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For those of you working at home w/ a baby...sm - Posted By: MT in MT

How do you do it? My husband and I are trying for our first baby and I am a little nervous about working at home with a newborn. Just curious to know what your schedule is and how it works once they become mobile.

What is your opinion of the Emdat, InScribe program? - Posted By: Sandi

I may have an opportunity to work for a company that uses this program. If you have used this, I would like to know what you think of this program, etc. I have worked in DQS and I liked it as it was very user friendly. If you have had experience with each of these programs, I would really appreciate the pros/cons, comparison of each as well.

Thanks so very much.

Age limit - Posted By: Tracey

Is there any age limit to be a transcriptionist? Could a 16-year-old do it? Thanks!

Upstate New York - Posted By: Elsie

I have finished my MT course and I am waiting for my results, hopefully this week. I live near Glens Falls, New York, and was wondering if there was anyone here who was from my area. I would love to hear from anyone in the vicinity. Elsie

To Felicia - Posted By: sm

I sold you a footpedal a couple of months ago and lost your email address, can you email me? Thanks

Time Code Stamps - Posted By: Dan Edge

Hello All,

For any of you who have had to time code transcripts:

Would it be helpful to have an MS Word application that prints an automated time code stamp? I ask because a programmer friend of mine and I have discussed writing a program to do this, and I'm wondering how useful it would be to you all.

This is how we envision it working: First, you complete the transcript. Then you open the Time Code Stamper in Word, and start going through the audio again. Suppose you want to put a stamp every 15 seconds. When you press a certain keystroke combination (ctrl-shift-f1, for instance), the program inserts a time code stamp in the format you specify. Then you fast-forward the audio to the next 30-second increment. When you find the correct place in the transcript for the next time stamp, you put you cursor on the spot and execute the Time Code Stamper program again. It will automatically increment the time by 30 seconds (or whatever increment you specify) and print the stamp. If you make a mistake, you can click on the menu and manually set the correct time.

I tested this out once with a very simple version of the program, placing time codes in a transcript every 15 seconds, and I was able to complete the whole document in about a quarter of the audio time (e.g., 5 minutes to complete 20 minutes of audio). The few errors I made I was able to fix very quickly and move on.

Like I said, we haven�t actually built a full version of this program yet, I just wanted to get some feedback from the people who could actually be using it. We�re thinking of selling it for $29 or so. What do you think?

If this particular program would not be helpful for you, do you all have any requests for Word formatting programs that would help you? We�re trying to think of different widgets that would be of use to transcriptionists.

Thanks,

Dan Edge
i.am.dan.edge@gmail.com

Strange experience with MTSO. sm - Posted By: Opinions, please.

I answered an ad for some p.r.n. work about a month ago, and I ended up getting hired. It's a very small MTSO, from what I gather, and I immediately received some work. I knew goingin that the MTSO didn't pay until they received pay from their clients, and that was okay because I have my own accounts and just wanted some extra work as filler. I looked the place up online and asked here about it and someone responded that they paid in a timely fashion, were good to work for, etc.

Anyway, the strange thing is, I never received any kind of contract to sign and the MTSO has never even asked for my SSN for 1099. Has anyone ever encountered this? Maybe they just ask for it at tax time, but I think it's rather strange. I have all the emails where the MTSO stated the terms of the account, which I guess could be considered an oral agreement, but I'm somewhat uneasy about this.

I haven't received any pay yet. My first invoice was submitted about 11 days ago. Knowing they wait until their clients pay, that's not entirely unreasonable. However, I'm getting more work and kinda feel like I'm flying on blind faith here. I just wondered if anyone else worked for an MTSO that didn't require a contract or tax ID no. up front. Do I have cause for concern? How long should I consider too long to wait for pay, 30 days?

Sorry, all my experiences before have been with larger MTSOs that provided contract, etc., so I'm just not sure if this is par for the course with the smaller places or not. I guess I'm hoping someone will share their story and put me more at ease, or tell me it's highly unusual and to run like mad. I'm starting to feel leery of taking on more work for fear I'm being duped!!

