Radiology MTs - Major cuts in outpatient
Posted By: See Message on 2006-03-28
In Reply to:
imaging by Congress - called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Signed by Bush in December. Over five years will amount to 20 Billion dollars cut from outpatient imaging payments for Medicare and medicaid patients. This will have a ripple effect. Private insurers soon will follow suit. Posted the DRA but it was removed by Administrator.... This will have a detrimental effect on us all, as cuts will begin occurring in every aspect of radiology.
Here is a comprehensive article. Please do not remove this post for one day, Administrator. This will impact MTs in radiology significantly.
imagingBiz.com - The Information Service of the Imaging Center Institute
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DH would be outpatient, and then physical therapy.
He has decided not to have surgery, at least not now. He would be out of work 3 weeks without short-term disability and only 1 week of sick pay, plus he says we can't afford surgery. While that is true, if you need it, you need it. I think he's as much scared as anything. The only surgery he has ever had was a vasectomy under a local and he refuses to take anything stronger than Tylenol. He isn't hurting now, no swelling, etc. so it isn't like he is in daily pain. I've tried to talk him into the surgery because we've met our deductibles and while it isn't that much we would have to start over with that, but I can't make him do it.
The way I learned it is KCl is used for the outpatient dosage while Kay Ciel is used for inpatient s
xx
I worked at a naval hospital outpatient clinic--sm
as a salaried employee $28. In 2002 had the opportunity to work at home as an IC for .12/line. In 2003 I was told had to become an employee and dropped to .11/line as the company woudl have to pay taxes/benefits. In 2004 had a raise to .1133. In 2005 that company merged with another and was dropped to .10/line and have had no raise since then. Am at top of pay level in both line rate and salary rate.
Just told the company is buying a new platform that could possibly doudle our production and in turn may affect our line rates even more by raising the daily line requirement. Will have to wait and see about that.
Depends...do you want to be providing economic outpatient care for the rest of your life? nm
.
Ball park figure for cataract extraction with no insurance (as an outpatient)
nm
I do outpatient ortho, dental, general/internal, gastro, neuro,neuropsych, etc.
so basically a large variety of specialities
Radiology transcription, what type of reports are considered radiology
I have lot of experience with everything and I would like to know what exactly is considered radiology so I know if I qualify for that type of work? I've had many types that I think qualify for radiology.
We got cuts when we went to VR.
nm
And we got cuts when we went on DQS.
 Actually, I guess you can't say they gave us an actual pay cut, HOWEVER, you sure don't make the money you made on the old platform. That also isn't true because you can make the same money - it just takes LOTS longer. In my eyes, that is a pay cut.
MQ pay cuts
I'm rather new to this board, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. I work for MQ as a SE and received the "letter" but I know nothing about pay cuts. Have I missed something?
Yes, they do so many more cuts because...
they have to do them so fast to keep up the quota. I reluctantly took my 2 kids there a couple weeks ago and yet again (it happened a couple years ago too), they could not even trim a child's hair. I actually had to send my daughter back to the chair because there were long pieces of hair hanging down past the level of her hair. My other daughter looked like she went 3 rounds with a weed whacker... I had to pay more money to have it fixed at another place. This was 2 different stylists, more than one event. They are know in the stylist world as "chop shops" I have gone cheap and I have paid more and I can definitely tell the difference.
There need to be cuts
What's wrong with someone receiving medicaid paying a copayment? I hear grumbling over this all the time, but you sure see some of them in the grocery store buying an expensive 24 pack of beer, yet they want to complain over paying a 10.00 copay? Medicaid was designed to be temporary assistance, not a way of life. I have no problem with helping lower income, but not handouts. I have neighbors in their 20s, healthy as horses, who don't even try to work. They have 4 children with them, the husband has 2 by other women, and they collect 700 a month in stamps plus 300 in cash because she claims he doesn't live there. They do NOTHING, nada
As for Medicare, I believe if retirees make over a certain income they should not be eligible at all. I read that even retired movie stars worth millions of dollars get full medicare benefits.
Cuts
I used to work for Kodak and as most everybody knows they went through years of layoffs and always around this time of year. The reasoning for it was that the department heads had to have their budgets in for the following year and so you had to cut everyone before the new year started. It sucks but that is they way corporate America works.
Dee
MQ pay cuts, My Two Cents
When MQ first bought up the smaller co. I was with, all of the accounts were still intact. I was pleased when my office (Baltimore now, but at that time, still in the Herndon area) offered up increased pay differential for an extremely difficult account.. hallelujah, I thought... and thought that all the worries I had about the Big Bad MT Company eating up the small company I was with were maybe unwarranted. I jumped on this opportunity to actually get paid for doing more difficult work - but was told by my supervisor, well, you already make too much money per line (actually, per 1,000 characters at the time). She of course welcomed me to the account at regular pay - I passed!
