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Acute care and clinic work are two completely different

Posted By: sm on 2009-03-24
In Reply to: There's isn't a transition.... - it's one in the same....

things. Anyone can switch from acute care to clinic, but if all you've done are a few clinics, then you only have experience in a few specialties & acute care requires experience in ALL specialties. Big difference.


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is that clinic work or acute care if I may ask?
I prefer acute care and am really not interested in clinic but was told I have to do it
Acute care versus clinic work...sm

Which do you feel you can get a better line count on and would you take a slight pay cut to do just clinic work?  Most acute care accounts have such difficult dictators and such I was wondering if it would just be better to go to a good clinic account even if it meant less per line.  Opinions? 


Clinic work versus acute care?
Anybody have any input as to the money to be made doing clinic work versus acute care?
Are there companies out there that have clinic work? Tired of acute care..
I have both hospital and clinic experience, but I am tired of working for large hospitals where you cannot get familiar with the accounts or the dictators.  I work part-time for an orthopedic surgeon and I love doing it as I can breeze through it because I have learned his style, voice etc.. It is getting so frustrating every day doing different doctors who either cannot speak English or choose to speed talk and ramble on so fast.  Do they think we are miracle workers?? I guess you could say I want an easy account, which by now, I have figured out, does not exist OR does it?? HELP.. any ideas besides getting out of this profession
Clinic or acute care? I am looking to work 5-6 hours a day during the morning and early SM
afternoon hours.  Which type of work is more appropriate for this kind of schedule, clinic or acute care? I really do have some time constraints outside of these hours as well as on weekends, so I need to find something where I can concentrate on working during those daytime hours.  I am a newer Transcriptionist (at this point looking for IC), and I am hoping to find a place to stay for a long time.   Any advice appreciated.   Thanks
How are the MW accts that use the ExText? Good sound? Lots of work? Acute care or clinic? Thx. nm
s
Was that for acute care or clinic? nm
nm
Are they looking for Acute Care or Clinic?

There are a few posts already about Axolotl if you want to do a search.  A lot of negative lately.  Clinic work is not bad but the pay is average.  Acute Care is terrible.  90% ESL on some accounts and every account has conflicting Account Specifics so you really have to pay attention to which account you are on. (for example, if the dictator says 50 cc - you type on one account 50 cc, but on another 50 mL), and QA will nail you on that if you do it wrong.   Work comes in by TAT, so you may switch every other job between 2 or 3 accounts all day or get a string of the same horrible ESL dictator in a row.  No flexibility.  They are a small company with only enough MTs to cover incoming jobs.  You tell them what hours you are going to work and you have to be there at that specific time.  Really depends on what you are looking for in a new job.  Ask lots of questions.  Let us know how it goes. 


Clinic should pay 8 cpl and acute care 9 cpl
Clinic notes can be just as difficult as acute care.  You can run up against difficult dictators and varying templates.  Acute care reports can be longer, but not anymore difficult especially if you know the specialty.  I say 7 cpl for clinic is way too low.  Acute care should pay more in that you will most likely have a variety of dictators and specialties whereas with clinic you tend to get the same dictators and shorter reports, but not always.    JMO. 
Acute care or clinic? - nm
NM
Clinic and some acute care
I work on clinic, but I also work in acute care too.  The work is not an over abundance, but it's enough to keep me going.  I hate to hear you are having such problems.  At my last job I had a humdinger of an account and just could not make my lines.  It's so frustrating, but hang in there.  Maybe things will change soon. 
both acute care and clinic
-- not sure about ER. No benefits, not quite an IC, actually SE (statutory) status/no benefits. They have a couple systems in place, my work is done over the I/N; some positions require unlimited LD.
They have acute care, ER and multispecialty clinic,
nm
225+ acute care 300+ clinic - I avg'd almost 400/hr this week - sm
It is easier to get more on clinics because your expansions can be much more specific than on acute care. I have over 40,000 entries now, so most things I don't have to type straight. If you have specific questions, feel free to email
acute care versus clinic
You are so right. Same here. Started in acute care about 15 years ago back when they had tapes. arrrgh! I started out weekends in radiology which was for 5 docs and then when I graduated college went to HIM to do acute care. Started with maybe 30 doctors and doing all kinds of reports and hospital grew to 250 doctors minimum before I left there a couple of years ago. Now I am so thankful for the experience because I am very flexible with what I can do and that makes a better candidate on an interview. Best of luck to you and do stick with it if you can. Actually, I think its great if you are only missing it by less than 100 lines a day. Some advice, though, make you your own 'normals' and maybe save them in folders in Word or something if you can. Even if the dictation isn't the same every time, you can read through while the person is dictating and change what needs to be changed. Op notes are notoriously repetitive for surgeons, barring complications, so that is why it is important to proof as they dictate. Hope this helps bump up that production.
Does MDI-MD have clinic accounts or only acute care? nm
nm
Acute care is quite a bit harder than clinic.
Definitely. Never a good idea to lie. You won't find anyone at most big companies to ask beginner questions to, on ops or otherwise.
Acute care is very different than clinic notes

