So, if you were dying in the bed and needed a STAT
Posted By: History and Physical on 2009-03-22
In Reply to: I see posting all the time about transcription, why are you staying, really? - Why, why, why?
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.
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Maybe a stat stat because patient is going to surgery or being transferred somewhere immediately? nm
s
Oh, that's hilarious - a STAT STAT! Never heard THAT one before!!! Heheheheh
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.
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.
Regarding MT being a dying profession...
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.
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!
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.
MT is a dying profession??
Hmm...
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.
How about....a STAT that's hot?? SM....
Ya' know, Paris Hilton's always saying, "THAT'S HOT!!" Maybe your boss is trying to be a Paris wannabe and figures if she says "HOT STAT!" that's her way of being "HOT!"
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.
Ugh! A STAT, no doubt!
When I used to do hospital dictation, there was one MD whose dictations were always in the 20- to 30- minute range. What was worse was that he was the kind with long pauses followed by speed-dictated phrases. That's my least-favorite style. And he'd have the audacity to mark many dictations STAT. I think there should be a rule that 9 minutes is the longest a STAT report can go on, so the Transcriptionist has time to do the other, real STATs!
"HOT" STAT please ?
 Supervisor keeps referring to a "hot" STAT. What the heck is she trying to elucidate?? 
HOT STAT TO "MTme"
 To MTme: I'm perfectly aware that I can ask the person this question. HOWEVER, perhaps you cannot understand that I only broached the question here in this FORUM to inquire whether or not ANYBODY else IN THE GENERAL MT WORLD had ever heard of this phrase. Do you have some kind of problem with my asking this question? Get over it!!!!
STAT dictations
Re: Stat dictations. Does anyone out there charge extra for STAT dictations that come in during the day so that we have to put aside what we are working on and type a STAT letter/document and send in? This sort of thing can keep one behind in Turn Around Time if it happens on a regular basis. If anyone charges extra for STAT dictations coming in, what would be a good fee to charge for these besides the line count?
Ginny
IC STAT work
We generally find out when our ICs will be working on our accounts and ask that they be available for STAT work. If they are not available within one hour of the request, we have one of our editors pick it up.
After typing the STAT, do you have to
take it to them the next morning also???? When I worked for a doctor as an IC who used tapes, I charged double when I had to scan a tape. It wasn't much, but they did not call too often for them; and I did not have to take the report in. I just e-mailed it to them and they waited for the original to get there.
If you have to then drive it over to them out of your normal time to do so, I would charge them mileage at least and double the rate you charge per line/report, whatever.
However, if this is a constant thing, I agree with the other poster, charge them by the hour to look for the dictation.
P.S. As an IC, you are allowed to set your hours. They cannot force you to work when you don't want, unless it is in your contract that you are on call 24/7.
Stat reports
Since they are still on tapes and it is an office and not an entire hospital, can they que the tapes for surgical patients, or can they put next day surgical patients on a seperate tape? It might take some training on their part but I worked for a group of 11 Radiologists and we did get them trained to use a different tape for in-patient vs outpatient reports. Seems like if they want you to get the reports to you for the next days surgery that they need to implement a procedure in the office for identifying where those patients are on a tape. If they were on a different type of system it would be a different story.
How much easier it would be for to to have one that that is nothing but next day surgeries that need to be transcribed stat, beats searching all through a bunch of tapes.
STAT reports
Right - the MT profession has changed a lot since the inception of offshore outsourcing, VR, salaries going down instead of up, and sadly there are those MTSOs taking advantage of the situation, especially with today's economy and in effect saying, "Like it or lump it, you're lucky to have a job." and whom I would tell likewise, "So are you." So its often hard to draw the line, and it is often a fine line, between bending over backwards to do your job and feeling exploited.
As for refusing to do a STAT job on maybe the weekend, well, this should be made clear up front before hire ... will you or won't you? I agree with the former poster re. family ... when my late husband was still around, and he was essentially bedridden and required care 24/7... he came first, even though I had a full-time schedule to maintain with production requirement. But if my supe should call me for a rare STAT job to be done, he/she must have had a reason. One Christmas, a supe from my company (whom I did not know) asked me to do a STAT radiology job (I wasn't even on the radiology account) bec. a patient was waiting to go to surgery and they needed the MRI report before they could do the rather urgent surgery. While I don't defend all of a company's actions all of the time, if a supervisor calls me in the middle of the night for a STAT report, I know there must be a good reason for it.
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
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?
"Pay for stat work"
What is the "going rate" for stat transcription? I work for a hospital and get calls for stat work at all hours but do not get paid for this extra service. Would love to hear from other MTs as to what they are paid for this service. Really getting tired of it, but it is my largest account - still it's not worth sitting by the PC or phone all day just in case they might have a stat! 
try a dermatologist! and/or internist stat.
x
Going rate for stat notes
I was wondering if anybody had any information on what the going rate for stat reports currently is? On MTJobs there is a posting for 14 cents per line for stat work and I was wondering if this is the norm.
