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just some information for MTs in rural areas where high speed is not available

Posted By: Jest Lil Ole Me on 2007-09-17
In Reply to:

Hi all,


Was just on the Sprint website a little bit ago and checking out wireless cards for my laptop since I will be moving to an area that doesn't even have landline service available yet.  Sprint is now offering a wireless card that is a USB card and apparently will work with both a laptop and a desktop as long as you have an available USB port on your computer.  Might be something to think about


 




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You must live in a metro area because rural areas pay even less per hour.

Of course you can buy a big house for 130,000 in a smaller town and the same amount won't buy you a pot to pee in, in a place like San Diego or the D.C. area.  It's all relative.


Can you get high speed?
That's VERY expensive for dial up.  Most high speed services cost about that.
My speed is really high but this job is not what
it was years ago. With being an engineer, it would seem that the money should really be good there. I have done this now for over 30 years and if I had to do now and raise a family, I would have to work more than 1 job, possibly 3-4. It is really not the money maker it was once, not at all. The work is not easy, not just a typist job, in fact after all these years I still am always trying to make sure my QA is not lacking, otherwise your job is lacking as in gone. My speed is around 140 wpm but the speed is not what is really important. I found it extremely difficult starting out and trained for over a year inhouse before I ever earned production. This would not be a job I would recommend now unless you just want to stay at home with a child, do part time, retired, in other words where you want to put in time and really don't need to make a living doing it.
High speed internet
If you have an internet-based platform, you don't need to use a phone line with high speed internet.  I managed to get rid of a second phone line that way.  The company pays for the intenet. 
High speed internet
My high speed internet is received via a small satellite dish mounted on my house.  It is pointed toward a tower where the signal is sent.  It does not require a phone line at all.  It works on the same principle as a satellite dish, only for internet.
high speed internet
I have satellite and thought it couldn't be used for MT work at home....do you use it for MTing? Thanks for reply!
high speed cable
Hi, I work for Medquist and they pay up to 50$ a month for high speed cable (DocQscribe platform).
Aced out no high speed
 I think I am going to get aced out of my job because I do not have access to high-speed internet.  Are there any companies out there that allow satellite?  Any suggestions?
I only have dial up too - no high speed is available either - sm
for those of us in the boonies it is unfortunate we are limited in this way. Believe me if I could get DSL I would.
Yes, way too much! Try high-speed cable.
I use Comcast cable - introductory is 19.99 per month for the first 6 months, then 49.95 after that.
High-speed DSL or cable
I am posting for a friend and wanted to see if anybody else has run into this problem.  We live in a very remote area where we are unable to get high-speed DSL or cable.  My friend, who has a lot of experience and would be an asset to any company(over 15 years experience), cannot find a company that does not require high-speed cable or DSL.  Also unfortunately because of our location, she really is unable to pick up tapes, especially as high as gas prices are - but that is another issue!!  Fortunately for me, because of the location of my home in conjunction with a "main road" (in country terms), I was able to get high-speed cable, but because of how far her home sits off the road, she cannot.  Any suggestions?
I doubt my speed would be as high as it is now, despite not having
a light touch keyboard....I'm from the old school -- learned on a typewriter many, many years where ago one had to pound the keys to get the text to  show up. I'm not concerned about my keyboards not lasting long; they cost under $20.00.
Does your son have high speed internet???
If so get vonage for your long distance. I just unplug my Vonage and take my router and I have my own phone line anywhere I have high speed internet.
I have high-speed now, but only got it 2 years ago. Before that I
worked with dial-up and my company still allows dial-up.  They aren't hiring though. 
if you have high speed internet
you shouldn't have any problems - I typically download a 43 minute file in about 2 minutes ... the bonus is the file is always there waiting for me so I can take a quick bathroom break, I can "rewind" to hear problems again, etc. To me, downloading files is MUCH easier than doing Dictaphone but JMO.
With Vonage you need high-speed

internet so if that is not available to you then Vonage, voip another digital phone provider would not be an option for you. 


If you buy a calling card at Wal-Mart it is 4 cents/minute and I think Sam's Club may be 3.5 cents.  I couldn't afford to work if I had to pay 7 cents/minute.


 


High-speed conversion
see link.

Pricey. Maybe there's a cheaper one out there. Guess it would depend how much of this kind of work you'll be doing.


d
Use high speed internet. No offense taken. nm
x
If they want that access, they would have to pay for the computer, the high-speed and the
portion of electric. Just my opinion. I own and run a national service and think this is ridiculous and a HUGE invasion of privacy. If worried about trust, how can they trust you with patient information. Refuse.
I am not yet networked, but I just download via high speed

and then disconnect and take my laptop where ever it is I want to work.    When I get through with my work I go back in and upload.   