I have been an MT for 20 years.  I have hired and trained MTs for a service.  There is a HUGE difference between clinic notes and acute care.  The poster who says she made the switch and didn't have problems is lucky and is probably a very good MT, who had a good base of knowledge to start with.  It can be done, but not in every case. 


Some MTs who work on clinic notes work for the same set of dictators every day typing about colds and aches and pains.  Dictators tend to say the same things over and over.  Most clinic notes are only a 2 or 3 paragraphs.  They work for the same set of dictators for years and even have their stuff canned, just pull it in and make the changes.


You put that same MT on an acute care account for a large teaching hospital and they may have a nervous breakdown, I've seen the meltdown, it's not pretty.  On an acute care account like that you may have all the specialities and subspecialties, probably 30-40 or maybe more, adults and peds, with all the dictators, anywhere from 5 to ??  And residents, let's not forget them.  And all the work types.  They are dictating DS, H&Ps, consults, ORs, clinic visits, progress notes, etc.  They are dictating about new procedures and medications that may not even be in reference books yet or that are experimental.  Some of those reports are 20-30 minutes long, 7 or 8 pages.


I'm not knocking the clinic MTs, but don't just assume because one does clinic notes, they can jump into acute care.  That would be very misleading and a total injustice to a newbie who read that and got into an acute care position, possibly setting themselves up for failure. 


 


Also acute care here and maybe the clinic people
should have learned how to branch out to acute rather than losing jobs to EMR if that is the case.
Can you give us the name of the company and if it's clinic or acute care? Thx. nm
s
Multi clinic versus acute care

I was wondering if it is possible to make a good line count with a multi-speciality clinic.  I was offered a PT position; one with acute care and one with a multi-clinic.  Just wondering what you all thought.


I beg to differ. Acute Care versus Clinic
You may have the same terminology in clinic as with Acute care, but I promise you, you will have terminology in Acute Care that you will never see in clinic. The terminology in Acute care is more extensive than in clinic. I have done the both, but I specialize in Acute Care with Ops. I've been in the business 30 years. Multispeciality clinic is quicker and easier terminology, therefore the pay is less.
Both their acute care and clinic starting offers are more than that.
nm
Was told recently that they do 70% clinic notes and 30% acute care, very few Ops. Don't know
m
It depends if clinic or acute care, years of experience, can you do
ESLs.   They pay about the same as most companies. 
I spoke with recruiter 3-4 wks ago and was told mixed acute care & clinic, no ops exclusively. Low
s
Do you recommend starting with clinic notes or acute care when just starting in the MT field?
!I realize this question may be better suited for the new MT board, but this board is my favorite)

I am considering accepting an acute care position, even though I am just out of MT school. However, I don't want the learning curve to be so steep that I fail before I even begin. I would also like to have a smaller pool of dictators to transcribe from as opposed to many.

Also, are there more ESLs in acute care versus clinic/dr office work?

What has your experience been? Would you do it differently?

Thanks for any insight!
is this acute or clinic work? nm

Acute and/or clinic work? Set schedule or flexible hours? Thank you! nm

I can do between 175-200 (acute care) when there is enough work.
nm
well, ask for acute care work , or can't you do that?
m
TT only acute care work?
I am looking for clinic work only and from posts am unable to tell if they have only hospital transcription.  I am burning out on testing with companies only to find out they have no clinic work.  Any information would be appreciated.  Many thanks! 
Acute care work pays more
nm
Acute care running out of work N/M
b
Is acute care work drying up? sm
It seems most of the jobs I see posted are for clinic accounts, even at my own company.  I happen to do acute care now, but now I'm wondering how long it's going to last.  I don't want to do clinic notes.  
Thanks for the advice. The idea of clinic work sounds good, but I do feel comfortable with acute ...
care. I have a lot of experience with operative notes, DS, consults, radiology etc.. but I am not that thrilled with ESLs. It is just harder to make money on them. I think I will look into clinic work. It was only the lack of work that was bothering me about these companies and mismanaging the accounts they did have, broken promises, and just getting the runaround.. over everything from benefits to work.
Just curious if the MDIs who are out of work are on acute care? nm
nm
If the company handles acute care work,
you can assume the hospitals demand coverage. That's how it's always been. The hospitals are open for business, so so are services.

