take Amanda's challenge. it's down a lot of posts with a fire tag.NM
Posted By: mt2 on 2008-10-24
In Reply to: about themselves? Help the rest of us - Sombody feels good
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Okay, I took your challenge, Amanda. SM
ME: Below-average typing talent. Sad but true. I'm a clutz. Use an expander, though.
I'm paid good but not top-level industry rates.
I work 35 hours per week, not 40.
So-so account, lots of ESL, mixed transcription and editing.
CHALLENGE: Worked in my usual manner for two hours of average work flow, i.e., not fast or slow. One coffee-refill break.
RESULTS: 291 lines per hour X my pay plus incentive = $32/hour = $56K/year for a 35/hour week.
IF I worked 40 hrs/wk, that would be $64K, but I prefer not to. Like you, I do prefer to work fairly intensively while I am working as a tradeoff to a shorter workday.
Good post, Amanda! Back to work now.
Amanda's Challenge
Until two days ago, I had several accounts. One of those accounts I used to smile and call "butta." (As in butter). I've been an MT for close to 30 yrs, Amanda, and this account that was taken away from me had tons of challenging ORs, not colonoscopies, etc. I made great line count--now I have an account that is populated by physicians who don't organize their thoughts before they start dictating, open their mouths and spew absolute nonsense (and the patient's safety is OUR responsibility-HAH). One doc in particular says each sentence at least three times and changes each version subtly (on a verbatim account, yet), leaves sentences dangling, hops all over the place and in general is a pain in the butt. You know, Amanda, I challenge myself every working day and with this latest smack in the head by my employer, I'm thinking of asking my doctor for antidepressants. You're a Republican, Amanda, and you have to act like this general mistreatment of MTs over the last five or so years is our own fault. Sorry, honey, the Obama sign stays on my front lawn.
Maybe it's time to fight fire with fire.
I find cherrypicking an absolutely deplorable practice. That being said, perhaps it's time we set aside our integrity (believe me, I know how hard it will be to do) and send back reports also. We are penalized for our experience and dedication. You can be sure a cherrypicker's paycheck looks a lot better than ours. I think it's time we whine and cry about bad dictators and send a HUGE message to corporate by refusing to do them.
If you are up to the challenge
with SS
OH. Now you want more challenge...
But you also state it was a small account. Why do they only assign you to ONE account? Cross training for others is out? Is it a small account and "NOT ENOUGH WORK" as you initially stated, or now it's because you can "DO IT IN (YOUR) SLEEP".
LOL
Now, that is a challenge
it seems that going into the petites section gets you into the clothes that are made for the younger kids. I totally feel your pain. If anyone out there has any suggestions that would be great. Like you, I'm short and small-boned. Finding age-appropriate clothes is a real toughy! :-)
It was the challenge
Used to be, I felt like I was playing some sort of computer game, trying every day to "win" by increasing my line count, overcoming the ESL's and unintelligible speedtalkers. But when the greedy companies and corporations took over, they started stacking the odds against us, the game was fixed and it wasn't fun anymore. Set yourself some new goals, financial or imagination-stretching. Remember, you have a life, and this is not it, just the means.
A challenge to all MT's....sm
I feel that we've said it all - the rest is just blah, blah, blah! Yeah, we need a place to vent but how about we challenge ourselves - each and every one of us try to find someone in the public eye to whom we should all individually write! If someone, say, at 20/20, 60 minutes, etc. were to get hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of well-written and well edited letters enunciating each and every point; from why all off-shore transcription should be illegal (it is against HIPAA), to how little we (the transcriptionist) is really getting paid, to how much each IC or at-home employee actually saves the physician or hospital or clinic, etc. than we will have some attention put on the industry. Another big point to investigate is just how much these national (and international) companies pay their chief operating officers, etc. What used to be a viable career has become nearly impossible to continue. If anyone thinks that a national effort to attact the necessary attention to our problem is a good idea, respond here and let's see if we can get a letter written that we can all forward to our state senators as well as to the media. A MEDIA BLITZ will either make us or brake us - we'll either get what we deserve or we'll all lose to off-shore transcriptionists (which we're doing anyway)! A one day work strike nationally would work well too and would get a lot of media attention! Particularly on a Wednesday (middle of the week) but all need to agree to lose one day's pay...but don't worry, the companies will be desperate and put us all to work on the weekend to catch up (at our regular rate, of course)! What do YOU think?