You know you're short when... - Posted By: vertically challenged

My boyfried recently bought me a new office chair for my birthday. I was very happy as I desperately needed one. The funny thing is that even with the chair all the way down, my feet wouldn't touch the floor...LOL. My toes touched the floor, and I could still manage to push the foot pedal, but it was killing my knees after sitting for long periods from the stress of my legs just "hanging" there. So, my boyfriend build me a very nice platform that is about 4-inches high that sits under my desk. My feet rest on it as well as the pedal. I'm 5'3". I know I'm no amazon, but I didn't think I was THAT short...LOL. Guess I was wrong.

Long distance question - Posted By: Mattie

I have Comcast unlimited long distance and wondering if anyone uses this doing a transcription account via C-phone? Does Comcast allow this or not? Even though they say "unlimited," somehow I have my doubts they would allow this. TIA

Good or bad MT - Posted By: HomeMT

Can someone tell me how I to know if I'm a good MT. I have tried looking for some free online tests, but I can't find anything. I'm constantly worrying about losing my job because I don't know if I'm any good...I just recently got put on a new account and I'm always having to blank now. I am wondering if this is just how the MT world is or if I suck at what I do....please HELP!

PRD short cut help - Posted By: DL

I have been using the PRD short cut program on an old DOS-based computer in WP51. I have upgraded to Windows XP with WordPerfect X3 and wondered if there is anyway to use the PRD with this program. I have had to use other short cut programs for Word on my XP computer but have recently had to move all my WordPerfect work to my new computer and need a short cut program for it as well. I would sure love to be able to use the PRD. Anyone with any helpful information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

Our profession/New job - Posted By: equineluvr

About three weeks ago I began a position with a local health care company (transcribing for local acute care hospitals but part of a national chain).

We are not really transcribing, at least not by my definition (21 years of experience). Rather, we are recording medical ShortHand (abbreviations [even in DIAGNOSES section], shortened medication names, slang, contractions, etc.). On the one hand, they claim they want you to type it verbatim (no expansions, additions, etc.), yet OTOH they say to delete redundancies, repetitions, etc., which is hardly verbatim. We are not allowed to expand, add to, or correct ANYTHING except number and tense dictated by ESL docs, who comprise about 60% of the dictators. In addition, certain dictated terms are to be abbreviated (e.g., "emergency room" transcribed as "ER").

The supervisor had the gall to look me right in the eye and deliver a harangue about how these are "legal documents, and we have to transcribe EXACTLY what they say." (Conveniently disregarding the bit about deleting redundancies and the other "allowed" changes.) So ALL of my previous employers, AAMT, etc. did it wrong, and THEIR crackerjack legal department is smarter than everyone else?! Don't think so. Cutting costs is the game they're playing; everyone can see that.

Excerpt from a typical report looks like this: Wrote scrip for vanco 100, patient also to take aspirin 81 and will return next week. I don't think .... [blah blah blah]

AAMT taught me to create a complete, coherent, grammatically correct document that doesn't look like alphabet soup. Needless to say, I don't feel good about what I am creating and HATE THIS JOB!!

I'm just curious if this is happening elsewhere. With all of the emphasis on "cutting costs," I have to think that it is.

Thanks for listening to my splenic venting.

How to avoid hiring an American (video) - Posted By: Hayseed

Cut and paste this link into your brower and click on the video to play it. It's kinda long but worth it....just dang is all I gotta say about that.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/16421

Silly question - Posted By: Carla

I see the abbreviations of MTSO, ICs and am wondering what these are. Feel like I should know, but never really worked for a company other than a Hospital.

Thanks Carla

Favorite company Christmas party.. - Posted By: Busy MT'ing

Do you have a favorite you went to? I'd like this to be a positive thread, fond memories, that sort of thing.

