There is no way I could type as fast without an expander.

Tell her you will type what is on it, [2008-12-03]
especially if you did not charge the first time for the duplicate reports as you have been down this road before. Definitely do not WASTE your time by listening through first and making a patient list. You might suggest that the doctor separate his reports out in teh future as he dictates and then the office staff can make a list and give to you with the flashdrives. That way, if there is a patient on the list and you do not get you, you can let them know.

Make your expander lists portable [2008-12-01]
The esp file can be saved as mentioned.The next step is to make it work in Bayscribe. One solution is to use Instant Text and import your esp file. Once your Expander file is an Instant Text glossary, it is portable and you can use it on any MTSO transcription platform. MarianneTextware Solutions

Depends on type of prepaid card sm [2008-11-28]
I have a Visa debit card through ADP. They are the payroll processing company used by Medquist (which is where I got the card initially) and many other companies, not just MTSOs. The only fee involved is $1.50 per month to have the card and fees for using it at an ATM, which is the same as if it were through a traditional banking account. I can also transfer the funds to my saving account if I want or set it up to have a certain percentage put on the card and the rest in the bank. I have had this card for about 3 years now and love it. However, if the card they are wanting you to use is like the ones you can get at grocery stores, Wal-Mart, etc, stay clear. They require fees for almost everything from getting your money loaded onto it to using it for each and every purchase. As far as not wanting to give out routing information for direct deposit, why is there such a worry? So long as the information is given only to your employer, there shouldn't be a problem. Unless this is only a short-term job, I don't see the big deal.

Macro expander [2008-11-28]
Have anyof you used that new Windows Expanderex product advertised on this site? What kind of file does it use? Is it compatible with Shorthand? Sure wish they would make one available that isn't so expensive. Would like one for home use but don't want to spend over $100.

Expander Tips [2008-11-28]
Is there a website or book that lists Expander tips? I am going back to transcribing after editing the past few years and need to build up my AutoCorrect. Thanks in advance!

I tend to proof my reports as I type, [2008-11-26]
during pauses in dictation I read the paragraphs above and also while spellchecking. Unless it is a difficult report, I do not relisten.

In 12 years of MT'ing I've never re-read an entire chart. Edit/read as I type. nm [2008-11-26]
x

I proof as I type too, unless it is a difficult dictator or I have [2008-11-26]
rambling sentences. I sometimes check the paragraphs, i.e. HP, ER coure, plan.

How long on average does it take to type 30 min of dictation? [2008-11-20]
nt

I use the stethoscope type s/m [2008-11-18]
They go right into the ears and I just love it. I've used earbud types that you squish to fit into your ears and didn't really like that because they kept falling out. I also liked a pair that I had liked from RadioShack that were Sony. These fit right over the ears and were noise canceling type as well.

She just cant read fast enough. It makes her sad :( [2008-11-16]
nm

Are you currently receiving any type of [2008-11-13]
assistance or benefits through OVR (Office of Vocational Rehab)? That could be a motivating factor for this counselor to get you to take a job that is obviously beneath your qualifications. I would hold out. She can't force you to take it.

Do you have Allow Fast Saves checked on one of the computers? [2008-11-13]
Look at the save tab in the options on both computers. You need to uncheck fast saves, then both computers should give you the same count.

the work first goes to the supervisors (if they have to type too) and they pick the best. Then filt [2008-11-13]
If I work during the day I get junk dictation, if I get on later or after midnight the work is normal. These people you call leads have to type too and are at an advantage to get the best dictation. I guess they feel this is a bennie. They can't see our face so what do they care, we are like a number in Auschitz to them.

