Try the FTC or your state's Department of Labor and Industry.
Posted By: you can fight this. on 2005-11-26
In Reply to: I had no idea... - Stacey L Lopez
I think the FTC is www.ftc.org
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
- SCAM! - Stacey L Lopez
- I had no idea... - Stacey L Lopez
- Try the FTC or your state's Department of Labor and Industry. - you can fight this.
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The Department of Labor website
has tables that should answer your question. There is no absolute answer. There are so many variables that responses from individual MTs would apply strictly to those MTs with their particular skills in their particular locations and not necessarily equate to your situation. Best to check the DoL site for your locale.
sorry, that should be Department-knew something didn't look right
nm
Breaking into the industry!
I seriously would keep looking considering the money is already spent giving the education. Breaking into the field as a new MT isn't easy.
1. A small MTSO who is looking for a new MT. I have seen a few ads on the Job Seeker board here for new MTs if you have the right equipment.
2. Going in-house for a few years to train and then transitioning to the work-at-home atmosphere.
Keep looking! Good luck to you!
Industry certainly isn't the same anymore - sm
I'm a +35-year MT and still going strong, had my own business, worked in-house for hospitals/docs, done it all, work for MTSO now, but just like other industries, a lot has changed and most not for the good. I have stayed with an MTSO for only a couple of reasons - My husband has been transferred many times over the years all over the country and this is one job that I can keep doing wherever my next address is . . .I can visit family and take my work with me when I travel. It is a very isolating profession to be at home, lack of social networking and getting to meet people in new areas.
I have numerous docs for medical conditions and not one of them uses a Transcriptionist anymore, all have their own laptops they carry around. So much is offshored, VR is taking over for many facilities, and many transcription services have been gobbled up over the years by larger ones, also much of it not for the good . .I am just hoping to hang on for 10 more years until I can retire, but I'm not even sure how much of a demand there will be for my years of knowledge and quality work - it's all about the bottom line for these MTSOs and medical facilities - I saw the writing on the wall about 20 years ago or so in Calif when managed care started. One doctor I worked 15 years for was very involved in fighting it with insurance companies as HMOs moved in, of course, to no avail. It all trickles down eventually. I know many people in the business and with whom I keep in touch, and we all feel the same way. It's just sad.
It used to be you could find a mentor to see you through the early years - I had one and that was worth more than my college degree in some ways. I still believe that work experience in-house for acute care/multispecialty is still necessary to gain a good grasp of what transcription is about, but I'm old school, and I'm sure some will disagree - I tried to train/employ new MT's for my business right as they were getting started, and 90% of them just didn't get it, no matter what their courses - an at-home transcription course or college graduate - I couldn't believe the lack of comprehension of the English language in most of them.
This has just been my own personal experience I'm passing along. Overall would I recommend this profession to someone looking to get started in it - NOT ANY MORE.
Disclaimed: Please excuse any typos/grammar errors to those who love to play transcription police - I'm doing this very fast, as I am in the middle of working and typing on a separate keyboard off to the side - always have numerous computers going for different things. I normally don't even post on here, but I happened to click on the wrong board and this caught my eye - I'm sure this subject has been brought up many times here.
I truly am empathetic to your situation and wish I could give you a more uplifting opinion. Good luck to you and anyone else in the same boat.
You represent all that is wrong in the MT industry
I'm sorry, but it's true. And MTs wonder why we get no respect these days..... 
AAMT is not the BE ALL of the MT industry. Frankly, I think they're a
joke. I also wouldn't recommend anyone to one particular "approved" school. The best schools are Andrews, MTec, Career Step, and SETT. Don't get hooked up with any school that you see on TV or read an ad in the paper that promises you can earn piles of money straight out of school.
It's not day labor . . .
MT isn't day labor. It's a difficult job that requires experience and considerable practice to reach the point where you have marketable skills, and then more practice in order to improve to the point that you can earn a decent living from it.
You pretty much need to be working consistently to be able to get experience and keep it up to date. Every time you came back to work, you would be so rusty it would take weeks to get back up to speed.
Services typically do not have pools. If they did, they'd be unable to predict when people would work or how much they would work. That wouldn't be very good for business. The work isn't done casually on a "whenever" basis.