I worked for a very large hospital for about 4 years. Every year at Christmas, the company party was in the cafeteria (a huge, monstrous cafeteria and half of it was curtained/walled off for our party). The party was during an entire 24-hour period on 2 different days. We could sign up for 4 hours time (paid) to go in groups to the party during our shifts. When we got down there, after showing our badge, the CEO would hand us a crisp new 100-dollar bill. They would have tables and tables of all kinds of fantastic snack/finger foods and desserts. The TVs were showing videos that were scanning the crowd the whole time. There was a band that played some and upper management would put on silly plays, sometimes children's groups would come sing. We really had a good time. Everyone got to enjoy the party. We went home with an extra $100 in our pockets. Enjoyed good food and entertainment and got paid for it! Then we were worthless the rest of the day in the office, hahaha, while we continued to snack on all the dozens of goodies that clinics and offices had sent to the us, the transcription department. :)

Now, we don't get THAT working from home, huh?! Hahahaa

I AM FREAKING OUT..... - Posted By: what to do, what to do...

Here is the deal.... I have worked for a mid-sized company for about 4 years now. All of a sudden some jerkass MD thought that I was "comma crazy" and picked apart one of my documents and there were a couple of very minor typos, but nothing huge. All of a sudden they QA me and tell me that I have a little above 97% and that they are going to give me 5 notes a day, until when I don't know. Well, that is just not going to work for me as we just put a for sale sign on our house and have an offer in on another house. Do tell them to stick their 5 notes and look elsewhere or do grin and bear this BS? Mind you, my average QA is well above 98% for my entire period of employment with them. I also would like to get my own MD, but have not clue as to how to go about this and what to charge. Thankfully I have another account I work for who said she will give me all that she has until I get this situation resolved, but it is not enough for me to count on. HELP..........phew........like I said, I am freaking out.

DocQScribe Platform Users - Posted By: Dixiekaye

Does anyone use the DocQScribe platform and think the line count is correct? When I worked at MQ, after switching to DQS, my line count went down, down, down. They did later reimburse us for an inaccurate line count, but this makes me hesitate to work for any other company that uses DQS.

To anyone using this NOT working at MQ - it is set up so you can only get 2 jobs at a time and when you sign off your job it is automatically sent? (I hated this feature at MQ) Would appreciate any comments about this.

Anyone know a good web site for allergy testing? Thank you! nm - Posted By: MT

Dictation systems - all input welcome - Posted By: Kim

Hi. Please let me know if I should post this on a different board. The hospital I work for is looking to change dictating/transcribing systems. We have dictaphone extext and are looking at WinScribe, Escription, or really we are wide open.

Does anyone know of a good internet resource that compares the pros and cons?

Would any of you be willing to share your experience, good or bad, with any software you have used?

Is there a forum or a thread that has already covered this you can direct me to to research?

TIA!

Hey Crafty Girls - Posted By: Romey

My niece wants to get into a hobby or do some crafts in her side time, but does not know where to begin. She is a modernistic woman, age 30, not into the country motif, but wants to be crafty. Any suggestions out there of where she might start or a craft kit I could get her for Christmas? Thanks for any and all suggestions.

AAMT--just received an invitation--sm - Posted By: Debra

to participate in an international professional and cultural program in China. Cost is $4,995.00 per participant and guest--spouses encouraged to attend. Anyone going??

Hospitals that require remote transcriptionists - Posted By: WannabeRemoteMT

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how to find hospitals that hire remote transcriptionists. I've been googling all morning, and I'm not having any luck. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it!

getting own clients - Posted By: no name

Does anyone have a sample letter that I can look at to try to get my own accounts? I would really appreciate the help if there is anyone willing. I just need something to get an idea of what to cover in a letter just to get my foot in the door.

Thanks in advance.

COMPUTER issues - Posted By: Screaming Mimi

Well, once again thought I had it fixed, Not! I got the VGA splitter but I wound up with both male and I need a male and female. I am tired, really tired so will let this go until tomorrow and then try to get this done.