You like to challenge?
Ridiculous ego.
Challenge yourself - sm
One of the four doctors I do has an accent - Indian - and the others "speak English". I would much rather do the accent than put up with the sloppy, slurry, lazy way the others dictate. I have found that once you do an "accent" the next one is easier. Don't be intimated - give it a try - challenge yourself - it's part of life.
A challenge...
Okay folks... I like everybody else have seen my pay go down lately and have been complaining about having to work more to get the work done; I also see people talking about how many hours a day they have to work to get their lines for the day and how it equals minimum wage, etc.
Well, I went to the store and bought a cheap timer. I set it every hour for 55 minutes and I would take a 5 minute break at the end of that 55 minutes. I did not move my butt from the chair during that first 55 minutes - just typed. No phone calls, no surfing the web, no answering people's yells, no TV, no laundry, no dishes, NOTHING, NADA, just typing. Here are my results -
165 minutes (2 hours and 45 minutes) and I got 1129 lines. That averages out to be 410 lines an hour. For my pay, that is $41 an hour.
My challenge is to each of you who say you are not getting your work done to try this yourself and post your results and let's see what happens...
Should we all take an MT challenge?
We all realize that our situations are different and within our own accounts can be so very different on different days. (Oh, how I hate those days when I would swear my line count will be great and it turns out to be lower than the day before when I felt I didn't work nearly as hard!)
But what we can do to see how much time we are wasting is to do the same challenge for a week straight. We will likely have a variety of work to deal with and can see how much different our line counts end up.
I have noticed I tend to get up from my chair more, out of stress and frustration, when I am having a tough dicatator or subject matter. I tend to want to check my email after sending a job because there are several seconds before I can open the next dictation. I probably lose some time there (beyond the pause time).
It would be interesting to see how much different things turn out for us all. Not the acutal line counts (since situations are so much different), but the increases we end up with.
Anyone want to try this for a week and see how we end up next weekend?
I agree. I would see it as a challenge. I took a
college class where they posted everyone's ID# and then grades for each test/assignment, etc. You could see where you stood. It was a self-paced course and seeing that a couple of people had already whizzed through and were almost done, and with HIGH scores, made me want to pick up the pace and make sure MY scores were presentable. I didn't want anyone looking at my anonymous scores and saying "What is that person's problem?" I ended up not at the top but near the top. Some people just didn't even turn in assignments at all and had big fat 0s and poor scores on the test and I was thinking "Uh, what was the point in paying for this class if you're not going to try to get a decent grade?" 
I took your challenge today
and I buckled down as well and I got in 1 hour and 28 minutes 824 lines!!!! Yes, it was an easy doctor, but that is all the work I have today is from him. That gives me $43.95/hr. Wish I could have him all day. I'll try to average out the day if I get anyone else in.
What do politics have to do with this challenge?
I feel bad that you lost your account, but you don't need to be taking your anger out on other people and start calling them Republicans and blaming her for your belief of the mistreatment of MTs. This was a simple challenge on how to make more money and spend your time wisely.
Definitely challenge it - I've heard of others who have
asked for a review and they were then found to have passed. Go for it.
OP notes are a challenge - just depends if you are determined enough
to learn how to do them. After doing DS, HP, CR and Clinic Notes, I was asked by former National to try to do about 20 OP reports. I was terrified !! Thought I had a good grasp of anatomy, physiolgy, etc, but I'll swear I ended up looking up every instrument, suture, needle, forceps, retractor, etc., & hate to guess how many hours I spent doing those 20 reports (that was before internet resources & my salary was dependent on how much work I did !!). Going from Clinic Notes, etc., to OP reports is not an easy transition - there is a vast difference. I did struggle in the beginning & know it took me a good 6 months before I became comfortable transcribing them. For me, it has ended up being for my benefit. That National, from that time on, only assigned me OP reports. Having since left original National & having searched for a job with different companies stating that I specialized in OP reports, I received unexpected offers at a higher than average cpl pay !
