Regarding MT being a dying profession...
Posted By: SM on 2005-11-05
In Reply to: Update of job hunting. - Nervous MT 2
I have actually read in numerous places that MT is a job with future opportunity, in light of the baby boomers beginning to get old and sick. That's going to supply us with a lot of medical reports for a very long time. As for voice recognition taking over...I'll believe it when I see it. I know an MR who does VR and I've seen the gobbledegook that it comes up with. Eventually all these companies will realize that they were sold a bill of goods by these VR vendors, but because they've invested so much in this technology, they're going to stick with it until the bitter end. Just my opinion of course. Finally, outsourcing. I'm pretty confident that something will happen that will put the kybosh on sending private medical records off to Calcutta for transcription. I think that practice will also stop eventually. I could be totally wrong and maybe I'll have to put away my rose colored glasses, but for now, that's my prediction.
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MT Dying profession
I don't agree with you. I'm betting that MT is good for MAYBE 5 more years. Maybe. Thinking they won't perfect VR is only fooling ourselves....they will. I wouldn't recommend MT to anyone looking to enter the field. Money better spent on something with a better future but what that would be, I don't know. Seems everything that can possibly be offshored is being offshored. Maybe we should move to China Then we can be sure to have jobs seeing nearly everything in the U.S. comes from there anyway. Or maybe, the way things are going we had all better learn to like rice, cuz that's probably all we'll be eating before long.
MT Dying Profession
Sad when you work for a company that you thought was great and all of a sudden the work is yanked away and you sit with nothing yet you see the company advertising multiple times. When you look at what many posters say, that seems to be one major problem with this profession. The companies have no loyalty to transcriptionists. The best places to work are small local services, if you can find them. I don't recommend to anyone who asks me that they get into this profession. I used to, but not any more.
MT dying profession
I totally agree, Dano. They have absolutely no loyalty to MTs OR QA for that matter - we are nothing to them. I don't feel like a respected professional who is rewarded for her expertise and hard work anymore; I feel like a factory worker in an assembly line (no disrespect to those who work in factories, BTW)who just has to pump out the work as soon as possible - it's all about numbers to them. That's why in addition to working in this field, which I have been doing for 10 years (and would have quit by now if I could!), I am going back to college to get my degree in dental hygiene. I can't wait to get out of here. Used to make good money - no more. Used to be respected -no more. They only want cheap labor. Anyone looking to get into this profession - don't be fooled by the lies - do something else!
MT is a dying profession??
Hmm...
Is medical coding a dying profession like MT?
My income is in the crapper and keeps getting worse and worse. I love working at home, been doing it for over a decade, so looking into something I can do at home. So what about medical coding? Offshore problems? Technology advances pushing out the "real person" coder? Any disadvantages? Worth learning and getting into at this point?
This is our profession -- a profession which is dying, I might add. SM
So I should get a hobby so I won't care, like you? A hobby isn't going to pay the bills. I can't afford a hobby because in addition to working for a living, I also have to study in a different career field in my spare for fear that eventually transcription will be strictly an offshore operation!
MT dying
I have been working as an MT since 1992. I started at $7.50 an hour - no incentive - just a flat $7.50 an hour - that company was gobbled up by another bigger company - and the gobbling has continued on. I went to work for a smaller MTSO and at one point was making $80 an hour transcribing a very easy radiology account that was mainly normal reports - everything was a template and the template was the whole report. I now make no where near that - and have trouble getting up to $18 or $20 an hour. I am thinking of going back to school to becomeo a pharmacy tech - besides - it gets depressing working at home all the time and never having interaction with co-workers, etc. The school is just a thought at the moment. I definitely would not encourage anyone to go into MTing at this point in the game - not with voice recognition and outsourcing to other countries.
Is transcription really dying?
I have another question for all of you...is transcription really dying out?  I haven't seen that where I'm located, we are pretty much in high demand. I didn't even go to school and I got a job in-house at our hospital starting at over $13.00 an hour. But, now that I am reading all of these posts I'm starting to wonder what the chances are of me being able to continue this profession, esspecially since we are thinking of moving to a big city in the near future. I am really considering going into coding school starting in September so my husband and I will both get our degree at the same time. I'm just wondering if I should get out while I'm ahead. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Not dying, just growing!
First of all, HIPAA does not require EMR for all records by 2009. If that were the case, you would have known about it several years ago, because most physicians do not use EMR and have no plans to use EMR at this point. Most HOSPITALS don't use them, either. Even if they wanted to, there aren't that many viable products they could use!
