No but I think Consumer Reports and other industry specific testing
Posted By: has proven the gas mileage isn't what they clai on 2006-04-24
In Reply to: hybrid cars--anyone have one? - old MT
Honda recently made the announcement they're going to pull production on the Accord hybrid due to lack of demand. You'd probably be better off getting a vehicle that uses ethanol, which many of the new ones do already, if you have stations that have ethanol pumps. Ethanol is selling for cheaper than gasoline apparently.
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- hybrid cars--anyone have one? - old MT
- No but I think Consumer Reports and other industry specific testing - has proven the gas mileage isn't what they clai
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Consumer Reports June 2005 covers this.....sm
type of information if you'll go to your local library they usually have a copy available there. Happy researching!
I blew a big wad on my last one - Hoover WindTunnel - because Consumer Reports (sm)
gave it great marks about three years ago. The self-propelling feature was nice, but it kept breaking down so now I'm back to my K-Mart Bissell. So much for Consumer Reports.
Get the April 2006 Consumer Reports magazine...sm
It gives you a rundown on all vehicles as well as which ones have held up well and which ones haven't over the years. It's in the stores now or your local library should have a copy you can look at for free. :o)
Consumer Reports did not give the best rating to Dyson....
which surprised me. The top were Sears, which also surprised me. I just recently got the Sears bagless with HEPA filter for about $300 and I am EXTREMELY pleased with it. I could check on the model # if interested.
Check consumer reports ratings on the size SUV you want. I went with Subaru Forester..but sm
Its just me..no kids to haul around. The Ford Escape is in your range..but check the repair record. They were brand new the year I was looking..take into consideration tires..Escape uses truck tires which are more expensive than car tires. Have fun shopping!!
You might want to check out Consumer Reports 1/08 magazine, had article about ins and suggested visi
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Most recent Consumer Reports magazine did an article about this. Most effective was hormone replac
.
I was hired for a specific account/specific
work type. I've learned the dictators, done the macros, now they need to hire new MTs because the workload has increased, so they switch me to a very difficult account, doing everything but my normal work type. Does this make sense? I'm productive on my original account, not productive on new account, plus I'm majorly stressed. I do ESL 90% of the time but the new account is really horrible, not only ESL but they mumble and the quality of the dictation is bad. If you took a new hire and put them on this account and they stuck it out, maybe they wouldn't think these dictators would be so bad. I've talked with the MTSO and they say they'll switch me back and that lasts 2 weeks and then back to this horrible account. It would be different if they called and said we need you to do this account for a couple of weeks, but it doesn't pay enough for me to do from now on.
I understand this is the way the business is and my griping probably isn't going to help anything, but I just had to get it out.
Regarding testing. I have given in-depth testing but I have come to find that sm
no matter what a company wants, be it ESL specialist, etc., the best test to give ANY applicant is one that is not planned, one given right on the spot, verbal, one that has not been scheduled so the person has had no time to get nervous, but throw about 15-20 questions at them, general knowledge for their level of skill, and it can tell you wonders about their knowledge that is retained!! I actually find that the retention rate of folks hired this way is actually higher than intense testing given by some of these larger national companies. We all know that it takes sometimes a couple of weeks for even the best MTs to understand (I am speaking of the ESLs or bad dictators). There are some companies that give these as tests and what does that tell? Tells nothing and means nothing! Some of these that do well on these actually cannot do the work. How do we know that these folks have not actually had someone else do the test for them?
I find the best way is to pull a pop test on the spot in the middle of the interview and it works! Don't ever give the same questions to two separate applicants. Have a database of questions to pull from. Score from the ones you ask and move on from there. If the person cannot do the work, you know it in a day.
I believe it was the old EDiX that used to give over the phone questions, but they still scheduled this and people had time to get nervous. This way there is no time and well, you would be surprised at what folks actually do know...and in some cases...what folks actually do not know when given multiple choice, but to me this is an excellent way of testing, takes very little time, which I personally consider to be too valuable to waste 3-4 hours on a test, which someone who is experienced and has worked for 10 to 15 years in the field should not be required to do anyhow, should not be asked to do. When you have worked 12 hours during that day for a company (and some have), why should they have to take 4 hours to do a test?!
Think about it!!
I have recently spoken to other recruiters from other companies and they have agreed with me on this and I hope it catches on because it certainly is less time consuming and tells you all you need to know without giving them the actual work to do.
