MTStars :: Medical Transcription Forums

What's the deal with changing the way we get our e-mail?? I got the memo about opening a browser and typing

but I can't get that to work any way, shape, or form. My helpful CSC said "Call Atlanta." I have been on hold for over 1/2 hour, listening to their hideous Muzak.

Can anyone tell me how to access my e-mail???

Find out how this entrepreneurial mom really feels about running a business from home.

I created an entire business just so I could be a work-at-home mom. But is it a blessing or a curse? It depends on which day you ask me. Let me tell you what I really think.

I hate being a work-at-home mom because:

No one respects that I'm actually at work. My husband, friends and family still call me throughout the day and expect me to be able to talk on the phone even if it's my precious work time.

My children are almost more tortured having me work at home because throughout the day, I'm constantly having to tell them, "Not now, honey. I have to work". (If I worked at a "real" office, I'd only have to say good-bye once during the day.)

When I'm on the phone with an important client, my child almost always comes in whining, pulling on my clothes or knocking over my pencil holder. If my husband or nanny manages to keep them out, I undoubtedly hear them whining or crying and then I'm tortured because I know I could calm them down.

My office is often a mess and important papers are covered in crayon scratchings because I'll let my children do almost anything in my office just to get another minute on e-mail.

My e-mails and phone conversations are incredibly brief so I can just get my point across, but now everyone thinks I'm rude and abrupt.

I wake up to start work at 5:00 a.m. so I can work alone while my family sleeps. And then my 5-year-old decides to wake up early and join me. So I set him up on the computer playing "Dora The Explorer" so I can get some more work done. I try to focus as I type up some e-mails, but I can't really work for two consecutive minutes because he keeps needing my help.

I've done live radio interviews from my home only to be embarrassingly interrupted by the barking of my dog.

And at the end of the day, I realize there is no end of the day, because my office never leaves me. Most of us work from the time we wake up until our heads hit the pillow. But who are we kidding? We're even working then!

I love being a work-at-home mom because:

I get to be with my kids from the time they wake up until they go to sleep at night.

I didn't miss out on their first steps or their first words.

I can drop work any time and take my kids to the park without having to ask anyone's permission.

My kids get to see me work and see that I get joy and stimulation out of being productive. I like to believe I'm a good role model for them.

My daughter can see that you can have it all: a career, a family and happiness.

As I write this at 6:00 a.m., I can look over at the video baby monitor and see my sweet baby sleeping happily.

I get to decide when I go to work, when I eat and when I take a break, and no one's watching a clock but me.

When I go out for a meeting, I can also squeeze in some personal errands and not have to worry about a boss disapproving of my long lunch.

I can wear my pajamas all day long and no one ever has to know!

I no longer have to sit in a car to commute, which automatically gives me an extra two hours per day, which adds up to a whopping extra 21 days in my year!

My work is my home, and my home is my work, which can be a benefit for the write-off's alone! (Ask your accountant.)

Now, perhaps if you measured my two lists, the hate list might actually be longer. But the perks of working from home are invaluable. At the end of the day, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But boy, it sure would be nice if my friends and family realized that I really am working!

I work out of my home for a physcial therapy office - I go every day and pick up tapes and return the paperwork I have completed along with the blank tapes back to the office. I don't have time to chat with the people who work there much, I have known some of them for a few years, but not close. I am not necessarily looking to make friends with any of them, but wondered what others do about connecting with people for social time. I am single, so no husband, kids, etc to fill that void. I love working out of my home very much, but am missing people contact and wondered what others do. I used to have many friends around here (rural Iowa), but most have moved away or gotten married and got busy with their families. Not a lot of choices of places to go to meet new friends - wish there was a way to create a work-at-home group in my area and maybe meet other transcritpionists or just find people who are experiencing the same things of isolation and what comes with working out of ones home. Any ideas or advice from any and all would be appreciated!! Thanks!!

