Okay, I'll bite because I'm curious too - sm
Posted By: just me on 2005-07-23
In Reply to: What average line count do you type per pay period. what is considered above average and how long - does it take you to do it?
I work 8 hours a day, sometimes a little less, do an average of 2000 lines per day. Depending on how many days in the pay period, 20000 to 22000+ lines per pay period.
Don't know what is above average tho.
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I'll bite....
1. How long have you worked as a medical transcriptionist?
18 years
2. What certification have you received?
Just medical secretarial certificate and Microsoft applications though a local hospital that offered classes on-site.
3. What attracted you to pursuing a career in medical transcription?
The money. It paid more than the unit clerks at the hospital.
4. What type of environment do you work in (i.e. from home, physician’s office, hospital, other).
Home currently. Hospital for 17 years (benefits were not that great and hourly pay was awful.)
5. What do you think are the most important skills a medical Transcriptionist should have?
Speed of typing. Good ears. Able to stay in an office chair for lengthy periods of time.
6. Did some skills come naturally to you, while others required more practice?
It all came pretty natural once the money started rolling in.
7. In addition to transcribing medical reports, do you engage in other forms of business writing while on the job (such as memos, proposals, or progress reports, etc.) to clients, coworkers, or supervisors? Please explain.
All of the above. I have my own clients. I have written plenty of e-mails.
8. What do you think is the most difficult aspect of medical transcription?
Transcribing a specialty I am not familiar with or am not particularly fond of, but one's gotta do what one's gotta do.
9. What do you find to be the easiest aspect of medical transcription?
Cashing my check at the bank.
10. As a medical transcriptionist, do you often need to collaborate with others to ensure that all the information in your reports is correct?
Hardly ever. After 18 years, I pretty much got it down pat.
This is not really meant to be funny; just another honest opinion from a fairly young MT that's been around a long time in this business! 
ok, i'll bite, where do you live that you need
x
I'll bite. You did install on your new computer,
right? Because that alone is a monster problem....
OK, I'll bite -what on earth does the East Coast have to do with it?
Please enlighten me! 
Okay, I'll bite and respond but I hope it isn't over your head
Here is what I did. I've had ST for years. I got the updated Stedman's ST. I don't know if you have the comuter skills to do this and this is why I am concerned you still think it's over your head or I'm not trying to help.
All the words in ST are also in the spellcheck. If you use ST, the words on put on your document from Smartype are spelled correctly AUTOMATICALLY. The Stedman's ST was overhauled in 2004 and has all the medications and surgical terms up until then. Now, if you want those words in your own spellcheck without buying their spellcheck, you can add the ST words into your dictionary in two ways.
The first is as you type and spell check at the end of each report.
The second is to convert the ST program into a text file (please go to productivity board for help doing this if you don't know how). Once it is in a text document, run your spellcheck on the entire document and add all the words at one time to your own spellcheck. This may take 2 full days of doing nothing else as the text file is huge. Also, you would need to take out any abbreviated forms first (anything where xxx=xxxxxxxx) so you don't add abbreviated words to your spellcheck. That takes another day's work.
Now, to update from 2004 to today, go to prescribing reference, register and copy all the new medications from the last 2 years onto a blank document, run spellcheck and add those to your spellcheck.
Now go to the Stedman's web site and sign up for the 30-day free trial and letter by letter copy their surgical word list onto a blank document. Run spellcheck to add those words to your spellcheck.
So now ask yourself, if it takes me 5 days to get a spellcheck I didn't have to pay for, how much income did I lose, how much time not getting a job did I lose and was it worth saving a few bucks?
Your choice. I've been around the block a time or two and know that trying to cut corners on how you earn your money isn't smart in this business.
Nice post. I'll return. to Win Opponents you should be very Curious: http://newsdirectory.com/ ,
Very nice. I hope you'll update very soon. when Pair is Plane it will Percieve Mistery , right Girl will Compute Player without any questions when TV is TV it will Compute Slot , Central, Universal, Curious nothing comparative to Faithful to Love Pair you should be very Central
For CURIOUS: You are not curious, you are paranoid and a sociopath
Are you referring to the sentence
'And HOW to you put a marker?'
where I typed a 't' instead of a 'd'?
It was just a TYPO!
I am an American MT!
It is so pitiful how PARANOID SOME American MTs have become, ESPECIALLY THE OLD ONES, fearing for their jobs and being afraid of getting the boot.