Don't be disillusioned thinking that you can apply for a job doing OP reports after doing Clinic Notes if you have no experience doing such. If you don't have an opportunity to try to learn them in your present job & you're interested in learning such, you might consider getting the SUM practice tapes that have original OP dictation. Just depends on how much you want to learn their terminology & how much effort you're willing to put forth :o) :o).
I'd gladly take the challenge if there was any freaking WORK to do..!
x
Just do a search and read the posts. There are plenty of posts about OSI on this board. nm.
nm.
You are right Amanda (sm)
It can be very difficult to work at home with children. I hear this a.m. "all you do is work, work, work, Mom". But, when we are doing other activities such as swimming at the community pool all afternoon in the summertime, I don't hear her say "All we do is swim, swim, swim, Mom". Kids will be kids. When you are working, you feel you should dedicate your time to your children. When you are dedicating your time to your children, you feel you should be working. I am fortunate in that I have chosen positions where I do not have to sit in front of the PC all day to meet a line count. In my personal opinion, that would make me crazy. I like the flexibility. However, working on-site, you must still have to ask to leave if you child is sick or you need time off, so... lesser of two evils?
I must be the 3rd Amanda
I haven't responded to this thread and there are already 2 Amandas?!
Amanda,
I could have written that post myself today and I have been doing this for 23 years!!! There are some days I can produce a lot and other days where I STILL have to look everything up. What specialty are you in? Some are a lot more difficult than others. Maybe finding the right specialty for you is the key. It does take a long time to get all that information in your head. Some terminology is easy because you hear it every day. Other terminology is more difficult because it is seldom used. Stick to it. My kids grew up with me doing this at home and they still say they loved having me here when their friends' mothers had to go to an office.
Thanks Amanda
Amanda, thank you for your kind words. I would type on my head if that is what my client told me to do. I have been on this account from the beginning, and I have not heard from QA in probably 2 years. Like I posted before, we have always been instructed to type "the patient." This is highlighted in my account instructions. Jane Doe was just a random name I used here, thought that would just be understood. There were other things wrong, but I really do not feel it is worth going into here to just be told what a crappy MT I am. I have addressed my issues with QA but have yet to hear back from them.
Are you the same Amanda?
Are you the same Amanda MT who types over 400 lines per hour?
Hi, Amanda
Ok, Amanda, I am sorry, but the last 2 years something is really wrong with this profession, outscourcing, ASR, EMR, etc....
? for Amanda
Thanks for a possible ray of hope during a frustrating time for MTs these days. There is definitely no harm in trying. I was just wondering during your experiment how much time you would spend on looking up for defi''s and such. Some times between looking in my reference bks and googling for an med,etc. 10 minutes can easily fly by. Whats your take on that.
Amanda......
Again, sorry, I feel with you,
My point is:
Can we keep up with all those changes, pushing ourselves harder and harder. It is so sad seeing so qualified and excellent MTs having to give up a job in which they are so efficient, having to resort to little tricks to compete with the new technology.
MTs who have been in this business for 20-30 years taking tests and being rejected. I read this on this board. So sad.
That's what I mean.
Thanks to Amanda
Thank you Amanda for posting this. I, too, have found this to be true. It is one of the traps of working at home. I forget that I am still supposed to be working and get distracted by the things going on around me. then I would wonder why I wasn't earning as much. simple answer: I wasn't working as much. Once I eliminated all the extraneous activities I did during my "work" hours, my income rebounded. Those posters who are criticizing you here are the ones who think they are entitled to do personal things on "company" time.
From the other post I quote
"No talking, no emails, no telephone, no nothing? When do you eat and pee?
Don't you have a husband or children, who want to interact with you? What's the advantage of working at home, if you work like this? This is a 'sweatshop', what a life! No, thanks"
Okay, I would like to understand this. Is this person working or not. If you are working, then work. If you are talking, emailing, eating, interacting with your husband and children, then don't expect to be earning much! Those are choices you are entitled to make but you are also responsible for the consequences. We would all like to get a check every week for spending time with our families and friends but it isn't going to happen.