Three word phrases are all that I put in my expander. [2008-11-12]
dd

No Box Pops Up When I Type [2008-11-06]
I added some word and phrase entries to Expanderic. I did not see any settings for a suggestion box on or off. When I typed in MS Word there was noo box popping up so I guess Expanderic does not have a box. If I am wrong and I am missing something, please let me know. Thanks

MTs who type in a recliner or bed? [2008-11-05]
Isn't itawkward to type in bed or a recliner? Where do you put the pedal so that you are in a good comfy position? Are you using a pedal or the keyboard for the audio files? I am just trying to picture this?

fast fox [2008-11-05]
Fast Fox by NCH, the Expander by the people that gave you Express Scribe. It has been good for me, it is easy and CHEAP. Go to NCH.com to download a free trial. No I don't work for NCH but I tried it because I always like express scribe.

I don't see how you can have an expander [2008-11-05]
for different numeric values.

A good expander pays for itself in no time at all. [2008-11-05]
Word files corrupt too easily so be sure to keep a backup for when you've lost all your shortcuts. Also remember that you can only use autotext in Word and you're working harder not smarter. JMHO.

Exactly what type of incentives are given? [2008-10-30]
After working for the same companyfor some time now and knowing0.085 is the most they will pay, no matterhow good or how long you've been there, I have been researching the job boards.I have seen incentives being offered along with the usual line rate, and have read on this board of others making GREAT annual incomes WITH their incentives. I am curious, what type of incentives arebeing offered out there?? Thanks!!

So, if I were to type 10,000 lines in a pay period (sm) [2008-10-30]
for that company, would an incentive be given or is that amount expected for a full-time employee? Curious!

Yes and it is called an expander. There [2008-10-30]
are several. ShortHand (also called Speed Type), Instant Text (not sure of the correct spelling) are 2 that I can think right now. A lot of companies use ShortHand.

Expander [2008-10-29]
Thank you so much for information, great help !!!

Do you type faster with music? [2008-10-29]
I love music (and rocking out!) but never have tried it while working. Does it help you to type faster? Maybe I will try it!

speakers [2008-12-04]
I've always used the metal Lanier type headphones and they've been great, but I just tried a pair of Sony digital reference headphones for listening to music. They are a little heavy on your head, but the sound quality is wonderful.. you hear things you couldn't before. Having the speakers on just seems to muffle voice for me and I tend not to hear as well. So, next to the Sonys, I would use the metal earphones.Hope this helps.

Glad you got that off your chest. I feel [2008-12-04]
when the doc is delinquent and HIM gives him the notices to make him dictate, that is the time I work extra to make more money... this way my bank account will be bigger the next time he goes on his golf outing for a few weeks, or to his house in the Bahamas and I go broke waiting, waiting, waiting (as the dictators say when looking through a chart) for more dictations to type.

I'm getting another flashdrive and guessing who is on it [2008-12-03]
Okay, last Thanksgiving weekend, my new doctor gave me a flashdrive and I did all the patients, and then she told me nine of them had been done, how did I want to handle that? You all were very kind in giving advice. This was after a girl walked away and left them not knowing up or down on who is done and who is not. Today, she called me and asked me questions about dates and patients. She said she is busy and doesn't really have time to see what is actually on the flashdrives. We're meeting in the morning and she is going to give me another one (or two or three). Should I volunteer to listen and make a patient list, or should I tell her I will type all the patients and expect to be paid for them. I don't want to spend my time listening and not getting paid, honestly. But then I want to try and hold onto this job, having just got laid off from an office with more than one physician (thanks to Cbay). You guys are experts and thank you.

Answer to your first question [2008-12-03]
You wrote: 1. When you made the switch and imported the ShortHand did you need to learn new commands or do anything different to expand your former Shorthand entries? (I just type an abbreviation and hit spacebar and get my expansion). You can alsouse the spacebar to expand in Instant Text. You would type your expansion, hit the spacebar key and you would get your expansion just as you would in SH. For more information, please see the link below. Textware Solutions

I love it. [2008-12-03]
I can type 180 lph hour doing straight transcription and I can edit at an average of 600 lines per hour when I edit reports via escription. I make a lot more money editing than I ever would doing straight trans. This is also from 5 different accounts (big accounts) with 2 different employers. My average is relatively the same with each account. It really depends on the person though. The potential is there but it isn't going to work our for everyone. Good luck!