Add in that I have not had a pay raise since this same time frame (7 years) ... not exactly a direct pay cut, I guess, and add in the seemingly unprovable decreased pay over the last 7 years... well, that's my 2 Cents. None of it makes sense.
Possible pay cuts, my experience so far
I have been with MQ since 1998 and have 20 years experience as an MT, editor, and MT instructor. I currently make 10 cents per line and in past yrs have been told I am at the top of various tiers also, so not eligible for raise (for life??) bonuses (some, not all), etc. I too received the letter mentioned above, the one about rewarding "YOU for your skill and performance."
I am still on INET, though attempted without success to move to DQS (only have dial-up available where I live, and the ADT searches and other processes were a nightmare without some sort of high-speed internet). In the process of almost going to DQS, my pay conversion remained the same, 10 cents per line. Though this may sound higher than others are making, I have been making the same thing for 8 years now - but yes, compared to what I see on this board that other MQ-ers are making who have same experience or more, I am grateful and surprised. The company I was with that MQ bought out gave us decent raises, and I had just received one before MQ acquired us, and it carried over, thankfully. Little did I know it would be my last raise for that many years.
Anyway, I eventually will have to go to DQS even on dial-up, pay an arm and a leg for satellite, or quit and go to a new company - all options, woohoo, involve pay cuts. I can't even imagine an additional pay cut for ASR, as this makes no sense to me. ASR is an AID, no different than Expander programs (do we get paid less for other things that make us more productive??!) We should get paid for whatever characters/lines we modify on an ASR report and get paid the same as we would for doing straight MT work. Maybe this has already been said here, sorry if repeat!
So, I am wondering what they will knock my pay down to when I finally get over to DQS and get put on the ASR reports... I'm not sure I will accept this pay cut either.
On another note, I am glad for those of you who are getting paid so well by MQ, have great supervisors, have lots of work, and just love DQS - that is great, it truly is. But, it's simply not that way for a lot of the rest of us. I appreciate being able to speak of my true experience here on this board. So, thanks for listening.
MQ pay cuts, more info
I just got a call from Corporate and I asked them specifically if they were going to cut the charges to the client the same amount of the pay cuts to the employees and she said Yes, they are............... I found that interesting  as long as it is indeed true.
She only cuts 3. By hand. That's all.
x
Short cuts
Ctrl U - underline
Ctrl A - blocks all
Ctrl S - saves
Ctrl X - deletes
Ctrl C- copies
Ctrl V - pastes
. . . and my favorite Ctrl Z - brings back something you accidental delete.
I hardly ever use my mouse as it breaks my rhythm and slows me down. If I think of anymore I will send them your way. Did you know that if you hold down your Ctrl key and use the arrows you can move around a document that way?
short-cuts
I've lost my short-cuts...could I have hit a key on my keyboard? Thanks!!
ME versus MT, the pay cuts only apply to
those who do ASR (automated speech recognition), now being referred to by MQ at ME (Medical Editors). If you do not do ASR it would not apply, if you do you should receive a letter stating a 20% pay cut for same, or option to quit doing it at all and just do MT.
Inside gives a summary of cuts about to come
E-mail this page to a friend!
House Passes Budget Bill with Biggest Cuts in Medicaid, Medicare
Cuts $99.3 billion over 10 years - 27% from Medicaid, 23% from Medicare.
Feb. 1, 2006 – It's done. The House has passed and sent to President Bush the budget reconciliation bill that was strongly opposed by most senior citizen advocacy groups and newspaper editorials due to the deep cuts it makes in Medicaid and Medicare. It was a very close vote – 216 to 214. The bill cuts the budget by $38.8 billion over five years – 50 percent of the cuts are in Medicaid and Medicare.
Related Stories
Final House Vote on Budget Bill Could Cut Billions from Senior Programs
Passage expected Wednesday to cut Medicare, Medicaid
Jan. 30, 2006 – The Budget Reconciliation Bill, which many see as making drastic cuts in government programs for senior citizens – Medicaid and Medicare, is expected to hit the House floor on Wednesday for a final vote, the day after the President's State of the Union address. As reported today by the Capitol Hill Watch at KaiserNet.org, the bill will reduce federal spending by $99.3 billion over 10 years, with half of that coming from these senior programs. The Congressional Budget Office analysis says premiums for Medicaid beneficiaries in the bill could cause 110,000 to lose coverage by 2015. Read more...
Senate Budget Chair Calls for More Cuts in Medicare
Republicans to recycle old failed issues in 2006
Jan. 26, 2006 – The Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee is calling for more cuts in health care programs in fiscal 2007, which includes Medicare, according to The Daily Health Policy Report by KaiserNetwork.org, which cites CQ Today. The daily news summary says Republicans will also be targeting health care proposals this year, but most are proposals that have failed in the past. Read more...
