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Long, informative read - Merck vet manual (sm)

Posted By: All about fleas on 2006-08-17
In Reply to: Fleas and air conditioning...sm - Been lucky so far. Hope my time hasn't ran out

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/71600.htm


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Read the manual again on how to use Includes.
My single words on the phrases side are in a separate glossary.
Read the policy and procedure manual, maybe something is in there.
I do not believe there is a law, but you could check with the labor department.
Read the manual. It has full instructions.
xx
See link for Merck lab ranges
http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/tables/296tb2.jsp
A bit long, but please read, at least, the end if you are up for an experiement
I have used Expanders from the start, and I would say they help overall. However, as time has gone by I have discovered better ways of putting them together, so I have ended up changing many I had already created along with the endless making of new ones. (Some of this due to discovering which key combos are easier for me in regard to finger dexterity and some due to overlapping use of the Expander pattern I started with.)

I think you might actually be better off since you have learned more about transcribing before creating any.

I did read a funny and interesting thing on here a few months ago though. Someone said they stopped using their expanders and were getting a higher line count by straight typing. I was really tempted to try it for a day to see what would happen but never did. It would be kind of fun if we all tried it for a day (or even half a shift) to see the range of results.

Anyone game for that?
I can't read for long in the car or do crafts because I get
motion sickness, but I've worked from coast to coast without having any issues.  My issue is my DH and the radio.  My DH thinks he is going to die if he doesn't have his music and I'm turning the volume down and 2 minutes later he's turning it up again.
I work for both ... my comparison (LONG READ):
HOURS/CLASSIFICATION:
MQ: You have a choice of FT with full benefits -- 39-40 hours producing average of 150 lines/hour minimum; FT with limited benefits -- 39-40 hours with less than 150 lines/hour average but more than 100 lines/hour; PT with limited benefits for 8-16-24 hour schedules all averaging 100 lines/hour.

Spheris: FT is 37 to 40 hours a week, with 10,200 lines required by payperiod's end. PT is 20 to 36 hours a week, production is 5100 lines/payperiod minimum.

OVERTIME:
Both companies structure overtime the same way; averaged in the same manner; requires approval, must be in addition to 40 hours WORKED (PTO, DT do not count).

SCHEDULES:
Both require a schedule with the offer of "flexibility".

TIME:
MQ: Time sheets are used; MTs fill them in manually and submit.

SPHERIS: Galaxy is used -- you clock in and the system punches your time for you. Day's end, you see how much you've worked and allocate your time accordingly (productive time, PTO, meeting with mgrs, etc.).

BENEFITS:
MQ: You see the benefits in the Harmonization booklet. The employee's cost of insurance benefits is assigned by the state you live in (as well as which/if coverages are available to you).

SPHERIS: Med/Den/Vision are offered. Employees all pay the same amount for amount of coverages (EX: All employees wanting EMPLOYEE ONLY coverage pay the same; all wanting EMPLOYEE+ONE CHILD pay the same). It is available to all employees. Cost is not region-specific.

EQUIPMENT:
MQ: Use your own or they will provide. The current rental charges will no longer be effective in January; as well, the internet reimbursements will not either. I don't know if there will be a deposit for those just coming into the company after Jan 1.

SPHERIS: Must use their computers. No rental fee but there is a refundable deposit. You can pay it at once or have it taken out in 6 paychecks. Refunds to you when equipment is returned in good working order.

PTO:
MQ: You see the new PTO offered in the plan and can read online the PTO calculation formula.

SPHERIS: Same type of calculation formula; averaged quarterly and you receive a notice of what your new downtime/PTO rate is and what period it covers. Limit is $20 an hour tops for PTO. Lowest is $7.50. Amount of PTO depends on status and length of service and ranges for FT from 11 days to 21 days a year and PT 2.5 to 7.5 days a year.

HOLIDAYS:
MQ: You can read in the Harmonization booklet.

SPHERIS: Thanksgiving and Christmas are designated holidays. If you are scheduled to work on it, you can take PTO instead. If you work it you will earn double lines those days.

QUALITY:
Both require 98%.

PAY CYCLES:
MQ: Pay WEEK is Su-Sat; pay PERIOD is bimonthly 1-15th and 16th-end of month with paydates on 10th and 25th. Direct deposit available.

SPHERIS: Pay weeks are same as pay periods and are Su-Sat with every other Fridya as paydates. Direct deposit available.

BASE RATE:
MQ: With the new plan, you have your current base rate and it is the same on all work (unless you do part radiology or ASR).