In the mountains you might have problem with any type of wireless signal, but if you have high-speed internet there and you are using a wireless router and network card it shouldn't affect the signal as long as you are within range of the router.   By wireless if you are thinking something like Clearwire which operates much the same as a cell phone then you'll probably have trouble, or if you are using an air card you might have issues too, provided there is even service in your area.  A lot of people say wireless and they are using a router and network card and others think wireless is like the air card.   No sure which you are thinking about. 


Turn off - especially if you are on high-speed internet
This will prevent you from contracting various illnesses on your computer.
I'm having the same problem, have high speed DSL and it has been crawlinggggg....

*


Thanks for your response. I do, however, have high-speed cable. nm
x
question about wireless high speed

When a job says high speed internet is a must but no satellite, should I apply if I’m using wireless high speed through a cell phone carrier?


We have direct TV and directway internet for high speed and luv it!!!! nm
x
I agree - high-speed cable is great....
I use Adelphia and am very pleased.  They offer an introductory rate of $26.95/mo. for first 6 months, and were recently also offering a $50 Visa gift card for "joining".  The fee after that is $44/mo., I believe, but you can group it with a digital cable package and save more money.  I have been very pleased with their reliability thus far.  I went with them literally from day one when they came to my area, and at first the outages were frustrating, but now it is extremely rare for them to go out at all (knock on wood!!!!). 
Vonages requires high speed internet...

so you would need either DSL/cable or broadband.  I have broadband and hooked up to Vonage for 2 months for C-phone use.  The audio quality was frequently poor and I would have to reboot.  Some days I would just hook up to my home phone line to avoid the hassle.  The kicker was when I went to disconnect this month, they charged me $97 TO CANCEL!  Its all in the fine print, apparently.


My audio problems may well have had to do with broadband/satellite service more than anything.  If you have cable/DSL it may be worth a shot, but know that if you cancel after their 30-day trial you are going to pay! 


Any experience using Embarq high-speed internet?

Hi, wondering if anyone has experience with Embarq for phone/high-speed internet access.  They merged/absorbed Sprint a while back, apparently. They are the only provider for a nearby small town and I'm wondering if it's even a good idea to move there...


Thanks!


My high speed internet is through our local t.v. cable company. nm.
x
Well, the first thing you'll need is a high speed internet connection if you don't already hav

it.  You'll want to invest in a foot pedal that you can connect to your PC.  I'd check out the pedals on transcriptiongear.com or check out Ebay.  I've found a lot of useful MT equipment on ebay for really reasonable prices.  I have an Infinity USB pedal that works nicely and I bought it off of Ebay.  You'll need to download ExpressScribe or another program so you will be able to play back sound files using your pedal.  That will make it a lot easier for you to test with some of the national companies as they generally have .wav files that you'll need to transcribe and send back before they will make an offer.


Once you've landed a job, the bigger companies generally will provide you with whatever software required to do their work and some provide you with all the equipment you'll need.  However, some will require you to use your own PC and will want you to have the latest version of Word.


That should get you started.


Anyone on the high speed internet that has found it just crawling along for some reason. All of a
sudden my just goes into web sites at a crawl and my computer is fine and modem seems fine.  No clue what is going on. 
I have a KVM switch and using cable for my high-speed internet so what i needed ... SM

to connect my second computer to the internet was simply the ethernet cord along with the KVM switch box.  I actually work with a router, but it was simple to set up and works like a charm. 


Lots of other factors too. They might need MTs with specific specialties or high-speed only or FT o
It seems to go in waves. Lots of radiology jobs, then none. Lots of operative note jobs, then none. Lots of oncology jobs, then none. Then lots of openings again.

I just got high-speed in my subdivision; I think this will open a lot of doors for me that were not open previously. Dial-up only hurt me pretty bad in terms of who would hire me. Could not get flat fee long distance either, so I was a recruiter's nightmare. I was ready to move. Now I can get both through Comcast. Doing the happy dance in MN!!!
VOIP - If I am not mistaken VOIP requires a high speed connection.
:(
I have it bad in a few areas. I use - sm
Aloe Vera 100% Gel from Fruit of the Earth. It works great and gets rid of it. I get it in the health food section at Hyvee (one of our local grocery stores).

