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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Past posts say lousy VR & MT pay, and running out of work. nm

Posted By: That's it. on 2006-07-11
In Reply to: MediVoxx - Micgroovy

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Past posts say have to PAY for software to work for
fg
If you read through the past posts here you'll
see that M-Tec and Andrews were the best.  They help with placement and most grads have a job by the time they finish up.  Career Step is the next choice. 
Focus and Acetera work together and will both give you the same lousy treatment over
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Posts from March said the pay was very low & there wasn't enough work to go around. Ask about
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Company now running out of jobs..need advice

Hello. I have been with a company for 3 months now. At first they were complaining cause they were so behind now all the sudden I am finding times when there is no work to be done. I realize they probably hired more MTs than there is work..I have heard of that happening. Anyway I am a single mom of two and not a very fast typer yet (but I am getting better). Does anyone have any advice? I depend on this job to pay the bills. I could use some advice on what to do. Do I find another job (which is hard for a newbie as you all know) or do I find a part time (don't really have the time for that but might be able to squeeze it in). I appreciate the help.


PS: If you are not running the required operating system, (sm)
contact me. I can crack anything.
where have you been for the past two years?

You say, "In-house jobs are being outsourced rapidly" and then draw the conclusion that there must be a demand for more MT's?  Where do you think those jobs are being outsourced? It ain't Kokomo, it's New Delhi, etc. It used to be new MT's COULD get a job, back in the old days when the market wasn't imploding.  But even then, you really needed to work in house before you could work from home. It ain't as easy as it seems, especially with ESL's.


Look I'm sorry you got misled about the field. But flogging a dead horse isn't going to help.


They've used MediTech software in the past, don't know about
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The $3000 educations will become a thing of the past

Have any of you been feeling the economic pinch.  High gas costs, cost of food rising, dropping real estate values, credit cards being used more and the balance getting higher, spouse out of work, etc etc.


This is the trend and not the end or these events.  IMO, we will see more of this rather than less.  Thank goodness healthcare is pretty immune.  I feel very safe.


Tuition costs will come down because they have to.  Who can afford $3000 to $4000 for an education now?  Not many people.  Who can afford $2000 for an education with no job guarantee???


I'll say it again, you must get a job guarantee if you are a prospective student.  Staffing school, partner alliance, MT Company that operates a school.  Those will become the favorites out of necessity.  My old college major was business.  Look for changes.


 


All I can tell you is I have been watching this issue very closely for the past 5 years...

and have seen a definite trend afoot. Let me say I have over 20 years experience in health care and MT. I also own a transcription service. I spend a lot of time networking with other people in this field. This is what I see.


1) Nearly all the major transcription services have gone to Voice Recognition platforms.(See Company Board) When they did this, they chopped the wages in half, with the idea that you should be able to produce twice as much edited work as transcribed work. However, this penalizes the fast experienced transcriptionist. It was nothing to be able to make $30-$40 an hour if you were good. As an editor, you make approximately $12. It is very difficult to increase production as an Editor - there are just not many tricks.  In addition, they also have gone offshore, nearly 100% of the big companies. We are not talking small change here. We are talking about a major shift.


2) A significant number of medical offices are switching to electronic medical record systems (EMR) which often have a computerized charting component that would replace medical transcription. We definitely are seeing FREQUENT posts about people losing accounts to EMR.


3) Every year, the physicians coming out of medical school are more and more comfortable with technology.  They live and breath with their laptops. They pay their bills on-line, they get their music on line, they find houses, cars and dates on line. They can type faster than I can. They will certainly be even less resistant to technology.


4) The AAMT which could have been the unified voice among MT's to deal with these challenges, has sold out for getting more members overseas - an untapped market to buy books, training, and equipment. $Cha-Ching$! And they ditched us.


So, say you have 150,000 jobs in an industry and 1/3 are lost to off shore and 1/3 are lost to voice recognition and EMR. What kind of competition do you think is going to be left among the remaining 1/3?   Do you think you, as a newbie, are going to be able to compete? Do you think wages are going to go UP if there are more than enough transcriptionists, all competing for the same job?


So you can be scared and upset and deny it's happening...or you can adapt...Me? I enrolled in nursing school. When MT collapses, which I believe it is on the verge of, I will be ready.