For me, the advantages of working from home are many and include the fact that I don't have to drive anywhere. I don't need a wardrobe. I don't get caught up in the office politics. I don't have to eat the donuts every Friday morning!!! I set my own hours. And many, many others.
Again, Amanda, your post is a breath of fresh air on this predominantly negative board. I am glad I still like my wok!!!
Thank you, Amanda
I applaud this sentence in your comment:
' I am going to college to get into another profession and be done with all of this.'
And for THIS I say 'Thank you, Amanda!' . For being so courageous and honest. 
Thank you, Amanda
I applaud this sentence in your last comment:
' I am going to college to get into another profession and be done with all of this.'
And for THIS I say 'Thank you, Amanda!' . For being so courageous and honest.
Thanks Amanda!
I was just thinking of doing this same thing myself but have forgotten to pick up a timer. I just added it to my grocery list. I get distracted a lot too and end up not being as productive as I could be. I've complained alot about this job but taking a step back I have realized I am not working smart because I have been mad because I'm not making the amount per line I was making 10 years ago. I like working at home, I like taking off when I feel like it or going on vacation for 2 weeks at a time without someone telling me I can't so I'm going to try to make the best of it. Thanks again.
Amanda
 I appreciate your challenge!!!!! I think you were very kind to post this and I personally am taking it to heart. You did nothing in malice at all. You just posted a challenge and a suggestion. I am not a new MT. I have been transcribing for 20 years. The first 5 years in acute care, then 14 years of psychiatric/psychology, and now another year of acute care. The change from psych back to acute care you can imagine has been challenging. I am doing whatever I can to get my production up. I had never used Expanders other than my autocorrect. I am now doing this and it has helped tremendously, and in that frame of mind, I accept "your excellent challenge" as you so kindly suggested. I find myself being distracted a lot, and I am sure when I take this challenge I will see this.
I love being an at-home transcriptionist. This profession has been wonderful to me and my family. I raised two children being an at-home Transcriptionist and never took time away from them in doing so. I would get up and work an hour before I had to get them up and ready for school, get them up and off, and then work while they were in school, throwing in a load of laundry here and there "on my breaks", etc. When they got home from school I was done and spent time with them. In the summer, I changed shifts and worked nights while they slept. You tell me what other profession gives you that type of flexibility. None!
Yes, things have changed for us as MTs, but as a working mother and wife, I find that it is still the best. This being said, I also just plain love it. I find it challenging, mind-stimulating, and I am always challenging myself to do better, which to me makes it a FUN profession as well.
Again, Amanda thank you for your post. I am one MT who is going to take this challenge to see where I can IMPROVE myself. We will never arrive to our potential if we do not challenge ourselves. The challenge is on!!! THANKS!
I will challenge the law. I am paid by piece work and that is excluded.
sheesh
Amanda, you sound like you
know how to make a buck stretch, and I congratulate you! Most of my life, especially when young, I was always making my dollar stretch as far as it would go. I was a young working divorced mother of two, having to KNOW how to live on a song and a prayer. Nobody can do it for you. I am probably quite a bit older than you, probably old enough to be your mother, and I have noticed that a lot of young women today just don't know how to make good suppers from nothing, I mean without the best of cuts of meat, without all of the amenities, and how to make it taste fit for a king. Been there, done that. As far as ice cream, candy, and sweets, that was far and inbetween, mostly saved for the Holidays. My kids didn't even care for candy and sweets, really. They would have rather had green peppers, carrots and fruit, and to this day, they still don't eat a lot of junk food. They have healthy teeth and strong bones it didn't hurt them in the least not to have all the junk that kids get nowadays, and way better off. Don't mean to offend anyone but just use common sense. If you only have X amount of dollars, and that includes more than the other way around, then you have to do without some things, and it won't kill you! Well my 2 cents for what it's worth...
Good for you, Amanda! sm
Are you going to take the CMT when you are able, Ms. RMT? 
Question for Amanda
Amanda--low long would I have to live in Georgia in order to take advantage of this great program?
I really LIKE this, Amanda, thanks for sharing
I did this a few years back and it did help so am trying it again - great tip
Are you the eTransPlus Amanda?
What happened?
