What a shortage of medical transcriptionists
Posted By: (sm) on 2005-12-09
In Reply to:
Whoever says that needs to take a look at the job board and the posting that has over 1,000 views.
There are no transcriptionists looking for jobs either.
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Compensation for Medical Transcriptionists
I just came across this on the AHDI site, what used to be AAMT, in an article with the above title: "It is a concern of AHDI that medical transcription professionals are often viewed by their employers and the clients they serve as keyboard specialists who have a familiarity with medical terminology which enables them to transcribe dictated reports for an originator's signature. In contrast, it is the view of AHDI that keyboarding and transcription should not be confused. Medical transcription involves translation from oral to written in order to generate a record of a patient's healthcare documentation. AHDI views medical transcription as a medical language specialty which requires medical knowledge and understanding, sound judgment, deductive reasoning, and the ability to detect inconsistencies in medical dictation." You can read the rest here:
http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/rjobcomp.cfm
Are they actually going to fight for better wages, or is this just a ploy to get people to join?
medical transcriptionists in US Virgin Islands
We are looking for experienced Medical Transcriptionists in the US Virgin Islands.
Please visit our web site and contact me. http://www.globalmedicaldata.com
Thanks.
Bob
George Bush hates medical transcriptionists.
nm
The AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcriptionists, 2nd Edition,
s
No, just a shortage of US MTs who will
s
No shortage out by Akron, OH
s
lol they eat dog too, i think they were just having a shortage of dog at the restaurant so....
they had to do a roundup. Next, they will report the feline virus is out of control and do a roundup on them as well and that's all I have to comment on this post. Take care all!
Finish the course. I think there will be a shortage sm
in the future of all medical personnel from MT to MD. Looking at the whole picture, those of us from the baby boomer age are pushing 50 and as families, many of us had 3 or fewer children or none at all. So, in my opinion, that leaves a much smaller volume medical personnel to care for the aging in the future. So, finish that course so you can type my reports when I need them.
There is supposed to be a shortage
of American MTs I am reading in a large national information management magazine, and also according to our own gov. and our national association. So why are wages falling if we are so desperately needed? After 20 years, I am also seeking to get out. I am at the height of my career in MT and find this is a losing profession. They took a survey and were surprised in the article that wages have gone down. They said a reason might because so many MTs work at home and so are part-time. What a bunch of "you-know-what.!" Wages are dropping because we do not get paid what we used to be paid. I am making less now than 10 years ago. I was recently offered an IC job for 7 CPL! That was starting wages 15 years ago for FT. Now they want to pay that for experienced and IC to boot, so you have higher percentage of taxes. I have even seen 6 CPL. These companies are trying to outbid each other by charging less and less, so they pay their MTs less and less. They also must cover those big salaries and bonuses for the CEOs.
is there a shortage of American MTs?
nm
There is not a shortage. A lot of work
is being sent out of the country.
And the MTSOs say there's a shortage of
But yet they can't understand why. Go figure. 
I live in the NE and let me tell you, there is NO shortage of trees.
cc
gas shortage/leaving for ohio in the am
Here in Brunswick stations closed at 6 pm and not open until Friday and can get only 5 gallons then. Trucker said Atlanta was getting $5 a gal and now Atlanta is completely out of gas. I am leaving for Ohio in the am and concerned if this shortage is just here or all the way up. Any info would be appreciated.
There's a shortage of US MT's because the skill is becoming obsolete
Schools don't even encourage anyone to get into this field anymore because they don't want to have someone take a course and then be out of work in a few years when this skill goes the same direction that shorthand did several decades back.
Like someone said on the Company board, education is the key. Don't allow yourself to be a one-trick pony and learn how to do something else while you can.
Nursing has created their own shortage
by severely restricting the availability of classes for students and refusing to make the class time available in the evenings, weekends, etc.
They also created their own shortage by making so many of the jobs papershuffling jobs rather than hands on care, and many of those jobs could easily be filled by a trained technician rather than an RN.
I do not feel sorry for nurses.
What holiday shortage? None this year
nm
About "US qualified MT shortage" and s/m
claiming that MTs won't work nights and weekends, I don't know about you, but at my job, God forbid I have a technical issue that's not between 8 AM and 5 PM. It's the office staff that won't work nights and weekends, not the MTs.
Unfortunately, this company has no shortage of workers.
I know they hired a few new grads after I turned down their offer. As long as someone will work for that, they have no incentive to raise rates. Companies now don't seem to care about experience and quality, only concerned with the $$$. They didn't care that I can transcribe 2000 lines a day with 99% accuracy. They would rather stick to their cpl and hire new grads. Well, good luck to them.
