This is what I went to school for originally.
Posted By: mtathome on 2005-10-11
In Reply to: One of the top 10 jobs to go to school for... - What is this?
The degree was called medical records technology at the time (1976). Now it is called health information management. After graduation you took an exam to become an ART (Accredited Records Technician). Transcription was a part of the curriculum. I am not sure that it would be now. My first job was in a physician's office. Hospital coding was all that was done at that time. Right after I went to work, coding came to the physician's office. I coded, filed insurance claims, transcribed office notes, filed charts and completed records release requests. I later became a CMA (Certified Office Assistant) just by taking a test. Doing all this in a physician's office was not very profitable compared to transcription. That is why I ended up as an MT. People who went to work in hospitals did a lot better.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
POLL: Home School vs. Charter School vs. Public School vs. Priv ate School...
Pros and cons of each too. I have two little ones that will be starting school soon and I would like opinions on all. Thanks in advance! :)
I am originally from the NE too
I personally would not live over in Tampa as it is a military town with the bars and fast food joints and some very nice places to rent but very pricey for what you get. In Clearwater I paid about $1,000 for a 3-bedroom apartment in a nice area. Management could have been more on top of things but we were going through the "let's go condo" phase and as a result of the economy and many other factors, a lot of flippers got burned. If you get out of downtown Tampa or even downtown Clearwater there is much that is affordable to rent. When we came here it was not lo continue to live in the city .. we wanted water nearby and so we came to Pinellas County. The commute is doable and many of the hospitals have incentive programs on top of their hourly rates .. the service I am with pays production, shift differentials, and has better insurance than a rather large hospital employer! You just need to have some time to look around and get a feel for the area and not trust real estate people. They just want a lease or a sale. Moving anywhere new is just a mess .. with luck I won't have to do that again in a while!
I'm from Las Vegas originally.
My siblings go through new relationships every 5 years. They've been married and divorced at least three times each during my one marriage. It's almost as if many of the people in Las Vegas think nothing of marriage and commitment. I know it's a generalization, but maybe there are more fish down there to play with? My brother's wife just walked out on him after he put her through college because she met someone else. My siblings don't hang out in bars or gamble or anything. I don't know why they keep meeting up with users.
Originally from Albany, but just moved
to California and missing NY very much!
I'm in Cobb County. We were originally....sm
supposed to have started Monday but so many parents beat up on the school board that they delayed it a "whopping" 2 days.
At least our school board didn't get by with spending the $100 million on laptops for students! It's a shame it took a judge to block them and put an end to that nonsense. Speaking of which, I would expect that Apple will be having a huge sale on laptops soon since they've been blocked from selling the 63,000 laptops to the school system!
It is called The Weight, originally by
aa
Keiser College originally and now....sm
Due to her having a full time 40-50 hour per week job, she only does college in the evenings. *S* Education never stops until we die anyway. 
Except that when QA screws up originally correct
That's the whole point of this thread.
Originally I was going with a hat from Fredericks of Hollywood of all places BUT- sm
then I changed my mind when I found a veil I loved at a consignment store about 2 months before the wedding. So I returned the hat which I had bought about 8 months prior to the wedding. They were real good though and took it back (plus I told them I'd prove I hadn't gotten married yet if necessary). Glad I went for the veil instead of the hat though it was 90 degrees on the day we got married in June....hot!
weren't these shoes originally called...sm
to me, crocs would be made out of crocodiles (I do live in Florida *LOL*).....what you all describe sounds like the *jellies* my daughter wore when she was 10 or 12. 
I'm an on-site, hoping to work at home soon. I originally (s/m)
got into MT for the flexibility, but over the years on-site MT where I work has no flexibility at ALL. They stand there all day looking over our shoulders, monitor our bathroom breaks, and even go into apoplexy if there is a gap of more than 30 seconds or so between finishing one report and starting another. Who needs THAT? And the OFFICE POLITICS.... OMG... I'm so sick to death of office politics, power struggles and back-stabbing. I would rather do ESL doctors all day long, by MYSELF, in the peace and quiet of my own home, on a flexible schedule so I can go outdoors in the daytime once in a while, and maybe get enough exercise that I won't become fat like all the rest of them in my office. After being an MT for more years than I care to admit, I know that money isn't EVERYTHING. It's not always how much you have, but how well you MANAGE what you do have. So at this point in my life, I'm ready to have fewer dollars in my wallet, and more peace in my life.
I didn't originally plan on it. At the time I learned about - sm
MT, my sister had just started doing MT for a local hospital, and was learning on the job. I was a temp. office worker at the time, couldn't really find anything that was a good fit. My sis thought I'd be good at MT, and I came to visit her at work one day and she let me listen to and try to transcribe some tapes that she was already finished with. I liked it, so went to night school to learn medical terminology. I was offered a job at a transcription company (using mag-card typewriters back then, which were the 'latest thing') and have been doing MT ever since.