He may be thinking of other HIPAA requirements which have affected his practice and which he doesn't like. HIPAA did require some privacy and security things which he no doubt found irritating. He now has a need to transmit his claims electronically, which probably annoys him.
I would guess that the concept of paying an MT annoys him, too, so he took it out on you by terrorizing you during your recent visit.
Second, nothing about an EMR means you can't dictate and transcribe.
If you're currently doing only small-office dictation, you might want to expand your capabilities so that you can do hospital acute care. I think that job prospects have been better there since internet-based voice file transfers became possible. There are a lot of jobs available with national services and even with large employers who will let you work from home.
I don't think it is dying, I think it is changing sm
There will always be a need for a hand typed medical narrative. Having said that, how much need is anyone's guess. FOR NOW, many companies are moving towards at least some VR. I have watched my company ramp it up and now ramp it down again. Why? The quality isn't there and part of that is the MEs who are doing them.
Being an ME usually only appeals to someone who can't actually type the report with any speed and accuracy (not a real MT in my book) or an MT who can longer tolerate the wear and tear on her hands (a real MT). The pay is less, which might not be a problem IF the software didn't require so darn much editing! Either the software needs to be a LOT better or we need to be paid more, if they want to the best quality, so that real MTs are doing the ME thang.
What I see happening, even now, is that companies who will hire a traditional, old-fashioned typing MT want the very best they can get at the best price they can get her. It is and will be increasingly a buyers market for our services. It will edge out any MT who is marginal...in speed, in accuracy, in attitude, in work ethic. That is to say, those of us who can stay glued to our desks and produce 99.5% or better accuracy AND do it with speed, will still be around for quite a while yet. The tolerance that some companies for not showing up on time, not getting your minimums, not producing very good work, is decreasing. I see this as a trend.
Less work? Not for some of us. No work, as in we don't need the chaff of this industry? You bet, and it is happening already.
The truly top-notch MT will always be needed. Do you have any idea how very few of us there are? I have not talked to a company who has more than 1 or 2 of us that they consider the cream of their crop. If you want to stay, look at what you need to improve, be it work ethic, speed, accuracy or scope of knowledge. If you don't, you'll be in one of the first groups out of this business.
Anyone else dying for school to start? (sm)
Grandchildren had been going to the LatchKey summer program, but they closed for the last 2 weeks before school starts to get the schools ready. So guess what? You got it. Memaw is trying to type with children. I have to totally admire those of you that do this on a regular basis. My hat is off to you.
My monitor is slowly dying...sm
I have a Dell computer and monitor, but my monitor appears to be on its last leg. I'm already looking for its replacement but instead of ordering another Dell, does anyone know of any other brands that are compatible or not compatible with Dell? I'd really rather not pay the shipping from Dell, but I do remember when I originally purchased the computer my printer was not compatible. Thanks for your help.
So, if you were dying in the bed and needed a STAT
You wouldn't mind that the person behind the document only cared about the money? You wouldn't care they put a post on this board like "why does anybody do this?"
Patient would feel slapped in the face.
That would be dying you slapped in the face.
I am really shocked and saddened to see who we serve is forgotten for the sake of money. Yes, we have to survive, and we do well. I have 3 jobs, am exhausted, but proud to say I am behind the document to help a very sick child or dying person, or recovering person, or person who was saved from suicide. I guess the idea of self rather than others is prominent around here, but not where I come from. After 27 years in the business I am proud to say I work behind the scenes and give the best I can for the patient, the doc, the nurse, my boss, the patient's family and so forth. After all, I would expect the same for me and my little boy.
Not on my budget. I usually can find something on if I am dying to watch T.V.
(NM)
Call, please. The rest of us are dying to find out something. nm
.
The main problem with this field is it is dying
And there isn't anything that we (as MTs) can do about that.
how did you give up cigarettes, I am dying to quit.
nm
Over 100. Burnt my bare feet on concrete. Plants are dying.
dd
I am feeling so stressed by changes at my company, holidays, friends dying,
not sure where to turn next. I really feel like I need to dump my whole situation and start from the beginning by doing a job where I am around people during the day instead of the curt phone calls from the office, and not having enough time to even talk or go out of the house to do anything. Why can't these companies have a little time to just say hello, thanks for a good job, or just something nice once in a while. Everything in the communication is negative, negative, and more negative. Team leaders are the pits, too. It is jusd do more, do more; they don't care if you are sick, and it means nothing to them to pile on more stress and more demands so they look good. They want you to work every day of the week, but they sure do take their days off, don't they.
