Preparing for a major cut in pay is scary.

• Any former Spheris employees employed elsewhere now and deliriously happy? - Cindy M
  • Yes - went to Webmedx
    • Good for you.. - Cindy M
      • Yes, like a weight has lifted - went to Webmedx
    • LOL, had to laugh at the Indian brethern comment, nm - Spheris Emp
  • I just started with a new company this week, so I will let you know how it goes. SM - SpherisEmp
    • good luck to you - Cindy M
      • They recently got rid of all their Canadian MTs, guess to make room for more Indians. nm - SpherisEmp
        • How do you find anything out there? My - supervisor is See Message
          • Preparing for a major cut in pay is scary. - I am a wreck too
            • I have heard they will give you sm - nn
          • We had one on our team and she sent us an email explaing thanking us SM - Spheris Emp
  • I used to work for em... - they changed supervisors every
    • Sounds familiar... - Cindy M
    • same supe 5 years, help desk always decent - seriously, this company has
      • Are you still with Spheris? - Cindy M
        • You might want to... - mamamtof2
          • Well, I did it... - Cindy M
            • Can I email you? I would like to ask you - some questions. I work for Spheris.
              • Have tried emailing you... - Cindy M
      • Have you been on Clarity and if so, have you noticed drop in pay? - CalifRadMT
        • Not yet, but I have heard the same thing about drop in pay. nm - Spheris Emp

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

I have BC/BS of Illinois PPO coverage for around $250 a month with a $2500 deductible.  I'm in my 50s.  It includes vision/dental/chiro if you go where they want to send you which is often doc-in-the-box or inside major retailers.  It also includes prescriptions.  Most hospitals and docs in the area belong so medical bills reflect the negotiated price rather than full price, and there is no difficulty getting medical care.  The only problem would be if I wanted to move out of state.  You can't take BC/BS with you with a private policy, and there is no guarantee that BC/BS in your new state would accept you.

Life insurance is a policy my dad took out on me as a kid.  Should be enough for burial if my family goes the cheap cremation route I keep telling them about.  Don't need it for dependents. 

I don't have disability, which is a bad thing I know, but I can't afford that and health insurance because disability costs even more than health insurance. 

Retirement is just save at least 10% from every check and put it into an IRA.  Like the other poster said, sometimes you just have to do with fewer material things now.  You are SE, so you won't have self-employment tax, and you will still be eligible for Social Security and Medicare, assuming the programs are still around when you are the correct age.

Yes, you can research these things on the Internet, but I would recommend seeing an independent insurance agent where you live.  Ask around among your neighbors/co-workers for who they would recommend.  He/she can offer various companies and answer your questions. 

I've been doing this for a good 20 years.  I won't be living high of the hog in retirement, but that's no different from how I live now so it's no loss.  Good luck!

Okay, is there any chance that anything in our medical records is going to be correct, either done overseas, dictated by someone who has little grip of the language, perhaps transcribed by someone with even less of a grip, maybe corrected, but in the money crunching, I doubt that, probably never read by the physician and now you are telling me that the doc himself is typing this info directly.  I frankly cannot imagine this.  I cannot imagine they would want to type it.  They can't keep on track half the time just reading. 

I'm sure it happens - as Patti says - but personally I would have a very hard time putting something like that on a report I typed. It is the doctor's responsibility to review the report. If he/she chooses not to do that, that is also his/her responsibility. But if I type it on the report, that means I am aware that the doctor is not reviewing it, and I would be concerned that I could be drawn into a lawsuit if there was ever a problem with a report.

It's quite possible that would never happen, but it's also possible that Patti has just been lucky...............

issues.  I have internet through the cable company and have had lots of problems.  If cable is through Time Warner they have the worst customer service.  In my area the programming is about the same between cable and satellite, except DirecTV has just added satellite radio.  I don't know if cable charges per each box, but DirecTV does charge $5.00/mo per box after the first one.  The only complaint I have about DirecTV is that we had a big storm and after that we could not get every channel on every box (we have 3).  We're not sure where the problem is, but for them to come out is an automatic $70.00 and then depending on what the issue is there could be more charges.   When my internet goes out there are no service fees, although it is a pain in the rear getting anyone out to fix the problem. 

With satellite you may have to put the dish in your yard on on your house where it might be an eye sore, but if the dish is on the house they only have the run the wiring down the house and not in the yard.  If you have cable they have to run it from the pole to your house and they barely bury it, so that you have to have it located every time you need to do any planting/digging.

With satellite when it rains real hard we lose signal, though it doesn't usually last long.  When we used to have cable we might not lose signal entirely, but it would be very fuzy.  Cable really utilizes satellite.  Our local cable company has huge dishes setup and the cable feeds from those.