 


MT is not worth it anymore. Would not worry about past. Did need to give ID to be hired though.
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of these posts before I enrolled in an MT course. Thanks

Please read through the posts below (sm)
and be forewarned that there are so-called "companies" and "MTSOs" out there who say they hire newbies but then ask for money upfront in order to work for them. Bottom line: do not pay to work, except for purchasing your own software and equipment. Reputable companies and MTSOs will not ask you for money and will not need you to buy a footpedal from them. Take care and good luck!
It's been only a little over a month since the last posts about this (sm)
Tsk, tsk. This woman needs to go away and stop ripping people off.
Maybe it would help if posts had times on them
so we could see when each was posted. Sometimes it's two people posting at once, and one person got interrupted in the middle and took a while to finish and send.
I agree with both posts above...

I have over 30 years experience and started in a hospital.


Good luck!


If all you get from reading the MQ posts
is about ASR, you're not paying attention.
All of your posts are helpful, but

I'm an almost Newbie who has become very confused reading all the posts about good schools, bad schools, good companies, bad companies -whew - my head is turning.  This is something I have wanted for a long time.  I've gotten taken by 2 bad schools and I'm just about to finish my third attempt and this time I'm determined to work.  My problem is I can't afford to quit my current job in insurance and maybe not make enough money as an MT.  I also don't know where to start to find a reputable company to even try to get MT work.  I got into the Trans-Scam deal about 4 years ago and that had just completely discouraged me.  I thought I would never be able to be an MT.  I just didn't have what it takes.  This time I'm determined and would certainly appreciate all the feedback you all have.  I read some posts from MT's making pretty good money - but does anyone ever reveal what those good companies are?


 


Posted by DJ...about 8 posts down. nm

There are several recent posts....

from their graduates who have found jobs.  You may want to do a quick search.


What about all the "I can't get an MT job, nobody will hire me" posts?
Are all those people who are begging for work lying?

Just because some people get lucky and get jobs regardless of their training (or lack thereof) certainly doesn't mean everyone will get lucky.
Toni, I have been seeing your posts SM

and I have to say that you are really misinformed about the MT world.  To any newbie reading, her opinions on where a person should get training - she is putting out information that is simply incorrect.


The capper for me today is reading the post above this, where she is giving out her opinion on who is who in the MT world and who owns what.  It's just wrong. 


Read through previous posts here...SM
This topic comes up frequently, actually. Your school SHOULD be offering you placement assistance - ask who hires their grads. Try local hospital/doc offices, and keep applying. I wouldn't buy equipment because you never know what you'll need for a job. Purchasing some references would be a good idea, though.
From some of the posts I've seen on here I'd stay away....
apparently the pay sucks....and you don't even get paid for at least the first month that you work there. It can be hard finding a job as a newbie, but it can be done. You just have to apply/submit your resume everywhere, even if they say they want experience and if they will let you test for them, take the test. That's how I got my job and I'm making 8 cpl. And I got hired by a national before I was even finised with school by a company that said they wanted two years of experience. Don't sell yourself short by just taking anything that comes along.
What you don't see are the negative posts that were removed (sm)
The moderator deleted the negative posts because they were related to grammar errors and were getting out of hand.
Don't let negative posts discourage you.
I read the posts replying to yours and I just felt like they were very negative. Do not let them get you down. There is always such negativity on this board. It is true that the first year will be harder and you will not make tons of money. But I feel like with any new job, it is going to take a while to get good at it. If you are going to be the breadwinner, then you might have a problem but if you are married and your husband makes pretty good, you'll be fine. After a while, you will get faster and faster and make more and more money. I think most importantly, you being happy at what you are doing is what matters. I am still a newbie and make a little bit more with each day that passes by. So don't worry about it. It seems a lot of these seasoned MTs are jaded and just want to bring you down. Do what you enjoy.
I guess I should have clarified this since posts have been
what I meant was why anybody would go to the trouble of starting out now to be an MT..the intense training it takes. I certainly can understand those of us who have been in the biz for a while... but now I see the post above is about "being a part time MT" Do newbies not understand the amount of training it takes? That is my point...it takes years to be proficient to cover all acute care...and only to make a small wage...that was my point.. And I stand by it. It is a profession that absolutely does not pay off for new hires.
I agree 100%. I also had posts removed because of mentioning

the school I graduated from that was not one of the "Big 3".  I didn't use bad language and I wasn't rude in the least, so there could be no other reason that my posts were pulled except that I mentioned my school.  And this happened 3 or 4 times, not just once.