I did that with 2 kids with time mgmt and a high school girl who babysat 3 days a week after school
nm
The cost of running a private school or any school is expensive....
Why do you think public schools are so run down and can't find good teachers? Because the government and people to not put forth the effort or $$$$ to improve the educational system.
The School of Hard Knocks is the best MT school
n
We met in high school. My high school sweetheart
introduced us in a discussion over Ford versus Chevy versus Dodge. I used to race my Dodge Coronet with oldstyle 318 V-8 engine against the guys on the back roads and old highways. High school boyfriend had a Chevy truck. DH had a Ford Fairlane and later an AMC Javelin that just made me swoon. We didn't actually start dating until three years later, and my old high school boyfriend was a bit surprised at that since he introduced us.
I'm old school, but still know its 3/6
nm
never went to MT school!
I have been doing this for 10 years now. I have a great job, great QA reviews and make great money. So what???
ol school
LL Cool J and caramel
been to school should have known, especially since they
basically had the words correct. They were such common terms I don't know how anyone could have gotten through school and not had them at least 100 times.
Also doing one search on Google with the misspelled words would have probably turned up the answer.
going to school
Don't get discouraged - you will be able to use your MT skills in other areas to help with the cost of schooling. I'll be doing that too even if I have to work at a doctor's office part time as a receptionist! Just knowing I am making my way out of this field is something to aspire to!!!
Went to school and got my CPC
I have a national coding certificate. I cut back on my MT work and got a job auditing physician records and scoring their documentation, then gave them feedback to maximize their reimbursement for the services they provided. When I moved to a new area, the field for the type of coding I was doing had less of a demand, so I increased my MT work. Now that I'm back in my "home town" I need to network and re-enter the field. The money is just as good, if not better in some cases, with much better benefits, plus it is something you leave at the office at the end of the day.
d~
School
Northeast Guilford Senior High, North Carolina
School
North Clay Community H.S., Louisville, Illinois! SHHHH, don't tell anyone.
By the way, I'm also from old school....sm
But I try to keep them all as simple as possible, one office with 2 surgeons has their own letterhead, so no problem there and they want things very simple. All work for all also, besides getting printed by me, is put on a diskette for them to download on their systems for them to make whatever changes they choose. All others with no letterhead, I supply all paper for (Xerox) and free delivery and pickup to all. It is free for them, I pay someone to pickup/deliver. That's how simple I want it, and I also want to bill out and get paid only once a month.
Everyone seems to like the idea, and it has been working for quite some time (10 years) and my theory is, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. *LOL*
As for the national, my weekend work, each client has a CP (client profile) and some of the CPs are more difficult than the others and once in a GREAT while, I might forget SOMETHING but then I contact someone beyond who usually fixes whatever I messed up.
I went to school for
two years to earn a certificate in medical transcription (at a junior college) but so far no one has ever asked me if I was certified or if I went to school. I guess they didn't care as long as I could do the work.
School
I would not recommend if you actually want to get a job!
I am considering RN school...
I am almost 29 and have a daughter and am pregnant with another one. I've been going to school to get my RHIT but am bored with it and may go to RN school instead. I don't know... I feel too old to do it!
You should ask the school what they want.
/
school
Aug 14 for us here in Douglas County too. We're neighbors!
Woo-hoo - 1st day of school!!! sm
Both kids survived it quite nicely. That's 1 down, 179 to go!!!
school
All I can tell you is that I was thinking of going into nursing a few years ago, and a friend of mine who used to be a nurse discouraged me (strongly). It's not what it used to be - lots of paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, lots of long hours and tough shifts. She got her Master's and is now in nursing administration.
Old school
In the old days of 1" on top, bottom, 1" sides it was 54 lines, it was six lines per inch and using the common font of Courier 10 font which is now a 12 font. But now fonts are all so different as well as margins but I used to get 62 ines per page when doing continuous chart notes. One way to check in your font is to number 1, 2 3, 4 down a page and see how far you can go or check the line count is word but usually runs 54 to 66 again depending on margins, fonts, etc.
What MT school did you go to? nm
x
It might if you went to a school that
that is not well known or has a less than stellar reputation. However, if you went a school with a good reputation in the industry, you don't really need it. Companies know who prepares their graduates for entry-level positions or above, who produces graduates that need more assistance, and what programs do not even provide remedial knowledge.
Having your RMT credential might show an employer that you have the basic knowledge required to do the job, but you would need to weigh cost versus the benefit.
School is a must!
I respectfully disagree with the above poster. Not having gone to a quality school puts you at a serious disadvantage in today's MT market. Nobody wants to hire a newbie to work at home, UNLESS they attended Andrews, M-TEC, or possibly Career Step. That's because those schools really prepare you to work at home. I got a job right out of school (wasn't even job hunting yet - the company contacted my school, M-TEC, and hired me right before graduation). I have been very successful as an MT and started making very good money after my first year on the job. I wouldn't even think about trying MT without the right education. Even if you do get hired by someone, you will be so far behind it will take years to catch up, and you probably WILL only make 5 or 6 cpl. I was paid a reasonable cpl rate from day 1. My education was worth every penny I paid.
