That's about the time my hospital started treating its -nm
Posted By: MTs like pond scum! on 2007-06-17
In Reply to: I remember early to mid 1990s..nm - USA MT work outsourced since 1990s
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When I started at the hospital
in high school, I was offered $3.00 more per hour to be a transcriptionist. I learned so much. The ones who have been in this field a long time has seen it decline. I do have my own accounts now after 19 years and have had them for a while, but it is hard for someone new to network unless they work on-site and are "noticed" so to speak.
These nationals and small MTSOs (paying cheap labor), which most I have tried just for extra cash do, have put a damper on this profession. What was once a high-paying job is not any longer due to these types of businesses. The docs don't seem to mind paying a low rate to an offshore company because they see it as good business sense. They don't really look at it like they are putting American MTs out of work. JMO.
I try not to complain because I love what I do. I'd switch in a minute and I'm young enough, but right now my CHILDREN come first. I also can't see where I'd make as much hourly on-site that I make now working as an IC.
I will pursue something else sooner or later, but probably at that point won't be looking for more per hour, but maybe just a nice retirement plan where I can put in 20 years. I think I'll be ready for some people contact by then, as I love people. I will give this another 5 years tops, and then I'll be back on-site! 
Our hospital has started dabbling with VR...
... and at present it is only marginally useful. Most of the docs using it prefer live MTs. Others think they're doing such a bang-up job of using VR that they sign off their work without ever reading it or sending it to be edited. Now THAT is ANOTHER train-wreck going somewhere to happen. I've read what the VR comes up with, and although the company that built it says it's "100% trainable", it turns out not to be. It just doesn't learn some things, and makes the same mistakes over and over again. Some people in our office believe our MT Dept. will only be there for 3, maybe 5 more years. That may be the case, but not because VR is going to take over the whole hospital. More than likely they will simply send all their more difficult dictation out to an MT company, in order to save themselves the money involved with hiring, training, housing and insuring live MTs. I have no problem with leaving the hospital to be an at-home MT for a national, but will not work for any that doesn't provide the basic benefits: healthcare, PTO, vacation, etc. I've looked into other related fields, one being court reporting, another being closed captioning for TV. Unfortunately, TV is already using MOSTLY VR. (And the results are pretty funny.... I always get a good laugh at reading the captions on our TV sets at the gym!) Live court-reporting still exists for some legal reasons. You can make a good living at it, but it takes YEARS to build speed and learn an entirely different "language" on the stenotype machine. I figure I'm a little too close to retirement to be having to go back to school FULL TIME for 5 or 6 years! (Part-time would take 'WAY too long.) And what would I do -- go back and live with my parents? I don't THINK so!
I think things could get worse before they get better. Offshoring and the so-called promise of VR has lowered the respectibility of the MT profession considerably. (That ol' "out of sight, out of mind" adage!) Others think that if a machine (VR) can transcribe, then those of us who still do it live are nothing less than machines, outselves.
Once again, I think it's impoirtant for PATIENTS to tell they docs they not only don't want their info. going offshore, they ALSO don't want a VR program transcribing their medical notes unless it is fully edited by a professional MT before the doc can sign it. If the doc can't promise that won't happen, then maybe it's a good time to go doc-shopping.
Paralegal and legal secty. are good professions, but a little too formal and rigid for me, and again, there is the amount of time, school, and money involved before embarking on a new career. In MT, I'm at the top of my field & payscale.... with anything else, I'd be starting about again as a newbie, with the added problem of being late middle-aged and having to compete with a bunch of 20 or 30-somethings.