I had a hysterectomy exactly one week ago today. How long does it take a person to get their energy level back? All I want to do is sleep. I cannot figure out if I am really this tired or if I am looking for an excuse to be lazy. I am not taking any medication right now although my doctor did give me a prescription for Premarin that I have not filled yet.

There's a push by some MTSOs to get the CMT certification, but my question is this: Would it really be feasible for the MT to spend all that money on the test along with time/money for continuing education credits for recertification if VR and electronic charting are the future for MTs? If all we're going to be doing is reading and correcting for less money and everyone is adamant about the "writing on the wall", why are some MTSOs encouraging CMT status? Is it smoke and mirrors or will it hold more weight in the future?

Two days ago our supervisor came into our office because Dr. Neuro had dictated a report. It was obviously an EEG. She did not know what template it went on. Well, co-worker (super MT) just jumps up and said �I don�t know, you have to call home MT 1 and home MT 2 because they do cardio� Well mind you, super MT has only been there a year. I have been their 8 years and I have done ever single report that hospital offers including cardio, especially cardio because that is the first thing that pops into my Q. (Doc dictate EGGs under cardio, it is up to us to put it in the template). I found that insulting. Then yesterday one of our male MTs needed help deciphering what a doc said. Well super MT jumps tall cubicles to help so I just kept on typing. She could not understand it either so she gets someone else who is not even an MT to listen. It is petty but I find it insulting. I don�t do her that a way.

I am more of an introvert. Super MT has a lot of friends that come in our office just basically gossip about the other people who work next door. I try to tune them out because I only have 8 hours to get my lines in because I have to be out by 4:30 to pick up my two children. I cannot stay late like they do. I used to go to lunch with super MT and her buds but stopped lately because I joined a gym and I go work out with another girl who happens to be on the top of their gossip list. They don�t approve of her lifestyle, which it is questionable but it is her business. She is a pleasant person to work out with we just happen to have a common interest in exercising. All they wanted to talk about at lunch is talk about some TV show I have no clue what it is because I don�t have time to watch TV. I have 2 small children and when I get home I have to hit the ground running with supper, dishes, grocery store. I also have also turned down their outside parties, 1 because I could not find a babysitter (alcohol is involved at their parties) and the last one was because I was running on fumes until payday and a $20 meal just for me was way out of budget.

I have explained most of the above to her about babysitting, interest in loosing weight, tight budgets and needing to get my line count up which is why I don�t talk as much and go to my introverted ways (they called me an introvert and super MT is an extrovert), not that I don�t watch TV and could care less what the people next door are doing and really could care less what my workout buddy is doing in her spare time. Then again I may have told them that. Should I be bending over backwards to be in their crowd? I didn't know being their best friend was part of my job description. I don�t think they are all as great as they think they are but I don�t see why we cannot at least respect each other as professionals.

Could someone explain to me how to create a command/macro in Instant Text for changing a period to a comma and uncap the next letter in a sentence? Please do not high tech words because that just confuses me. Lol

If anyone knows of any other command/macros that can be used in Instant Text to help with improving line counts I would greatly appreciate hearing about them.

Yes, I do know about the the forum at textware and productivity talk but they are so high techy over there that I am lost.

They are saying the shooter in NY was "depressed over his poor English skills". It sure doesn't seem to bother any of these ESL doctors who can't make a complete simple sentence yet expect us to come up with a perfect report. Maybe this guy should have gone to medical school instead.

I was just wondering how any of you feel, AS A COMMUNITY...about medical transcriptionists that take jobs, get equipment, but never work and suddenly dont answer calls or emails, but keep your equipment. I am not talking about just MTSOs out there, but even the little ole MT that hires someone to help with an account or overflow. This has happened and I am not sitting and waiting for at least four people to return equipment that suddenly arent available for emails, phone calls, anything. BUT they have hudnreds in equipment. I am not MEDQUIST, so cant afford to just chalk it up. AND PLEASE DO NOT SAY THAT IS THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS. I think that just shows the sad state we have entered into to feel that theft from someone be considered a cost of doing business. We are a small enough community that I would hope this is not truly how anyone feels....hey take a job...take the equipment and run. That is just plain horrible.

