at home professions
Posted By: MT34+ on 2009-06-06
In Reply to: MT vs Coding/billing At Home? - Malania
The MT industry is not what it used to be and when you go to school and they tell you that upon graduation you could make XXX amount of dollars from home is not true at all. Being an MT is not as easy as they all make it sound either. It is not just typing and listening to some old doc telling you what to type. You really need to know what they are talking about and be able to decipher their different accents, etc. The companies do not offer the benefits they used to either or pay the way they used to. It has become a real dog eat dog world out there, even in this industry. Having little ones around while you are trying to work is not going to work either. You need to be able to pay absolute attention to what you are doing when you are an MT, let alone the privacy issues. I know nothing about billing/coding. I wish you the best in whatever you decide.
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about At-Home professions
Has anyone heard about the At-Home professions Medical transcription school. Is it ok or not.
at home professions
Hi Amy,
I took their medical transcription course about 4 years ago. I am not doing any work. I didn't have access to the internet at the time so I had a little bit of a problem finding work. The cost itself I don't remember, but they had very low monthly pmts which was good for me. I have researched many other schools and compared to others now, at home professions falls short. I don't know if they have changed their course materials, but the last final was just 3 reports. I think other programs do a better job of preparing you. I to am currently looking to take another to refresh and start over.
Hope this helped
At home professions
Anyone graduated from here??
I chose HPI-SUM over At-Home Professions sm
When I trained 13 yrs ago. I looked at them both. I ordered the first packet of AHP and I didn't like the way it was presented and sent them back because I could get my money back within a certain time. I really liked the HPI-SUM program syllabus. I liked it particularly because it seemed like more work and was harder. I knew that this job could not possibly as simple it was presented with AHP and I was right.
I never have worked in house for anyone. I have been at home for 12+ years and I do quite well with accuracy, speed and scope of knowledge. Of course, there are still a lot of things I don't know and I'll learn a lot of them over time, I hope. Which brings me to the last point, that being no program is really going to prepare you for this job and even with training, there is no guarantee you'll ever be able to make a living at it. AAMT (or whatever they call themselves today) stated that something like $26K was the average yearly wage for an MT. Given that many of us do ohhh so much better than that, there have to be plenty who don't come near that figure. HPI-SUM stated in their packet that 60% of the people who complete their course will not be successful MTs and I have heard that figure about other courses too. Success for me means making a full time income for full time work at around the $25K a year mark (though I do better, that was my goal then). I personally know 5 other MTs who don't make $12K a year for full time work, that is not success when every one of them has been an MT for 5+ years.
However...there is no reason you are not part of that 40% who WILL succeed! I was.
I felt very prepared for a job after finishing AT-Home Professions course.
The ladies and instructors at the school were very helpful. I have been working as an MT for 7 years now and felt like they tought me a lot. I think it depends on who you talk to. Definitely helped me that I first got my experience in a small hospital where I was able to learn at a slow pace and built speed with time. I didn't pay 2-3000 dollars for the school but felt very confident when I went looking for a job.
My kids have suffered greatly from me working at home with them home. SM
I have been working at home as an MT since my two kids were born. They are now 4 and 5. In the first few years, I had no help whatsoever. Their father was a bum who didnt work or take care of them while I worked. Your children get neglected while you work basically. And babies and young children desperately need your attention while they are home with you.
My kids have so many behavioral problems right now because of their neglect. I would try to set them up with things to occupy themselves, like coloring or a movie, etc.
I finally put them in day care and things have improved, but there are still a lot of issues because of the damage that was done. They still try to seek attention by doing bad things and they dont listen to me because they are so used to me letting them get away with a lot of stuff because I was too busy typing to discipline them in their early years.
If I could do it all over again, I would definitely have put them into day care from the very beginning.
My advice would be to seek PT care for your baby. Maybe you can do some work around her schedule a little when she is home, like when she takes a nap, and then bang out a bunch of work while she is in day care.
I enjoy being alone at home, but I've got one home sick from school already.
One on one with a kid is nice, too.
