Okay, the office has agreed to a network, but I have some questions..SM

Does anyone know exactly what this involves?  I know we have to have an IT person do it.  What do they do to set up a network betwen 7-8 computers?  I'm trying to understand this more before I contact the IT person, so I don't sound like a complete dummy.

Does anyone know how much something like this costs?

TIA

• Electronic medical records...Is there an option out there for MTSO's SM - AzMT
  • EMR Lite system available for MTs - Robin Daigh
  • Okay, the office has agreed to a network, but I have some questions..SM - AzMT
    • You don't sound like a dummy. - sm
  • Didn't you ask this question earlier? Has the situation changed in some way? - sm
    • Bytescribe - zoemonkey
      • Thanks for your help. I'll research it more. Thx again. NM - AzMT
    • Not true...SM - AzMT
      • What not ask these other companies that you worked for what they use? - sm
        • SM - AzMT
          • could you not set up FTP on your computer? sm - LMT

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I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 

By ''too pushy or desperate,'' I just meant not haranguing them TOO much or TOO frequently.  But definitely follow up, in a professional manner, and let them know that you're still interested ... especially if you haven't received a reply in a reasonable amount of time.  Worked for me!  (third time's the charm?)

Looks are only skin deep and come and go.  Stephen is a hunk in ways to numerous to count and truth be known, he makes a lot of women's heart go a flitter flutter, they're just too timid to admit it, but I'll stand up right here and say it out loud and clear:

THAT

MAN

IS

F_I_N_E

Actually the only MT I know who makes decent money is one who works for a hospital (familiar work, familiar docs, 1 set of formats) which pays a combination of hourly and per line.  She only makes it because she is the "fastest gun in the west" at the keyboard, fingers fairly fly, but she's getting the physical results of that, ie carpal tunnel, arthritic fingers, etc. Unfortunately for me, I love the work if I could only find a decent place for it.

I have the best job I've ever had in my life, and it came from friends on the board. Every job I get is the same way. Word of mouth. I have only filled out one application for employment since 1983 and I already had the job.

They really are out there and it sounds like you are qualified. Are you wanting full time or part time?

i'm quite torn, as I want to do this the rest of my life (psychology) but at the same time school is so hard when you're trying to keep a full time job, and I would need a graduate degree to get a job that pays well.  I can't go full time either, i'm just starting out, so it seems like a jail sentence some days.  Looking at close to 10 years of schooling.  I also love nutrition, to become a nutritionist it would take much less time, but just thinking about all that math and those formulas, eek!  Then there is cooking, a school here offers an associates degree for that.  It seems like a stressful job that I would not get joy out of.  Cookie cutter restaurant recipes. 

I look at it this way, it wouldnt hurt to learn about social sciences, that can be applied to any field.  Maybe take a break from social sciences, go for that cooking degree or get a nutritionist diploma and work with food. I'm showing my indecision right now.  I envy those people who knew what they wanted to do early on and are successful at it and thriving. 

Have a show like Candida Camera where a resident spends an hour with a patient that he doesn't understand.  When the doctor asks where the pain is the patient can point to his chest and as soon as the MD starts listening to the chest, the patient can change his mind and tell him the pain is in the back.  When he goes to the back, the patient can tell him, "no wait, in the stomach".  He can give him a list of medicines all spelled wrong and dosages all wrong.  Then when the doctor is giving him instructions, the patient can start talking on his cellphone, making the doctor sit and wait while the patient talks to someone else.

Or....

In another episode of Candida Camera, show a physician talking to consulting doctor who speaks a number of different dialects or a doctor who talks a million milds a minute in half-syllable words.  Watch Dr. A try to understand what Dr. B as he makes up words, lab tests, and diagnoses.