SPHERIS: Your base rate depends on the level of the account you type on. If you type on a really easy account, you will get less pay; more difficult accounts, more pay. Each account level has a new-hire hourly associated with it. Levels go from level 3 to 10 with line rates 0.065 to 0.102. With Spheris, if your production earnings do not add up to at least minimum wage for the hours you worked, they will pay you minimum wage. However, you will not stay with them long if you cannot produce enough to keep you off the minimum wage payments.

INCENTIVE:
MQ: We know that incentive is achieved on a daily basis -- after you produce 1200 lines. Tiered so that you earn incentive ONLY on the lines produced AFTER 1200. It barely puts change in your pocket for mid-range producers. Only rewards high producers.

SPHERIS: Incentive is base on each week's production (Sun-Sat). So you can have a really bad week and only get your base and then next week have a great week and get incentive. Once earned, incentive applies to ALL lines typed and ranges depending on FT or PT status. FT: 5200 lines start at 0.002 and increases up to 7000+ lines getting 0.015 cpl incentive. PT: 2700 lines = 0.001 and increases up to 7000+ lines = 0.015 cpl. Whatever incentive you earn that week is applied to ALL LINES PRODUCED THAT WEEK. Spheris also has special teams that pay higher base rates.

SHIFT DIFF:
MQ: 11pm-7am = 0.01 and 3pm-11pm = 0.005

SPHERIS: 4pm-8am CST daily = 0.005.

NO WORK AVAILABLE:
MQ: This is not specifically addressed per se; however it is not listed under downtime definitions at all. I doubt MQ ever pays for no work situations.

SPHERIS: Has a policy: "MTs will not receive compensation for "No WOrk Available" situations. If an MT runs out of work, the MT should immediately notify their Supervisor or follow th eout of work situation guidelines for their team."

Hope that helps.
But the help file is so long and boring to read.
I know about linking and hiding the suggestion window. Other than that, I don't know many semicolon or Ctrl functions. I put hospitalization in as hosn. I wish somebody would teach a Shorthand Expander class or come up with an in-depth book going over specific SH features. The other expander books I bought were lame.
I didn't read your way-too-long post, but...
did you type all that out, or copy and paste from somewhere, cause if you typed it all out...you need to get a life and quick!
Help! Long shot, but if you're near Redding, CA, please read
I'm desperately in need of a Dictaphone pedal. Mine randomly quit working this morning, I need to work today and tomorrow, and I can't find one in any stores here. My employer's Fedexing me a new one that will get here Monday. If you have one that I could borrow until Monday, I'll come pick it up, and I'll bake you one of my famous apple pies.
Best post I've read in a long time.
I tend to go back and forth with my feelings about this profession. In the mornings I am glad I do not have to get up, get ready and go to an office. Many times in the evening, after I have during the day and still have work to do, I feel like stuffing it all. Many times I am disheartened when I get my paycheck, but I am glad to be getting one, while my sister worries about getting laid off from her manufacturing job. MT has advantages and disadvantages.
I work and do not have time to read such long posts, do you?..nm
nm
How long would you say it takes to get a decent grip on them. I do have samples already I have read
over and they arent hard but I havent heard the voices yet.
Oh, my. That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time.
AHDI: Solving the world's problems, one foreign MT at a time.

ROLFMAO
It was vey informative.
I watched it and I hope Oprah does more of this type of thing. I am so disgusted with the turn that greed is causing in medicine. Michael Moore made the statement that he felt that socialized medicine that was not called that be put in place and that he as a citizen was prepared to have a nonemergent problem seen in order for 50 million uninsured Americans to have coverage. I feel the same way. If you are in dire straights you go to the head of the line and don't say you will tax me .. but do what needs to be done to insure all of us and for God's sake, leave the money alone and don't dip into the funds just because you think you can. I do not have a clue what makes me more angry .. intrusive government or big business. Time to go to bed .. blood pressure rising .. feel the blood in my temples!!
Informative website

All you MTs who are wondering why it's so hard to get work and decent pay check out these websites:   Spheris India Pvt Ltd  and Indiadaily.com


Spheris says it doesn't outsource to India but guess where a lot of the old accounts have disappeared to.  When they say there is no work, they mean for USA MTs.


This is excellent! Very informative!
Tons of good information on these sites!  Thanks again for your help!
Excellent informative post!
You have given us all something to think about because you are right. We are not the only field this is happening to.
thank you for your concise and informative answer, NM
z
Thanks for this open and informative post ...

It seems that now getting your own accounts is the only way to go (at least for the time being until the pervasive mood of the industry corrupts even in that area).  My curiosity though lies in how those who are claiming that they work for services are able to do this. 


Also, congratulations to you for your success in getting your own accounts, and thank you for sharing your insight in a manner that doesn't imply that you're trying to belittle those who don't have their own accounts like I've seen others do on this board.