Trying to be 'expert linguists,' sniffing out various dialects, detecting some Indian hints, whereas they most probably live in rural areas or in cities with a population of 1,000 inhabitants.
So sad, so sad, what has become of the MTing profession?
Now, CURIOUS, start nitpicking my post.
VR has taken a bite, but
a really good radiology MT can save the radiologist a lot of time, especially if the MT works in-house. Both radiology jobs I've had, a good bit of the quality control I have done has been making sure orders were correct and figuring out left/right discrepancies, etc. I can only imagine how many errors go out if the MT doesn't have the paperwork in front of her to check for tech and radiologist errors. I fix problems all day long, and VR can't do that.
I probably shouldn't bite, but (sm)
Almost $30,000 (including July SE bonus).
Medquist.
Shift differential.
Incentive bonus (over 17,000 lines/pp) met 50% of pay periods.
Quarterly bonus for SEs (at least $500 per quarter).
Work 40 hours per week, sometimes more if I work an occasional weekend.
Two kids at home, over 17, but neither drive (boo me).
No husband or boyfriend.
I have as much of a life as I want.
Bite your tongue!!!!!! LOL. nm
.
Spider bite?
Has anyone every been bit by a spider? Isn't an ER doctor suppose to be able to identify a poison spider. I got bit yesterday on the left thumb. I would not have worried about it if was anywhere else or the fact that I was alone with no wheels. My husband had just left to go to a ball game.I called him to tell him that I had just been bitten (He hates spiders, he had been bitten by one and spent two weeks on crutches). He comes home to take me to the emergency room along with the dazed spider. The doctor could not tell what kind of spider it was. My husband had looked it up on the net and it seemed to be a brown recluse. The ER doctor said there was really nothing to do except give me a Benadryl (I never take medicine or go to the doctor) and antibiotics to take if I see an infection starting and kept me for 30 minutes in case of a reaction. In the meantime, my husband (a science teacher) goes to his classroom (school is next to the hospital) to put the spider under the microscope and do more research on the spider. As it turns out, the spider was not a brown recluse but a brown house spider often mistaken for one. The only way to tell the difference is the number of eyes. LOL. Anyway, I felt so foolish and because taking the Benadryl was out like a light the rest of the afternoon and evening. Wasted the rest of my day.
DSM-IV is about to bite the dust and the DSM-V is on its way. sm
And shame on you anyway. What psychologists do, how they do it, what they call it and how they diagnose is not always consistent with medical diagnoses. The ugly word "retardation" is only one example of this.
I'd like to see you find a doctor and a psychologist who can agree on the differences between situational depression, major depression and recurrent depression, and how they should best be treated. An MD wants drug therapy. A PhD wants psychotherapy. When you have a certain type of hammer, everything looks like your special kind of nail.
I am finished with my shift and I come in for a visit, but I am not on here all day complaining about doctors or bashing my fellow MTs. Glad YOU don't have a job that takes your time and attention because YOU could not be on here all day to stir the pot.
I would probably bite the bullet this ...sm
time BUT I would make it clear that next time I would not. I would tell them that they have to let you know which patients have already been done. You have no way of knowing.
Too bad we can't have that sound bite..the CB teacher one! LOL
.
Dogs don't usually bite because of a health problem. sm
Most dogs bite out of fear. Dogs also bite because they are establishing/maintaining their place in the family pack. These are the two most common reasons dogs bite. I would never trust a dog that you have raised.
If I was a dog over there, I would bite way more than 360 people. Dogs are smart and they know they
s
Yes, they bite..and scream like children. CREEPY!!! EEWWW!! LOL
..
Bethany Hamilton..surfer girl who lost her arm to shark bite. nm
x
It'll be the most expensive magazine subscription you'll ever get! No point in joining. nm
s
I'll go! I'll go!! I won't take hormones and will be ready to defend your honor :) n/m
.
No. It'll be the most expensive magazine subscription you'll ever get, and it's unnecessary
s
You'll get used to it. It is keeping the right leg propped up at the same time that'll be the
When I broke my ankle, I was just grateful it wasn't the hands. Without our hands we'd be totally screwed.
I broke my right ankle slipping on ice and was lucky to have gloves on because the palm of the glove was totally torn up and my hand was okay.
Good luck and be sure to do your exercises when it is time.
It'll happen. You'll find your fit.
You might have to kiss a few frogs first, though.
