Try working inhouse at a local clinic or hospital.
Posted By: sm on 2009-04-19
In Reply to: Want to get started! - Barbie Siders
That's what many MTs end up having to do to get their foot in the door & gain experience. IMO, that's the best way to start anyway since you have experienced people nearby to ask for help because those first few months can be very difficult. Good luck!
P.S. Agree with the other posters below that you need to specify you have your certificate in MT, not referring to yourself as a Certified MT which is a completely different thing and can only be obtained after a few years of experience & testing with AHDI. However, that brings up another topic... many MTs choose not to become certified now that AHDI has sold us out & encourages offshoring of our work. I've been doing this nearly 20 years and only once have ever been asked if I had my CMT, so it's pretty much irrelevant anyway. As long as you have experience & test well, that's what they care about.
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I'm a hospital employee, working local at home, so I get a raise every year.
x
Input wanted re inhouse clinic job
I responded to an ad in my local paper for a PT poss. FT Transcriptionist for GI group. I've been MTing for about 4 mos now with a smaller national (not one of the better ones). My accuracy is good but I find it hard to get any decent lines with the crap dictation I always get, not to mention the crappy newbie cpl I make. Have also been hired by a big national but have been in limbo in their onboarding process for way too long. While I don't need big money to survive, I'm going broke pretty fast between low cpl and crap work. Forget about benefits.
I do need benefits (was hoping to get them with the big national). While I love working at home, it seems like it's always going to be the chasing lines game and also having your benefits contingent on making lines. This may all be moot once I call the GI practice back and see what the deal is, but does anyone have anyone have any pointers as to what to look out for in a practice? I'm just wondering if there would be too much work for 1 person or if the job would seque into some kind of secretarial thing, which I really don't want.
On the other hand, I'm also thinking if I took an inhouse job now, that would ruin me for future acute care work for nationals, if I really needed to work at home again.
Comments and advice appreciated. Thanks.
If you cant get a job inhouse, go to a local company and work in their house.
A lot of people who I went to school (college) with ended up working for a local company to Jackson, MS, MidSouth Transcription. They worked with you and got you ....further trained shall we say. We had school, real college courses, so we were very well-trained (had to take an anatomy and physiology class that was the same as the premed students) - we knew a LOT but Ms. Torri got us employable. Try a local transcription company for a while. It will help, I promise.
$18 an hour but I work inhouse in a hospital.
nm
i am an inhouse hospital transcriptionist who works at home
I am an in house hospital transcription who works at home. I get 19.00 an hour plus incentive pay which is 7 cents a line after 1,000 lines. and 7.5 cents after 1,500 lines.
WORKING INHOUSE NOT ALWAYS SO WONDERFUL, EITHER.
I worked in house for the only hospital corporation available in my rural area. I expected to learn a lot. I actually learned very little with regards to transcription. I learned a lot about hospital politics. They had some of the worst dictators there, and the HIM director did not like confrontation. Also, the main task given to me was to accomplish a line rate equal to 1200 per day with spaces, at which time they would set me up to work at home. Unfortunately, I only had 6 months in which to accomplish this. I was flatly told that if I did not accomplish this production rate, I would be fired. Before that happened, I found a job online, and will never return inhouse again. I also have to say that I don't miss driving 300+ miles per week in order to do that inhouse job. Also, I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of the hospital's tech person visiting me ad lib at home.
Now, I can't say that I'm thrilled with this profession. I have the same concerns/complaints as the original poster of this thread. However, comparing inhouse, with inhome, I do believe that I've learned more and gained more valuable experience through the inhome process. Yes, I have worked many hours and more than 1 job at a time. When I research previous jobs by a doctor, I also notice that previous jobs have been submitted with lots of errors in them. I have shared my concerns with my manager and believe that nothing was done. I have also complained about poor dictators and why, oh why, are these doctors still allowed to conduct themselves so poorly? When I worked in the hospital, I noticed that the HIM director let the doctors do whatever they wished because she was afraid to confront them, like they were Gods or something. It is my opinion that this is a major problem in our industry with regards to the people who are the liaison between the MT and the doctor. Somewhere, a doctor has a supervisor, office manager, director, hospital administrator, etc. If a doctor is in private practice, he may care more about the quality of his product. But, if a doctor is affiliated with a hospital or other facility, he might just be doing a job and as long as he/she can get away with it, he/she will be as sloppy as he/she wants to be.