I see now that my school actually has it's own board, which is good.


She is incoming new MT and I hope that she can get some help here. Previous posts

that I had to remove were made by experienced MTs and were very ugly in nature.  Nichole came here and asked for help and when she was ridiculed only then did she retaliate.  I posted a Sticky above about helping incoming new MTs and not treating them like they are trash.  I would ask all experienced MTs to please follow that advice or don't post at all.


Thank you,


Administrator


I love reading your posts Patti!
nm
It's good to read positive posts...
I can't really say I'm discouraged because I haven't put my self out there yet. Once I start applying then I can determine whether it was worth the money and time or not. I am going to apply to every company I can find and I'm going to send resumes and letters to all the Drs in my area and see if anyone will "bite" and help me get my foot in the door! Thanks LISA
Gotta go thru all the posts here and on the Company board to see if you
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Go thru ALL the posts on these many pages and you'll find most of
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Search thru the posts here. Depending on the branch, their newbie pay is only 3-4 cpl. nm
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Read Company board and do a search. Many posts about them. nm
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Now why am I attacked because your posts are confusing? Sheesh. Watch out everybody.

there's a snake loose on the boards.


I have the right person and you are too quick to reply to posts. A professional
You don't see the big guns worrying about anything posted on this board. Sheesh.
Please do not post email addresses in posts; I removed yours. (nm)
Goldbird
Ooops! Nevermind So. I found the answer from the posts below. Thanks. :-)
xxxx
It's all a gamble. Read through posts on the Company board
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Spend some time reading through posts on this board
and you'll find your info about the preferred schools and the ones to avoid.  I don't know of any MT company that is setup to work with MAC. 
Thank you Admin for removing the posts below regarding people who lost accounts.. Appreciate it.
x
I'll sign that one...I quit reading her posts about a month ago
because they are so negative and condescending.  If she was nearly as smart as she thought she was, she would be kinder. I haven't read one of her posts in at least a month.  If I see her name as the poster, I simply skip that particular message. She is a nasty individual, in my opinion anyway.
I've seen awful work from "experienced MTs and good work from new graduates
I've seen awful work from "experienced MTs and good work from new graduates.

Training and education really does make a difference. Some people just have 15 or 20 years of very bad experience. They may be fortunate that one employer was willing to hire and keep them, but if that one closed, they would be in trouble. It all depends on the person. some new graduates are a better bet then some experienced MTs. I would prefer to find an experienced MT with great skills and a teachable attitude, but many experienced MTs know everything and are only willing to do things the way they've always done them.
most psych work is included in multispecialty hospital work..sm
contracted to a medical transcription service that requires multispecialty experience because of the hospital work. Unfortunately, very rarely can a medical Transcriptionist these days be given only one specialty when working for a service or hospital. We have to be well versed in multi specialties. The Turn Around Time on demands have increased, and thus the service or hospital gives the MT many different types of work. Learn as many specialties and gain as much experience in different specialties, which in turn will make you a more valuable MT and more apt to gain employment.
Also, does no one bother to read previous posts here? Scroll down & someone posted a list found by s
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Just be sure not to pay for work. There is an MTSO below who apparently charges to work for them (sm
It might be tempting when you're getting desperate for work to pay someone so you can work for them, but don't do it. You can buy software and a foot pedal on your own, so don't let them fool you. If you are approached via e-mail from this site by an MTSO saying they have work for you, please read the posts below before making any decisions.
Can you share where you work that the work is plentiful? nm
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Read ALL the posts on this board & the Company board and you'll
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You got lucky. See the tons of posts here of others who weren't so lucky. nm
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Work for MTs
I was hired before I even graduated or had begun job hunting by a large transcription company. It was the easiest job I have ever gotten. I was hired because I attended a top-notch school (M-TEC) and did well in the program. There are plenty of jobs for well trained MTs, even new ones.