Is there a shortage of experienced MTs here in the USA? Am I blind and deaf? sm
I was talking to a prospective employer today. First off, it is a start-up company in US. They already have a base in the Philippines. Well, that turned right off; however, we continued the conversation. My question to this person was this.....so, if you were to get contracts for MT here in the US, are you willing to just hire US MTs? Answer...Well there is such a shortage of good quality MTs here in the US and we would like to have the work done in the Philippines. My next question, and if the contract specifically states all work is to stay in the USA, what then? Well, then we would hire only US based MTs.
Finally, I had to stop him in his tracks....I told him I emphatically disagree. There is not a shortage of US MTs. The problem is that you or any other Internationally based company is not willing to pay the US MTs what they are worth. You want cheap labor, and you won't get that in the US. Our MTs here in the USA produce such a high quality patient record and you have to be willing to compensate for that. If you are interested in USA contracts but want to use cheap labor with no concern for quality, than I am not the person for this position.
I am so furious right now as I mull over the conversation......am I just blind or is there really a shortage here in the US of quality-driven MTs.
I am an MT myself as well as QA Specialist and I just do not agree with this mentality. I think they use this excuse to justify their wanting to offshore. I see through the smoke screen; however, I guess I just need to hear it from my fellow MTs.
What are your thoughts on this issue of not enough trained and experienced MTs here in the USA? Personally, I don't agree.
This was an executive-type position with an awesome benefit package and salary; however, I turned down any opportunities with this company. I will not encourage or support giving our MT jobs to the Philippines, India or anywhere but the USA.
The real shortage is good MTSOs
First of all, congratulations to you for having the guts to stick up for your convictions. I am really proud of you for telling them like it is. There is no shortage of good MTs, there is, however, a shortage of good MTSOs and national MT companies. Fortunately, we have boards like this one to tell us who those are, the ones who pay peanuts, the ones with inferior equipment/platforms, and the ones who outsource their work overseas and think the foreign MTs are "far superior" to the American MTs. Most of us experienced MTs who have been in this business for any length of time, would not work for them. The ones who cry that "there are no more good American MTs" are the ones who are outsourcing overseas or otherwise abusing their employees - that is why they have such a hard time attracting "Good MTs." They need to look in the mirror to see the reasons why!
I am the orginal poster asking the question about the shortage. I am under 40.
I started MT while in high school in a VoTech program and have been doing it ever since! I am 35. Not every MT out there is "old".
Shortage on multiple accounts through a national. nm
x, nope, none, zip, all EMPTY
my point is -- not like there's a shortage of people to talk to.
dfkus
Question to ponder...If there is such a huge shortage of MTs, why is everybody always
nursing shortage includes nurses for instructors...sm
you can't teach nursing classes without nurses to teach the classes - that's part of the shortage and part of the reason why the shortage continues. Also more nurses are going for the bachelor's degree (4 years vs. 2 years) and that is extending the time before they are out in the work force.
I live right off I-75 in Richmond, Ky and we haven't had any shortage yet, but price is definitel
up at $2.99 a gallon. Good luck to you!
I would buy new a Dorland's Medical Dictionary, Stedmans Medical and Surgical Equipment...SM
and Tessier's The Surgical Word Book, 3rd edition. Books you could buy used I would say would be Stedman's Pathology and Lab Medicine and Cardiology/Pulmonary word book. These are all the books I use the most during my day. You could buy other speciality word books as you need them and could probably go used with those.
I wouldn't bother with buying a drug book, new editions come out every year and I just stick to the FDA website and RXList as my drug references.
Also FYI, not a book, but I use my Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictationary a lot. It's easier to open the program than it is to pick up a huge 30-pound dictionary.
Age of transcriptionists
61/female/married 40 years/ 11 grands
How many men transcriptionists
are out there? Have been noticing a few men's names lately and was curious as to how many men transcriptionists there are.
M.D. transcriptionists
The doctors who are supposedly training for transcription have degrees in ayurvedic medicine and homeopathy. Neither has much to do with western medicine. And, can they type? Some of this sounds like bluster to me.
MS transcriptionists
Hi guys. I put this on the state boards, but I don't think anybody reads those. Are there any MTs from Clarksdale, MS or around that area? Love to hear from you.
Low Pay for Transcriptionists
I am 57 and have been transcribing for 28 years. I recently moved from California to South Carolina. I was doing VERY well there working in a clinic, but since moving here I am living at the poverty level. Even with my experience they started me at $ 10.00 an hour. I've checked all hospitals in the area and none pay any better. This is very disappointing. I've applied all over the place, and nobody seems interested. And working for 7 to 8 cents for a 65 character line is like giving your time away for nothing and 3 to 5 cents per line for editing. At 57 I am in bad health, have spent my life transcribing, and don't know how to do anything else. I plan to enroll in school in the fall to learn a different trade.