Okay first of all I updated to XP from ME, lost my Microsoft Office so had to reinstall it. I use Express Scribe to play dss files.  Before my update I updated ES to version 4.16.  Found out that does not play dss files so uninstalled that and reinstalled v. 4.15 and it worked.  After the upgrade, I reinstalled version 4.15 and it does the same think at 4.16 did.  WIll not load dss files.  They appear in the file list but with a duration of 0 seconds.  I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, restarting and everything I can think of.  Even with the extra dss .exe that the website said I needed.  Is there a possibility that XP doesn't not run with ES or dss files or do I need to install another component to make my files play on XP? 

Please help, I am getting backlogged and starting to freakout. 

long distance phone charges for the C-line.  Check into Magic Jack.  Some people have been very happy with it and have used it for long distance while using a C-phone.  It makes no difference what kind of computer you're using when you use a C-phone. 

Link to Magic Jack info is below.

A rant letter to a couple of doctors:

What has happened to the medical profession in this country?  Why is it that doctors forget their Hippocratic Oath?  Why is it they forget the purpose of their career choice?  I've transcribed this week on numerous elderly patients who have been with their doctors for five, ten or even fifteen years, but they have to seek care elsewhere because so many doctors are refusing to accept Medicare.  How would you feel were if it were your own mother or father being refused care with their established physician just because they became classified as "elderly" and qualified for Medicare?  If it weren't for your "connections," your parents would face the same dilemma that other elderly people face.

Why is it that when a patient comes into your office complaining of feeling fatigued and achy that you automatically assume they're depressed and pop out a prescription for them to pop a pill?  Why not LISTEN to what the patient is saying and realize that while some MAY be depressed, others have a legitimate medical problem going on?  Why not do some labs on them to check for anemia, hypothyroidism, etc.?  Oh, I get it -- let them wait two hours to see you after their appointment time and then spend two minutes with them... after all, time is money.  By the way, I guess that kid who came several times a couple of weeks ago complaining of abdominal pain wasn't just trying to get out of school since I saw his obituary in the paper this week.  Even when his mom and dad brought him in a second and third time, you brushed them off.  I hope seeing his obituary hurts your heart at least half as much as it hurt mine.  I can't imagine the pain those parents are enduring right now, but I doubt you've stopped earning money long enough to let it bother you.  And, no, I won't cover your butt if I get a subpoena when his parents sue you for medical negligence.

Why is it that you cringe when I tell you I need to raise my rates when I've not had a rate increase in three years or longer when in the mean time you've raised your rates at least three times a year every year?  Oh - ok - your expenses have gone up?  Do you think they've discounted my electric bill, gasoline, supplies and everything else?

Remember that last check before Christmas that I asked about when you were late paying me?  You know, the one where you said you didn't have the money to pay me until after the 1st of January - although my contract with you explicitly explains payment arrangements?  That was hard to swallow when your wife was standing there while I was waiting to talk to you and making out a check for $8200 to have your home decorated for Christmas?  Yes, it ticked me off that you had the money for that in your budget but not the money to pay me my measly little $702.  It also ticked me off when you took your three-week vacation to France and left me waiting for payment.

I do understand - its all about the money.  Of course, that is why I work.  But, if I ever get to the point that I'm so cold-hearted or money-oriented that I cannot try and give the best of my abilities in my transcription for every patient I type on, I have common sense enough to know its time to get out of my profession.  Yes, to you I'm just a "typist", but how many times have you picked up the phone and called me asking, "Do you remember the names of the tests that I need to order for Lyme disease?" Or, what about when you can't dictate a proper letter and you say, "This is what I want to say - can you fix it for me?"  What about those times when I've flagged a lab result and said, "This patient would be dead with a potassium of 988."  Regardless, I remain just a "typist" in your mind.

In spite of all your faults, I do my best for you.  I give you accurate work every day of every week because I know one typo (on the transcription work you don't review) with a drug dosage could mean the difference between life and death of your patients.  But in the end, does it really matter to you? 

I'm at an age where Social Security has started sending me periodic notices that show how much I've paid into the system over the years, etc.   They also tell you what your monthly pay would be if you retired at 62, or at 65, or at 67 and beyond. 

And of course, we all know that our Social Security checks aren't going to be enough to live on, right?  That's why we have (or try to, anyway), 401K's and IRA's, to pick up where Social Security leaves off. 

Well, even if I started taking Social Security payments early, at age 62, even with the penalties for doing so, and a smaller check, I would be making more money than I do now as a full-time employee of an MTSO. 

Now THAT tells you something about the shabby state of affairs in this industry.