As for people dissing the MT profession: When I was in college, and flunking out of my classes from boredom even tho' I had a high IQ, my friends & relatives thought I was slacking off when I went to a trade school to learn MT. I have friends whose parents didn't allow them to take typing in high school back in the 70's, because they didn't want them to end up in a "dead-end secretarial profession." Well, most of those non-typists today are struggling to learn to use computers, and even when they do learn, they sure do type slowly, some hunt-and-peck. Yikes! AND.... when I see all the friends with MBAs, PhDs, etc. who had the fancy, big-bux jobs in the 80s, who are now either unemployed or doing menial jobs just to survive, it makes me feel a little better that I stuck with the healthcare industry and MT work. Things were looking bad in the late 1990s, the cost of everything was rising so fast that the "little people" like us could hardly afford an apartment in the silicon valley, and many of us were officially members of the "Working Poor" class. Then came the dot-com bust, and all of a sudden, things got better for us. Many of the fancy-job people moved out of state, and rents started to go down. Meanwhile, those of us in MT were still plugging away at it, and getting the occasional raise. Most of my fancy-job siblings don't even have health insurance, and are working lower paying jobs now. So I've been able to catch up to them a little bit. I can also leave the work behind me at the end of the day when I walk out the door - I'm not shackled to a cellphone, a pager, or a blackberry. I'm not on 24-hour call.
If I'm wrong, and live MTs DO become obsolute in the future, I'm hoping that since right now I'm socking away every dime I can into my 401K, that if MT disappears 5 years before I'd be officially eligible for retirement (although I don't believe any of us under 60 will ever be able to FULLY retire...), that it will take up the slack from whatever low-paying part-time job I may have to take in my old age in order to afford both an apartment AND food to eat!
I've been in MT for 20 years. Started out in the office at a hospital.
Switched to working for services from home for a while and now I work for the same hospital I started out at, but I work from home now. So I guess you can say I've come full circle and now I'm back where I started. I much prefer being an employee of a hospital versus an IC or employee of an MTSO.
It may be that your user profile in EXText is not set up to allow you to add normals. I've found with services they don't give their MTs a whole lot of freedom with their software. 
Before I started my own business, worked in a hospital in-house with taxes taken out & then went hom
was getting with shift differential 23.80 when I left. Your pay seems extremely low, you could make more as an IC seriously.
Started in-house at a hospital, medical records department, on a typewriter in
1983, earning $6.00/hour, eventually moving up after 7 years to $10.00/hour. All hospital work was then outsourced to a national service in 1986 (beginning of our downfall), went to work for the service and made $2.10/page. Service was bought out by another service, rate changed to $1.90/page. Rates changed again to $0.08/cpl. After many years of experience in all services, found my first account in 1992, charged $.09/cpl/gross lines but blank lines not counted. Business has grown steadily through the years through word of mouth. Now charging $.16/cpl or $25.00/hour or $6.00/page, and having to turn down work at this point. If you have the experience and are detail-oriented, you can find your own accounts eventually like I did. But you have to pay your dues first and be able to transcribe all ESLs accurately. If you learn how to transcribe ESLs well, those doctors are the ones to target for work. I do work an ungodly number of hours, only because I am trying to save at a faster pace for retirement because of all the uncertainty in this line of work.
I have 13 years experience and just started a hospital job working from home making $16 an hour
and with a really good incentive plan. I live in the Kansas City area. $10 seems like a low starting point even with only two years experience which is the usual benchmark for hospital MT jobs.
It's been my experience that the low end of the pay scale for hospital employed MTs was around $12 an hour. Also, it's been my experience that the pay offered is usually based on years of experience and how well you perform on the transcription test.
I would say if their pay is that low, they should at least be making it up with incentive and it doesn't sound like they are.
JMO
When the kids started school I wanted a job in my home town. A hospital clerk position (sm)
came open. You started compiling charts, making copies, etc. Then I was promoted after a few months and began learning transcription and did that part of the day. Then a few months later they taught me coding and abstracting and I did that part of the day. It was a great learning experience to learn things from the bottom up. Needless to say, I am an old dog here who has been doing this more than 25 years now.
When the kids started school I wanted a job in my home town. A hospital clerk position (sm)
came open. You started compiling charts, making copies, etc. Then I was promoted after a few months and began learning transcription and did that part of the day. Then a few months later they taught me coding and abstracting and I did that part of the day. It was a great learning experience to learn things from the bottom up. Needless to say, I am an old dog here who has been doing this more than 25 years now.