Hey VTS transcriptionists! DQS still down
Now BizGroup, too. Just keeps gettin better and better. I know that MQ is huge, but we are teeny-weeny, and this is day two with no work...gettin really frustrated.
Medical Transcription In The Era Of Electronic Medical Records
EMR has revolutionized the healthcare industry in recent times. Many experts felt that EMR & Voice Recognition would totally replace Medical Transcription - however; the industry soon realized that transcription has certain advantages over point & click charting and many physicians preferred to dictate notes rather than document the data at the point of care themselves.
are you implying that transcriptionists
that work for MQ are less professional??
meant transcriptionists!
nm
Retiring transcriptionists
I retired at age 62 after sixteen full time years and twenty part and full time years. I worked in a fast-paced institution doing all types of transcription. Believe me it took a toll on my hands and wrists. I now suffer burning tendinitis in my right wrist with deQuervain tendinitis in my thumb.
Veterinary Transcriptionists??
Does anyone transcribe for a vet? How did you get in to this area of transcription? It sounds like it would be interesting. Maybe they just have their secretaries transcribe. Thoughts on this.
Thanks!
Diskriter needs help all around - they need transcriptionists for
all shifts, and are finally getting desperate enough to hire PT
Any dental transcriptionists out there?
I transcribe all ops, and I have an oral/maxillofacial surgeon, but no samples on him. Is there anyone doing this type of transcription who might be able to send me a few good samples of dental surgeries?
Thanks.
Ophthalmology transcriptionists out there?
Any other MTs doing ophthalmology? I'm working for docs who are on the east coast. I get so FRUSTRATED because the reports are so short I feel like I'm starting and stopping all the time. I've done 33 files today for a whopping 600-ish lines! Great docs, easy to understand, mainly letters to the PCPs. Most of my files are easily less than 3 minutes long and when I do get a long one, he can't make up his mind so I end up erasing and retyping, and STILL don't get a decent line count.
Just looking for a sympathetic ear from another Ophth MT. I feel like I'm in a different world than these other guys I read about on here!
male transcriptionists
I worked with one where we were paid $25 an hour - he would come in on Saturday and Sunday and milk the clock for 12-16 hours when there was only about 1-2 hours of work. This went on for a couple of years. Then I had another male MT as a supervisor and he was very nice and has always helped me to find work when I needed it. Different strokes for different folks.
Are there any traveling transcriptionists out there and do you like it.nm
x
Transcriptionists are smart!
I had a doctor say to his "residents" that they should do transcription because I was answering all of the questions they could not, just because I've transcribed for so many years! That was kind of a nice feeling, if I do say so myself! So... maybe we could all be doctors some day! 
Transcriptionists that do not know punctuation
I just had a dictation in which the doctor specified (correctly) where the quotation marks were in relation to the period at the end of the sentence and stated that he was tired of having to correct reports where it was incorrectly placed. I was aghast! How could anybody transcribe and not know elementary punctuation?
remote transcriptionists
Go to mtjobs.com. There are plenty on there.
any Tampa transcriptionists here?
I would love to know - I have a question.
thanks!
EMR will not reduce the need for transcriptionists
What we do at our office is we transcribe the reports and they are scanned into the EMR - the only difference is there is not an actual paper chart anymore.
any transcriptionists been disabled by
I am an avid gamer and a MT. I'm only 30 and already my wrists get sore periodically. I'm wondering if there is a point where I will be disabled due to transcribing and difficulties with their hands and what to do to prevent it. TIA for replies
VLM -Tried in the 60's to get transcriptionists to join a
union to no avail. Nurses at that time also were non-union - they decided to unionize as their pay and benefits were also abysmal at that point in time. Compare that to their income & benefits now compared to ours. The reply I received for not joining a union then was that the transcriptionists did not want to jeopordize patient care in case of a strike. Well,I agreed we played an integral part in patient care, albeit felt it was secondary compared to the role of nurses regarding patient care - who decided to risk going on strike and made the choice to unionize!!
I totally dropped out of transcription for 10 yrs, only to return and find that AAMT was the answer to our problems. Need I say more ?
As far as the scenario of striking in this day and age with no income, I imagine if I'd add up all the slow days, days without work, holiday periods without work, I could also survive a strike. Only difference being knowing I'd return to work with better benefits including help with health care coverage and increased pay, rather than decreased pay. Shoot - maybe even being recognized as a "Profession" instead of a typist - cognizant of our intelligence & knowledge!!
I don't know to this day if unionizing would have helped us back in the years when it was feasible, but still feel we couldn't have been any worse off than where we are today!
Trying to organize a union now I'll leave in the hands of my internet savvy young ones. How this could be accomplished in this day and age is now beyond my level of expertise!
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