Married? When did you know that your mate was "the" one for you? sm - Posted By: Poll lady

I just got engaged and knew the minute I met him that he was the one for me. He felt it too - we just waited until we dated a while before making it official.

How about you?

Tech question. I have discovered spyware on my PC. It is blocking me from using anti-spyware softw - Posted By: Lo`

and fix the problem. I need help! Any ideas on how to locate the offending program and get rid of it. I downloaded Ad-Aware in an tried to run it and it's blocking that too and my McAfee is being blocked as well. I cannot run a scan at all.

minutes vs. per line - Posted By: gooseegg

I've always worked in-house radiology by the hour. Now, I'm considering going elsewhere but I have no idea what I average as far as lines/day. I know I average 15-20 minutes of dictation an hour, but what is that by the line? And what is a good radiology cpl pay with 4-5 years experience? Thanks for your input!

Autocorrect question earlier - Posted By: countrymt

I meant AutoText. How do you transfer all that to a disk?

VR programs - Posted By: anon

What VR programs are the best to use for the most productivity?

Need advice, please -- - Posted By: memt

My 15-year-old niece has confided that she has met a boy through an over 21 chat room and has been emailing him (supposedly, he is 18). He has been to her house, and her parents have met him and they think he is a nice boy, but they have no idea how they really met. I have serious reservations about this and feel I should tell her parents, because even if this one is very nice, he is still too old for her, and what about the next one?

brands for stoves... - Posted By: dcc

I need to buy a new stove (and frig) and was wondering if you guys could tell me what brands you prefer and why. I don't need bells and whistles just something that's going to last. Thanks for sharing

Blackberry? - Posted By: Amy

Does anyone out there use a Blackberry phone with internet service? If yes, please tell me what ways this has enhanced your life?

Floating snowflakes - Posted By: kks

I just love the floating snowflakes - you don't have to shovel

Autotext not working properly - Posted By: WORD

Does anyone know whay might be wrong with my autotext? I have several set up in WORD. I have it setup so when you start entering the text, it will show a balloon popup and you can hit enter or F3 and the entire autotext will populate. However, this will only work if at the beginning of a new paragraph. I can't seem to get it to work in the middle of a paragraph after a sentence.???? Any thoughts? Would appreciate emensely!

Is there any way to import Word Autocorrect entries into WordPerfect? - Posted By: Dreamweaver

I've been Googling it and there is some info about going from WordPerfect to Word, but I can't find anything about importing them from Word to WordPerfect.

I just got really screwy account where we have to transcribe the reports in WordPerfect to get the line count, then save them in Word to send to the client.

Please send your thoughts and prayers... - Posted By: sm

Yesterday around 11:00 a.m., in a town near me, a guy went to the hospital where his ex-wife was a nurse, called her outside to talk to her, and shot her 5 times. She was flown to a bigger hospital nearby, but later died. They found him last night trying to cross the Canadian border.

There are 2 small girls involved (5 & 9) who can use all the prayers we can offer right now.

Anyone with Comcast and have you - Posted By: Mulling over

in any way been told you were using the internet too much? One of the consumer advocates here in town yesterday probably about the most upset I have ever heard. Comcast is telling some consumers their internet service is going to be disrupted for using "too much" although when asked how much is too much, saying that is their secret?

? lidopine bis-a-late 10 mg daily - Posted By: STAT help

Anyone heard of this. I posted on word board but got no help. Need STAT.

DocQscribe question - Posted By: Docmt

I have just started working in DocQScribe and cannot get the volume to increase. I think I might be reading the instructions incorrectly. I am trying to use control, number pad, ++ key. Is this correct? what number on the number pad should I use? Should I try control ++ at the same time? Any suggestions to get the volume to increase in DocQscribe?

Thanks

this question is for those ladies - Posted By: who have been through menopause

Do you know if it's possible to get hot flashes when you're still having your menses, like you always have?

