on your reports than looking at older reports and seeing who they are typed by.
Not all accounts are good accounts. One
That should not be the case. Sounds like you need new accountant with strong knowledge of IC deduction. We save a several thousand on what we pay in taxes based on what I can deduct as at home IC, $2000 off the top for what I pay my child to help with office chores, as an example. The measly 7.xx% I pay that an employer would pay is well worth my independence in being my own boss.
No need to wonder..It always means less money for the MT and more money for MQ.
z
Money, honey, money!!!!!!.
nm
One year and you make decent money? What is decent money to you?
k
How many accounts?
My national employer has 19 accounts in my queue, though I rarely work in all of them in a week or a month. Still its too many. I'll often work 5 or 6 accounts in a single shift, despite the promise of a limit of 2 or 3.
This is a terrible business practice. If you are a dedicated MT, it requires extensive time to review account-specific instructions, not to mention being unfamiliar with place and people names associated with the different regions. It is unfair to "quality patient care" to bounce MTs into unfamiliar territory. After all, how quickly and accurately can one transcribe a record when you are overwhelmed with studying your fifth or sixth different set of instructions in less than 4 hours? I believe the substantial amount of MT shuffling is to slow us down--they have overstaffed and its to their benefit to force familiarity with odd accounts so they can do it again next time. They do phase people out of primaries and secondaries and even tertiary accounts once they become proficient. We hear the work is low due to summer slow down, yet they keep sending their "please welcome our newest recruits" memos.
And, yes, I will definitely be searching for a new company very soon.
I have 8 accounts and seriously,
they do run out of work, but I change my work hours. I know if I get on at 6:30 a.m., I will get a decent amount of lines done in about 2 hours time with the normal interruptions of kids. I usually do get back on in the afternoon to try to finish up and there usually is work for me at that time too. I was transferred to Amherst when our office closed. I have been with MQ for 4 years. It just stresses me out that people complain so much about Medquist and it is always the same people. Why not get another job????? Why do they continue to come here and complain about the same thing over and over and over again????? It is the most annoying thing I have ever seen. I agree that we all need to vent, I do too. But why remain at MQ if you are all so unhappy? Maybe finding another job with a different company will make you happy, although it seems like people from every other company are complaining, as well.
15 accounts......
Yes, but it is important that we post this information. I believe, or at least I hope, that the people at the top need to hear this.
The people at the top management levels read this board regularly. They are concerned about the bottom line. Three things affect the bottom line: production, TAT, and quality.
If you have 2-3 accounts, you will have much higher production, much better quality and TAT will be better controlled. You will make more money because you are not wasting time jumping from account to account.
I believe the problem is in middle management. They are the ones putting us on 15 accounts at a time. (I actually had a supervisor who told me she had asked the manager while she was throwing me at every problem account and her answer was...."Tough S---" Unbelievable.
These are only for MT's/accounts that are on DQS
If your account has never been switched to DQS, I don't believe you would receive a check. This somehow pertains to DQS. It appears that the longer your account has been on DQS, the larger your check would be. But this is all a mystery to us MT's. It may also pertain to certain accounts/clients that MQ had misbilled, per the law suits against them. At this point, MQ upper mgmt is keeping very quiet about this check, so can't help but think that it pertains to the overbilling that they had done to some MQ clients -- possibly we were the MT's who were worked on those accounts. BUT YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE about the purpose of the check, other than they had to pay back some monies FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. Will we MT's ever know ????
TOO TOO MANY ON ACCOUNTS
Don't forget to call Human Resources and follow up with a written Employee Complaint with ALL these complaints. They think the complaining is only from an isolated few and won't even take things seriously until the written complaints start to mount up.
Try for your own accounts - How did
xx
Those of you that have your own accounts, what's the
best way of getting your own accounts? I have one small local account that I got from a newspaper services ad eight years ago. If I had two or three more like this one, I'd be a happy camper. I've mailed postcards and made cold calls with no luck whatsoever. I've even done intro letters with business cards to new providers on the city business license list and in response to help wanted ads. No nibbles there either.
It doesn't even necessarily have to be a local account. It could even be Internet based or via mail/UPS. One guy used to priority mail tapes to me from New York back when I had my virtual assistant/secretarial business.
Any positive suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
New accounts
It is like selling a house or anything, it takes a large volume of people to get one buyer. Even if I am not looking hard, I send out flyers every year or so to keep my name out there -- have a lot of people that are willing to subcontract for me. I also hit the smaller ones sometimes and do the rounds in the medical office buildings by the hospitals. Send flyers out to smaller cities/towns if you are set up for digital as those are the ones that are sometimes looking. Do networking with other MTSO's in your area. I know many in mine and we all network together. A lot of it is being at the right place at the right time as they often just throw our flyers out and that is why you have to keep sending them out. Offer something unique -- I cut apart chart notes and that helped with a couple of accounts. Stupid but they love it. Also accounts that use transcription services -- take them a flyer personally with some cookies -- it does work to get it to the manager's/doctor's desk it really does. I have also offered my own accounts a "finder's fee" if I get an account. Anything works. I have gotten a few through the yellow pages. But it takes time and persistence. One mailing does not usually do it as there are a lot that start up and stop so if they see it once or twice, they remember it. Good luck. Keep your prices fair and offer a good service. Patti
Do 7 different accounts in my
job, 2 programs, and another job with another program. different hospital. Once you get used to an account and work on it regularly, I have found it does not slow me uip to switch from account to account, keeps me in work. Also, no problem with doing way over 1000 lines in 8 hours. But that is just me. I have been at this 21 years. I hear others do have problems and sympathize with them.
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