Oh she'll spice it up alright, she'll be
placing hidden cameras in the other ladies' dressing rooms! LOL!
continue your goal; he'll/they'll get used to it/over it
nm
I'll vent and I'll sign my name sm
I have two IC contracts right now. I recently went back to a job I had quit earlier in the year to work for the other company I am still working for.
The newer job has 80% ESLs. I transcribe OP notes primarily and I can fill in other work types as the opportunity arises. I am frustrated with this particular situation. After 6 months, I am making less money and working longer hours. I am past the learning curve and I should be doing better, at least in the number of hours I am spending doing the job. We have run out of work for 24 hrs at a time at least 5 or 6 times since December 1, and in November it was more than that. I have a friend who worked for this company as well and she was having similar difficulties. The only thing that we can figure is that they are shorting us line count some way, because after 6 months at it, it should be easier/faster/more money, but it is less and less every single pay period. It is not a nice thing to accuse a company of doing, but it SEEMS that way to us. I am fed up with being expected to type every single OP note that comes in 24/7 and meeting the 6 hr TAT for them on weekends, evenings, holidays, wee hours of the morning...
I took back a job I held for 2-1/2 yrs. The team leader has changed and this gal thinks that I should be on call 24/7 for whenever she has work. I might have some at 7 a.m., or perhaps not until 6 p.m. or later. I can't plan my personal life and between these two IC situations, I find that I am not eating on a daily basis, not showering on a daily basis and not sleeping more than 3 or 4 hours at a time. I have lost weight and I don't feel very well. I woke up today with a rip roaring head cold (my first in nearly 8 yrs) and it has already moved to bronchitis and I am expecting pneumonia by the weekend because I develop it very easily. I already have deep pain in my back.
Yes, I should call in sick tomorrow, but I really can't take the fallout. The job I took back I am covering for another gal who wanted vacation over the holidays and if I have to call in sick, the team leader will call me and pitch a fit about how this is my responsibility. It IS my responsibility, I did say I would do it, and I will do it, despite being quite ill. In the past, when I worked for this company, they would not allow me to call in sick for a "cold" without a doctor's note. I worked through many illnesses with them and only called in sick when I developed West Nile Fever and while I was sick for over a month, I only called for my last 12 reports one day when I could no longer see the computer screen because my head hurt.
The problem is that yes, many MTs lack work ethic. They don't take their responsibility seriously. This is not a work as you please career, not even for an IC. I can see the MTSO's point of view, I truly can. Like finding experienced, reliable and capable MTs, for the MTs who are these things, finding a company will treat you like a human being is equally difficult. I sit here, feeling lousy and like I am an utter slave labor with no consideration whatsoever. I know that my work needs to be done, but when I am this sick it is better that someone else do it for the sake of the work, for accuracy and for speed of getting it out. I know that I am needed, but to be the MT these companies need me to be, I also need to look after my own health.
I will also mention that when I have asked for vacation, I have been approved for the time, but the MTSO queues up my work and calls me then I am not on the system getting it done. I have told them I had been approved for time off, but the MTSO didn't schedule anyone to cover for me and I am told to get on work, vacation or no, if I want to keep my job.
Thus, I work 24/7/365 and have for years. I work sick, I work when I am in pain (I have an AI disorder), I work exhausted from staying up all night covering for others who are allowed to call in sick and have vacations when I can't have either. I work having no health insurance and not being able to afford the $125 a month to buy some with a high copay so I can see a doctor. I work without breaks for breakfast, lunch or dinner and I sometimes come close to having an accident because if I leave my desk to go to the little girls' room I get nasty calls about where I am at and what I am doing.
Many MTs are mistreated, and I am one of them.
Tell him you'll give him your macros if he'll give you his Lexus, his ski cabin, and (nm)
;p
Control. I'll still get OT though. And you'll
still sit and complain!
I'll join you on that one, I'll be 58
@@@@
curious MT
Trust me you should hope that VR does not catch on too quickly! It is very intense work, and you get paid squat for doing it! And you still have to type either when the voice is not recognized, ie, as in when the dictators are residents and just coming in, and you get paid the measy sum to edit reports that require more transcription than editing, so far there is yet a formual to distinguish between this! So count your blessings that VR is not making its wave across Amercia with the MT's until everyone catches on to the fact that it is not "easy money" and we need to be paid exactly the same amount of money whether we transcribe or whether we do VR. Or the companpy uses some formula you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out! Whether for personal use or for business use VR still needs to go back in the closet from whence it came! Or the Nationals need to pay us a living wage to do the editing if the clients want VR. Then I'll be more than happy to offer my 20+ years experience up to do as much VR as they want. At the moment those of us that do VR are being grossly taken for granted and our knowledge and experience used without proper compensation, because we were not totally informed about the trials and tribulations of VR and just HOW much work it truly is.