I started using it when I worked for Rodeer. They had used PRD at one time
I like the simplicity of it, and the fact that's it's fast compared to others I've used. I'm not sure why that is.
It doesn't have any prompt that reminds you of your expansion, so you have to have a system of remembering, which is another thing I prefer. The reminders only get in my way and slow down my production.
Treating when they are not there is...
the wrong thing to do. This is why lice are getting resistant to the treatments available. While the lice themselves are hard to see, the nits are not. If you don't see any nits or lice, then your child doesn't have them. I would just keep a close daily watch and only treat if there is an infestation. Additionally, if you child DOES get lice, you have to do much more than just wash the hair with Nix. You have to literally tear your house apart vacuuming everything, bagging up stuffed toys for 2 weeks, washing all the bedding in hot water, etc. And don't forget the seats in the car. I would simply start by finding out what the daycare's policy is for lice. Before we moved the school our kids attended had a very politically correct lax policy on head lice. They told me that it wasn't fair to exclude children from school just because they had nits (lice did warrant a call to the home). But in my mind, if there are nits, there HAS to be lice, right? They would let kids stay at school who literally had nits falling out of their hair. It was DISGUSTING. What boggled my mind was how a parent could not see that sick mess in their child's hair and not do anything about it. I could see the mess from 10 feet away.
I have started many jobs with the undertanding that I already have time off scheduled. sm
Most companies who need MTs need them on a chronic basis. If they find a "good hire" they will usually work with your upcoming time off or let you start after your time off. I would be looking. More people look at the first of the year because of benefits, so you might get a jump on them.
I started part-time in a doc's office while still in high school. sm
That was in 1984. My career just bloomed from there......
MRC, wow. I loved that place. I started in 1992 and like you was a "newbie" at that time. SM
I had only worked at one large hospital before doing mostly radiology. I loved MRC until it merged with TL then became MQ. Things only went downhill after that.
Can you go part-time at the hospital and
try PT with an online company to test the waters? I'm currently PT with a hosp because it's not in the budget to add staff at this time, so I researched and accepted a position with an online company. So far, it's working out well.
the hospital I work for already has started to implement this and lessen our work
I see it every single day... they are going to EMR... meaning the doctors simply use a template already in the computer and check boxes or something... The doctor's office i GO TO actually does this too. This is why it creates tech jobs to create those templates and takes AWAY MT jobs because the doctor is no longer dictating, they are just pushing little buttons or checking boxes straight into the computer.
Personally I still think that is more time than the doc wants to take but whatever, i dont see how generic charts are good, what happened to detailed information...
But this is definitely how i see it going along. Maybe not everywhere, but plenty of places are going to go to this, it's all about saving money now isn't it???
I worked part-time in a hospital sm
radiology department for a copule years and they did the floppy disk thing. They were huge compared to now. We didn't have a main frame at that time. Your format stuff was on the "system disk" you put in on the left nad then your disk with your work went into the right hand slot. It was this big huge monster of a "computer" thing.
FutureNet --- treating me like the highly skilled professional I am.
you can apply on their web site. they sought me out... grape vine told them i was hating MQ --
only downside... no benefits, gotta be SE... it's what MQ was going to do to me anyway, so no big loss..
Cut back on what you give her - this is your business/your livelihood and she is treating like a cas
//
I have 2 jobs. One is full time at a hospital, the other is for a urologist in AZ. sm
The urologist in AZ doesn't dictate every single day, so I usually can spread him out over the week. I work 8 hours at my full time job and then if there is work to do from AZ, I usually type until about 10 or 11 o'clock at night. If it all gets done fine. If not he doesn't worry. He is happy wiht 48 hr TAT. But since he is so good to me, I really try to get it back within 24 hours. I break his Friday dictation into chunks over the weekend. So with everything factored in, between the two, I usually type anywhere from 8-12 hours a day. But not 7 days a week.
generally this time of the year is slow for my hospital NM
:)
Treating private health information like a trade is wrong any way you look at it.
