Over the past 33 years, I've often wondered sm
Posted By: Solitary Soul on 2006-01-17
In Reply to: Is being an MT really worth it? - SmellySmelly
the same, is it worth it? I guess it was for me, as I really don't know what else I would prefer to do (besides crafting, my pets, gardening, and other hobby stuff). I don't think I'd consider starting out now as an MT with things the way they are.
As far as the depression, anxiety, etc., I don't think being at home alone causes these. I think these problems are inherent in those particular people who eventually turn to this type of work.
What I'm saying is (put out the flames) not all or even many of us have these problems, but those who do would find this kind of work attractive.
I think it's important for those of us at home to pursue outside interests to get us in the world. I'm delighted to be able to be home all the time. Sometimes I don't leave the house for 4-5 days at a time. My pets provide a lot of company. When I want people, I email some, or go out somewhere.
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I've done a lot of WAHM jobs in the past 15 years.
Is it the typing that's getting you or the subject matter? Maybe try general or insurance transcription? I did secretarial work at home for a while, bookkeeping, typing, resumes, insurance typing, databases, mail merges. I did mystery shopping, but couldn't make any money at it.
I sold on eBay by going to yard sales in the hot afternoon and offering people $1 a box to haul off their leftovers. Or go early in the morning so you can snap up the collectibles. Run an ad in the paper that you're buying certain collectibles. Estate sales and auctions are good sources of stuff, too. I once paid $12 for several boxes of junk that I sold for $800. eBay does get tiring quite often between finding packing materials; finding inventory to sell; answering people's emails because they can't bother to read the auction instructions; nonpaying bidders; blatant liars; driving to the post office every day, etc.
I've done some other WAHM jobs but, again, eBay and transcription make the most money for me from my home.
Well, it seems the norm to me! I've tested with at least 4 co's in the past few years and
the tests were not dictations that I do on an everyday basis. I know they pick and choose carefully what they will test you on because there are always kinks in there where the doc either stumbles, mumbles, or you know you would have to be a genius to figure out what they are saying.
I've tried to quit 6 times in the past 6 years but
always went back to it. The longest I've quit was 3 weeks. My mom died from COPD and she had smoked from age 16. She really enjoyed smoking and although we kept trying, couldn't get her to quit until she was on 24 hour oxygen. She told me if she couldn't enjoy anything in life (smoking), why live. She died 3 months later.
I started smoking at 13...you know, the "try it, you'll like it" phase. We both tried to quit when I was 19 but we only lasted a day. There was only cold turkey then.
I've tried the patch (3 weeks off cigarettes), cold turkey, herbal meds, hynosis (only lasted 5 hours), you name it. I've used all the suggestions possible to no avail.
With a cigarette dangling from my mouth, I told my boys never to start smoking because they'd never be able to quit easily. Two took my advice, one didn't. He also tried to quit smoking but failed. He was on Wellbutrin for it.
My husband started smoking at 8 while working in a coal mine. He quit cold turkey 19 years ago. He was smoking almost 4 packs a day and one day he got so disgusted with it, he just threw them out the window of the car. Never touched one since and smoke from other people doesn't bother him.
He told me you really have to have the willpower and just get disgusted enough to quit. There's no other way. I guess I just don't have that willpower.
Besides the fact they've had a freeze for hiring transcriptionists for the past couple years.
The MT I know works a few hours, is required to take 2 hours off, then come back and finish her shift. Plus she has to work 4 hours on the weekend. They do work at home but keep to a strict schedule. I wouldn't want it.
I've wondered about her too.
I've wondered why we can't have... sm
A grammar check program along with spell check in MT software. (Or does someone have that?) Wouldn't a grammar check catch things like those pesky missing words?
Of course, it would take a little longer to run a grammar check than spell check, and we wouldn't want to change a dictator's style just because grammar check might suggest something, but wouldn't it be nice to have?
I've often wondered too
how ads can ask for ~full-time~ contractors, seems like a contradiction to me as far as definition of IC status and looks kind of silly in an ad in my opinion, besides thinking that someday this could cause a little bit of a problem with IRS.
Ya know, I've always wondered ---- (sm)
If an MTSO is paying to have the work typed in India or wherever, and once again to have it edited, not to mention a client-turnaround when low-paid editors aren't what they're cracked up to be, in the end, are they still paying about the same to have that work done less well than it would be by paying experienced American MTs a living wage? I'm a bit curious (and skeptical) of just how much money they're supposedly saving by offshoring it.