I'll be 53 this year and "Moses" still pays me his usual visit every month. Flow is the same. Length is the same. --- But, I suppose I should be grateful, 'cause I was told once that the longer you have menses, the less your changes are of getting female cancer.

Anyway, recently, maybe within the last couple of months, and it's only happened a couple of times, I'll suddenly start to feel profusely sweaty around my neck and upper chest. I'm not doing anything in particular. Today I was having lunch. And shortly after the sweating starts I get what feels like either an anxiety attack or a drop in blood sugar (the shakes). The problem lasts for a few minutes and then disappears.

Any ideas on this?

4 Beatles fans - enjoy! - Posted By: RadGuy

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6800499120946431897&q=beatles

You have to be psychic to be treated. - Posted By: MslaMT

"Instructed the patient to take Benadryl the day before she feels like she is getting the hives."

And.. what's the best Christmas present - Posted By: you ever got? NM

nm

Need advice about contract - Posted By: Pammie

Any helpful hints or tips would be great (maybe a website, etc.). I have started working from home for a local doctor. He and I both were talking about a confidentiality agreement to protect me and him. He has a mom and pop (just he and his wife) family practice. I told him I would try to type up a contract for work and/or release of liability to protect his practice. I want him to know I am totally trustworthy and want to follow all HIPAA laws, regulations, etc. Does anyone know how to word a contractor's agreement between a doctor and a transcriptionist/biller/coder. I haven't started coding/billing yet but will in three months after I finish some schooling. Please give me any advice or direction. Thanks.

ps2 adapter to USB? is there - Posted By: sm

such a thing, so i could plug my external keyboard into a laptop? and then would it work correctly? Cannot find it using the search, but thought i saw once someone said their keyboard wouldn't work right with one? thanks.

To Goldbird.............sm - Posted By: just my opinion

we were joking around about Bush being offshored......you chose to remove the posts....what about Sheri's Steadmans main post above all the posts about Embracing Offshoring? I respect both you and Sheri but is this hypocritical? I'm not looking to start a nasty war...it just seemed okay to post the jokes about offshoring Bush since I saw Ms. Steadman's top post about we should embrace offshoring (no way I'm embracing this as thousands of Americans continue to lose their jobs in ALL fields).

Thanks for taking the time.....

FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR:
I never said I "embraced" offshoring. That was someone else's words and I addressed this in my Sticky post at the top of this forum. I still do not agree with it, but I also see the reality that it's not going away. I see no reason to continue a pointless battle. As I said before, when all 3 of our credit bureaus are outsourcing our private financial information offshore then what difference does it really make regarding health information? Again, I fought the good fight, even getting a bill passed in my state, but alas the legal eagles got in the way and the bill was squashed before it could become a law. Since then, I continued fighting the onslaught of offshoring, but when I saw my own credit being able to be pulled up on computers overseas, that was when I realized that it was fruitless to continue pursuit.

If you have a joke to share, post it on the Comedy board. If you have a political point of view to share, post it on the Politics board. That's what they're there for. The Main board is not the proper place and these types of posts will be removed for no reason other than they belong on the appropriate forum.

Anyone try heated socks? - Posted By: Medtype10

I have alot of trouble with arthritis and stiffness in my ankles probably from years of pressing a foot pedal and was thinking of trying battery operated heated socks, like they sell for hunters, fishermen, etc. Just wondered if anyone else has ever tried them and how they work. My poor feet hurt so bad tonight, I wish I had a pair here now.

letters/addresses - Posted By: Lisa

Can someone tell my how to format a letter so that the Dr.s address in the letter will automatically show up in the envelope box without having to add the envelope to the document?

AAMT BOS - Posted By: Sue

Hi! I do not yet have an AAMT BOS yet and I was wondering what they say about typing prescriptions in paragraph form. Can anyone help me?

Thanks so much!

PA dictates patient drinks "a gallon" of liquor a day. - Posted By: can this be right?

I hear people drinking a pint or 1/5 a day, but a GALLON. The guy is only 45.