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I heard an interesting segment on NPR this spring ...

Posted By: dandelion on 2009-08-13
In Reply to: In support of dictation over EMR point and click - mtme

-- quote -- Many health care professionals agree — but there is growing skepticism among doctors, administrators and computer specialists who say the costs of implementing a comprehensive tracking system will outweigh any cost-saving benefits. -- end quote --

=========================================================
It's important to keep in mind that doctors dictating most hospital reports (pathology, imaging are different) are NOT being paid for their time and effort ... the transcription is paid for by the hospital in order to provide the HOSPITAL with documentation THEY need for JACHO ... yes, the doctors do get a copy for their records and some reports are used by those doctors to justify billing for services (surgeons) ... but except where doctors NEED these reports -- Radiology/Pathology/Cath Lab -- most often in contracted joint venture based services -- the doctors often already feel exploited (not to mention being on all sorts of committes gratis as well).

For many private practice doctors, as you can hear in their voices, the time they spend dictating is the longest private quiet time they get all day.

Apparently (another NPR segment I cant find) even Doctors Offices -- which have paid out of pocket for EMR to enhance their practices -- are not properly using it -- to much trouble and bother

(Don't know but I would quess the same old same old military-industrial complex types are the heavy investors in this new technology)

=========================================================
link to article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102481028

other article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102360638


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I heard the most interesting conversation just the other day
It sounded like two young guy doctors..they were talking for a while about a girl/guy couple they knew (maybe other doctors they knew?) and some very intimate embarrasing things that this couple did together and somehow got out. Then he must have realized and began to dictate. It was pretty juicy and I wanted to hear more. lol! :P
I have heard the quality is very questionable so should be interesting to see how many of those
accounts they keep. 1500 sounds like a lot to me.
Not a spring board to MT
You won't get experience to get an MT job from CS. You will, however, get used to working from home, working on production, dealing with feedback, digital dictation, and different dictators, all of which is very valuable if you eventually want to pursue MT.

Just Google work at home moms and you will probably find it.
That happened to me last spring from
TT. I received an e mail stating I was being let go because I never returned a call when they tried to reach me by phone. They said I could be rehired in 3 months. I wrote an e mail back saying I never received any phone call, nor did my husband. And, if they needed to talk to me, why didn't they e mail to begin with on the same e mail they were sending this let go notice to begin with? I think they had overhired and then wanted everyone on VR, and I was doing straight typing and I was not a cheap asset. I don't know what happened, but I certainly did not reapply in 3 months. It seems to go in cycles with that company, they hire lots in the fall, with a lot of great posts on the board, and then lots of turn over in the spring. Wondering if it has anything to do with benfits kicking in, etc.
Another way to let someone go is when you are a contractor, and suddenly your account is pulled and you have no work and they don't reassign. That happened at 1 company I worked with. Apparently they lost a clinic I was typing, and when I asked the owner, she said there was nothing wrong with my work. She gave me no answer as to why I did not have another account. I sent numerous e mails, and they said nothing was wrong, yet I never received work. I eventually stopped logging in and checking. I guess they were stringing me along, or I was stupid and took a long time to get the message.
No matter, I work employee at 1 great company and 1 IC in another and turned out to be in the right places after all. Sometimes you just run into companies with bad policies/communication and turnover, and you have to move on anyway. Good luck to you!
Yes, last week was not too hot. Spring Break sm
I have 4 accounts I can work on and I do about every day of the week, right now. We have new accounts coming in the near future too.

This is not permanent. I have changed my shift hours so I get a sort of a peak time of plenty of work on a couple of my accounts. I hope that change is not going to be permanent, but if it is, I am okay.
My STM says it was spring break in the Pacfic sm
Northwest, where lots of our accounts are located. I see today already work has significantly picked up on 3 of the 5 accts that I work on.
Just a fluke, I think.
Yes, I have 3 accts now, started the end of the spring.
They are willing to cross-train you if you are willing and good in order to keep you busy. You start with 1 account and after you are let off QA and type on that for a while you can get a secondary, etc. This has been my best job in years.
I will take one with a skirt, preferably spring colors. nm
nm
They were bought by Nuance in the spring of 2007.
And apparently they feel that stating that fact makes them sound more respectable, I guess.  Nuance also owns Dictaphone and Escription. 
What season is THAT? Late spring/early summer? .. sm
or the figment of some MTSO's imagination or latest line of BS?? 
It's neither. It's ALWAYS slow this time of year, between Spring Break and Easter.
By the week after next we'll be drowning in work.
Not too bad. It's spring holidays and people are on vacation. Should pick up anytime. nm
nm
I've heard only positive things about them. So, I applied, but haven't heard a word. Maybe fl
nm
I've only heard of Intellitype. Never heard of Teletype.
x
What's interesting is...SM
The negative posts seem to be the most prevalent here. For almost every company that's been bashed here, I have heard MTs who say that they had a positive experience there (although not necessarily posted on this board).