Dogs dying from 'miracle drug'. Heads up, doggie owners
Marketed as a miracle drug for man's best friend, Rimadyl is one of the most popular painkillers available for dogs. And it's killing dogs by the thousands.
Vince Sharkey was faced with the decision every pet owner dreads, whether to euthanize his beloved dog King Billy.
Arthritis and deteriorating bones made it too painful for the 8-year-old golden retriever to walk.
His veterinarian recommended putting the dog down.
"He had so much life in him. I said, 'I just can't do that'."
Then Sharkey discovered Rimadyl, a prescription anti-inflammatory drug heavily marketed to owners of older dogs. Sharkey says Rimadyl saved his dog's life.
"Before I had him on the Rimadyl he was not even able to walk. He would drag his back half of his body. The moment we got him on Rimadyl, he was back to being his normal self again.
But Lynne Bradburn tells a very different story.
Her Saint Bernard, Honor, was just 22 months old when he died after taking Rimadyl for a sprained knee.
"He'd been sitting in my lap. And he looked up at me, and he died," Bradburn said.
Honor died after taking just four doses of the drug.
"They tell you it's as safe as aspirin. But it's not. And yes, I'm angry. And I will always be angry," Bradburn said.
The FDA reports some 12,516 complaints about Rimadyl dating back to 1997, including more than 2,300 cases where the dog died or had to be euthanized. The largest number of cases involve liver or kidney failure or internal bleeding.
Rimadyl's manufacturer, Pfizer, maintains the drug is safe, saying some 10 million dogs have taken over a billion doses of the drug, with less than 1 percent of them experiencing any negative side effects.
"There are side effects just as there are benefits with all medicines, with all medical procedures and certainly with Rimadyl. The good news about Rimadyl is that for the overwhelming majority of those 10 million dogs, plus, it has provided safe and effective pain relief," said Pfizer spokesman Robert Fauteux.
But the FDA approved Rimadyl after it was tested on just 549 dogs, raising the question, were the rest of the dogs that took the drug acting as guinea pigs?
Retired veterinarian turned attorney Paul Mabrey says a drug for humans would never be allowed on the market with such a small sample.
In response to continued concerns about the drug, Pfizer sent a letter to veterinarians across the country warning them that some side effects may "occur without warning" and, in rare situations may result in "hospitalization or even death."
Still, veterinarians continue prescribing Rimadyl more than any other drug in its class. But they're careful to warn dog owners looking for a miracle cure.
"There's a lot of people that want the medication not fully aware of everything that's entailed with that but we make sure to do everything we can to educate before they go on the medication," said Dr. Deborah Feltz, a the Elliott Bay Animal Hospital.
It's a warning echoed by those who know first hand what happens when a miracle drug proves imperfect.
Welcome to the profession. Get used to it.
x
Consider another profession?
To standardize testing you have to have every single company use one lone resource. What if company A is more concerned with ESL skills, company B is more concerned with oncology, and company C would like to know whether you rock at op notes? How do you standardize testing to cover every area that a given employer might want to concentrate on?
Definitely a profession. This is a
you will get a lot of pessimism and negativity. I definitely have made tons of money in my own business. Sounds like low self-esteem on the posters below, unhappy, depressed.
This is not just in this profession but
all over. I sat and waited on a call yesterday (my off day) regarding a piece of property I have up for sale. No call at all. I really hate to leave a message on a recording because most of the time you are ignored. Times have changed and not for the good. I think the majority of my family including my mother and my grandmother who are deceased would probably be shocked at today's life as we live it.
which profession
would you let us know what you decided to do? I'm wondering what I want to do next.
re: which profession
Dental Hygiene...usually takes 2 years but have to do it part time so I can still earn a living so is taking me 4 - I'm more than halfway done though, so can't complain...
our profession
 This is old, but has anyone read this?? I must research further what the final outcome was. While I totally agree with what they are doing and why, I totally DISAGREE with their final recommendation for standardizing line counts. VBC is not the way to do it.
You ask anybody in any profession
They will say they are worth more than they are being paid. That's the way it is everywhere. I make good money sitting at home. My local hospital pays their transcriptionists 9.40/hr. Big deal! I'll rather stick with a MTSO any day.