The MT that defends Indian MTs [2008-12-03]
that steal our jobs is jumping up and down telling someone else not to type for free. Ironic.

So you get a flash drive with voice files on it you are suppose to transcribe? [2008-12-03]
I'm trying to understand. Do you save the transcribed reports on the same jump drive? If that is the protocol, then wouldn't the MT before you typed any reports, then wouldn't they be saved to the flash drive? If so, then you could open up the flash drive and if there are any Word files or text files, you open those up and see what they are. If they are transcribed reports, write the patient's name down and don't transcribe those notes. Whatever the case may be, I would absolutely tell the office manager or whoever you are meeting with that you will type everything on the flash drive and that you expect to be paid for everything you type. You gave them freebies the last time and you're in this business to make money.

This account is sounding like both old MT sm [2008-12-03]
and the office staff are extremely disorganized. Other than making a list of the patients you transcribed, I would not get involved in any pre-transcription listmaking. That's the office's job. What should be happening is that they give you 1 jump drive for every 1 or 2 days' dictation ALONG WITH PATIENT LISTS FOR THOSE TWO DAYS. They have patient schedules in the office or a sign-in sheet, I am sure. They can at least provide you with those. As far as duplicates, state very firmly that due to the state of the records prior to you doing their transcription, they are probably going to have some duplicates and that you expect to be paid for everything you type. This is simply a cost of doing business the way they have been doing it in the past (or associating themselves with) and they are going to have to eat that cost. It's not your problem. If they give you any trouble with any of this, I would drop the account immediately and let them find a sucker to do free typing for them.

I need some advice on starting my own small side business. sm [2008-12-02]
First of all, I have worked for several nationals in the past few years, and equipment has always been provided. I currently have a f/t position with a national that I use my own personal computer for, they just put their software on it. I had what I needed already, as far as foot pedal, Expander program, etc. I have just been sort of rolling ideas around in my head about possibly starting up something small perhaps on a p.r.n. basis just to bring in a little extra income. As I am still just mulling this around in my mind, my questions are: How do I go about getting started? Do I try to purchase equipment first, or start out using tapes? I am worried about spending the money and not having any takers, so I am thinking, I should send out some sort of letters first; but, without having the equipment already, how do I tell them I plan on doing their transcription. Maybe mention tapes first, and tell them I have plans to go digital after I get up and running? These are all just things I wonder about. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to email me with any advice. I have been an MT for 16+ years, but as I said, I have always had all of the stuff provided for me and just don't know how to start. Thanks in Advance!

Which is better? [2008-12-02]
I currently use ShortHand and will be moving to a company that uses Instant Text with Medrite. Was told that my Shorthand could be converted somehow to use within Instant Text or I could use the Medrite expander. I really just want to use Shorthand, but if I cannot, does anyone know which way would be better -- to put my Shorthand expansions into the Instant Text or the Medrite system? When they do this, will my Shorthand basically work the same? Any info greatly appreciated.

To: IT Fan [2008-12-02]
Thank you so much -- I do feel relieved. However, when I looked at the IT manual it seems complicated, with so many different choices. ShortHand looks basic and simple to use in comparison. If you have the time to answer these questions I would really appreciate it: 1. When you made the switch and imported the Shorthand did you need to learn new commands or do anything different to expand your former Shorthand entries? (I just type an abbreviation and hit spacebar and get my expansion). 2. Did it take a lot of time to get used to IT? 3. As a former Shorthand user what were the biggest hurdles you found in making the switch? 4. Now that you've used IT do you prefer it to Shorthand and if so why? Thanks again.