The consumer age is here.
I have watched bank tellers, cashiers, gas-pump attendants, farmers, pharmacists, butchers, telephone operators....you name it, lose their jobs due to technology and the need for mass production.
Everyone wants it now and they want it cheap, whether it's medical transcription or food.
Yes, it's depressing but I'm just as guilty as the next guy. I shop at Walmart and that has put a lot of little specialty stores out of business, but what can ya do?
It's just a sign of the times I'm afraid.
consumer credit
i don't know about them, but CAmbridge is a good one. They pay the creditors on time and are always in follow up with you. They do, however, charge a fee but it's not too great of one.
Consumer Credit
I talked with them and there was a HIGH fee for them handling my payments. Too high for me. I talked to the credit cards directly and worked with them. I think my payment to CC would have been about $70 a month. Also through them, the interest rate was lower, but the payment was higher as they do a percentage of the balance. But now that the credit cards are doing higher minimums, more people are going to be in this situation. I did go throught Trinity Credit Counseling and my fee to them was only $25. So you need to check around.
Just my two cents worth.
The MR reports were being filed. Referring physicians/medical care providers reports were not.
This is a hospital radiology department with in-house MTs and a clerk who is in charge of the report distribution.
RE: Consumer Credit Corp.
Are they the same as Consumer Credit Counseling Services? You might want to check with this service in your city. I used CCCS many years ago, and they were very helpful. They were very strict with budgeting, but they explained everything before I agreed to their requirements. I also attended classes when I could. They also have a toll-free number: 1-866-331-2227. Hope this helps.
We are the largest consumer of goods. nm.
With all of the outsourcing, a lot of products are being made outside of the U.S. All countries are helping in the problems with our environment.
I'll never buy another car without using Consumer's Guide!
Dept of Consumer Advocacy........nm
The two sentence normal reports will balance out the 3 page reports.
I am Wendy too
Consumer Credit Corp. ? Anyone have any info? (sm)
I seem to have some high balances on a couple of credit cards and am curious as to whether their claim for negotiating a lower interest rate is valid. It would certainly help me pay these off quickly.
They claim they negotiate these lower rates, set you a payment schedule, disperse the money as agreed upon to the creditors and there is no charge to you. I am sorry, but I am a bit dubious. Their web site shows BBB logo on the bottom, that does make me feel a little better about it.
Any input appreciated. Am NOT looking for a free ride, just checking out my options so please no flaming.
Rising costs always causes the consumer to look for another solution
in the MT field, this includes offshore, EMR and SR, and people taking pay cuts. Once everyone around your wonderful doctors are getting the work done reasonably well for much less, they will take a second look too.
yes! i used Consumer's magazine to make my choice,
and love mine - Eureka the Boss, SmartVac (an upright) -- less than $150 at Walmart -- very quiet, picks up very well. Only drawback i see is the cord is not retractable. If upright is not your style, or you want particular features, i'd still suggest using Consumer Reports suggestions. Neighbor just bought a Kirby for $800 -- bet this one would outclean that. Its even advertized as outcleaning a Dyson by 60%.
Forgot to add my accounts say "Closed at request of consumer."
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Contact your state Consumer Affairs. They will guide you.
nm
From experience as an insurance biller and a consumer with 2 policies.
I think it is always beneficial to have two insurances. I think if it doesnt cost you anymore to have it for him...then do it. Most insurance companies have what they call a "coordination of benefits" and the second insurance usually does pick up what the first doesnt. Say for instance though, with your primary insurance has a $25 copay so they pay for everything but that. That is in turn will go onto your secondary and typically the secondary will pick that up, depending upon their "COB" (coordination of benefits) policy. It may not benefit you a lot if the second has a high deductible until something major, god forbid that.. but I had that happen with my child. One hospital visit and your deductible is met on both as well as your stop loss so basically your covered 100%. Again, it really depends on your insurance and how they do their COB so you may still have a small amount of a copay or percentage but if it costs you no more to haveh him on it, then do it. Trust me, you will be glad you glad, especially in cases of large medical bills. Anymore questions, let me know.
Walmart is trying to save the consumer MONEY. It's not all about corporate greed.