Our profession/New job
About three weeks ago I began a position with a local health care company (transcribing for local acute care hospitals but part of a national chain).
We are not really transcribing, at least not by my definition (21 years of experience). Rather, we are recording medical ShortHand (abbreviations [even in DIAGNOSES section], shortened medication names, slang, contractions, etc.). On the one hand, they claim they want you to type it verbatim (no expansions, additions, etc.), yet OTOH they say to delete redundancies, repetitions, etc., which is hardly verbatim. We are not allowed to expand, add to, or correct ANYTHING except number and tense dictated by ESL docs, who comprise about 60% of the dictators. In addition, certain dictated terms are to be abbreviated (e.g., "emergency room" transcribed as "ER").
The supervisor had the gall to look me right in the eye and deliver a harangue about how these are "legal documents, and we have to transcribe EXACTLY what they say." (Conveniently disregarding the bit about deleting redundancies and the other "allowed" changes.) So ALL of my previous employers, AAMT, etc. did it wrong, and THEIR crackerjack legal department is smarter than everyone else?!  Don't think so. Cutting costs is the game they're playing; everyone can see that.
Excerpt from a typical report looks like this: Wrote scrip for vanco 100, patient also to take aspirin 81 and will return next week. I don't think .... [blah blah blah]
AAMT taught me to create a complete, coherent, grammatically correct document that doesn't look like alphabet soup. Needless to say, I don't feel good about what I am creating and HATE THIS JOB!!
I'm just curious if this is happening elsewhere. With all of the emphasis on "cutting costs," I have to think that it is.
Thanks for listening to my splenic venting. 
A - No future in this profession.
Get a 4-year degree and open up your options.
Is our profession drying up?
I'm an independent contractor and have just lost an orthopaedic clinic account to EMR. Also, I've been sending out hundreds of letters for new accounts, and I'm hearing nothing back!
Is our profession (clinic work) drying up? This is getting very scary!
Could someone either (1) comfort me with "it's not true" news and there's more than enough clinic work out there to go around, or if you find that it is, indeed, drying up, write back and tell me of your experience.
Thank you `` Nancy in Alpharetta, Georgia
Good for you... and for our profession.
x
Find a new profession!
You never told us you had another job as a fortune teller! PUHLEEZ - your crystal ball is nothing more than an average bowling ball!
Stop trying to stir up trouble!
definitely NOT a profession...criteria are...sm
criteria for a profession are extensive college required, also person's work autonomous. Separate body of knowledge required for work. Think of lawyers. Extensive college, they work independently, i.e. they don't have supervisors, editors, etc., and law has its own body of knowledge. Even nursing is on the edge as far as being a profession, not quite autonomous enough. MT certainly doesn't fit the definition of profession.
There's a difference between a profession and a job.
Dictionary.com states that a PROFESSION is, "An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study."
That means MT, being that most MT's have no post-secondary education, or at most bare minimum "MT school" training. O-net on-line (occupation information network) states that 14% of MT's have a bachelor's degree or higher.
This is a joe-job, plain and simple.
here's some dict def's, i think it IS a profession.
noun: an occupation requiring special education (especially in the liberal arts or sciences)
noun: the body of people in a learned occupation
Word origin info is available.
Wow, maybe you are in the WRONG profession then, you think? nm
New MTs entering this profession
I don't think it is so much about MTs being all for themselves.
Virtually every newbie needs a great deal of QA support. It is costly. The first urgency of this field is turn-around-time. Slowing down TAT because all of your reports have to be QA'd costs. Having to stop and give you feedback so you don't continue in the same path slows QA down ... again, TAT suffers and this costs. Newbie work needs the QA because quality is the 2nd urgency of this business.
So, it's not your coworkers fault. Not really the MT service companies' fault either. This is the nature of this very competitive business.
It's always better for newbies to go to work inhouse in a hospital and get their experience before working from home. You have to be really self-sufficient to work from home and make it profitable for both yourself and your employer.
Defined by profession
I have never met so many people quick to judge and I realized that these folks must be defined by their profession which is really sad. Really sad. What's even worse, is like you said, they obviously need respect from others to feel satisfied by what they do. I made no assumptions in my initial post. Sure, I can type, would it have been better had I said I can't type for a darn but want to do MT??? Sheesh. I thought it was more important that I stated my computer skills in general are top notch.
I am not looking for something to make a living at. I already have a career that I love and am passionate about. Was just looking to find out what kind of training I should do, or if I should even do training, so I can do something involving computers from home.