This summer has been absolutely crazy. I haven't had a moment to myself for three months because all of my kids were home traipsing their friends through the house and yard. My husband switched his work schedule, too, so he's around more than usual. However, I like not having to do two loads of dishes and four loads of laundry a day. There are no toys or clutter dragged out everywhere. I can clean the house first thing in the morning, and it stays clean until everyone gets home at night.
I even got to relax with a cup of coffee and watch TV for half an hour this morning, something I liked for a change instead of cartoons or kids' movies. I signed up for an online class that I've been wanting to take. I can exercise without being interrupted. Yesterday, I went to the mall and spent all my saved up gift cards. I got some clothes, books, bath stuff, and a new coffee mug. My work gets done a lot faster, too. Call me nuts, but I've never had the luxury of being alone in the house for 14 years. It's kinda nice. I love my family with all my heart, but I love having a few hours to myself each week, too.
Except now the cat and dogs have been acting weird since the kids went back to school. They must think that I need someone or something to clean up after and correct behavior on. They're getting into everything and racing around the house behind me.
my take is that she worked inhouse, not at home, and now wants to find out how to work at home. nm
x
Forget "per line." Your take-home pay should be taking home SM
roughly what it was before. If it is not, is it because your current pay rate for editing (which in many companies keeps changing as the VR system is developed) is too low or is it because your talents and skills are more for speed typing than speed editing?
If the first, discuss it with higherups, and go get a new job if you don't get the response you need. My last MTSO was secretly refiguring how production was counted to pay us less. I can accept hard reality, it was the secrecy that burned. Sometimes, though, it's just that the learning curves of individual editors and that of the system aren't in sync, and you end up temporarily making less.
If the second, though, recognize it as soon as possible and change to straight transcription work, in your company or a new one, for as long as you can find it.
As for why we aren't paid more for a higher skill, that's just the way the labor supply ball bounces. Best wishes.
I think she means she has wireless TO her home, not IN her home..nm
x
hospital at-home -vs- national at home
I have an interview today with a hospital...work in-house for 3 months, then go home, paid on production. I don't know as of yet what they pay production, so my question is to anyone who works for a hospital at home AND has also worked for a national at home...
Which would be the best to choose? The hospital offers great benefits, but the national I work for now also has benefits, not as good as the hospital, though. Any input would be most appreciated!
Ditto for me. Have done both outside the home and in the home. We all have
bad days, but I sure would not want to trade working at home for anything. Just being here for my kids is worth every bad day!
Does anyone use VR at home? nm
---
yes, I use VR at home
nm
At home may be possible
My husband has sleep apnea (although, since he lost some weight, he no longer has it). Depending on where you live, you may be able to be tested at home. We live in a populated area, and my husband was tested at home. A technician came to our home, showed him how to hook up the wires, and then picked up the machine the next day. He did, indeed, show sleep apnea (interrupted breathing spells many times a night), and was prescribed a sleep apnea machine. The machine is not a big deal, except maybe getting tangled up in the cords. Good luck!!
I have XP Home.
It is Works 2005 that came with my new Dell computer. I had Word that came with another version of Works that I had on older computer with XP. I don't think Word came with the first version of Works that I bought for an even older computer. I bought it separate for a Windows 98 OS, so maybe Works programs are different.
Help! I'm new with the home job!
I quit my job at a local hospital approximately 2 months ago to help care for some ill family members. I took a job with a home company and started out by having nothing but technical problems for the first few weeks, so I was unable to make any money. Once the technical difficulties were fixed, then there wasn't enough work! I finally gave up and quit the company after two full months and am getting ready to start another company in a few weeks. At my hospital job, I was making close to $15 an hour and unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can make even close to that with any home company unless I have been doing for 30 years! Any suggestions from anyone out there on what to do? I am still working "oncall" at my hospital position and can work as much as I want out of my home and be paid HOURLY rather than by the line, but this won't last long. How can I be compensated well and still have the flexibility of working out of my home?
