The first rule of being self-employed is that
Posted By: fine line being crossed on 2005-09-28
In Reply to: How to politely "fire" an account - Any suggestions?
you set your own line rate. However, we all know that NONE of the MTSOs hiring IC MTs allow us to set our own rate. They "offer" a rate, and we accept if it's OK.
I worked for a real cheapo doctor when I first started out. He paid hourly and kept riding my backside to type faster because he only wanted to pay for the actual time dictated instead of the time it took to transcribe. More than once I told him that it takes an average of 3:1 typing to talking ratio to get it done. It worked out to be $.03 per line. I dropped him like a bad habit. He bounced through a few other transcriptionists who all quit on him before he wound up having to pay to outsource to a service.
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Currently employed
Hi. I have been with then since 02/2006 and extremely happy with them. As of this past month, I actually became and employee instead of IC and will be getting insurance. Hope this helps.
I think 30-40K if employed
There are variables. Is the person working 10-12 hours days and pretending they are working 8? I know many who are. If so, income should be considerably higher. People with their own accounts can usually make 50-60K or more.
For a 6-8 hour days, 5-day weeks, as an employee with experience, I don't think this job should ever pay less than $30,000. It takes too much concentration, medical knowledge and complete isolation to pay any less. Hospitals pay at least that and you are expected to take breaks, lunch, talk with other staff and physicians, get sick sometimes, have bad days and get bad authors sometimes, take vacations and generally be a human being. Working from home, most of us hunker down and feel guilty if we have anything else we need to do, then making it up at all hours of the night or our supposed days off.
Are you self-employed with your
If you are employed at
MQ, the reason people are making 8 to 10 cpl is probably because that is what they were hired in at when their company was bought. They probably have not had raises either.
I most certainly am self-employed
Obviously, you work as an employee. Sure hope you got a raise to change from what you were hired at. Again, not all of us can be that flexible to just change. We do have a life. Furthermore, anyone can dial in and listen to a dictation on the weekend if they need it that bad. Just call the floor get the identifying numbers, call the number, plug in the identifying patient info and badda bing, you've got the dictation. It used to happen all of the time at the hospital I worked at because they didn't want to wait on the outside MTSO that was soooooooooooo slow. TAT was never met or hardly ever.
Are any IC Incorporated since they are self-employed?
Just wondering if any IC out there have set themselves up as a Corporation. Being tax illiterate, it seems like I do not have many deductions when it comes time to file. My DH is looking into opening a business to provide a service and someone with a similar service suggested to him to file for corporation to be able to receive more tax benefits and deductions. My CPA over the last 10 years has never suggested it to me even though I ask him what I could I do for more deductions. Is this possible?
Ind 401K for self employed
There is a new type of retirement fund for self employed business people where you can put money in as both an employee ($15,000) and as a percentage of your profits as the business owner. It is called an Ind 401K. Here is a link...
http://www.troweprice.com/common/index3/0,3011,lnp%253D10264%2526cg%253D960%2526pgid%253D10057,00.html?scn=Low-cost_plans_with_&rfpgid=7622
I wanted to go with T. Rowe Price but they do not allow loans, so i decided to go with Oppenheimer.
Self-employed-need advice
I am a self-employed MT, trained by the office I have been contracted with for 9 yrs. When I started, it was myself and an in-house Transcriptionist working for 4 physicians. I gave a 24 hr TAT. I had one 18-month-old child when I started, and was able to work around 6 hours a day. I drove about 40 min to work and back, picked up tapes, working sometimes 6-7 days/week. Since then, they have hired 2 more drs. and 3 NP's. The in-house MT retired, but they did hire another MT who works at home. I had another daughter, and a set of twins in those 9 yrs. They have always known I try to work around my children's schedules. As I am sure many of you do, I was getting up in the middle of the night working, working on and off throughout the day and at night. The new MT and I are backed up now and we can't possibly get it all done. It is more like 48-72 hr TAT. They call all through the day asking me to stop what I am doing right then and search the tape, type the note and fax it ASAP. I picked this profession to work around my children's schedules, not have to push them aside at every moment to cater to the office. I do not have a certificate in MT, was just trained by this office. I checked in to other places, but the pay is much less as I get paid 65 char/line including spaces at $.125/line. The reason they pay so well is because they know I probably can't get on somewhere else with no certificate and no experience in any other field. They want to make sure I stay there. Also, the driving is ridiculous. They refuse to get technology for telecommuting. They refuse to hire someone else. On top of that, I was just diagnosed with IST, and am on Toprol and not capable of working the hours I once did. Is there anyone else out there who understands or has any advice?
yep, two. I'm self employed in three ventures. sm
1. I am a soapmaker at www.sarva.biz and, as of recent, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5120869
2. I am a yoga therapist in the style of www.pryt.com
And also studying to be a yoga teacher in another lineage.