MT is not a good choice if you are not able to commit to serious training and a consist schedule.
Well, all I can say is the Board of Labor Statistics should visit our hospital where
an entire radiology department went to VR with Dictaphone's platform and within 30 DAYS were dictating their own stuff without ANY MT EDITING. Including the high-speed dictator, the Pakistani dictator who doesn't even WANT to do it, and the lazy slurring dictator. I think in light of my own experience, the Labor Board is behind the times. The statement below is no longer true.
"In spite of the advances in this technology, the software has been slow to grasp and analyze the human voice and the English language, and the medical vernacular with all its diversity. As a result, there will continue to be a need for skilled medical transcriptionists to identify and appropriately edit the inevitable errors created by speech recognition systems, and to create a final document."
Board of Labor Statistics has a generalized view-
would hardly say they have their finger on the MT market pulse.
the US Labor Dept does a little blurb on thousands of jobs...
you can see that they certainly don't have their pulse on the MT field like people who have been living it and breathing it for the past 20 years. I've been in it since the 80's, in my first IC job started at 9 cpl, now can't even BID a job for 11 cpl as I get outbid. However my biggest account just told me they are trialing a speech recognition system. I looked at some of the test runs and darned if the thing isn't working quite well. So there goes $100,000 a year for myself and five of my MT's. There's no security in this market. Your service can lose an account **snap** like that and then you scramble to try to get another...so I know you think you've got what it takes, but it's like trying to get an acting job when the rest of the world is watching cartoons...So....I'm in nursing school....
umm...I hate to tell you this...but further Labor Board stats show wages in 2004
at $29,530. They were $23,500 in 1997. So we've gained $6000/yr in 10 years? Woohoo- you're right-- Medical Transcription must not be in trouble.
"Compensation varies not only among regions of the country, but among types of employers as well. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical transcriptionists earned an average salary of $29,530 in 2004. The average hourly wage was $14.20."
"Medical transcriptionists averaged about $ 23,500 in 1997 woking in hospitals, and about $ 22,600 working in offices and clinics of medical doctors."
What state do you live in??
nm
How could we help? All you can do is state the experience you have.
.
Can I ask what state you're in? nm
nm
Reply to state question
NC.....
what city state are you looking for work in?
Sounds like a sad state of affairs.
That really sounds awful! I was considering this company, having only a year's worth of experience. I was watching this thread to see how it all comes out. It does not sound like this would be a good place for me to try to start a career after all - newbie or not. I have read this stuff before. For it to keep coming up, there must be some truth to it.
Is there any newbie friendly company out there worth hitching your wagon to? Spheris sounds like it has the potential to basically be okay, but creating the environment where the MTs have to scratch around for work is just kind of sad.
Minimum wage in my state is 5.15 and
some days I don't even make that transcribing. I have two transcription accounts, heavy VR. If I only looked at this with respect for the money I made, I would be depressed. I also needed a career change (and made fair money before MT). But, I consider MT a trade off. These are some of the added benefits as I see them beyond the pay:
No to and from work commute (I save two hours daily). Not having to drive in inclement weather (that just scares me, I don't miss that). No work clothes or uniforms to buy or keep up (how do I calculate that?). No eating out for lunch or even packing a lunch for work (save money there). No office politics or drama to deal with (priceless). Being able to schedule MD appointments and other things that come up and work around those without begging my "boss'" permission (again, priceless). Not having a job where I am standing on my feet all day (I'm too old for that anymore). Saving a bit of money on taxes using my home office for work (always a help). Being home and able to keep up with the laundry, housework and have a homecooked meal on the table at a decent hour (pretty close to priceless to me). Being able to watch TV or DVDs in the evening with my husband again and have family time and even keep my grandchildren for the whole weekend if I want (priceless to me). These are some of the things that make MT a better trade off for me than what I had before when I made better pay, particularly on those days when I don't. There is value to all of that to me.
Just my opinion.
She didn't say she worked in another state. That's why I asked WHY?
x
Posting your full name and your city/state
isn't a very good idea.
Search the net by city and state. Many jobs/services out there that you'll never see here or on
s
How would you show the cards in person when you work in another state? You copy them and mail/fax
s
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