It is also really frustrating to be told that you have to do 150 lines/hour or more, or lose benefits or be fired or whatever. At the same time, it takes time to really produce a good report, given the deficiencies in the dictations. I panicked about this in the beginning, as I was doing about 50 lines per hour. I'm happy to report that it does get better. I also quit the job with the production quota.
Okay, I'll shut up now.
When working inhouse I had a supv
that one time told me in a French term (had to ask for explanation) that meant I did not join in with the others there. Hmm, transcription seems to be like a 1 person job and how can you socalize and still make your incentive. Always got terrible evaluations and on ongoing eval after 10 years there she gave me an acceptable for attendance. I brought to her attention I had not missed 1 day during the entire year and I wanted an excellent for that if nothing else. She said she had not noticed. Yeh, right! The next job so much different. Very good evals but by this time I was very shy of ever getting them again.
A local clinic called me
by 5 p.m.every day and have it back by opening the next morning (at a clinic about 15 miles from my house even).. I quoted them 12 cents... the lady abruptly cut me off and said, Okay, Thanks. Then, 2 months later, they called me back.. I said, Okay, No thanks! Wonder what happened in those 2 months?? I would have then charged them 15.. which still would have been a good rate considering my gas expense and the turnaround time!
I work for a local clinic.
I've been doing the same doctors' dictation for over three years, so I have lots of normals and shortcuts for their standard stuff. For some of the docs, I can generate a whole page of dictation with a couple of Keystrokes and just edit for an individual patient's particulars. For all the docs, I can generate phrases, sentences, or paragraphs with a couple of keystrokes. This makes the work go very quickly. Also, a few of the docs I get regularly are VERY long-winded, so their dictation is very lucrative. These doctors are very set in their ways and have resisted all the blandishments from the nationals and VR salespeople. I think a lot of that resistance is that they don't want to spend money on the technology that would require. They're still using tapes. As long as they want to do it that way, I'll be happy to do their transcription. In the meantime, I'm investing every penny of my transcription money and not getting used to the extra income for day-to-day spending. I know the golden goose won't last forever, so I don't want to get used to it. Check with individual clinics in your area, you may be able to find a similar opportunity. Good luck to you.
I work as an IC for a local clinic
I get 0.12 per gross line. Because of the format the clinic wants, the longest possible line is 55 characters (with spaces). To there.
Anyone CURRENTLY working inhouse in the Atlanta area that can tell me the going rate of pay? SM
I'm really just interested in people who are actually working NOW and what they're making NOW - not speculation from service managers as to what they think they might be making.
I am considering going back in house for the benefits but if there is just absolutely no comparison to what I make now as far as pay, I don't even want to start wasting my time. Thanks to those who can help!!
I'm the opposite.... the pay is okay, but I hate working inhouse. Mgmt. SUX! n/m
:P
Local clinic does it. There is a coordinator who distributes work to us
and deals with the blanks in reports, etc. I am not sure what she is paid but it seems she is content. This clinic had in-house MTs ten years ago and then sent everyone home to type. Now, they are over the internet. Radiology group in town does this too. They just hired someone from Georgia (we are in Calif) to type for them over the internet. I think they use PC AnyWhere. Clinic uses Citrix.
Positives and Negatives of working at home versus inhouse.
When I first went home to work, I did think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I got so tired of being stuck to my desk all day long and being asked to work overtime with no overtime pay. No incentives anymore either. The money is the biggest issue here and benefits at a good price. .... So I decided to go back in house. and believe that I found a great place to work.