Yes, I do all of this with bilateral CTS. I intend to specialize in yoga for CTS sufferers and am nearly there with my education.
Turn lemons into lemonade :-) It's those other things that motivate me to finish my MT work every day, and my MT work informs my yoga therapy so tremendously.
Happened to U but are you now employed,
x
Not good ones and so far I am still employed
x
Self Employed Question
Hi all. I am new to this board. I have a home based secretarial service and do both medical and legal. I have never worked for a big company, just attorneys and docs as well as sales profesionals with no secretary. I have always charged by the page, but I have a possible new client that wants me to bill her by the line. Is .12 per line reasonable or too little for medical? Are there any other home based self employed individuals who can offer advice on per line charges?
Thanks!
My friend has been employed by the ...sm
same hospital that hired her as a newbie. She has been there 10 years. She does good. She has her hourly wage plus incentive pay and benefits. She has one of the good jobs. They outsourced the rest of the MT work except radiology, which is what she does. They outsourced the radiology also a few years ago to an MTSO and she went to work for the MTSO who got the radiology account from her hospital. Well the doctors there in radiology at the hospital raised some cane and demanded the inhouse MTs be brought back. The work was bad from the MTSO MTs and they demanded their MTs back. She was lucky. That is what you call appreciative doctors who value the MTs who do their transcription.
Self-employed even worse getting paycheck
Bill three doctors at the end of the month, and still waiting two weeks later, sometimes three. I even stay up all night and do a 12h turnaround time. You'd think they would see I was paid in a reasonable amount of time!
He can do it. If he is becoming self-employed, he can cut his child support
too if he does not make a profit for the first few years.
Better to be prepared.
When I was a W2 employee, hubby was self employed
and it was enough to cover his taxes and sometimes we got a refund.
MT week - did anyone employed with Diskriter get
anything for MT week??? Just curious - I didn't, but I see that they gave out an American Express gift cheque.
Taxes regarding self-employed = getting an accountant
Get yourself one, and he'll explain everything you need to know.
Try the National Association for the Self-Employed. SM
They have lots of options. 
I'm already employed. I feel my company has sent
a
ditto - am self-employed, 1-person
for local physicians.
There is no one else to have do them. I just type them and forget them as you did.
Medical Insurance for Self-Employed
 Hi Everyone: Does anyone know of an medical insurance that is a PPO Plan for me and spouse in Tenn that does not cost an arm and a leg? I have 2 job offers, one is a company but cannot afford their insurance for both of us, so I will take out on me only and the other job offer is IC at 13 cents a line which is good for this area. Help!!!!
TaxAct and TurboTax will work for self-employed.
No need to buy the expensive business versions of them either. I don't know about TaxCut, but I'm sure it's the same. No, you do not have to prepay your taxes quarterly either. The first year is considered a "trial run" meaning that you need to establish a base pay before they can establish a quarterly tax payment amount due. I've been self-employed for 10 years now and have never made quarterly tax payments because I've never owed.
Yes, they can quit their job, go self-employed or IC, and work under the table.
However, the courts aren't stupid. There is a worksheet the judge does based on the past several years' worth of taxes that XX is the amount this person is capable of making, so therefore XIX is their child support amount. It's legal and binding. There's no changing it by trying to scam the system. It is difficult to enforce but that's why our state has deadbeat parent laws. My friend's ex wound up in jail with liens against all of his property for not paying his child support.
You know who I see working at Walmart? People who may not be employed elsewhere.
Old people, under-educated people, etc. I doubt those workers were ever paid better elsewhere and they seem quite content with Walmart who gives them the dignity of a job. I know one lady in particular who seemed a little "off" and she was so happy to participate in retirement plan. My son worked at Walmart as a temporary pharmacy tech and also liked the 401K offered to even the lowest part time employee. I think Walmart is good for the poor and unfortunate people of the world and I know I have not walked away from Walmart thinking I had been cheated or people who worked there were unhappy. Same with Sam's Club.