MT from home
I understand how you feel, however if you were in my shoes and wanted to get back in the business, but this time from home, some info would help. I'm still keeping my other job, however I really enjoyed transcribing when I did it long ago and would like to be home a little more. Please, if you can refer me to anyone that can guide me to begin this venture, I'd appreciate it.
mt at home
46-year-old female
to my WFC/PS's home.....nm
x
yes, you can get a job after doing a home course - sm
I did just that with no hospital experience, however depending on who you go to work for it is like being thrown to the wolves and it is either sink or swim. But home study is probably how most people do it as it is. As Lil states though if you did not do any practice dictation (lots of it) then the odds are you wouldn't pass the tests anyway. Things also depend on the school you "attend", some have great reps, others poor. Choose wisely.
At home
Working at home is much much much better - definitely - choose your own hours - go for a walk and get some fresh air whenever you please - spend more time with the kids.
Who Goes Home
Supposedly Nigel from AI (one of the producers, I believe) was on Ryan's show this morning and he said basically we're in for a shock tonight. A lot of people I've talked on my AI list think Taylor is the one going home tonight.
wonder why it was in someone's HOME??
x
your home
Maybe this will make us all think more directly about what we do for a living. Remote employment is wonderful until it isn't any more!
QA at home
I am curious about doing QA at home. I am an RN and have been a medical transcriptionist, in the past, for 30 years. Any info for me please?
ER MT: Did you cat come home yet? Let us know. nm
It was my very first day home as an MT SM
I started in-house at Medquist in June 2001, and Sept. 11, 2001, was my first day working from home for them. Needless to say, I got very little work done that day. We were getting the kids ready for school and my husband was in the bathroom. I yelled, "Oh my gosh! Someone bombed the World Trade Center!" I didn't know it was a plane. I was watching the news when the second plane hit the south tower. I was in shock...I felt like the world turned upside down...totally lost all sense of security. It was very surreal.
Chickadee
Going home
I used to work for a local hospital as an employee and worked at home but eventually they outsourced all of work to the good ole MQ and we all lost our jobs.
The situation is very similar. The home MTs had to type 100 minutes per day and as long as we produced this, we made the top of the pay scale. Eventually, the in-house MTs went on the same production requirement and pay scale but they never did their amount of production required. This was the reason the work was outsourced.
They provided the equipment and we clocked in on the phone. We had no set schedule. This was an IDEAL position.
I loved working at home as an employee for this hospital but I ended up coming out to the National scene.
I am lucky because I work for a GREAT service, make GREAT money and have GREAT benefits. I think that I am in the minority of MTs who appreciate their job working for a national.
So, be careful on what you wish for and think long and hard before giving up your hospital position!!!! A good company is very hard to find.
Good Luck!!
At home
Your post really resonated with me and I am sure with others. Years ago in the inhouse environment, it was a pleasant place to work and make friends. Then came Y2K, the infamous Y2K and we were all shuffled out to make room for more profit oriented patient care services. They brought in the CEOs and "got rid" of the transcription managers who knew their jobs well and the industry as a whole. We then were given the "privilege" of working at home. Most of us knew our jobs well and could probably write books on the subject but were nonethless shipped out to home with cpl and we knew then we would be like hamsters on a wheel, going nowhere fast. We are better off at home. The inhouse atmosphere with the competition it created by being paid by the line was an umentionable horror scene. People you knew for years as your friends quickly became your arch rivals, trying to cut you off at the ankles at any chance they could in order to present themselves as superior in every way. It didn't matter if you were the best MT on the planet, this was WAR baby.  Being in the shelter of our homes and out of the hospital trenches has brought us some peace and solace but it divide an industry that used to be friendly, amicable and very fertile ground for learning the ropes of MT.  Suffice it to say "divide and conquer."
At home........
I am chosen to be on a committee to decide on guidelines for us to type at home at the local hospital where I work. We have been waiting for this for a long time. I hope everything works out well for us as it has for you. I would love to be at home. Department politics - you can only take so much.
at home
I have been home for about 3 years now -went back to school to be an MT when my youngest was7 months old.. I was lucky to work for a small service right away and now I still work for a service and have my own account. I tried working nights in a hospital for more experience, but it was just too hard with 2 small children. This is much better and so flexible..I love being home
Will you be doing it from home then?