Rubbermaid products are advertised. So the costs of doing business with Rubbermaid factor in advertising costs. Now I don't care what brand name of plastic container I buy if the quality is equal. So I buy Rubbermaid's competitor (I forget the name) cheaper because they don't advertise. I also think there are a lot of big executives at Rubbermaid who take a bigger profit each year which once again factors in the price of Rubbermaid.
With the economy as it is, gas prices soaring, interest rates up, taxes up, our pay going down (MQMT), I don't care to subsidize Rubbermaid's advertising budget or their CEOs salary. And I go to Walmart and buy the plastic container that is cheaper because they don't advertise.
not only the MT industry
making changes with insurance. DH works for one of the large telephone companies. We now have to pay for a larger portion of our Rxs when previously they cost us nothing, plus office visit copays also increased. It's still better than not having insurance at all. But, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer!
What does this mean for the MT industry? sm
I saw this *** and wanted to share this with other MTs. What is your interpretation of this? Are we going to be out of work for good because I'm thinking electronic medical records are going to replace us, or am I misinterpreting this statement?  What is your take on this?
"...President Obama has also talked about the need to computerize all medical records in five years, creating a huge opportunity for information technology jobs and data entry jobs."
It's the same as any industry...
You have the bottom, the top, and the in between. I happen to be closer to the top, but there are so many others who are not at the bottom. And if you knew me, you would know that I do not have the 'screw everybody else' mentality... and it's not really fair to accuse me of that based on my post, which did not mention anything even close to that mentality. I just do not believe that we have it so bad in this industry, that's all. I think we should spend some time looking at the positives versus the negatives. There are so many people out there who have it way worse than majority of the MTs here.
State of the MT industry
Obviously, you work some place that pays very well and you might even have secure employment. If so, that's great. Some of us worked for companies that were sold or sent all their work offshore and we had to take jobs where we could get them. Don't be so quick to judge other peoples' choices. It's true that in some companies, wages are lousy, but do you really think you'd be a fry cook at the clown's over working from a home office? If you are earning great wages and have a good job, I sure hope you're able to help other MTs find something as good as what you've got.
If this industry has become amoral it's because:
MTs for the most part have always been treated poorly, no respect and low pay. We have to stand up for ourselves and not back down from our line rates because no one is going to look out for us but us. No, not even the docs and/or the OMs, surprise, surprise! I say she should go for the full monty. They get to see more patients and therefore have a higher income. Why should she have to settle for a lower income because they're smart and use time-saving macros?? 
Men make more than we do in any industry.
Sucks, but that's the way it is.
What is the industry standard...sm
Tried to post this on Wednesday, will try again...I need to know what is the industry standard conversion for minutes dictated to minutes typed? Not how much do you do - but what is average for one hour dictation - how many hours typed. Bosses think we're taking too long but we do not get automatic demographics and need to look on log sheets (if they arrive and if they're correct) for everything from patient name to referring doctors, addresses, patient #'s, etc. So I need to give him an "average" number of hours dictated equal "X" amount of hours typed taking into consideration the lack of information, the searching we must do and the various typing speeds. I'm not going to "judge" anyone's advice - just need some input from those that have been there. Thanks for sharing.
I agree - as with almost any industry (sm)
you have to find your niche and the place you can call home. IMO and experience, you can make $60,000-$120,000/year in MT if you find the right hospital, your own accounts, MTSO and/or area of transcription and increase your skills constantly. After say 4-8 different gigs and nothing works out, then MT work is probably not for you. Same for any job, whether it is tech support rep (my former career), mortgage broker, service tech.
Industry Standard for VR Pay?
What is the industry standard for VR pay? Specifically for someone just starting out.
Industry pay is sinking.
With 9 years experience, I was offered 5cpl for straight typing. Nuts if you ask me. Yet the company filled the positions with that pay.
The going industry rates are....sm
Around 14 cpl, 65 character line for transcription, 6-7 cpl for editing.
You can "thank" overseas competition for these pricing because they actually will quote around 8-10 cpl for transcription and 3-4 cpl for editing.
Stinks, doesn't it?
I remember when we used to be able to get 18-20 cpl, gross line and could pay the MT 10-12 cpl and all were happy. Gone are those days - I wish they were back!
You could mention where the industry is going
at all because it may offend someone. The funny thing is that some of the course outlines on line may give you some great material to go by as it explains it pretty well on some of those sites. I think it is a great career, so I may be biased.