Why cant this board allow names like that to be posted? Enough is always posted about bad companies, but why not for something like this? Why should others take the chance of this happening also?

Over the past months I have been trying to convince superiors at MQ of the need to have the playback speed increased even more than we are able to at the present. I proofread all reports and when you have a slow dictator, it can take forever. If you agree, please make a post and maybe that will convince them to do something about it.

my aunt just asked me if i'd be interested in doing some work for the doc she works for. i currently work for somebody else, so all of that legwork is done for me. i simply download from her system, type and return.

how do i go about setting up something so a doc can dictate digitally and get it to me. i don't know the first thing about it or where to start! he currently does not do digital, but is considering looking into it, so i can't really turn to them for help on this one!

I recently received my yearly contract in the mail. I am to sign and return it. They have the amount per line filled in. I was a bit disappointed to see that the rate did not change. In other words, no raise.

I will probably just sign it and return it but for future reference how can I ask for more money and how much of an increase would be reasonable?

I am lousy at speaking up for myself!

being discussed here. I thought ANY subject pretty much was fine (unless something that has another board specifically FOR that subject).

Is it right-hand dominant or right hand dominant? I thought if you were using a phrase to describe a noun the phrase should be hyphenated, as in The patient is right-hand dominant OR The patient is a right-hand dominant male; either way you are describing the noun (male/patient). thank you

I can't get past the login screen. It says "Welcome!" then throws me back to the login screen. I see they have a message that says "You can still send messages to your contacts through your Outlook or Outlook Express." Wrong. Can't do that, either. Have been on hold to Atlanta for over 1/2 hour. Whose idea was this??

WANT to keep dictating in a lousy, ridiculous manner? Apparently many do, because they continue to do so when QA has to keep leaving blanks or asking for guidance.

I simply cannot understand this. I have one who will literally leave small phrases right out. What does he expect us to do with that?!!?

Please see article below that was published in 2003. Does anybody know if the law it mentions was ever passed in California?

Following news that a Pakistani medical transcriber threatened to post UCSF Medical Center patient records online unless she received more money,

a state senator said she will introduce legislation barring all California hospitals from allowing medical data to leave the country.

Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, said she will introduce the bill in January when the state Senate returns for its next regular session. (A special session on financial matters is likely before then.)

"California already has the strongest medical-privacy laws in the nation, " Figueroa told me. "But not strong enough. There's always something you didn't anticipate."

What she and other framers of the state's medical-privacy laws, which prohibit the sharing of medical information unless for clear medical purposes, didn't see coming is the explosive growth of the $20 billion medical- transcription industry.

U.S. hospitals have such a huge need for help transcribing doctors' dictated notes into written form that the work is routinely farmed out to private transcribers throughout the country. Those transcribers, in turn, frequently subcontract with other transcribers.

In the case of UCSF Medical Center, three separate subcontractors were involved in handling the facility's records. The last link in the chain was a woman in Karachi, Pakistan, who sent an e-mail to UCSF earlier this month demanding help in resolving a financial dispute with the Texas man who'd hired her.

The Pakistani transcriber said she'd post UCSF's files on the Internet unless the medical center assisted her. She backed up her threat by attaching actual UCSF patient records to her message.

This was the first time an overseas transcriber had used confidential records to threaten a U.S. medical institution. The transcriber withdrew her threat only after receiving hundreds of dollars from another subcontractor in the case.

Figueroa said her bill would prohibit anyone possessing information involving California patients from sending that information abroad.

State hospitals would likely be barred from outsourcing transcription work unless they could guarantee that all related files remain within the country -- a move that would make hospitals accountable for any subcontracting that ensues.