I've often wondered about this one myself - thanks for bringing it up! nm
RadGuy, I've always wondered what you
Good to have a visual...helps my fantasies. LOL!
I haven't tried it, but I've wondered about it. nm
.
I've wondered where B. Grow is (sm)
I bought my copy of Smartype from her when I worked at Winsolutions with her. I used to visit her website every one in awhile, too, for Smartype tips. I noticed that the website is down now, so I'm not sure how to get ahold of her anymore. Good advice, though. I'm sure she'd have some ideas.
Thanks. I've wondered that since I saw the infomercial.
I've always wondered that ERMT!
I mean, a kid comes in with a splinter yet they always dictate a complete physical and I'm thinkin' "no way they had time to do all THAT." Right down to tympanic membranes and stuff kind of detail. I can get away with "normals" for most of my ER dictators and that just "ain't" right
I've always wondered what made them do away with the ART? SM
Back when I was starting out as an MT, I worked with an older woman who was an ART and told me if I ever wanted to earn those credentials, she would mentor me. That's all you had to do was sort of do an apprenticeship with a mentor and then you could take the test.
Now, if you want your RHIT, you HAVE to complete a RHIT education program. That's one of the hesitations for me in trying for my RHIT. I'm not sure I want to commit to full-time school!
You can take the CCS exam for coding without a formal education just as long as you have work experience in HIM and transcription counts.
I agree, I've wondered that myself
Particularly since many of the docs always use what I call the "royal we" instead of simply saying *I*. It's like it's gotta be a group thing. Or they think they're kings.
Hmmmm..... LOL
Very good question! I've always wondered that myself. nm
s
That is how I have been doing it for the past 2 years -sm
My husband has 2 exemptions, but Married as single, so it is taxed at a higher amount. Covers my taxes (so far) and we still get about $1400 back. I plan to pay some taxes though this year via the electronic Federal site. Have not started yet though as finances are tight at the moment but plan to get on the stick by June with any luck and pay in a couple thousand.
I have kept 1 for the past 4 years but have - sm
moved about a bit trying to find a good FT gig. Have worked for 3 other companies in 5 years trying to find a good fit, no set schedule, good accounts and pay. So far no luck. I do like my PT job now, do about 6000 lines every 2 weeks but would love to find what a few others have, a good account, easy lines and good pay, but those are few are far between I think. I cannot work a set schedule as I have way too much going on, so it makes it harder to acheive nirvana.
for the past 5 years...
i don't pay a thing until i do my taxes, then i pay it all at one time. so i will not pay 2007 taxes until i see my accountant next month.
q.4h. for the past 15 years
I don't remember where I was working when they made us start using that format, but every place I have worked for the past 15 years at least has used that format.
Personally, I think some people at AAMT have too much time on their hands. There are millions of transcribed medical reports out there and there is no single way of doing things that is better than another.
Transcription survived pretty well before AAMT came into existence - we used to be paid a lot better than we are now and we had respect of the doctors.
What we have done in the past 8 years - sm
You can pay it all at the end if you so choose, but you may owe a penalty if you made more than you did last year. No, SS is definitely not optional unless you want to do jail time, LOL! Remember, you being an IC pay both portions of SS yourself (normally employer pays half and you pay half). You can lump it all together in the end moneywise, but it will be broken down on the tax forms themselves. Hope this helps some. 
After 37 years I am mostly past that...
... but I remember in the old days, when I would "work all night in my sleep," as we always said, and when I got up in the morning, gee, none of that work had actually been done! Now THAT is not FAIR!!
I've tried that the past few nights
it gets WAY too frosty!! :)
What company uses this? I've only had ADT or ADP in the past. nm
s
some of us have been pointing to this for the past two years
and there will be others who will reply "plenty of work for GOOD MT's" which I wish they would have posted that for the 150 US Heartland MT's that got canned. You might say "Come ON people! Offer more than that! We are WORTH it!!!" Apparently we aren't worth it or they would offer more. As they say in Economics 101, "the market will only pay what the market will bear." Offshoring, EMR and VR are eating away at MT, the only thing left will be the junk ESL....
Where in the world have I been for the past 40+ years?
I have never, ever been paid for my gas money to come to a job. Where do you live that they do that? I have lived in 2 different states, been working at jobs since 14 and I am amazed to hear someone say this. Totally AMAZED. What planet did you get off of?
