VBC - my new typing method

After a 27.5-minute ESL dictation that took me an hour to type and netted me $12, I'm going to embrace the new visible black character counting method by redefining  "verbatim."  Here's a transcript the way it will look in the future ....

"... I mean, no go back, delete that, okay and the admitting diagnosis was uh ... sepsis, number 2,  ... no, number 1,  no that is number 2 ... change in mental status.  (flip pages flip pages flip pages ... put phone down) Number 4 ... diabetes.  Long pause (... the nurses are talking about a baby shower).  Go back up to the labs and insert a chest x-ray with left lower lobe infiltrate ... no, it's normal.  Now, go back down ..."

Can't wait for that next check! 

• VBC - my new typing method - Wondrnthru
  • Why do you call that a new method? - OTHMT
  • I actually did that once............(sm) - Unruly Julie
    • you are MY kind of MT - Me
    • I am shocked! - Cardiology MT
    • You're pretty unruly, Julie--but we love this!!! nm - Laur
    • I also had a doctor who did not know - Anita
      • think I had that same doc - pdqtrans
    • You are my HERO!!!!! - Alice
      • OH MY FUNNY! - Siren
  • yah right - Siren
  • Great idea! sm - Rad MT
  • thanks for the laugh - you got the right idea - s
  • And this is the dictator you get from the - MTSO advertising a "productive platform"

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

potential clients use.  If you solicit someone that still uses tapes you need to be sure you have the equipment for that, etc.    I don't know if maybe someone has a sample of a solicitation letter to give you an idea of what to send out to potential clients. 

Hi all...I currently have a couple accounts of my own but I'm looking for maybe two or three more.  I'm wondering what the best method is to go about finding them.

In the past I have tried just driving around to different clinics and walking in to talk with the staff, but the person at the front always seemed annoyed and not very receptive.  I've also tried calling clinics out of the phone book, but they never want to put you on to the office manager and they usually just say they don't need any transcription.  Once I also tried doing a mailing and I sent out about 100 letters with business cards to offices around town.  I only got one reply back and that account didn't work out for me.  I'm wondering if the office managers even GET the letters or if they just throw them in the trash without reading them thinking it's junk mail.

So...for you all with your own accounts....how do you go about getting them?  What have you found is the best approach?  Thanks in advance

Hello everyone

I currently have one of my own accounts with 2 physicians. They use digital hand-held recorders and we email files back and forth, encrypted of course. Anyway, is there an easier way for their office staff? Something where the doctor could talk right into the computer and it would be sent to me without using the office staff?  I am trying to take some of the burden off of them.

Thanks.
Lynn

Can anyone refresh my memory on  how to search by DOB in  Meditech.  Preferably in RAD module, but I know it can be done in PCI.  For instance, you search by Unit # (i.e. U00012345), account  # (i.e. A00012456) and DOB is something like D/ or D mmddyy or mmddyyyy or mm/dd/yy.

I need to know what goes in the front "D" and the mmddyy layout.  I don't have access to PCI on this account so I can't go in and check.  TIA

Encrypted email for delivery of completed documents works, but voice files may be too large for that method. A secure FTP site, either your own or through a commerical provider such as mydoconline.com or ftptogo.com, would work for both documents and voice files. You may need an FTP program, but there are lots of free ones out there, like filezilla.com, which is what I use.

Voice files are now transferred from clinic I work for via email (unencrypted) and are then sent back via Winzip and email. 

We need new method to be compliant, as well as to eliminate "many missing" files it seems when sending through email. Clinic now uses Olympus equipment and does not want to use email any longer.  Checked into secure FTP site and will not work well with the Olympus system they have.  Any suggestions on what to do here????

You are right, the normal function is when you highlight your text and then higt ctrl+y and a little window pops up asking for a description and an abbreviation.  For the description, I always start with my initials and a dash and then the actual description.  That way all my normals are grouped together in the list and I don't have to sort through everybody elses to get to mine.

I just read an article about this in the Advance mag I get biweekly.  It seems the MTIA, AHIMA, and the AAMT are endorsing the VBC method of measuring productivity for transcription.  Basically, that means they don't want to pay for spaces.  So they are finding another way of screwing with our money. 

I know there are several services out there that don't pay for spaces now and quite frankly I won't work for a company that doesn't pay for spaces.  I'm a firm believer that transcriptionists should get paid for every single keystroke, but that rarely if ever happens.  Now with those three major industry organizations endorsing not counting spaces, it may be the case that all services will adopt the VBC method and we are all going to lose.

Oh, the AAMT says that the VBC method will create a "level playing field throughout the industry" and allow for a "great opportunity for the industry to engage in a real discussion about the inherent value of transcribing and how pricing under the new defintion should reflect that value."  The AAMT also states that MTSOs should consider an MT's "critical thinking skills and interpretive judgment" when discussing compensation.

Yeah right.  Like MTSOs have been considering anything more than the bottom line and pumping up there pocketbooks.  To them we are machines.  I'm tellin' ya medical transcription is circling the drain. 

A great woman crossed into the arm's of God this morning.  She was 80+ years of age and still doing medical transcription up to the day earlier this year when she was diagnosed with cancer and even then she came to the office just until recently.  She loved her job and everyone loved her.  She will be greatly missed in the world of transcription as well as among family and friends. 

Until we meet again. 

Too broad of a question --  is is a seminar, deposition, insurance statement or what.  I have done a lot and for 60 minutes per tape it has averaged out to over $100 at 10 to 11 cpl -- many years ago.  Again depends on what you are typing and the quality of the tape.  Lost my shirt one time on a planning meeting, too hard to understand, etc.   Took many hours to do and not enough pay.   More details and could answer you better.

I just moved and my new desk setup is a built-in desk which is too high for comfort for typing on the keyboard.  I can adjust my office chair up, but then it's too high to comfortably reach the pedal.  I have been typing on the keyboard on my lap for two days but my shoulders are sore and so are my calves apparently from flexing when I wasn't aware of it all day.

Awhile back I read here that some MT's type on their keyboards on their laps.  Please give me any feedback how it works for you and also do you know of any products out there or things around the house to support the keyboard and make it easier to balance on your legs.  I kind of like typing like this other than the strain on my neck and legs from trying to keep it balanced and from sliding off.

Thanks in advance! 

My kids say that is all I ever do anymore---MT work at my computer. When I am home I type! Sometimes 10 or more hours per day........

But, I tell them I could be at work someplace for 8 hours and that is what I would do there.

Just trying to get a few ideas for obtaining more work.....probably like a lot of other starving MTs!

Does anyone type strictly IME's?  If so, is the pay any better than traditional transcription?  Any info greatly appreciated.  Thanks! 

what they say so they can see it for themselves - or someone who knows the difference can see it!  Some of my faves today:

"Jackson-Pratt draining removed..."

"Muscle strength 4+ on right upper extremities..."  - Pt has more than 1?!

"There was depressed of right scalp secondary to miss of scalp."  (Patient had a laceration and underlying skull fracture)

Could go on and on - but one of my favorites is when they spell a word or a drug for you and it's TOTALLY WRONG!! 

Some though, I have to say, are very aware of how difficult it is to understand them and actually end up being better than some of my American dictators.  Those ESLs I prefer over all others.