Of course, there will be the usual bad side of working an inhouse job... dressing up.... which I honestly miss.. but maybe not every day, paying for gas to drive to work... but it's actually only 10 minutes away, the cafeteria--enough said :D... plus I bring my lunch and have always done so..., office politics--which I have found exist at home or inhouse...., dept meetings--which I have found exist with at home jobs also... of course they are "account" not department meetings and communication! which is a really important thing and was the straw that broke this camel's back--got sick of sending emails to a myriad of people from the top to the bottom and getting no response back... or responses days later...
Can anyone add any other positives/negatives?
The pay will be worth it all no matter what, but I was curious to see what other things there are to consider. 
Please no flames.
Thanks in advance.
Local clinic sent all work to the Phillipines one sunny day. Left their MTs
It is not only India. I really cannot say there is an answer other than find politicians who feel as deeply about the "Employ America" slogan as the American worker and American business owner who is a patriot.
I had a local weight loss clinic not pay and finally had to get an attorney. sm
Had to pay the attorney so lost some. By that time, I was so angry, it had become a matter of principle and was determined to make them pay.
Well, not really. In college I did a gruelng intership at a local express emergency clinic and got p
gas, lunch, uniform, etc., AND the head doctor ended up sexually harrassing me! I kid you not! So, I don't think anyone without any experience getting paid 3 cents to learn MT in their own home setting is half bad.....It could be worse. They could ask you to do it for free.
PS: My college major was nursing.
Hospital or Clinic? sm
Will you be doing one work type or several?
If you are to be doing one set work type for a hospital, I would say 14 cpl. More than two work types 16 cpl.
If you are to be doing clinic work I would say anywhere from 10 cpl to 12 cpl.
Let her know that your quote is negotiable based on the work. Don't undersell yourself.
Clinic vs Hospital
I have noticed that it does worse with clinic notes than hospital notes. If I sit still for an hour I can average 600+ lines an hour but I get bored. My line count for all my escription accounts together average around 3000 a day, with about 25% of that being straight typing.
I also found my thumbs got very sore using soley keys so I prefer to use my mouse some.
Well said! I went from clinic to hospital. sm
There's a learning curve, but I sure hope I don't ever have to type clinic notes again! ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz!
anyone still work for hospital or clinic?
x
local hospital
I work for a local hospital that have all transcriptionists at home except for radiology. I have been working from home with them for about 8 years now. We are hourly employees and clock in and out on computer. We also have an incentive program (which used to be good, but they changed transcription platforms and it's not that good anymore), but it's better than having to drive into the hospital every day. I love it!
local hospital
I worked for local hospital for 11 years, then they decided to go to ASR and the Q took over their account! Seems like most hospitals are finding it more cost-effective to send it to large company with ASR!
I had a local hospital do the same s/m
even after explaining to them what E&O really meant. Their previous transcription company had E&O, but that was because they had to have it for their copying services as well and the transcription just fell under it. I found that Farmers carries it, but it was around $1,500 for a year. They did have payment plans though too.
Best of luck!
Check the Hospital/Clinic MT board right here. nm
s
that's what these companies do, outsource from clinic/hospital
nm
Do you do basic 4 for a hospital or clinic work?
``
So did I!!! I left a local hospital
because I thought I could make more money working for the nationals. Ugh, I threw away a good thing. I tried to go back, but they said I'd have to start all over at the bottom working night shift again. Not gonna happen. Well, chin up, things will get better.
I work for a local hospital,
not a company. I know to stay away from Transcend.
local hospital work
i moved from a large city to a small town and i'm thinking about doing what you did. try to go to work for the local hospital. would have to probably work a set schedule, but the town is small so it's not like i'd be driving a long distance and i could go home for lunch. i don't have benefits right now and that's scary, so i'm leaning that way.
at my local hospital, they always call the
I think that is pretty standard. Calling by the first name only would be rather confusing. Especially if it is a busy hospital with a waiting room that is always full, like our local hospital.