Just curious
Did you contact the MT and try to find out what the problem might be? With a Q.A. score that low (unless you're a comma freak) :) there is no hope. Personally I hate doing Q.A. but I've done it. I recall one MT that had a really low Q.A. I talked to and asked how I might help. Turns out she was a clinic MT (BIG difference) hired to do acute care on, of course, a production basis. She was about to lose everything she owned trying to make it. She ended up moving back in with her parents for a time and today so far as I know, she's a great MT. She had potential, just lacked knowledge. I think Q.A. has to realize that less than qualified MTs are hired routinely and this is not their fault.
Just curious, but
...how would you know what your company has to pay? In my experience, turnaround penalties were known by the account managers and senior management. It's a contractual detail, not public knowledge or something to be shared with transcriptionists. Then again, maybe you are in contracts, or account management, or maybe you are the CFO or COO. However, if all of your accounts truly incur no penalties, you should be buying lotto tickets, and please share the numbers with all of your friends here on MT Stars.
And yes, I've been in account management and senior management. It's not a pretty place. 
Just curious
ditto your thoughts!
Just curious, but how old are you?
I barely remember Beatles.
Just Curious
What is it that makes the job so difficult for someone with as much experience as you have as an MT? I have thought about making the switch myself, and was just wondering.
just curious
Why is that there are 3-5 pages of whining about MQ and having no work and only 5-6 hits to tips on how to improve skills. Why waste time writing these "open letters" and add to your Expanders or buy an Expander or ask for tips. No one, not even MQ, owes anyone anything. You have to make a way for yourself. 1200 lines per day is level I work. My goodness, get a grip. I think they are trying to tell you all something............They need production to stay AFLOAT.....May be the work is going to MTs who are grateful to have a job.
I'm curious too.
I've been with MQ for 2 months now but we have had them begging us for overtime, offering lots of incentives and stuff. We haven't even come close to running out.
I'll be waiting to see answers though!
Just curious
so, are you going to stop the fat and ugly stuff or not?
I would be curious to see if many SE's
opt for FT (or PT) employee status because of better benefits.
Benefits were not an issue for me, so it wouldn't be enticing to me but I would be curious as to how many would convert their status if a good enough benefit program was offered. (And what the "good enough" would be defined as for everyone.)
Just curious. Break's over.
Just curious
Where is this crazy Amherst office people are always complaining about?
Now Im curious
What is the condensed version of why people are quitting MQ? You guys could have your own board there is so much conversation! The rest of us seem mute. LOL
Curious.
Does anyone know if having a consistently low body temperature can affect/cause things like: mood, memory, depression, appetite, abdominal pain, fatigue, irritability? Body temp of 96.5-98.1, mostly stays in the 97.5 range at different times of the day. Using a digital therm. in mouth to get readings. Have read about Wilson's syndrome, but have heard that it is not real. Thanks in advance.
I am curious about that, too!
nm
just curious
Has anyone sent a resume to alex-med, inc. and heard back from them yet? Thanks
Just curious; are you actually a TH MT or
nm
curious
what about Spheris did you like the most. I am looking for employee status, benefits, equipment furnished, easy platform, available work, etc.
I'm curious...
Why do some companies demand that their MTs know inside and out the rules of the AAMT yet count off if you don't type EXACTLY what the doc says, including such errors as incomplete sentences or "Upper extremities are intact x4" or dictated commas where there isn't supposed to be a comma?
Why does it matter at all if you know the AAMT by heart if you aren't allowed to put the rules to use?
Why why WHY???
AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
curious too
How about the easiest too?
Just curious, is you second job as an MT? nm
x
Just curious...
Are they certain it is the flu? There is a test they can do now to determine if that is in fact what he has. I was just curious because it seems that he should be starting to feel better after 5 days if it's the flu. I had a flu test last week for similar symptoms, but that wasn't it so even though my strep test was also negative they treated me for strep anyway and I'm all better now.
Just curious...what do YOU think would
Maybe this person is thinking something similar about you...that they have employed you for all these years and now you are leaving. I am a small MTSO and have had a couple of people resign. One of them did not give a reason. I did not ask why. I figured if she wanted me to know why she would have told me.
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