P.S.  On the matter of panhandlers, in the area of the country where I live an investigative reporter did a feature on just this subject a couple of years ago.  Believe it or not, it was estimated that panhandlers in this area average approximately $120K per year.  I tell you, I'm in the wrong profession ...


Thanks for posting that very informative link!
The part about the asterisk will help me a LOT when I'm looking for certain phrases in order to find a specific word within that phrase.

I LOVE Google... it's amazing!
Yes, I went and it was great. Very informative. Lots of people. sm
I love being able to talk to fellow transcriptionists to share war stories. The place was beautiful and not expensive as most of our meals were provided at the conference.

I think that transcriptionists should stop complaining about everything and start taking action. One of the best ways to do it is to get involved with the 7000 other transcriptionists with the AAMT.
I've pretty much just done the informative part so far.
Download software, fill in personal information, sorting through receipts, printing off from my accounting program. I'm trying to do it a little bit every week instead of staying up all night to get it done.
Lengthy but informative article from 2005

Here is an important post from 2005.  It is lengthy and I have edited it to make it more concise…


Posted By: n on January 05, 2005 at 21:35:45:

In Reply to: offshore posted by beth on January 05, 2005 at 19:58:08:


Offshore medical transcription is a large enterprise financed with capital. The Soros money is in the Spheris deals. Look for more and more to go overseas.


From GeBBS Health Care Solutions http://www.gebbs.com/pressrelease062004.htm  : In a world of steadily rising medical costs, Nitin Thakor thinks he has a cure. It works like this: A doctor treats a patient and sends the medical record to Thakor's company, GeBBS HealthCare Solutions of Englewood Cliffs. The company ships the records electronically to India, where employees - earning about one-tenth of what they would get in the United States - process a bill for the patient's treatment, create a claim, and send it electronically to the insurance company. The process costs the doctor about half what he would pay in the United States, Thakor says. "It's faster. The quality is better," he says, brimming with confidence. "It makes perfect sense." It's also part of a growing trend in the health-care administration industry: sending work to low-wage countries - mainly India - in the same way that offshore outsourcing has sent U.S.-based IT, call center, and other jobs around the world.


The health-care work ranges from simple tasks - such as transcribing notes dictated by the doctor - to more complex processes, such as assigning a treatment code and filling in forms that doctors submit to insurance companies for reimbursement. In North Jersey, GeBBS, Allserve Systems of New Brunswick, and ClaimPower Inc. of Fair Lawn do work in India. Marlton-based Medquist, one of the largest transcription company's in the United States, also sends work offshore. Other players across the country include Perot Systems Corp. in Texas, HealthScribe Inc. of Virginia, and Alpha Thought of Chicago. "There is not a lot of offshoring yet," said Barbara J. Cobuzzi, president of Cash Flow Solutions Inc. of Brick, which does billing, coding, and collection. "But they [offshore companies] are going after it. ... They are approaching companies like mine and saying, 'Get rid of your staff and use us.


Cobuzzi said she spoke from experience: In October, she terminated a contract with a Florida-based company with offices in Chennai, India, to put patient demographic information into a computer. She said the work contained too many errors. "I'm sure the doctors would rather use someone who is not offshoring," Cobuzzi said. "But the doctors have this huge pressure to get their costs down." So, too, do their contractors, said Marilyn Grebin, president and CEO of Silent Type in Fort Lee, which transcribes doctors' notes. Though offshoring has not yet had a big effect on Silent Type's bottom line, the company has lost work, Grebin said. For instance, last week, she said, she lost a $50,000 contract with the John T. Mather Hospital on Long Island. Grebin said the hospital, which had been her company's client for five years, hired a company that will do the job in India. "I went to the client and said, 'What can I possibly do to help you, she said. "And they said, 'No, you can't possibly charge what we are getting - half the price.


On Long Island, hospital vice-president Kevin Murray said the non-profit community facility moved the work offshore in a pilot program - a small part of the facility's $500,000 annual spending on transcription services - to see what the quality of the work is like. "The hospital lost a significant amount of money last month," said Murray, putting the loss at $1 million and noting that many hospitals in New York face similar budgetary problems. "Every month is a struggle. ... This was one of our cost-saving ideas." Thakor knows the scenario well.  With about 85 employees in the United States, GeBBS provides health-care administration services and also develops software for the same field. The company's two centers in Mumbai, India, employ about 180 people, of whom 100 process health claims. Last year, the company had revenue of $12 million, and it expects to make $16 million this year, Thakor said. He reaps the benefit of Indian workers - all of whom have degrees - who earn about $2,800 to $3,300 a year, compared with the $35,000 to $45,000 that U.S.-based employees would make for the same job, he said. "We're making a 45 to 50 percent gross margin," Thakor said of his own company. "A client is seeing a 45 to 50 percent cut on their cost structure. So we're happy. They're happy."