Kay :)
Did you type that stat report? What did you say
x
Yes I did type the STAT. It is not the patient's
evening. You have to understand that I am a professional. I will not refuse to do work as that adds fuel to the fire. I'll get my money in due time. This field is full of pay-laters! I'm not the only one waiting for my check, I'm sure. 
rate for stat reports
Hey, does anyone on here charge extra for stat reports. I receive work in the evenings and the doctors need some stats done before the next morning for surgery. I wanted to know what the going rate for stats are, as I have to stop what I am doing, work in the evenings, plus, they are on tapes so I have to search the entire tapes looking for the stat reports to type. It is very time consuming and wondered if anyone charges extra for those, more per line, or a flat rate, etc. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Were STAT reports addressed in contract? sm
I had a doctor that did this same exact thing. He would procrastinate on doing reports, or just overbook himself so he never had time to dictate, and then when someone called wanting a report, he'd call me to see if I could do it ASAP. Of course, he didn't want to pay extra for this service, though. He would also call me night or day and expect me to drop whatever I was doing for other (better-paying) clients and do his "urgent" report. I go by the old saying that poor planning on his part does not make it an emergency on my part. I will do it for them IF I have the time and IF they pay a higher rate. Otherwise, I will not cater to this behavior because the poster above is right - they will continue to do it as long as you oblige. You have to be the one to set the boundaries. Get voice mail and caller ID if you don't already have and screen your calls. I found that sometimes just waiting a few hours before calling them back allowed them to calm down and realize it's not the end of the world, and they'd then say it was okay to get in by the next day or whatever. Sometimes it's not so much that it's a stat report in terms of the patient's need but that they need it to get paid, in which case they'll sometimes back down if you quote a higher rate or tell them you simply cannot fit it in right then. Same doc would pile me up with a week's worth of dictation and expect it all back in 12 hours, too, so it was an overall mentality with him that he wanted everything done NOW. It wasn't even humanly possible most of the time but try getting them to see that. You should have no social life, after all, and live to work! LOL
Good luck with that. I got rid of the client that did it to me. He felt I should be at his beck and call but argued the rate at every turn, and it wasn't that much to begin with so it wasn't worth the aggravation! Seems like the most demanding ones are usually the biggest cheapskates, too.
rate for STAT reports after hours
I currently work for a group doing transcription all day as an IC. I am delivered my work at night by the office for the next day's work. But, often they have a need for me to do STAT reports that night for surgery the next morning. I work all day full time for them and then have these to do in the evenings too. They also use tapes still and I have to spend and hour or two searching the tapes looking for the dictation to transcribe. It is so frustrating and time consuming on my part and I am making NOTHING for the time I am spending on this, 2-4 bucks tops for an hour or two of work. I just wondered if anyone knew of a good line rate, flat rate, etc. to charge for this turnaround time and the time I have to waste searching through these tapes!!!!! They will not go digital, which would be so much better. Any thoughts???? Thanks in advance.
Rates for working, paid more for stat?
Maybe others but I think mine are probably the average, 8 cents per line for straight and 4 cents per line for VR. My standard 4 are considered history and physicals, operative notes, discharge summaries and consults. A transfer, I think, would be a discharge summary. No extra pay for experience or lack thereof.
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.
stat report. Under PMH: (female) vesiculopublic sling.
Off topic but need STAT ADVISE on deviled eggs
Hi,
I need help as I don't want to make anyone sick LOL. Baby shower tomorrow night, my co-host who was making the deviled eggs along with other things broke her wrist this morning...soooo, I am in a time crunch and would like to know if I can make these things tonight (36), just boil them tonight, maybe do the prep just fill them tomorrow?? I usually make them & take them or serve them, but don't know about preparing them this 24 hrs ahead of time.
Thank any of you experts in advance for your opinions..this is so much easier than trying to call Betty Crocker
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.
2 hr 30 min stat psych eval -- MD paid double rate :) NM
x
You need to charge for this extra service. Stat reports should be charged at a higher rate or per r
Never lose money. I have unlimited long distance and when my docs what things faxed, etc, I charge them per report to fax the document as well as charging them to transcribe it.
Ah yes! Me too, and I needed it!
EMR's -- we will still be needed
I work at a clinic part-time typing into EMR's as well as running my own company. But now they are loading Stedman's spell check and work expanders onto Word so that I can type in word and then transfer the info over to the electronic chart. I type faster in word. They found that it is faster for the doc to dictate rather than type into the chart and not only that, insurances were questioning the "standardization" of the chart notes. Too similar. So I do make sure that even though I use expanders, and macros, I do make some minor changes to "standard exams" so it does not all look the same, but this is with the approval of the docs. But they can see at least 4-6 additonal patients and dictate all the notes rather than type then and are able go home at 5 o'clock instead of 7. Also the TAT is 48 hours and not weeks as the docs would never finish the notes. So we will still be here just typing under a different format.
Thanks, I needed that!
:)
No, what for? Never needed it. nm
nm
thanks, but not what I needed to know
Gee, thanks for all that information. I am well aware that I could send an email, and I am well aware of how to crunch the numbers in terms of rate of pay. I was just hoping to hear from someone who already works for the company. Thanks anyway.
Thanks.. that's what I needed to know
Wasn't sure if it was something routine on every sale or if it was that the buyer backed out. I'll just let it stay there and see if I get payment! I'm hoping to get the hang of listing stuff on ebay, but it took me 2 hours to list that one item! LOL...
yes MTs will always be needed...nm
x
Thanks, Jay. That's just what I needed to know. nm
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