I once interviewed for a position, but they had an odd system. I'd be working in-house, and in addition to doing pathology dictation, they expected the MT to type in the lab techs' notes. The techs had access to the computer, were IN the computer doing their work, but it was too much work for them to type in 2-digit results for their lab findings. They wanted to write them and have the MT put them in the system as a separate step. To me this was babying the techs and was a way for the techs to be off the hook if they recorded a result wrong. It was very inefficient since I would have to find the pathology report after the fact and add these other findings.
I don't think they could do that to you if you're working from home.
You'll need a lab book, that's for sure.
I don't know how any of the MTs at home with - s/msg
small children manage to stay focused enough to do a full day's work! My cat is constantly wanting this or that, or purposely sitting in front of my monitor so as to obstruct my view and force my attention. If it's so hard to keep a cat out of my hair, I can only imagine (and shudder) at what it must take to keep a toddler occupied while trying to work. And I've been doing MT for a long, long time. Trying to learn new software, deal with the inevitable glitches that go with getting dialed-in to a new job, and trying to look up words, addresses, listen, decipher what an ESL neurosurgeon is mispronouncing, build a word-expander and macro base, etc. etc., all while having to keep tabs on a small, active child, would be very demanding. If I wanted a "fun" sideline, I myself would probably consider art, jewelry-making, or maybe writing poetry or children's books. Or else possibly starting a blog site. But medical transcription? Nuh-uh.
little one at home
I also have a son, he is 3-years-old. Busy body...wow, what a change in life....some stress over menopaus, I laugh with kidopause.....tell me how you work around him. If you don't mind. I am hoping that Jaedyn will be in school soon...but as far now, he is learning from me....
from home
I work at home on a Dictaphone platform, which I have personally found to be the best quality.
Go home
If you have been typing for 10 years, then getting another home transcription job is no problem. If this one does not work out, start applying with reputable companies and still stay home. I wouldn't miss my kids' young years for anything.
How is the pay? Can it be done from home? (nm)
x
They get more out of me from home.
I transcribe more lines now that I am home than at work. At work, there were constant distractions. I was asked to answer phones, perform other duties as applicable, etc. This goes far beyond just us. What about physician offices having a sign-in sheet? I've read names before me at every appointment I go to on those sheets! What about the pharmacy yelling people's names when their meds are ready for those of us sitting there waiting?
The only way to protect our healthcare privacy woud be to use social security numbers and birthdates instead of patient names. Just my idea... But, one number out of whack makes for a mess just like the poor John Smith or Mary Jones who almost always have some form of mix-up. I don't know the answer.
MT at home
If you want to do this job the way it is supposed to be done, you best go to MT school. You need to gain a better knowledge of what you're doing. Even though you did it in an office before, that doesn't necessarily mean that you qualify as a "MT". Most companies won't even hire anybody that did transcription work while working as a medical assistant, nurse, etc. They want "MTs".
At-Home....
I may WAYYY more on production than hourly. I make 25-28.00 an hour and I haven't found anywhere that pays that much, so I stick with production.
HAVE to vent about BF before HE gets home!
I thought this one was fitting! LOL! My BF is supposed to watch the kids from 8pm to 10pm and put them to bed so I can work. Tonight will be 2nd night in a row that he HAS to work on a friends truck in the garage....guess it can't wait til the weekend even though he doesn't have all the parts for it....MAJOR frustrating. Because of HIM (kids!) and the tornadic thunderstorm last night I was only able to "work" for about an hour, I gave up, and shut down. Geez, I'm not looking forward to tonight!
People usually do what they would rather do. If she would rather be at home, she would be there.