Concerns about patient confidentiality in the offshoring era were heightened last October when a woman in Karachi, Pakistan, threatened to post patient medical records from a San Francisco hospital on the Internet unless she was paid the money owed her for transcribing notes dictated by doctors.


The woman dropped the threat after she was paid. But the incident helped bring the issue to the attention of lawmakers.


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., have introduced bills that would require companies to notify customers before they send confidential information overseas, giving the customer the right to refuse. Still, industry insiders are concerned. Cobuzzi and others said the main problem is that anyone who violates U.S. patient confidentiality laws abroad would be beyond the reach of U.S. prosecutors. But offshore companies say there is no danger of leaks. Thakor said GeBBS' facilities in India have guards and an electronic security system, along with a full-time privacy officer to ensure the company complies with U.S. confidentiality laws. In addition, the computer system that health-care administration employees work on is sealed, he said: The terminals have no hard drive and no connections to the Internet, floppy disk, or CD writers, or even a printer. They can only open files on the server, change the contents, and close them, he said. "So there is no way - unless you can memorize all the information - that you can take it with you," he said.  


Thanks so much for the insight and advice, guys, I really appreciate it, books are informative but
when you are in the at-home world like we are, there's nothing better than getting it straight from people who have been there!
It's the first time i ran through your site and I found it very informative and interesting. Nice
I really appreciate what you're doing here. Very interesting site. when Table Steal Table Expect , when Opponents Expect Cards Give Good, Greedy, Central nothing comparative to Faithful , Table can Loose Stake Industrious Boy is always Faithful Girl
Very informative site. Good job. when Circle Percieve Round Hope: http://www.imsdb.com/ , Compute Be
Two thumbs up!!! Cosmos will Stake unconditionally , when Round Do Mistery Roll Collective, Good, Big nothing comparative to Beautiful , Memorizing Corner becomes Big Corner in final Beautiful TV becomes Faithful Table in final
manual
Did that manual state that the funds that were to be used to immobilize this mission were diverted to homeland security.
Did you try their web site for manual?
nm
C-Phone Manual

Does anyone have a CPhone manual?  I have found where I can buy one but I was hoping that someone might have one here they might email me..  Money is on the tight side.


Am just now getting back into transcription after a short period away from it and I can't remember all the darn programming and keys..  LOL


C-phone manual
I sent you an email. I have it on file on my PC and can send it to you if you will accept it as an attachment - I do a virus scan everyday and have no viruses. It's up to you, just let me know.
C-phone manual
http://www.transcribers.com/documents/Cphoneinstr.pdf
Manual for Lanier LX-218

Does anyone have a manual for a Lanier LX-218?  Need one ASAP. 


Thanks


 


EXText manual
Anybody know where to find an EXText manual to download?  Previous posts with website addresses do not work.
The help file IS the manual.
xx
Well i found the manual but...
It is saying that you have to get the ID from the person who created the encruption and if they didn't do it in Scribe you may not be able to decrypt them. I don't know if you have access to another decrypttion type program and can open them and then copy??
EXtext manual

Try going to Nuance.com  for the dictaphone EXtext manual.


Just started last week on this program. Still learning it but overall seems to be good program.  Good luck!


 


see link for manual--sm
http://www.execommsys.com/Express%20Scribe%20Manual.pdf
Manual or bimanual - especially OB/GYN
x
It is not manual labor...
just another excuse by you
Cphone manual
I emailed you re: above.
The help file in IT is the same as the manual. sm
You can right-click the gray phrases bar and choose Options, then click on the auto spacing and auto cap options to set those up as you want.
C-PHONE MANUAL
Awesome! Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction.

Very much appreciated!
Straight Talk manual

I had emailed you and asked you to contact me for information regarding a manual. You can download it at Dictaphone's website, but since it has been a week or two since I emailed you I can't remember exactly where on their website. I guess just do some looking around. I think it was in frequently asked questions or something like that.


I looked in my manual but could find nothing-sm
to mute the ringer; however on the bottom-underside- of the phone there is a volume control that can be lowered.
Looking for Lanier 219 VoiceWrite EX manual
nm
C-phone instruction manual
Could you please e-mail me a copy. I lost mine and have been unable to find it again. Thank you so much. My e-mail is diannalazan@yahoo.com.
Dictaphone C-phone manual

Does anyone one possibly have a PDF file with the operating instructions for a C-phone.  Please.


Thanks in advance


Dictaphone Extext manual

I was just wondering if anybody can tell me where to find a manual for Extext?  I did a Google search but could not find anything.  I do not need the whole manual, but I would like to know some of the shortcuts of using the program.


TIA! 


Does anybody know where I can get an ExText training manual? nm
/
The full manual is also in the Help file.
xx