I have a "questionable behavior" story for you! I went to the walk-in clinic held at our local hospital b/c I was having pain in my pinky finger. The waiting room was packed, as always. I go in, see the doc, and he tells me to go back to the waiting room until they call my name again. After a few mins in the waiting room, he calls my name & I get up thinking he was going to bring me into a room to privately give me my diagnosis. NOPE! The dope says it to me, loudly - not at all in a whispering tone, in the middle of the waiting room for everyone to hear!! He said "I think it is some kind of fungal infection" His actions were not only humiliating, but wrong! It was not an infection, rather a blood clot that developed on my nerve that needed to be removed surgically! Now, that, I think qualifies for a HIPAA violation!!  (Yes I did file a complaint with the Patient Care Rep)
I also work for a local hospital which is
growing in volume of work minute by minute. We have 52 remote transcriptions and still we need to send out work to two venders.
Local Hospital Accounts
I actually work for a Hospital Transcription Dept. My advice is to ask for the supervisor of transcription or Director as they usually have one or the other.
I actually had a person(who I know was from an outsourcing company from overseas) called and aske me if we were doing any outsourcing. We told her we were not interested, but I actually do send some out to an outsourcing company already. Just wasn't going to do that.
Alot of hospitals around where I live usually are small and have in house transcriptionists. The only reason we have our outsourcing is for people on vacation and when some emergency comes up and we fall short.
Carla
local hospital accounts
do any of you IC people have any tips on what is the best approach on how to find out info on who does transcription for local hospitals? Thanks!
I worked at a local hospital
It had its good points and bad points. The good being it paid better and had better benefits than most outsourcing companies. We had a 4 tier incentive program. The lowest pay being 0.087 and the highest being 0.10 cpl. You had a choice of working in-house or at home and we were all paid the same either way. Also, if there was little work or no work you had the choice of using PTO or working in medical records at an hourly rate which gave us a little break from MT and a feel for something else.
The bad, if you were at home they would pull you in at any time just because. Also, at home we had a lot of problems with their computer locking up, getting kicked off the VPN, slow moving from one screen to the next etc. The tech support always blamed it on our ISP. Also, they always made sure you never moved up to the next pay tier. Only their favorite ones could do that. They made excuses of why you cannot move up even though the numbers were there. The one they used on me was that I took off a day during the last 6 weeks. They told another girl she walked around in the halls and talked too much to bump to the next level. However, if you did not get your line count they were all over moving you down.
Look at your local hospital's websites
jobs open. The reason you don't see them advertised is a lot of hospitals outsource all their dictation. But some still have in-house (or at home) MTs.
When I worked at a local hospital
this happened. I just transcribed it like any other report. I would not even mention it to the family member. When you work for a small local hospital it is bound to happen.
Wanna tell that to the local hospital MTs whose....sm
...staff was just decreased because EHR came to town? They were told only a few would be staying now because even in the hospital most reports could be handled by EHR. I think you need to reserve your opinion till we really find out what O has in mind for this field.
I worked at a naval hospital outpatient clinic--sm
as a salaried employee $28. In 2002 had the opportunity to work at home as an IC for .12/line. In 2003 I was told had to become an employee and dropped to .11/line as the company woudl have to pay taxes/benefits. In 2004 had a raise to .1133. In 2005 that company merged with another and was dropped to .10/line and have had no raise since then. Am at top of pay level in both line rate and salary rate.
Just told the company is buying a new platform that could possibly doudle our production and in turn may affect our line rates even more by raising the daily line requirement. Will have to wait and see about that.
I worked at home for the local hospital here.
It was fine. They paid hourly and provided equipment. We had plenty of work and had to stick to a set schedule. They do use a service or two for overflow, but it is strictly overflow. The hospital still has employees working at home. They don't ALL outsource. (And ironically, some hospitals are taking back their transcription and hiring in-house and at-home MTs!)
2 accts are direct hospital, 1 is a clinic and the 4th is a subcontractor position. nm
.
Was offered 7.4-7.7 cpl for clinic work back in 2005 and 8 cpl for hospital. Is it still
s
Wow! VERY well written and said! My husband works for a local hospital and
there is one patient who is an illegal that has been in the hospital there for 2 weeks and has racked up a bill that is now over $200,000. One of the other nurses on staff there called the police department and explained the situation and they are in the process of deporting the patient back to Mexico and admitted to a Mexican hospital. We can't cover the cost of every single person in the world. The US is just so big and sorry, but my family, all American citizens comes first. Does that make me a cold hearted person? I don't think so.