Mrs. Twitty is in Aruba because she wants to be there and she personally does press conferences because she wants to. No one demands her to be Aruba nor do they ask her to do her press appearances. Lots of families have lost loved ones and have had representatives speak for them because they cannot bear to talk in their time of grief. Mrs. Twitty loves to talk and talk. I am not being judgemental. The facts cannot be disputed. She is on TV a lot and I have only seen her shed tears about her daughter once. The rest of the time she is mad at the system in Aruba. She conveniently forgets about the system that allowed her daughter to go to Aruba and drink without dependable chaperones or she signed off on her daughter going to Aruba with non-chaperones. Those are facts in the case. Can't help but notice as I flip from channel to channel and see Mrs. Twitty. Not so much her father or step-father.
I agree with everything you are saying as far as going home, but......
If Natalee went away to college in the fall, would she have her mother to watch over her every decision and if something happened to her, that makes it her mother's fault for sending her to college, where everyone knows there is partying and drinking going on????
Does anyone do any other at-home work other than MT?
I need to get more work but don't want to go back to an office atmosphere. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Kids at home?
Do your kids stay at home and how old are they? I have three, one that is 9, 4, and 1, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to type this summer. I am considering a sitter once school starts, so I will be all aone during the day. What do you do?
at-home work
Hi there, I do web design, all self-taught through many, many hours on the "free website" places on the net over the years and help from my geek/techie friends ;) My sites are basic but luckily that is what my clients want. I really can't to all the fancy flash stuff yet! It pays very well by the hour but unless you have lots of clients, it only works out to an extra $100-200 a month once the basic site is designed and up and running. (I have only two clients at this time and its basically maintenance and small changes here and there to the coding). Its fun and interesting but if you really want to get away from a computer, this isn't a good choice! All day medical typing then a couple more hours web design can be hard on the eyeballs after a while! Another suggestion, my DH works full time and has a cleaning business (cleaning offices) on the side but that only can be done when the business is closed so that means weekends or nights. Best of luck!!
at-home work
In case you see this post twice - another person asked this question as well so I will repost my reply here too :)
I do web design, all self-taught through many, many hours on the "free website" places on the net over the years and help from my geek/techie friends ;) My sites are basic but luckily that is what my clients want. I really can't to all the fancy flash stuff yet! It pays very well by the hour but unless you have lots of clients, it only works out to an extra $100-200 a month once the basic site is designed and up and running. (I have only two clients at this time and its basically maintenance and small changes here and there to the coding). Its fun and interesting but if you really want to get away from a computer, this isn't a good choice! All day medical typing then a couple more hours web design can be hard on the eyeballs after a while! Another suggestion, my DH works full time and has a cleaning business (cleaning offices) on the side but that only can be done when the business is closed so that means weekends or nights. Best of luck!!
Working from home
 When I get all the nosey/rude comments about working from home, I gave up justifying it and only now say..."It works for me, I don't even have to get dressed and can make a ton of money working from by bedroom, using all the high tech equipment that allows me to do so"..leaves it up for interpretation and usually shut's them up
working from home!
 I've been working from home since it was first allowed, can't really remember the exact year, but for sure no later than 1984. My family has always said, "get a real job", "why are you stuck at home, go work at an office where you can be around people", and on and on and on and on, ad infinitum!!! I don't really have "friends" anyway because I've always been a hermit. But guess what, now the only members of my family left alive are my brother and my sister and they STILL say I should get a real job!! I just give them a disgusted look and say "yeah....I really want to have to deal with traffic jams, proper clothing regulations, no smoking rules, break time rules, punching in an out....does that seem to fit my personality???" Of course they say, "well I can see your point". However that does not keep them from saying it again some time later. Guess it is never ending, so just ignore it and laugh at them. That is all it deserves is a good laugh!!! Quite honestly, I think they are jelous.
** 
MT working at home
Ihave to tell you that in order to do MT work you have to really LOVE the job because of the long hours and the amount of research that you need to do on the reports. I am not trying to discourage you, as I was in your position not that long ago, but 'ya gotta love this job. Otherwise, there is no way to succeed. You won't make millions, and chances are you will make a pittance, but if you are enjoying it, then that is the best way to go into this.
I wish you much luck.
Gaile
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