Sorry for the open your mind. I actually did not mean that as an insult either. It's just that some people are so angry they refuse to listen to new ideas and the other side of the story.
I am sorry for the small business man but I am just as sorry for the MT whose job is going to be obsolete in the near future. The times are changing and we need to face it and deal with it. It is what it is.
Thankfully, self-employed so I don't have to deal with the likes of you.
What an arrogant bitchy know-it-all you think you are. You are laughable. I'm sooo beyond you. Later.
Your national is liable for SS and Medicare tax not you. They thinkyou are self employed. nm
:
NASE (National Assocation for Self Employed) has insurance sm
but not sure how expensive it is or how much it costs to join NASE. Their website is www.nase.org.
Good luck!
Any former Spheris employees employed elsewhere now and deliriously happy?
Would love to hear from you. Seriously considering looking elsewhere. Thanks much.
My claim was denied b/c officially, I was still employed but we were out of work. Crazy. nm
nm
I look at the jobs posted and tons of MTs are applying. I am employed but not terribly pleased with
prefer OPs and have done MT work for about 16 years. I have worked for MQ for 11 years for the Univ. of Pa. which they lost and now I am working for a small company in Michigan with just tons and tons of crap work. I would like an IC job with OPs if possible.
You RULE!
What a win-win situation!
I wish the animal shelters took better care of our pets (since they are a part of the government and all). I don't know why those shelters smell so bad; the shelter in my county stinks so bad that you are constantly aware of it. Taking care of displaced or hurt animals should be a big part of their job, and they could take measures to ensure the animals don't get sick. I understand all about their being overworked, but then someone should report to the higher ups what is needed, and then there should be no problem meeting those needs.
In a neighboring county where I live, the public went toe-to-toe with the director over the animal division; demanding answers about the operations and procedures. (That director said he needed a new building, but the public thought the changes should be made in their operations and procedures.
When I want a dog, I always adopt (so far over the years I've adopted 2 beagles).
Nice post!
First rule of being an MT
That's what I was taught. Everyone is in the same boat and has to take the bad with the good. Refusing to do the hard stuff makes it worse for the other MTs on that account, and they will not appreciate it. Until the problem doctors go poof and disappear, nobody has the right to say they can shove all the bad jobs onto the next MT because THEY are here to make money (everyone is, and someone has to type it). And there is such a thing as Karma - one day you might log on to find ALL the work is the dictator you dread, because all the MTs that came on before you felt entitled to leave the crap work for YOU. You really won't make any money on that shift, as opposed to doing a few bad jobs each shift. So type them as you get them, like the rest of us.
If everyone got together and went to management about the problem guy, that's one thing (and yes, we all feel this way about at least one doctor). Deciding you don't have to do it because you don't want to is quite another, and often grounds for disciplinary action. Work is often just that, hard work, and with time and practice it becomes easier. Nobody promised you a rose garden, challenges are what this job entails.
MY first rule, before being MT. is I have to
x
as a general rule...
I use an "f" after any abbreviation that I want to expand. I just use the standard abbreviation plus f, so I do not forget what they are. My ShortHand is full of things like this.
ex: cbcf tcpf tshf
Works for me!
date rule
Thanks. My mind just blanked and I couldn't remember. It seems like it has changed so often over the years!
I have been an MT for 33 years and the rule has always been...sm
to use mg when preceeded by a number.
and there are so many exceptions to all those rule! lol
that's the english language for ya! I really don't know.
My rule for semicolons
is that if the two statements support each other and each statement could be a separate sentence, I use a semicolon. Example: He underwent an ultrasound in March 1999; AT THAT time he was noted to have BPH. The sentence you asked about should be done like 'NM'says: He underwent an ultrasound in March 1999, at which time he was noted to have BPH.
Thought that was already a rule
Hmm...I thought that that was already in effect, that no US Govt transcription contracts could go overseas/be outsourced - at least the V.A. has that standard in place...
I was always told as a general rule
it was double. Most of the time, however, I think it is slightly over that.