CMT-me, I am QUITE informed, have sat on the board in past years
I do not believe getting the CMT is as worthy as you say. I believe that it is overrated when it comes to getting paid more my by services and I do speak from experience. I had the CMT for many years and I let it lapse because it was a waste of perfectly good money. Money I choose to keep in my pocket rather than spend putting in AAMTs pocket. No, I am quite happy not having the CMT and earn a living wage even without it. As I said previously, I can say as an informed MT (former CMT) that a good 90% or more transcription services do not care if you have the CMT. All they care about is that you can get the job done and at the cheapest rate of pay possible.
Ex-CMT
There have been lots of changes over the past couple of years (sm)
What kind of info are you looking for specifically? Are you asking about posting a resume on the MT Stars site? - or the JLG site? If the latter, I believe JLG takes applications on their web site.
I've had problems with Abacus' accuracy in the past.
.
I've worked for attorneys and doctors in the past and ...
I can tell you that attorneys have way more heart. Docs are stone cold. Personally, I can't stand working for them.....
A ballpark figure I've seen in the past is 90 minutes +/- for an
s
Here's their revenue for the past three years and other financial data.
MQ's debts are not high either.
http://news.biohealthmatics.com/PressReleases/2005/08/19/000000002719.aspx
My goal every year is $52k, which I have done for the past 2 years working sm
for Keystrokes. I do radiology only, I should mention. I took the amount I wanted (actually needed) to make in a year, divided it by 52 weeks, divided it by 5 days, came up with $1000 per week or $200 per day. I divided that by 8 hours and by my report rate ($1.25). I know that I need to transcribe 20 reports per hour on average. I keep a tally. Some days, it takes me longer to do than others, but I sit down and do my 8 hours every single day. I use my Expander a LOT (literally for all but a few words). I am on one account, so I know those doctors inside and out. If I am short at the end of the week, I ask if there is work available on the weekend for me to do. The most I end up with 2 hours to make up what might have been short during the week.
At $40k, you would need to make $153.85 per day, or $19.23 per hour. At $0.07, you need to type 275 lines per hour, or 2200 for the day. This should be very easy to get with using an expander and sitting down with a set schedule.
It takes a while to get used to making sure you hit your internal quota every day. I have to think of it daily and make it up on Saturday or Sunday so that I never start a week behind my personal goal.
I also take an incentives that are handed out (for instance if they are asking for help in a backlog situation at increased rate) and work at least a partial shift on holidays. If I am ahead at the end of the week, I carry it to the next week and know that I have some lines in my internal quota bank.
I know this sounds weird, but it works for me. I have helped a few others to get to their goals as well, and this seems to work for them too.
I would also look for something that is more in the 0.08 to 0.09 per line range. Ask your lead for production tips. Ask other transcriptionists. It is very possible for us to make good money, we just have to focus on our goals.
I have a sales background, which involved sales quotas. This is easier as I am in control of my daily production, not on someone else's decisions.
Good luck!
In the past when I've needed extra work could get a response from co.'s within a week and be w
Now it's like zip, zero, nothing. No responses whatsoever from my emails to the companies here and on mtjobs.com.
At first I was looking for specifics regarding hospital work, clinic work, days, hours, etc., and choosing those but later got desperate and even with 16 years experience have been applying for 7-cent-a-line clinic jobs.... STILL no response from ANYONE! Well, actually, I get responses but they are automated emails stating I've passed the test(s) and will be contacted in X amount of days/weeks/months. Then I never hear back even with a followup email. In the past, I could get a new job within a week or two.
I don't know. I was thinking maybe they're thinking that with 16 years experience it would be easier to go with someone with less experience (for whatever reasons), so I'm considering just putting down 5 years or so as my experience instead of the truth. Could be they don't want to deal with this old dinosaur and want new blood, I don't know.
I've always wondered about numerology. My birthday is on the 19th, my mom's birthday is on th
19th, my dad's birthday is on the 19th, and my great-grandmother's birthday is on the 19th. All of different months, but I've always wondered if there was something significant about the number 19 that I'm missing.
I've been doing this doc for many years, so I've learned how to function with him. sm
I can tell what's a stutter, what's another word, what's just an "uh." Years of experience will get you through a lot.
Wouldn't want to do his charts all day, of course, but a few per day aren't bad. I haven't had to send his to review in a long time, but they do take a little longer to shuffle through.