Thank you Amanda, what a boost you made for me.
nm
Fire in AZ
Are you near Payson, I do recall a couple years back, we were there looking for property and when we got back to SoCal the whole area was on fire, is that a yearly thing there?
I challenge you all to host a Halloween/Fall party at your house this year! sm
 You will have an eyeball! I mean, ball.
This will be my 1st, usually my sister-in-law does it. I picked up A Taste of Home's Halloween issue and if that doesn't inspire you to do something this fall, then you might be dead...pun intended.
For dessert I am going to make little witches that will make a neat centerpiece. Here's how you do it: Take 16 large marshmallows, oreo cookies, coconut slivers (for the hair that you dye green with food coloring), Hershey kisses and peanut butter cups (miniature) that will be the top of her hat (place candies on top of oreo chocolate cookie (minus one side of cookie and the frosting). Use pretzels for her broomstick. These things are so cute I can hardly stand it.
2. Spider cupcakes. Use chocolate EVERYTHING and for the legs use 8 small pieces of licorice dangling from the cupcake and anything small and red for the eys (M&M minis) or red icing.
There are tons of ideas and recipes. The main dish will be Witch's Brew Stew and it looks awesome! If you want the recipe, email me. If not, then drop dead.
Oh, and for the kiddies, I will be playing games like pin the stem on the pumpkin and bobbing for body parts (will probably call this game something else), but you fill up a large tin bucket, stain the water black and put things in inside. Each kid takes turns using their hands to try to find 3 things you tell them to find in this nasty mixture of stuff using their HANDS, not mouth.....
So, get your invitations out, dust off your printers and have fun! I'm doing this mid-month, not on Halloween since I am a Christian and we don't celebrate Halloween.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Yeah, like Amanda said, mine works on ...
COM1, 3 pedal, but you could try what she tried too - VEC, 3 pedal. I just tried all until I found one that worked.
I call for Amanda's head on a platter!
 Just kidding! Geez, people! Amanda tries a little experiment and shares who results with his and people start jumping on her like a pack of lions on a zebra (okay, I watch too much animal planet).
She makes a very valid point and obviously has hit very close to home for a lot of MTs judging by the tone of the posts below. Be honest, people! None of produce near where we would be producing if we were in the office. In the office, there are no husbands bothering us every five minutes, no kids wanting mommy to do something they are capable of doing themselves, no phone calls from mom or sis to fill us in on the latest gossip.
All Amanda is alluding to is we should all take a little responsibility for our careers and our paycheck. What's wrong with that? Sure, sometimes the deck is stacked against us and we aren't being paid what we are worth and the dictators mostly suck. But a lot of the time, we get interrupted, piddle on the internet, and I myself will get distracted in a good game of Solitaire!
So instead of jumping all over Amanda, take a good long look in the mirror and just accept a little, tiny bit of responsibility for your paltry paycheck.
Okay, Amanda, you've made your point..sm
How about giving it a break and get on something else? Other would like to be heard, too!
Amanda, did my 2 comments help you? Mine is working,,,nm
nm
I would get an attorney to fire off a ...
letter. I have had to do that several times in the past (not MT related), and it is amazing how quickly things are resolved. It has only cost me $35 to explain the situation to the attorney and have a short letter sent. I think it would be well worth it in your case...$35 vs. $1300.
Also, be sure to send the letter certified, return receipt requested. Even though that is only to obtain proof of delivery, there seems to be something "official" about it...and that can't hurt.
If you are the supervisor why not fire her? If she
isn't carrying her share of the load and was switched from a different department for the same why is she still there?
I agree with Amanda. How many people reading this should be working right now?! nm
x
Thank you...truly trial by fire but once you get over it you're stronger. nm
..
FIRE THE CHERRY PICKERS
They ought to track down your email and find out who you are and fire your arse!!!!
whoa, let me put out the fire while it's still small (sm)
I don't want him to be like so many of the child stars we have all heard of...I simply was asking about print ads, commercials, stuff like that. He's as cute as any kid I've seen in the Macy's catalog or on the Mott's Apple Juice commercials. And he is chock full of charisma...and too, I'm just ASKIN'! Slow down on the flames, please...there's only one of ME to fight the fire!
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