Let's see how you feel when you've been violated because your private health information was distributed for any and all purposes.
This is the best site I've found about treating fibromyalgia. It works for me, maybe it will for
Depends on what kind of hospital? Large urban hospital or small community hospital? SM
Also, is it a large teaching hospital? If so you have to consider there will be A LOT of different residents dictating, usually a lot of ESLs at teaching hospitals, and the residents rotate out and new ones rotate in every summer. So you can't expect to get the same dictators and build up your macros because the dictators change all the time.
I would say 9 cpl would be a pretty good offer for a small to medium community hospital where you will be doing the same dictators on a daily basis. But for bigger, urban or teaching hospitals I would want at least 12 to 15 cpl.
$15,000.... Hospital employee, telecommuting from home, working less than full-time.
c
Hospital. I wish I'd never left my hospital job.
They'll only take me back if I start off working nights and weekends again at the bottom of the totem pole.
If you work for a hospital - how come no one from the hospital
called you?? Were they in the dark, as well?? How sad, that no one in your hospital communicates with the at home staff.
Not anymore. For some time now, I've been working 32 hours and am considered full time to receive
p
Working full time at home with small children is hard but part time works great
is almost impossible. You will either have to work when your spouse is home or for only a few hours during the day and then more when they are asleep. I work part time at home and my kids (2&5 now) have done very, very well. They are great kids, very well behaved, don't get into much. I stop working to check on them/give them some attention every hour or so while I work (5 hours each afternoon or so) and they get all my attention in the morning and at night. It has worked out beautifully for us.
Yeah, our choc. lab does that from time to time - makes it interesting!- nm
x
Cannot legally require you to commit time to them as an employee and then not pay you for that time.
x
full-time in office/ part-time at home
I currently work full-time in a physician's office and have started part-time online. My hope is to eventually go full-time online; however that will be done the road for a single mom with a son in college. My suggestion would be try to type part-time for a MTSO and see how that goes i.e work and money with a decision down the road for ultimately being home all the time. A guaranteed paycheck is always a necessity for me. Hope this helps.
I work part-time hours with full-time pay...
I made over 26,000 this year...
I work a full time and a part time, but not sure about 2 full-time...
My hubbie is disabled and I am the only one in my family working also, so I fully understand. You will not have a day off at all working 2 full-time as that is going to be the only way you will get in all your hours. I work one job in the mornings from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the other from 5 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and do have off one day a week, but if I had to get in the extra 15 hours to make the other job full-time I am not sure how I would do that other than lose my only day off. Also, make sure you have your account specifics in front of you at all times because you will get yourself confused as to who is what and having notes will help in that area. Good luck to you, as it is possible, but forget about your house being clean, having any social life, etc. Feel free to email me personally if you just need someone to talk to, as I have been where you are and still am.
Maybe they will. Give it time. It takes time to set up links.
OSI, Precyse, etc tell us more.
full time, part time, statutory
newly defined full time...
newly defined part time....(which is an added classification)
I believe statutory just was not mentioned because there is nothing new about the definition of statutory.
full time/part time/statutory
The definition of full time is new.
There is a new classification called part time.
I believe statutory was not mentioned merely because that has not changed and they do not receive PTO/benefits.
I work 1 full-time, 2 part-time....nm
NM
getting started
If you live in southern CA, on the job seeker board Chronicle Transcripts is hiring newbies. I used to be a lead transcriptionist for them when they were located in my town. Nice people and you will get very good training from them. What I have found is the smaller trans companies usually are willing to take in trainees or medical trans school graduates. Also, the federal govt and state govt have medical transcriptionists..You can check about testing with the govt. Good luck!
I have a BSN and started doing
MT due to the world's most complicated pregnancies - just couldn't be on my feet. At first, the $$ wasn't so great - impossible to transcribe much with a baby in the house. Every year tho I have made more than the year before. My boys are now 8 and 12 - summers are difficult but not impossible. I periodically look into going back into nursing, but the hassles it would entail just aren't worth the $$. I work about 5 hours a day and will end up making around $28 K this year.