I used to use Aloe-80, which also works great, that I got at GNC.

increase speed 3, decrease speed 2...sm
increase backspace 9, decrease backspace 8. At least that's what mine does.
Nope I don't live in one of "those" areas.
I live in a quiet little neighborhood with nice neighbors. Used to have a trailer in this same neighborhood until my family sold it. Nobody looked down on us either.
Hello..you cannot predict an earthquake, but you know areas that are prone to them. NM
NM
agree 100% when areas not predicted get hit; they can't prepare. sm
i am 280 miles inland and rita affected us here. we have NEVER been under a tropical storm warning as we were with rita but did get prepared. i stocked up for 2 weeks as they told us too and stocked up gas before it was gone. however, it turned and hit the unprepared areas due to forecasters.

where are you, in lufkin? i am in tyler.
Tell that to certain tribes in remote areas of the world
Body deorating has been around about as long as man has been around. Your opinion is just that, yours, and I'm glad not to know you in person.
Be sure to keep areas dry and free of all sugar composites.
nm
You're right. Unfortunately, in some areas inhouse work is
I keep hoping some sort of changes in U.S. laws may come to the rescue before it's too late, and the whole industry becomes offshore and automated. Because if that happens, there will be less and less reason to want to entrust one's care to an HMO.
i wis i had that problem! sometimes that happens and we concentrate in the total wrong areas. so g
;
While AAMT does have a good QA program, they severely lack in other areas.
p
I would start with hospital websites in the surrounding areas to whatever facility you type for. SM

Hospital websites usually have a pretty good physician directory you can search through by name or by speciality, which is nice.


I also use the AMA website which has a sound alike search feature which is helpful.  Here is URL for the AMA doctor finder.


http://webapps.ama-assn.org/doctorfinder/home.html


Also, some states have websites for the medical board licensing or professional licensing where you can look up doctors with licenses in that state.  You might do a Google search for whatever state your facility is in.


Another good one that I use is the WebMD physician finder.  Here's the URL for that one:


http://doctor.webmd.com/physician_finder/home.aspx?sponsor=core


Hope this helps you.


I worked for a rural doc. So much fun! :)

We even had a patient in the waiting room one day that brought in a paper bag with baby chickens in it as it was too hot to leave them in the car.  Nobody in the waiting room gave it a second thought.


It was great fun to work there.  They called it a "medical center" but it was in an old house with less than state of the art equipment.  The country folk swore by "Doc" and "Doc" didn't think twice about going out at 3:00 a.m. to make a house call.


He never would have dreamed of asking for a co-pay up front and even let one farmer's wife pay with fresh baked pies.


They sure don't make them like they used to.


P.S.  We still had typewriters back in 1994.  :)


I have the same problem and we are not THAT rural....sm

It is very frustrating to feel so limited in your job choice b/c of something like that.  I have never really had any major problems with my dial-up and have been told by two different techs. that I have excellent connection speed considering it is dial-up.  Frustrating though....


rural hospitals
If this is an extra job I would certainly make it worth my while. I worked at small hosp. for 5 yrs that did not want to work us from home. Kept saying they could not but I knew better. Eventually I went off on my own and have been home since. We had 3 FT. They hired 2 in my place and 1 PT for wknds. I type at night now to catch them up. They still had 1 PT and 4 FT, but I charge them 15 cpl. I clear in 5-8 hours what they all 4 do in 1 day, literally. Still did not want to put me or others at home. Want me to drive 45 miles 1 way to type, after I've pulled my reg. 8. Now what I do, whether they know it or not, I dial up on my C-phone into thier system and type at home, save it to disc (they monitor email + HIPPA) drive over for about an hour and transfer work into thier system. So if they have a phone in line you might check with them about on call stuff being typed at home, especially if this is stat work. It will certainly get back to them quicker. This is just fear of the unknown. This same hosp. has now, instead of firing those not doing work and hiring a good worker or paying them OT will pay me double the amount. They have also moved the weekend girl to FT and are letting a file clerk/PT IC do the weekend x-rays and still want me to help. That's 5 full time typist and 2 PT for a 43 bed hosp. Thier may reason was not to put thier network on home computers, which they all ready do. Won't give me network access but have given it to the weekend girl. Plus they are paying a consultant out the wazoo to tell them why this is not working!

If you are going to be on call, make sure you have set days or hours that you will be on call and that you are compensated. Don't let them just pay you for the work you do. Your time is worth money also. In other words don't sit home all day 3 nights a week waiting for a phone call and get paid for 1 hours. I have done this in the past where I worked and was on call on weekends for x-rays. There might be 1 or 21 or none. I got paid by the hour. If there were none I got paid for 1 hour for showing up. Ask an x-ray tech or someone who gets on call pay. They get a flat rate for being on call and then they get paid for the individual call.
I'm 1 hour north of Sacramento but lived in Citrus Heights/Roseville areas for 10 years (sm)
and pretty much 'ditto' everything CAMT says... Kaiser very big in Sacramento but you could start applying to nationals and have a job by the time you got there!! Congratulations and good luck on your move!!
Actually, I live in a rural community sm
and left a hospital where that was very good pay.  Starting wages for MT was $8.00 an hour with a 25 cent raise every year if you were lucky.  $11.50 would be like gold for the transcriptionists that work there.
Just moved to a rural area
Have a satellite dish, no cable.  The phone company out here does not provide ULD.  One job I would like you need ULD, and the other you need internet access, no satellites accepted.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Is there a way you can get even dialup without having to use long distance?