Rule Books and AAMT
AAMT sure brought this profession to the forefront. However, when they started publishing their own Bible (BOS) there are a lot of grammatical errors in there. Also, the styles they use are not accepted in this part of the country and will be considered "errors" by the client, hospital or clinician who do not want their reports set up in this manner. It is wrong to test people on a style that is not accepted in their part of the country. You are only forcing people to learn a "new style" which the facility in your area will consider completely wrong. Then the private company will comply with that particular hospital and change the set-up. Sadly, the person who took the test and did not use the BOS has a lousy score and is not considered for the job although s/he meets the set-up criteria for hospitals in the area where they live. Go figure, spend all that money for the book, or just test and get 100 per cent and then study the style of the facility who is paying for the work and then be 100 per cent right. Don't judge all tests by style, wait and see what the hospital is paying you wants for the style. You are putting the cart before the horse. Been in long enough to know that the BOS is absolutely not the "Bible" and the testing companies should take this into consideration. You could study this book until you're blind and then have to "unlearn" it to comply with the paying $$$ facility who is the ultimate "boss" of how the work will be turned in and accepted. Kabish? If I turn in a discharge summary in my local hospital according to the BOS style, I would be considered a total idiot. If I used the local hospital style for testing nationally, I would probably rate a 65% on what the hospital would consider 100% correct for style and grammar. Can't win.
It's the AAMT new BOS rule on numbers.
x
you two are the exception to the mommy rule(sm)
Most MT mommies got into this business solely for the purpose of staying at home and making a little extra cash on the side. They try to juggle the kids and MT and the diaper changes always come before that STAT report. And, yeah, I know what I'm talking about because I used to work in the hospital and that was always the way with the at-home mommy MTs. There was always an excuse as to why they couldn't do this or couldn't do that.
Well, my husband and I rule the menu here.
We're sure not going to let the kids do it, otherwise it would be pizza, tacos, and hot dogs daily and everyone would keel over from clogged arteries at the age of 30! Beside, like Kikki said, it's not good to let the kids call the shots. That's why the good Lord made parents!
No one said the kids should rule the menu
But if you love your kids then you understand that they are people too, with their own tastebuds. Just because they might have a suggestion doesn't automatically make it JUNK. Just different.
Trust me, my kids know who the boss is. Geez!!!!!
My rule of thumb is a $100 minimum
Of course, closer relatives and friends receive more, but always at least $100 for graduations, wedding gifts, etc. when someone is an acquaintance.
General rule is 3-5% a year. sm
If you currently get 8 cpl, ask for a raise up to 8.25 or 8.5 cpl, that almost covers cost of living and inflation.
Generic numbers here to show the math based on the 8 cpl with the raises:
200 lph at 8.00 cpl = $16 hourly/$33,280 yearly
200 lph at 8.25 cpl = $16.50 hourly/$34,320 yearly
200 lph at 8.50 cpl = $17.00 hourly/$35,360 yearly
When you ask for a raise, provide them with verifiable data to prove you DESERVE a raise. Say you are 99% accurate, remind them. If you type 250 lph or more, remind them. If you work OT on days off, remind them. If you come at them with your homework done and good reason to give you more, they will be more apt to say yes. (I have never been turned down for a raise, once even got more than I actually was looking for because I didn't specify how much of a raise I was wanting.)
Please cite the HIPAA rule. Thanks
x
The HIPAA Privacy Rule...(sm)
...requires a covered entity to make "reasonable efforts to limit use, disclosure of, and requests for PHI to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose." The only AHA-approved HIPAA training program, HIPAA Academy, specifically states in its training materials that HIPAA intends that personal information be limited to document headers unless absolutely required I will quote page 4-56:
"In practice, we expect the minimum-necessary requirement to lead to compartmentalization of the medical record so that one portion of the record (the body of the report) may be readily disclosed for one purpose without compromising the privacy of the entire record."
By limiting PHI to headers, reports can easily be redacted of personal information; when the PHI is scattered throughout the reports, this information cannot be redacted.
First rule of computers: Whenever anything goes wrong...
....reboot!
That will take care of about 95% of problems.
If you have two identical toolbars, then you may need to go to View, then Toolbars, and then Customize (way down at the bottom of the list). On the Toolbars tab, see what is checked.
If both Standard and Formatting are checked, this is where you may have your duplicate. Try unchecking either one of those and see if that puts your toolbar back the way you want it.
If that doesn't work, come back and we'll try again!
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