• Homecare Industry Rallying Support to Kill Reconciliation Act
• Television Campaign to Stop Health Care Cuts for Seniors Launched by AFSCME
• Vote on Budget Set for Feb. 1; Senior Groups Seek to Sway GOP Moderates
The House first passed the bill on Dec. 19, 2005, by a vote of 212-206. It went to the Senate, where it passed by only one vote – 51-50. Due to procedural changes in the Senate, it had to go back to the House for this final vote. There was intensive lobbying by the senior citizen advocates and others since the Senate vote on Dec. 21, 2005, but they came only four votes closer.
The final vote was mostly along party lines, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats in opposition.
AARP CEO, Bill Novelli, quickly issued the following statement:
"Last night, in his State of the Union Address, the President said, "Keeping America competitive requires affordable health care. Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility."
"Today the U.S. House of Representatives has turned a cold shoulder to that responsibility by further limiting eligibility for Medicaid, a program that serves the neediest -- the disabled, children, the poor and the elderly. It also approved a provision in its budget that will deny long-term care coverage to those who give money to charities, churches and family members in need.
"Working with our members, AARP will continue the fight to have this ill-conceived policy reversed."
The bill would save $99.3 billion over 10 years, with half of that coming from Medicaid and Medicare - 27% from Medicaid and 23% from Medicare.
There's also $1 billion in new spending to extend an income subsidy program for dairy farmers and a reprieve for physicians who had faced a 4 percent cut in Medicare fees, according to the Associated Press.
A major boost to opponents was an estimate issued by the Congressional Budget Office estimating that 45,000 Medicaid beneficiaries would lose their coverage in FY 2010 because of higher premiums in the bill. The CBO report also estimated 65,000 beneficiaries would lose coverage in FY 2015.
Children would account for 60% of the Medicaid beneficiaries who would lose coverage, according to the report.
The report also estimates that 13 million Medicaid beneficiaries would have new or higher copayments for services such as physician visits and hospital care. In addition, 13 million Medicaid beneficiaries would pay more for prescription drugs by 2010, and 20 million would pay more by 2015, the report states.
According to the report, "About 80% of the savings from higher cost-sharing would be due to decreased use of services." The report estimates that 1.3 million Medicaid beneficiaries would have to pay premiums and that 1.6 million would lose benefits, most likely for dental, vision and mental health services.
In addition, the report estimates that 15% of Medicaid long-term care beneficiaries would have their coverage delayed because of additional restrictions on asset transfers.
The asset transfer provisions in the bill would impose punitive new restrictions on the ability of the elderly to transfer assets before qualifying for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. (Click here to read these provisions.)
That is true of ANY job. Cuts happen everywhere.
Companies do the same thing consumers do: Look for ways to get the most for less. It's actually a rather natural process.
Any job can change in its direction, its stability, etc., as our economic, technologic and global relationship status change constantly.
The only security anyone has is to be prepared with continuing education in more than 1 field, low debt load, high savings -- really living within your means, and keep good insurance.
JMO
We do use dx for diagnosis, and all the short cuts expanders
dd
This way works, too, but using the ;yo or ;py cuts down on hitting the spacebar
nn
Cuts in medicare and medicaid are about to take place
I have mentioned this but it was always deleted as I think the monitor thought I was talking politics.
There will be a marked decline in coverage for services to medicare and medicaid patients and I believe to offset this, medical facilities are finding ways to cut costs.
The cuts will be significant. You could do a Google search for Deficit Reduction Act. Radiology will be most severely hit, especially stand alone facilities.
DQS short-cuts to Word 2003? HELP!
Does anyone know how to do this. I have been searching and searching for info and cannot find anything. Please help! Thanks. 
Acusis is giving workers 30% pay cuts?
XX
Love the serrated bread knife! Cuts everything!! nm
s
Please back you info up. Pay cuts have not been announced. Have you received a letter? nm.
nm.
Ummm--read her post again, please--it don't say *keyboard* short cuts..it says *word* shortcuts
duh!
There is something major going on here
Accounts that used to be really busy have no work. Multiple accounts are asking us not to work on their account for the day. Last night an updated was posted with 100 something jobs available in one account, and then later an oops, sorry, I meant 0 jobs available. What is up with that? Don't know what's happening with this company.
French Ed. major
with English Ed minor and Music minor. No jobs around here in Northern Indiana, and extended family is here, so once started having kids, kind of just fell into this work. Love it, though, love using the Latin I had years ago.
We have DirecTV and have had no major
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.
some major issues!