Re:school
"And yes, I have trained and QA'd Andrews and MTEC graduates and they have sucked eggs just as much as the next newbie MT."
I highly doubt the above response, but okay.
Also, MT profession is not losing their pay to new MT's as much as it is because of offshoring to other countries!
MT school
I graduated from CAI and got an offer to test with MQ the week I graduated. I also have a friend who took the CAI course and got a job soon after she finished. It covered all the word parts, abbreviations, and had lots and lots of real doctor dictations to practice. There is nothing like on-the-job experience and I will be the first to admit I learn something new almost everyday, but I felt I was ready to work by the time I was done with the course.
Great post BTW. I get tired of hearing about the "top 3" as if there is no other way to become an MT.
No School
I learned on the job 20 years ago. Approached a local transcription company, "bargained" a shift with them if they would train me. Worked there 3 years and then on to the home office. I now work for a wonderful company in QA/Auditing and I also learn something new every day. I continue to learn through articles, webinars, seminars, etc. There is no end to the knowledge one can have in this profession.
Yes, been to CR school
But it is very, very difficult. Maybe 1 or 2 in 100 makes it through to certification. Am not saying you wouldn't be that one, but be prepared. I had to quit after 6 years because I also worked full time and just couldn't cut the 50 mile round trip commute to school anymore. Figure I had about two more years to go. That's the thing -- you never really know when you will finish because you might fly through one speed level then get stuck for 2 years at the next. If I had it to do over again, I would have stopped working and just concentrated on school. You have to be really accurate and fast to close caption too. I really loved doing CR though! So if you really want to do it, just look into it in depth!
Who was the MT going to med school?
Can you tell me how busy you are with that? I just wondered if you actually have time for anything else. I have friend who is 1 semester shy of her bachelor's degree and is considering putting med school off because she has a daughter, and is worried about how much time she would actually get to spend with her.
School for MT
I have not heard of these schools, but I would suggested Career Step if you are looking for a good course for MT.
I am going to school now myself -
I just started my second quarter and am going to be an accountant. Thinking about going into forensic accounting since there obviously is so much greed and criminal activity in the money world - gotta love the job security!
school
I am definitely aware of what is going on with the economy. It just happens that now is the perfect time financially for me to go to school. Also, I do not plan on going to school for economics, finance, or marketing, which are the main areas grad students are having a hard time finding jobs for (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008149224_gradjobs31.html). For some of us, there is no time like the present.
There is no QA school because
it requires EXPERIENCE. What a strange thing to say...
Did you miss the part about different levels of MTs? Or did you even bother to read it?
Does your school have a job
placement program. Most companies require at least 1 year experience. Good luck.
old school
I have heard that old school MTs who learned the usiness when they were working on typewriters and with carbon sets, etc. learned to listen ahead several words so they could hear any changes the dictator made before they got to it so they didn't have to stop and correct anything. I've never figured out how that works, though. I get a couple of words ahead of where I'm typing, but if I get too far out I confuzzle myself too much.
I think MTSO management doesn't always want MTs to talk to other MTs because then they might find out how crappy they are as bosses.
The other thing that has helped me enormously on my speed is to put errors in my Expander - when I type teh for the or pretty much any typo I make. This makes a huge difference, especially when my hands are tired or stiff, and I'm not stopping to fix stuff like that any more.
I'm in school too -
I am so ready to leave this profession. I started school for an accounting degree and will graduate in December with my associates, then on to another school to finish up.
Things have changed so much for me over the years that I cannot stand it anymore. there was a time when I thought I would die doing this because I loved it so much --- not anymore!!!
$33,000 now and $25,000 when son goes to school.
Drive would have to be within 25 miles from home as well on those pay rates otherwise more for more miles away from home. I hate working from home, and my son is finally old enough that he can tell you what he wants, so I am all for working outside the home. No jobs around here though that will pay enough unfortunately.
Your school should be the first place you go
for job-placement assistance. At the very least, they should be able to tell you what employers seek to hire their graduates. In the case of schools such as M-Tec and Andrews, many employers will waive the two-year experience requirement for their graduates because of the high quality of their education and their reputation for turning out job-ready MTs. Some employers will also waive the experience requirement for Career Step graduates, as well. Perhaps there are employers who hire graduates of your school without experience. Your school should be able to give you a lead on employers who have hired their graduates. In any event, any reputable MT school will provide job-placement assistance to their graduates.
I QA'd reports for a school once sm
Keep in mind these were ladies just starting out, but it amazed me that almost all of them typed the patient's temp as * 200.2* 
Seems common sense would tell a person that a temp cannot get to 200.2 and the person be alive.
|