"We're not banning the practice of overseas workers doing transcription," Figueroa said. "But we can regulate the practice of medicine within California. "

In most instances, federal law would trump state law, and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 outlines rules for safeguarding medical data. Anyone doing transcription work for a U.S. hospital would be required to uphold HIPAA standards, although the law is virtually unenforceable overseas.

A unique aspect of HIPAA, though, is a provision that if a state adopts more stringent restrictions, state law will prevail.

"If there were a statute that no health care information in California could be disclosed outside the country, HIPAA wouldn't have a problem with that," said Paul Smith, a San Francisco attorney specializing in health care issues.

"The state has a clear interest in protecting health information," he added. "This would seem a legitimate exercise of state regulatory authority."

At the same time, though, Matthew Nakachi, a San Francisco lawyer who specializes in trade issues, said it's unclear how the proposed legislation would square with federal laws related to commerce. A hospital might argue, for example, that it has a right to do business with whomever it pleases.

"If California decides to do this," Nakachi said, "it would probably go into the courts and take years to fall out."

For her part, Figueroa expects the health care industry to fight the legislation, just as the banking industry opposed state restrictions on the use of customers' information. But she thinks that in light of the public's increased sensitivity toward privacy matters, her bill would eventually pass.

"The interesting thing will be to see where our new governor stands on privacy issues," Figueroa said. "At this point, we don't know."

Mystery woman: The Pakistani transcriber at the center of the case involving UCSF is still something of a mystery.

In her e-mail to UC officials, she identified herself as Lubna Baloch, "a medical doctor by profession." Beyond that, little is known of her.

In May, however, an interesting little exchange occurred on MT Stars, an online network for medical transcribers. Baloch, using the same e-mail address she used in her threatening message to UCSF, posted her resume at the site in hopes of attracting work as a subcontractor.

Sheri Steadman, who runs MT Stars, of Phoenix, said she's against U.S. transcription work going abroad and routinely deletes postings from overseas transcribers. In Baloch's case, she said she was concerned by the vagueness of Baloch's resume, especially as to her whereabouts.

"Santa Monica isn't in Los Angeles and it's not in Louisiana," she told me. "It was pretty clear that Baloch wasn't in the country."

"She was trying to gain work in any way, shape or form," Steadman said. "She was trying to sucker U.S. medical-transcription services into sending her business."

It didn't work that time. A few months later, though, probably using a different online service, Baloch was more successful in her efforts.

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU's "Mornings on 2." Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.

Can someone tell me how to configure it to get it to rewind when I pick my foot up from the pedal?

Wouild anyone feel comfortable in saying what they would charge for work as an IC? I have been contacted by a medium-sized group of ENT specialists about doing their MT. I need to get an FTP site, which are very reasonable monthly rates. But, I'm not sure what to quote as a line rate in my prospectus. I was thinking 12 to 14 cpl, but is this too low?

Thanks for any input. BTW, the group are located in the upper Midwest in a very large metropolitan area.

Thanks, Sheri, for your uplifting message. It is, after all, CHRISTmas--not Happy Holidays like so many merchants around here are saying. It seems that they are benefiting from all the customers purchasing CHRISTmas gifts, don't you think?

I was going to leave transcription because I was so dissatisified with the low pay, being treated like a number, constant account switching, sweatshop mentality, etc., etc., etc. After going through several different employers in the past few years, I have finally found a wonderful job and am enthusiastic about the field again. I feel it is not always the MT, or the profession, but some of these companies are just not ethical with their clients or employees.

There are some really great companies out there. I am planning on staying in this profession.

My boyfriend's father, who is in his late 80s, was in the in the hospital for jaw surgery to remove some cancer that was found. He has been very hostile and has tried to take the tubings out and IV out, etc. He had to be restrained a few times. Well last night he actually left the hospital and was walking around outside a few blocks away.

My question is how possible is it for a patient to leave the hospital? I mean how does he get past all the people, doctors, nurses, security, all the hospital personnel???? Is something wrong with this hospital?? or is this something that is common????

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