These companies often pay big bucks to support congressmen. Not likely congress will want to make

• My idea on what the U.S. should do about offshoring work of ALL kinds... (s/m) - My 2 cents worth!
  • bay area MT - stephanie
    • I just got a call from a doc today that... - I'm in CA too.
      • bay area MT . . . sm - stephanie
  • Offshoring is just a symptom of the world "flattening"...it's not going to go away - 2BaDinosaur or Not 2B
    • You're probably right. Plus we're losing our percentage of good people by .... (sm) - My 2 Cents
    • Prophetic words I am afraid. - CMT-me
      • The problem is, even those who learn are being left behind! (sm) - My 2 Cents
    • It they can't type a grammatically correct sentence, it doesn't matter how many degrees they h - nm
      • Now MT companies in India have control over the work produced. Quality is much - better. Have to agree with above post.
        • The quality I see coming out of Pakistan and Egypt still bites the big one. - nm
  • These companies often pay big bucks to support congressmen. Not likely congress will want to make - companies unhappy with big tax. nm
    • Exactly, we need to vote them out of office. (nm) - That's what we can do
    • Boy, you nailed it. This is - none
  • You're forgetting ALL the stuff you CAN buy because.... - SM
    • But you see, that's the problem. The lower wages go in the US, (sm) - My 2 Cents
    • Regarding widgets - mt1313
    • You're forgetting all the stuff you can't buy when you're UNEMPLOYED! - sm
      • I don't know what part of the country... - SM
        • It appears that each time you changed jobs, you went (sm) - Hmmm
        • Oh good grief. (nm) - McDonald's anyone?
  • Ditto here - wrkn4pnuts
  • I agree! (nm) - :::nodding head:::

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That's partly because I am fortunate enough to be able to choose to work less, since my husband makes a good salary and has good benefits.

However, in addition to the disciplinary strategies mentioned below, I would say work smarter, not harder. Use as many shortcuts and templates as you possibly can. If you are working in a full version of Word, use AutoText as well as AutoCorrect. You can enter a lot more in AutoText (I don't know the exact character limits). Set up dates, days of the week, months, etc., so that you only have to type a few characters and it will automatically enter it for you.

Another trick using AutoCorrect or any kind of word Expander is put in any words you normally capitalize so you don't have to hit the shift key. You would be surprised how much that will speed you up. I do mostly radiology, so I have all the vertebral levels - C1, C2, T12, L5, etc. - in AutoCorrect, as well as MRI, CT, etc.

Hope this helps...

same ole answer- I don't know, not my job.  What is their job?   I can't work, I don't get answers, and it is their software.  First answer when I call the office is call support services.  Call support service and they say it is not their job.  Who it the sam $ell's job is it?  I can't work.

Guess these wonderful techs don't know that without us they have no job and it is possible to work without fancy programs with off the shelf software. 

you can think of in support of the SAFE-ID Act then.  Posting here is just preaching to the choir.  And I agree, why can't the overseas transcriptionists type the ESLs of their native countries?  Surely, they can understand the East Indian or Pakistani accent better than we can.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s108-2312

Here are some other bills regarding privacy.

http://www.citizen.org/trade/offshoring/privacy/index.cfm

HR 4366 The Personal Data Offshoring Protection Act of 2004.

 21st Century Health Information Act

After thinking a while about some of the posts I have read here regarding pros and cons of unions, I decided to actually sit down and write my congresswoman about our work being taken over by ILPs.  This has nothing to do with ASR, just ILP.  Maybe if enough people write to our representatives, that would be a start to doing something proactively to try to save our profession and maybe, just maybe we could see things turn around in the next year and keep our jobs here in our own country instead of sending them overseas..  If anyone is interested, here is a copy of the letter I have sent and you could use the same letter to send to your congress person.

Dear Congresswoman/man _______,
I am writing to you regarding the issue of U.S. jobs going overseas to foreign countries.  Specifically, I am a medical Transcriptionist (MT) working out of my home for a large MTSO (Medical Transcription Service Organization) named _____ and am personally experiencing the downfall of the MT industry due to several factors, one of the largest being that our work is sent overseas to India.  I frequent a website, mtstars.com, specifically for MTs to express their thoughts on a number of issues regarding the MT profession.  You would be very interested to read some of the posts written there and get a good idea of the frustrations of MTs due to our work being taken over by International Labor Partners (ILP).  I consider myself a professional in the health care field with the knowledge that I have acquired over the years to contribute to excellent quality patient care.  An accurate medical document is a legal and very important part of the health care industry and can positively or negatively affect patient care.  Disturbingly, MTSOs are becoming less and less concerned about quality patient care and are instead focusing more on saving money by sending our work overseas because it is cheaper.  As a MT working for a MTSO, I get paid on a production basis, per line that I transcribe.  As an example, I get paid ____ cents per line whereas a MT in India is paid 2-3 cents per line.  Yes, it is much cheaper for the MT in India but at what price are we sacrificing U.S. jobs?  We need to keep our jobs here in the U.S.  For one there is the issue of patient confidentiality.  Many times there are Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and other personal identifying information that is being sent to another country.  In watching the news, India lately has been in political turmoil by terrorists.  Imagine what would happen if those terrorists obtained personal information from medical records data.

Another issue is the quality of the completed transcribed report by an Indian MT.  These reports are to be transcribed in the English language as they will legally be placed into a patient's medical chart here in the U.S.  Indian MTs just cannot have the necessary proficiency of the English language to be able to accurately complete a legal medical report so that it can be easily read and understood.  This will ultimately have a negative impact on quality patient care and could seriously endanger the life of a person who is ill and in need of medical attention and treatment.

So many U.S. industries have gone overseas and good American people have and still are losing their jobs.  Long ago it used to be the fear in the MT profession that hospitals would outsource their work to a MTSO and a MT would lose his/her job.  That fear became a reality and now most hospitals are outsourcing a portion, if not all, their work.  Now the fear is that MTSOs are outsourcing all their work overseas and more MTs are losing their jobs or are just plain quitting the MT profession altogether because it isn't a viable occupation in which to make a decent wage to actually live on.  Many MTs who just a few years ago were making $40,000 to $50,000 a year are now faced with the reality that they are making just minimum wage, all due to the fact that MTSOs are trying to save money by sending work overseas for cheap labor.  It is abhorable to think this is happening in our country, but it is.

I am writing to you today as a plea to do what you can to put a stop to this.  We need government protection to keep our jobs here in the U.S.  I don't know what the answer is - more taxes for companies that offshore, eliminating offshore altogether.  It just is not right that U.S. jobs are being sacrificed and eliminated by being sent to foreign countries all for the sake of saving money.

Thank you for taking the time to read my plea for help.

Sincerely,

I agree with you that some people have a real talent for MT and some don't.  However, I think the reason so many people find it hard to believe that big money is possible is because, sadly, they have never had a decent account.  If you have the talent, a good platform, work that does not run out, and a decent work ethic, you can make very good money at transcription.  It is very hard to get that combination of positives all in one place these days.  I'll admit that I don't have that golden combination right now, and I am making nearly half of what I used to make.  I'm dog-tired all the time, and I am just about ready to give up.  I'm happy for those of you that have found transcription Shangri-La.  I miss it.  Send me a postcard, would ya?

Some of the webinars I looked at on their site cost $100.00.  I don't consider that a few bucks... 

test which is practically useless. 

But thank goodness they can keep their income up, thriving and growing by their savvy investments!!