Make your expander lists portable [2008-12-01]
The esp file can be saved as mentioned.The next step is to make it work in Bayscribe. One solution is to use Instant Text and import your esp file. Once your Expander file is an Instant Text glossary, it is portable and you can use it on any MTSO transcription platform. MarianneTextware Solutions

need new computer with old XP!! [2008-12-01]
who do you recommend I go through to get this FAST, and have to put it all on credit card TIA

You do as you like, but I can tell you [2008-12-01]
that disorganization does not always come from the old MT that you've replaced. You can type for free all you want. That's your business. If this person wasn't smart enough to know that there were dictations already transcribed and just handed it over to you on a holiday weekend to sort out the mess, and now doesn't want to pay, that's a bad first impression of the person handling the work that is supposed to have a handle on things. I guess she should have checked, but then again maybe she was in a rush to get to her holiday and not worry about it. I'm sure they'll pass the word all around that Lisa works for free; try her out! What would it cost for them in all honesty to just pay you for the trouble since it was their mistake and not yours? Honestly? But, hey, if you like working for free, that's your business. Good luck with that account! Why not ask the office how the old MT handled this situation? See what answer they give ya? You are all assuming the old MT was the bad one, when in fact it is probably the office; I think it's horrible to have this girl type on a holiday weekend and then come back with well we don't want to pay you know. Horrible! No, I'm not a doormat. It is actually MTs that type for free that give us all a bad name! Gee, I wish I could afford to type for free, but I can't, so I won't. Do you think a patient goes into thisphysician's office and says I've heard this all before from another doctor, so I'm not going to pay you? Doubt it!

Bose [2008-12-01]
First I bought the on-ear type. They were comfy for a few hours but not all day. So I gave them to my husband and they are great for him as that is about the amount he is on the computer. Then I bought an over-the-ear pair and those are pretty comfortable for 8-hour stretches.

I would do this too. Any further duplication SM [2008-12-01]
is going to be on their own dime. If they don't want to pay for redundant reports, then they will make sure they don't give you any to type.

ESCRIPTION INFORMATION [2008-11-29]
Just within the last 2 weeks, I was unable to pick and choose the reports that I loved doing inmy queue anymore. WHY? I wasn't sure at first. Then after 2 weeks, I finally IM-ed the trainer for our company and asked her, thinking SURELY she would know since she was the one who trained us in Escription to begin with,what was going on? I was told she didn't know and referred me to my immediate supervisor. Ok.. so I wrote her an email and she came back with the reason they did that was because the OLDER jobs were being missed and the TAT was in jeopardy (I knew this was a crock because most of those reports have dates on them that were dictated 3-4days earlier) and she said it was also because they weren't able to send us the STAT reports that needed to get through to a random Editor to do in ahurry. I knew THAT was a crock too becauseInever had a problem with them sending those in my queue as welland did them whenever they wanted me to. Okay.. so I deducted those2 replies as meaningless andwas still leftwondering WHY they did it. No one had an answer for me, but... lo andbehold.. this past pay period was a real eye-opener. I was given a WARNING letter by my supervisor because she said my production per hour fell short of my rate per line and they had to give me minimum wage (according to what itisin my state of course)and that 3 of those WARNING letters ina 6-monthpay periodwere cause for termination. Shesaid it was in the manual. I looked andfound nothing in therepertaning to any of that.This is actually what she emailed me: If after payroll is processed your lines per hour multiplied by your line rate is less than minimum wage, that is what puts you at minimum wage where our company, by law, needs to pay you at least minimum wage. It is possible that one can type 4000 lines, for example,in the pay period and not be paid minimum wage, so long as the number of hours they worked did not put them in a minimum wage situation, i.e., 80 hours compared to perhaps 40 hours. Okay so why didn't someone say this to me a while back and where in the manual does it say this? In any case, aside from being monitored after wondering WHY we can't pick and choose our reports, I started thinking back to the days when I made 9 cpl for editing for another company.. then I was talked into coming to the present company I work for now and was given 8.6 cpl because they were just starting a new Speech Team and I was excited to say the least.. I finally have the dream jobI wanted! Well.. thereagain, I spoke too soon and then my immediate supervisor, the one who tried soooo hard to get this going, was demoted to QA with a cut in pay because they wanted to do away with speech forever. Needless to say, she left.. I was the only one left on the Speech Team and DID stay at my rate which was fine. It was then that I left for a month to try another company and I found out they were worse. Long story short, I came back to present company and then ESCRIPTION came into play... 5.5 cpl.. well.. okay.. the platform is better and I think I can do okay.. then more people were hired and NOW it's 4 cpl. I am struggling every day to make ends meet. Even if you were to get 15,000 lines per pay period, that is only 600.00 BEFORE taxes.. that's still poverty pay. Part time, you need only 6,000 per pay period and full time at 12,000. You aren't making jack crap. My co-worker and I get picked on and singled out when we ask questions or challenge them about our pay and find errors in the way the ADJUST it for Escription. Yes, they adjust our pay and we just figured out that our PTO time isn't the 10.00 per hour as promised but they calculate it on the last 6 pay periods.. Didn't use to be like thateither.. it was always at 10.00 per hour. Back to the pick and choose thingee.. Yes, I think they DO keep thegood ones for the clique. It's likehighschool.. you are either with the IN crowd or you're an OUTSIDER and notgood enough to join the GANG.... it's sickening... I have looked high and low for a decent paying editing job out there and there is none to be found..There has to be a better way than this??