We aren't much different from nurses or other acute care healthcare workers. If you want guaranteed holidays off, you need to get your work from offices that close on holidays.

I'll never figure out why people are so appalled that holidays have to be covered and we have to take our turns. The nicer places I've worked have split the coverage up so those covering would only have to work a half-day though. And there should be holiday bonus offered.
I agree. Acute care weekend work is different.
Acute care usually hires employees, pretty much, from what I can tell.  They'll need coverage for weekends.  If an IC or employee stipulates no weekends, and they are hired with that in mind, then why send work their way?  This is the fault of the employer or client sending the work, not at all the MT.  I kind of get tired of hearing how people get abused in this profession simply because they want a day off.  We need days off just like everyone else, and someone who particularly wants to work those days will surely cover if there is an urgent report to be typed, but THIS PAYS MUCH MORE!  STAT reports and weekend coverage should pay primo rate, in my opinion, and none of these MTSO's I have seen, so far, has come even close to the compensation I would look for to be at their beck and call.  Enough said, I guess.  
The jobs I have doing acute care work seem to be quite busy. sm

The clinic work that I do is still low, but that was discussed below ... I don't think it has anything to do with the holidays, and I do not care anymore.


Generally, probably hospital work is the way to go as far as a steady stream of work.  With clinic work, doctors can take off, shut down totally for holidays, etc., which leaves a big hole, obviously.  That's just my opinion, of course.


It would be great to have just one great job you could rely on to always give you a nice fat check each time, but I am beginning to realize if I truly want to be safe, I need to hedge my bets with several other jobs as well.  At least until I win the lottery


No, it isn't nice. Most people do acute care, rad, or clinics. Work
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I worked in acute care and left due to lack of work.
My primary was just overflow, though they didn't tell us that.  I had followed the account from another company and there should have been 3 times the work.  Every week I was asking for a new account because they kept giving me accounts that were evidently overlow or otherwise very low volume accounts and I still wasn't getting 20 hour/week. 
I work on acute care accounts, so I can't speak for the radiology side. (SM)
The work does look like it's beginning to pick up though for acute care.
I work for a major national and starting rate is no where near 9 cpl for acute care. (nm)
x
at that rate, working acute care, I would do $28 an hour - but I only work 6 hours a day...
Like she said, you just have to be able to utilize all your tools and be at it for years - it comes eventually...

I actually make $33.00 an hour though because at my production tier I make 10 cpl a line.
I went from clinic to acute

I worked for about 10 years as an IC for clinc work, then lost my account (like you).  I got a job in house at my local hospital and also applied with a national for PT work at home with a teaching hospital.  Things were slow going at first, having to look a lot of things up, etc.  I left the in house job after a couple years to be at home full time again.  Being in house helped a lot because of having the other girls to help and I also learned the ins and outs of HIM dept.  Poster below is correct about teaching hospitals being difficult.  But if you are going to learn acute, you have to do them.  I find the work very interesting.  I now work at home as a full time employee for a teaching hospital and couldn't be happier.


See what companies will test you for acute care even though you don't have experience.  I passed my test by a national.  The test took me a while, looking things up, etc, but it was worth it.  Just remember things will be slow for a while.  I only did about 150 lines an hour in the beginning (now I am at 300+).        


    


acute/clinic
clinic is not like ER, pays less than acute, you may have a few ESL in any clinic company, and is different from acute in that you have all different specialties who have different word lists, from ENT to dermatology to pediatrics, etc., and once you learn them, make macros or normals, you can make more LPH.
Clinic or acute?
Do any of you happen to work on the clinic side? Just wondering. Thanks.
they have mostly acute but some clinic
x
clinic or acute
The ad says that they are looking for acute cardiology. I am thinking this is a hospital account. I could be wrong. It does not specifically state clinic though.
100+ clinic and 50+ acute - really depends on
x