If the post set off some "emotions," then keep them to yourself, or scream them out loud at home where no one can hear you. The person who posted this did not do so to set off YOUR PERSONAL "emotions." I think your major emotion just might be jealousy!!
These are not petty! These are major sm
things that any experienced MT should know. You need to take the correction as it was intended...........not to be petty but to fix things that you have been doing wrong for years! The docs don't know formatting and unfortunately most of the hospitals don't either. Be glad you FINALLY have some correction! Why you would waste your time checking everyone elses transcription is beyond me.
This kind of transcription is why I don't get too excited when I have an "experienced" MT call me to test for a job. I have tested MANY MTs with experience even more than yours and gotten the same thing! Sometimes people have been working for the same place for years and never been corrected.
This kind of stuff is why (in my opinion) that all MTs should have at least 2-5 years experience in an acute care facility before going out on their own! This "new wave" of going to MT school and then opening your "own business" is bringing this profession way down! It needs to stop.
major discrimination
My husband works for an agent with a major insurance company. He is not the agent although he does have to have agent's licensing. We were told probably 15 years ago, that a white male would not be allowed to become an agent for many, many years due to people (this happened to be two women) who declared that they were discriminated against in this company. So to compensate for discrimination this national company will not hire a "white male" for the appointed amount of time (which was a very extended time period of many, many years) unless that "white male walked on water." That was their quote too. I have heard (but have not verified this) that this same "discrimination" is going on in the medical field. Therefore, you have all the ESL's who are able to get into med school but the American Caucasian is not chosen because you cannot discriminate. My question is "Who is really being discriminated against?" In my husband's company -- It is the Caucasian white male and I have a feeling that it is the Caucasian that is discriminated against in the medical field as well.
What is a major bummer is...
A lot of the older MTs in this neck of the woods have lost their jobs not to outsourcing, but inability to keep up with technology, and it's not their fault either. All of these transcribing companies seem to have upgraded their technology so now people NEED high-speed internet/cable, and dial-up just won't do anymore. Imagine losing your job because the cable/phone company won't string up cable or DSL in your neighborhood because your're just too rural. It's a huge problem and I can see why that would make many people (including myself) jaded. What in the heck do you do for work when all you've known is transcribing? Hardly any hospital hires in-house these days either. Scary times indeed.
me too... lost major $$$.. sm
I lost my derm practice to EMR, $1500+ per week. That was my only account. Very humbling experience. I know a lot of you are in the same boat. Now it is taking me about a month to make what I made in a week. Have a couple PT accounts and am working for my FP doc that has EMR. He dictates part of the note and I put the typing where he wants it. It is slow as I have satellite but at least it is some income. I think EMR is the wave of the future. Hopefully it doesn't become a law soon.
For me, a major consideration is, would you be
nm
MAJOR PROBLEMS!!!!
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.
major errors
Only 2 major errors allowed? When learning a new account that seems a little strict. I understand they can't have major errors but give someone a chance to get things right and learn the way of doing things.
I would say those are major. Hospitals SM
often have this sort of policy and expect the services doing business with them to enforce it.
Major error?
That is not a major error. They are just two straggling headers that got left behind, an oversight at best but not major error category. What is wrong with these people? If they call that major what do they call a real major errors that could possibly affect the outcome of patient care? When you consider all the malpractice that goes on with direct patient care involving doctors and nurses, two straggling headers on a report is really very minor.
The major obstacle is the ...sm..
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 Major Rant
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?
At least 200; FT account is a major
trauma center, PT is a major surgical center. Both are teaching hospitals, so I have all the residents thrown in too.
This was a major national. You can mess with just about anything...
as long as you have a space bar.
to fellow psych major
I would like to start working in the field before I get my BA. Do you know how many credits you would need in order to do that, and is an AA degree far enough to begin work? You're a lot closer than me so I figured you might know this. It would be a big weight off my shoulders knowing I could work within three years rather than 7, which seems so long. Thanks in advance
Major patriarchy brainwashing.
Having sex does not make you a "wh0re." It usually means you are a functioning adult capable of making your own choices and not having your entire life dictated to you.
We have Publix - MAJOR stores all over....sm
Publix says tipping is not allowed. I do not agree with that. They are loading TONS of stuff into cars, why shouldn't they get a tip? I tip, their bosses are not outside watching anyway and I don't know that anyone ever lost a job with Publix (one of the largest employers in the SE) due to this
to each his/her own I suppose 
Dude, what's your major malfunction? sm
Since I've been working for the last 1-1/2 years with a company and more recently with my own accounts, I daresay that I am doing just fine with or without the RMT. I wanted to take the RMT for my own fun. I am sure there are others that either want to take the test or that are waiting to hear their results after waiting several months.
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