Please do this industry a favor sm
CHARGE WHAT YOU ARE WORTH AND NOT A PENNY LESS!
I mean it. The last person I talked to about this has her own company. Clinics she charges 14 to 18 cents a line, depending on the difficulty and the logistics of the office. Nope, does not include printing or tapes, they have to call in, period.
For hospitals, she charges 22 to 26 cents a line and she gets it. She usually types as many of the OP notes as she has time for and doesn't sub them out because she likes that. Any lines she does herself goes into the corporation at 100% and she pays herself a salary for all her work, not by the line for MTing she does. She has 20 yrs of experience, all of it in acute care.
She says, DO NOT sell your skills short. Don't try to undercut someone to get the job. Remind these people that they get what they pay for and deliver on every promise, but don't make promises you can't deliver on 99.5% of the time. Incorporating is good, better than not and I know all of the reasons behind that too.
I wish you every luck.
yea but it is industry standard!
and also as i put in my email to my doc... the templates and macros BENEFIT YOU!
What is the future of IC in this industry?
Wide-spread IC, I mean, such as we've had in the past? Sorry for your situation, Blondie. The reason I ask is that the company I'm working for is making it a real priority to make employee MTs work their agreed-upon hours so the work can be kept in TAT and the clients will be happy and not break off blocks of work to send elsewhere. I'm wondering how you think the end of the work-whenever-and-as-much-as-you-feel-like era would affect the large numbers of IT workers. ??
More industry lies...
1200 lines per day at 8 cpl is only $96.00 per day. At that rate, if you worked eight hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, you would earn just over $35K. Who does that? Anyone working full-time for an MTSO can expect to earn less than $25K and you will rarely, if ever, see a raise. This survey is, as they say, in no way scientific. It is all designed to make people think it pays to be certified, which it does not.
Do you have any connections in the industry?
If not, you might as well forget it. The people/companies that land accounts are the ones that know people and have connections at the hospitals, offices, etc. If no one knows you from Adam, then they aren't going to give you the time of day.
BE SPECIFIC, PLEASE
You need to CLARIFY - Not sure why you can't be specific - or is it you don't even know what you are talking about?
how do you do that, could you be a little more specific?
x
to be more specific....sm..
You, the parent, want something done.
They, the child, want something(s).....
When the something you want gets done by the child...
The child gets something.
Deals and contracts - works every time....*S*
can you be more specific.
nm
How much more specific does it need to be?
It says to save the TEMPLATE to a disk, flash drive, etc. Short of coming over and doing the work for you, now sure what you are asking for. Did you know there's a Help menu in Word that spells out all the details?
More specific help?
I am only using about 25% of my hard drive, and I defrag regularly. I am always getting rid of stuff that I am not using anymore, but my computer is still SUPER slow a lot of the time. It is almost always sluggish, and seems like there is something downloading that I can't see. Does that make sense? I check the running processes and programs and can't see anything there, but there is definitely something going on.
Any ideas on how I can find my gremlins?
Can you be more specific?
There are numerous programs, legit and not so legit, which have similar names. There's a CA Anti-Spyware 2008 (legit) and then there's one referred to as "Zinaps" Anti-Spyware 2008 (which is a trojan). In any case, you need to correctly identify what's actually running in order to know whether it's a threat or not and how to remove it in either case. For the latter (mentioned above), see http://www.precisesecurity.com/threats/zinaps-anti-spyware-2008/
Beyond that, downloading and running either Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy would presumably detect (and possibly remove) what's running if it's spyware/trojanware.
To be specific...
The "account" that I do - I currently transcribe for only one facility - does not offshore - so only transcriptionists are hired that can produce the work required without needing someone to edit the transcription. I understand that editing can be in either form - correcting or filling in the blanks of someone who isn't qualified to produce a final document (as in a new transcriptionist's work) or VR (which I have done with past accounts). As I said, I am fortunate to have that opportunity and not all are so fortunate. I also have the luxury, because of years of only acute care experience, to have had a choice in who I work for. I know that isn't the case for everyone. I am also not currently the sole supporter of my family and I have been in that position in the past.
However, I think that if each of us who personally has the ability to do so - economically-speaking - that we try not to make it easy for those companies offshoring who are asking for our years of experience to train their transciptionists. In a perfect world.....
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