I worked for a local hospital that used the same formula for our incentive pay.
x
I tested at a local hospital on the East Coast...
The pay was $14.82 per hour to start. They were paying medical unit secretaries $14.60. Also the job was per diem, needless to say I didn't take it.
The easy answer is to go to a local hospital and get experience.
The other answer is to ask anyone and everyone out there to give you a test, prove yourself, put your best foot forward.
Be very careful tough, because in your post you even used a wrong word "there" for "their" and I just wanted to bring this to your attention not to give you a kick but to caution you that you really need to "know your stuff" to get into this business. What you put out there tells about you, so make sure it's your best.
Just got an offer from a local hospital and wanted to run it passed you all before I say yes...
Employee status w/benefits
$13.50/hr with 0.05 cpl incentive fo anything above 1200 lpd and $2.00 shift differential (for 2nd shift which I will be working)
1000 lpd minimum productivity requirement
Work in the office first month for training and then home with hospital provided computer.
Dictaphone EXText Word Client transcription platform
Is this a decent offer? I've worked at the same place in the office forever and haven't actually been out there looking in several years. I tried working for a national part time at one time because I wanted to be working from home, but couldn't see how someone could make a living on 0.08 cpl without working yourself into an early grave, so I gave up the part time job and kept the full time in office job. Now I have a new boss who doesn't know her butt from a hole in the ground and I started looking around and came across this current job and before I jump ship, I want to make sure I'm getting a good deal.
The $13.50 seemed kind of low to me given my years of experience (13 years), but because I was at my other job for so long I maxed out pay wise.
How do I find out if a local hospital's transcription is done in-house or not?
Can someone please give me some advice? I am trying to find out if one of our local hospitals has in-house transcription or what company they use for their transcription. I called the MR Dept. and the lady acted like she did not want to tell me anything. She said some was done in-house but most of it was done electronically and would not elaborate as to what company they used. How can I go about finding out who does their transcription for them. I never see any actual job opening in the MR Dept. or for transcription for them, so I am assuming they outsource most to a transcription company.
Try calling your hospital or local medical providers.
I've been uninsured and in pain for about two years now requiring surgery. I've tried finding a job with insurance. I've tried working extra to save up the money to pay for the surgery. I just found out that the local hospital has a program in place for people who can't afford surgery or medical bills. Their income limit isn't really low either. If I had known this, I would have had the surgery two years ago instead of living with a ticking time bomb inside me and daily pain.
Mammograms are going to PenRad in the local hospital's Radiology dept.
dd
Local hospital and state sponsored class. (see message)
This was way back in 1980-81 (age 19) in a pretty small town. Our local hospital in cooperation with state funding had 3 different programs: Medical Secretary (note--not transcriptionist) which was an 8-month program, as well as Respiratory Therapist and LPN, which were both 2 years if I recall correctly.
The cost was about $300 (my parents paid) and included ALL materials (books, paper and pencils) for classes 8 hours per day, M-F, from Sept thru May. The classes consisted of anatomy/physiology, medical terminology, typing and transcribing, English, accounting, and general office practices, all, in 1 room with about 10-12 students in the entire program.
The last month was spent doing 1 week of practicum for 4 weeks. We could pick just about any situation we wanted and as long as there was approval by those "offices," it was all right. I did 1 week in that hospital's pathology dept (transcribing, charting, answering phones--almost got to see an autopsy but was a burn victim, so couldn't); 1 week in another town's hospital MR dept (spending a day or so in each subsection--MT, coding, filing, etc); 1 week our local area's cancer treatment center (again, in each MR subsection), and the final week at our area's tumor registry. I felt sorry for the 2 girls in the latter; they had ARTs (don't even know if that still exists as a 2-year associate's degree for "accredited records technician"), and all they did was file cards all day long.
After that, we graduated with a "Certified Medical Secretary" certificate and pin. I've been an MT ever since, working inhouse (both hospitals and service office for 10 years) and now at home for the past 17 years.
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