I am 33 now and started at age
/
It's already started here.
Gas prices are up, groceries are up, other supplies are up. My brother is in construction and said that materials and wood prices have doubled in the past week. Our income is maybe half what it was just over a year ago because we've both changed jobs or had contracts end on us. We've had a lot of unexpected expenses recently that cleaned out all of our savings. Christmas is coming. School just started so we had to buy clothes and supplies there. I'm half-panicked here trying to find a better paying job than what I have now. I just really can't take a lot of time off for testing or post my resume because my current employer will know I'm looking for another job. Then again, I don't even know if it's possible for me to make more money at MT than I am now. I still don't see how people can do 250+ lph or make $30+ per hour. What do they have that I don't? Length at employment? More word Expander entries? A better account and platform?
when i started doing ASR
mgmt told me that 'down the road' there would be 'adjustments' in the pay for ASR, after people were well-trained and productive on it. I later opted out -- didn't like it at all. HOWEVER, if it is in fact so much quicker (as it was said to be) for the MT to do those reports, then it stands to reason that you would not be paid the same at the same rate as someone transcribing a report from scratch. I don't see what the problem is about the purported pay reduction. Just consider what you've been getting as 'gravy' and what you will be getting as fair. Then again, if you don't want to do ASR, then opt out.
Also just started with them...
:)
You started it now !!
nm
I just started a new job.
I was hoping this would be THE job. I told myself that this is the very last MT company I will try to work for. Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same things at this company that I quit other nationals for. I don't know what to do. I'm tired of job hunting, learning new platforms, and trying to adjust to multiple account specs. I'm tired of being told that "we're different" or "we are the best" only to find that it's no different or better. I don't know if I should stick this one out in the hopes that it will get better or go get a job as a waitress. This really stinks with Christmas coming and bills to pay. I really wanted this to work. What else is there for me, though? I don't want to go back to the fulltime, nose to the grindstone, kids in daycare garbage. I really enjoy MT, too.
Started at 4:00 a.m.
Delivered newspapers, did MT for 4 hours, went out for a few last minute things, went grocery shopping, finished wrapping presents, finished crocheting my new grandson's baby blanket, cleaned the kitchen did the dishes and looked after my 2-year-old terror twin granddaughters for 2 hours before I finally called my daughter at 6:00 p.m. and said, "COME AND GET THEM."
I love them dearly, but they are 175% wired with the whole Christmas thing and I am just getting over the flu.
I know, I know. . . .I'm TYPE A all the way.
I can't believe I've made it this late. I'm going night night. 
Started out....
I started out with MT on a selectric II. We used carbon paper for copies and no more than 2 corrections were allowed per page (original was corrected with white out, the rest had to be erased with that special little typewriter eraser). I learned very quickly to be accurate and proofread as I transcribed.
We also had no Stedman's word books in those days - just Dorlands, a little red book called Surgical Secretary or something like that, Tessier's, and a couple of others - about 5 or 6 books in total.
We used to call pharmacies to ask for spelling of new drugs, called Surgery and Central Supply for spelling of new equipment, new dressings, etc.
I worked in a large teaching hospital. We had access to the doctors and more than 1 time I had an MD standing behind me looking over my shoulder while I typed his report!
STARTED OUT THE OLD WAY
I also took typing on a manual and one of my first jobs was transcribing in pathology with 5 carbon copies - yikes. I like my computer and so does my wrists.
To get started...
$450 bucks will get you everything you need to get started. Here is the item:
Transcription Kit.
That transcription kit comes with the digital recorder you can give to your client, and for you-all the software, foot pedal and the headset. That will be enough to get you on your feet on your own.
My dog started doing this (sm)
and I took him in for a UA. Two days into the script he stopped!
Sure, it's possible. We all started somewhere. sm
Get hold of some practice dictations, and then dive in! If you have the proper references and good skills to begin with, you'll do fine. Go for it!
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