My feeling also [2008-11-29]
We all know the story of the golden parachutes these guys get even in the face of the companys going bankrupt. They take their millions and run not giving the employees a second thought. No one wants to be a victim of this type of scenario but it may start unfolding in the next few months to a year. We need to be prepared and aware of what is going on.

You can find lots of music [2008-11-28]
on Youtube. Just type in the artist, group, or song name into the video search. You can save a bunch and can click to have your whole file play or just pick and choose one at a time.

Has anyone heard of this? sm [2008-11-28]
I have an account where they have a doctor who comes in and does nothing but dictate discharge reports. He's just some outside doctor whose job this is. He's obviously paid by the report, judging by how fast he talks. The medical profession is really going downhill when they're so cheap they hire someone to dictate their reports.

Does Editscript V8 now with USB foot pedal? [2008-11-28]
I ended up getting a laptop for my version 8 upgrade since I use another program for another account and can't do both on my desktop. My 9-pin worked fine with a USB adapter on my desktop and the old version ES, but now won't work with V8 and the laptop. It is set correctly and can fast forward and rewind and stop dictation when I tap the center but won't play when I press the center key. I am stuck having to use Alt A to play audio and tap the pedal to pause, which has slowed me down considerably. I've tried to change the brand of the adapter to one of them suggested and it does the same thing as the one I was using. I wonder if it would be worth while to just get a new Infinity USB pedal. I notice when setting the port on Editscript options that it now has a USB option. Has anybody used this type of foot pedal with the V8 successfully? I'm getting very frustrated with this upgrade, especially with the expense at Christmas time and the hours waisted trying to get it to work, that I don't get paid for.

Expander Tips [2008-11-28]
Is there a website or book that lists Expander tips? I am going back to transcribing after editing the past few years and need to build up my AutoCorrect. Thanks in advance!

by doing the harder dictators you.... [2008-11-27]
get valuable experience and when it comes down to it, YOU are the one who looks good and has more potential for raises and promotions because you can do those and do them well when no one else can. Also, you are the one that they'll see can ultimately do ANY type of report/dictator without hesitation or problems. So let them cherrypick. They're only hurting themselves in the long run. (that is, if you work for a company who actually appreciates it's employees!)

I agree... [2008-11-27]
the only way I ever re-listen is if I have a word I didn't quite catch the first time and then will go back and listen to the word again after I type the whole report, but never re-listen to the whole dictation..I would be working all day and night.

It totally depends on the VR platform your company uses...sm [2008-11-27]
Some are very good and the reports require little editing, others are awful the reports can be typed almost as fast as editing them, not good when there is such a difference in pay.