Every job, like you said, has those that think they are better because of this skill or that skill that you don't have. I may be an engineer, but I'm a young female in an all male industry. Talk about fun earning respect with that! But I'm not defined by my choice of profession. I love what I do and that's all that matters to me.
Gee...isn't that the profession YOU signed up for as well?
Constantly correcting mistakes?
I would like to retire in this profession too
but fear for my job's safety. I unfortunately think the bottom line for a lot of these hospitals and doctors is the $$ and nothing more. They want to save money and don't care about the quality of the reports any more. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so.
Not just in the medical profession
I've seen the same thing with executives and non-execs in many fields. I've had to listen to dead space, too, and yes, it's a waste of my time. Unfortunately, there are lots of time wasters for everybody, and after the post on turnabout is fair play, I can't seem to have such animosity about it. I can speed the dead space up and chat on the board or do some of my correspondence, etc while I'm listening to the dead space.
This is why MT profession is in bad shape
For some reason, some MTs think since they work from home they can do the job "their way." This in turn, has caused the MTSO to impose such strict requirements regarding TAT, daily line counts, etc. Remember - they DO have to meet the obligations of their clients.
There are truly some great MTs that really require a flexible schedule, etc, but these "no-show, no-brain" MTs are ruining a good profession for the rest of us. I admit, it is hard to test for MT companies especially when the tests are long, but I can't blame them a bit - at least it weeds out some of the airheads.
I am not a MTSO and never have been. But, because of this situation it is hard for me to find a decent job because of the need for a flexible schedule and because I am not a fast/high line producer.
This godforsaken profession has no
nm
Wrong profession?
I know there was a post about this yesterday, but I did not want to taker hers over. I am just wondering if I can really do this. I have been doing this 3 years and have been at the same company. I just got back 5 reports this morning that just have me almost in tears. Granted, some of my mistakes were stupid and should not have been made. But, others that were sent back to me I really have issues with. Some of the "mistakes" were not typing "Jane Doe" in the report instead of typing "the patient," which directly goes against my account instructions. Also, was told not to expand an abbreviation in the diagnosis section because my account is verbatim. I just do not agree with this!!!! Plus, had different instructions on the same thing. The QA is totally inconsistent, and let the QA manager know what I thought of some of their changes.
I do think that I am a good MT. I have a new position starting with a great company soon, and I just want to know that I really can do this!!! Any advice??
This is the only profession that the older
you get the less money you make. I hate it too and looking to get out!!
MT profession getting lower
I would rather not work for a company that doesn't value our experience enough to pay a decent salary. Good luck. I pass.
I would find another profession
As an MT with 20+ years experience,I am finding another career...I can't imagine just starting out in this field, as those of us who have been here for a long time do not get treated fairly anymore...you can't make money, very few online companies appreciate anything that you do. Like I tell my daughters who are all under 21 years of age, get a degree in something and then if they want to do this type of work, do it as a side job, but don't count on it to make a living...it just can't be done anymore.
Good Luck!
This profession is currently so unstable, don't even know where it will be
x
There is nothing wrong in saying that about this profession
because I am 1 of the over 30 years the OP specifically asked to respond to this and who know what it was like before. I started in the 70s and then paid incentive plus an hourly salary and was really proud of having that under my belt. Left that hospital after 10 years and moved on to the next hospital, my gravy train supreme here. There were 2 transcriptions for the entire place and I made really big money there, base salary, incentive and hello, weighted dictators that we even got more money on for transcribing. I was buying stock in that hospital chain and bought just as much as my pay allowed every 2 weeks. Human Resources made mention 1 day of how much I made and told them no worries to the hospital, only 2 of us for the entire place. Outsourced to a company that basically would not quote a price they were going to pay us so I said thanks, no thanks and started to beat the pavement looking for the next job. Another hospital, 30 thousand less than the first place to start but hey, needed a job. Worked way up there, salary, incentive and then VR comes along. Taught that and outsourced to where it is now. I know what a gravy train is, have ridden before, went on down the tracks and places now offering 3 cents a line for VR work. Soon the MTer will be paying a company to work for them at this rate.
It isn't over. It has just evolved like every other profession.
I really hate the sky is falling type of perspective. This profession is no different than any other. It has evolved, changed. There are things to let go of about it and things to embrace. As with anything that is successful or living, it must keep growing and changing. Those who are flexible and determined will stay with it and draw great benefit from it.
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