I've worn contacts for 30 years. I've had both
hard and soft. My vision is much better with the soft ones than they were with the hard ones. When I first started trying contacts soft ones were still new and they couldn't get me to 20/20, so I went to hard. Hard were okay until my eyes started changing shape and then I could no longer wear hard ones. The soft should give you better vision as they conform more to the shape of your eye.
chiefly British past and past participle of SPELL
nm
you've been an MT for four years,
so, based on this information, that would imply that you are a grown woman. If this is true, does your handsome husband know how immature you are? Does he know that his hot wife is on this board making juvenile and childish remarks? Just curious, what makes a babe such as yourself do something like this?
gee, I've been doing this nearly 27 years
And the clients have always liked my work.
That is the only CORRECT in my book ... he who signs the paycheck.
I've been doing this for 25+ years. SM
My problem with changing accounts was not the terminology, the dictators (I do 4 big hospitals even now), but it was shuffling around to remember account specifics. That is ridiculous.
It is another case of an MTSO (not the client, the MTSO) treating the MTs as a cost center instead of a revenue center. The "money" was for the suits and the editors (no offense) and the MTs who did the work were at the end of the money line.
I've been with BTS for nearly 3 years now.
I've never run out of work, been slow at times, and asked for more. If you are a well-rounded MT the work is there. If you are limited to one or two specialities well, work is limited as would be anywhere. As for the pay, my check was been screwed up twice in 3 years. I had the difference in my hands the next day, the fedex the check to me.
Question to you? How did you treat BTS? Where you there to work if and when they needed you? Was your work 98% or better and within TAT? Most employers will treat their employees they way they are treated. It's a give and take situation people. I sign on do my work, send it to the clients and have no problems. If they need extra help somewhere I usually (but not always) say sure (who can't use the extra money anyway). When I want time off, they say no problem.
Did you ever try talking to the owners about your problem with pay or work or to your manage? You can't complain if you don't try and solve the problem first.!!
I've been using it for at least 4 years now and never
had any problems. I love it. It makes it so easy and it's a lot cheaper than paying someone to do it. You can load it on as many computeres as you want as you don't need the disk after it is loaded so me and my mom always go in half on the deluxe version so that we get state taxes included.
I've been in this biz for over 10 years
and can honestly say I've never had a background check to my knowledge. They really should let you know beforehand and I guess it is possible I've had one and not been aware but highly doubt it.
I've been using an erg for a few years.
It took a while to get used to but it did help with wrists. I have a really hard time typing on a regular keyboard now.
I've been at it for nearly 15 years
I consider myself seasoned, not because of my years of experience, but because of how many different types of work I have done. I think that being flexible, versatile, and maintaining a good attitude is what makes a seasoned transcriptinoist.
I've been doing this for years...sm
I have been saying this for years. If they would just contract it themselves.
I've been doing it for three years
I don't really have anything special I do. It's just something I'm used to. I work between 13-14 hours Monday through Thursday and take Friday nights off. I do have to have the TV on though. If it's too quiet, that's when I get tired and start to fall asleep. I don't like coffee, but I make sure to take some form of caffeine. I'll get up and walk around every few hours though.
I've been doing this for 20 years
Been in healthcare since 1972 :) Got halfway through my Masters in HealthCare Administration and stopped because I was NOT passionate about that. Got into this instead.
I am still passionate about my house and everything else I do. I'm 55. I'm not naive, or dumb. Passion comes from inside you, if you're not passionate, it's because you make yourself that way.
Thanks for the tip, but I don't have anything to get over. I don't waste a lot of time whining and complaining though. :)
It's been a few years since I've
been IC, but one of the things I did was to have my husband claim zero and at the single rate. If you're already doing that and it didn't help, you might want to have him pay in a little extra per pay or pay estimated taxes yourself. I thought with federal income tax, my employer did take it out because I was considered a statutory employee but still IC status. I think I had a little extra taken out and claimed zero and married at the single rate. A lot of things go into determining whether or not you owe taxes.
You say you adopted a child this year and will get that tax credit, did you have any children before? If not, then you likely didn't have much choice except to pay estimated quarterly taxes and have both you and your husband claim zero and the single rate. We have 3 children now, which definitely helps, but even still we continue to claim zero on our W4s just to keep ahead of the gov. We like that little "bonus" we get back for vacation, etc.
I know I always paid estimated state taxes. In some cases, you can end up paying penalties if you don't. Talk with your accountant. He/she should be able to give you ways to avoid having to pay in. You probably can't reduce what you make anymore than you already have. It sounds like you've got your deductions covered. Your only option may be to pay estimated. Good Luck!
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