Frequently, when positive posts are made, there are accusations of "recruiter," "management," "damage control," etc. Therefore, I take everything with a grain of salt.
Interesting
Very intesting post
VERY INTERESTING
What is CC Road? a freakin Mail Boxes ect?
Interesting
Glad to hear that other people feel the same. We were fed all the same lines from the so called recruiter. Glad to see her go, maybe now we will hear the truth?
Interesting. I did not know that.
Was she able to send out her obnoxious snotgrams at OSI, or did they rein her in?
Interesting, no? (nm)
//
Well - that's interesting - sm
Maybe I need to reconsider. Are you FT or PT, if you don't mind saying?
i always look at ads. might be something interesting
bet many do the same.
interesting
that is interesting.  Do you think that mainly is where there is more of a populated community?  I have been thinking about getting business cards made up and checking out the area where I live.  But  I recently moved from the atlanta area and in a smaller community in the north.  I have a feeling I won't be quite as lucky.
interesting
The ad asks for a certain player and the website states a DVIPS - and gives a link that does not work. confusing. The website is interesting but I wonder if they tell us which accounts we are primary and which we are secondary like their website states, would we get a heads up on when we have to cover. They must be pretty lenient with days off, with every account having a secondary covrage.
would be interesting
to know who this thoughtless company is??
Very interesting...did they say why?
x
This is very interesting
I have just given notice at the national I work at because I have never gotten such a low line count. I thought it was probably me...but now that I read this, guess I can put the blame elsewhere. At first I thought ExText was great but after a few months on it I realized I have never done such a low amount of lines.
Wow!!! That was interesting...
They are probably going through another employee turnover because of lack of work...and desperate, I guess??
interesting
I called Acusis and actually had a bit of a hard time getting anyone on the phone. I asked if they hire US MTs and they said not currently. I asked if any of their accounts are done here in the US and the reply was no they are all done in India. I also asked whether or not they had acquired companies that had accounts that had to be done in the US and I was told it was all done in India.
We think? interesting.

How many fingers are on your keyboard? Or did you just screw up the quote?


 


interesting
tone? Taunt - Everyone bypasses that I stated very clearly - I would work for a company that had their problems if they told me up front, I would work for less if I had the real deal up front, that I was interested in what they had to say - truly interested - no wonder 2/3 MTs on this board feel they get no where with the other 1/3 on this board - not to mention their MTSOs they work with. A sincere question turns to taunt and tone. I hate to say it, but if a question like that or request like that gives a taunting feel to some MTSO - I wonder how they get along in the business world - it seems as an IC I get more taunt and tone than this request.

The funny thing is that remark regarding dumb time bomb below to someone got very little comment - can you explain that since tone and taunting is your forte?
Interesting..
I never heard this. I worked for them for a year and quit about 4 months ago. I would love to know more about this!
very interesting
Very interesting....I worked for Cymed/Spi for 7 months before I quit and moved onto my present job since June 16. I moved on cause they took away the two accts I was working on and I needed more work....that is very interesting.....

very interesting indeed.....
Interesting - sm

 I just spoke to someone from there today.  Not the best representative for the company to say the least.  I asked how many lines per week average and she sang the same song as she did for keyedup in the last group of posts for Compudex.  She said that she would not guaranty linecount because transcriptionists up and quit and have no loyalty.  Maybe that should tell her something.  In order to accept any job, I would want to know what the average line count per week was so that I could assure that I would be making enough money.  Why would she not give out that information???  She said the client would dictate 70 or so short procedure notes and down load them all at once then you have a couple of days to transcribe them.  I do not know, but it sounds fishy.  Oh and also when she left me the message to call her, she made sure that I knew to call the number that she gave me because it was her personal phone number not the company number.  I don't know I am pretty sure if she was offering 15 cpl, I would not take this one, and she was only offering 7. 


Interesting....
Most of the UPMC (Presby) Hospitals used to have their accounts with Spheris which most of the UPMC accounts went over to India....interesting, are they back needing us US MTs....did they not like the India work??? After all it was cheaper.....Okay, I am being sarcastic. Just find this very interesting...This account is full of ESLs, this is true. Was a tough account from what I can remember. Very interesting!!
Interesting
That is so amazing... 12 cpl? I find that incredible. They called and left a message here today. They keep missing me, and I haven't called back yet. I am happy where I am, the lines come easier, no stress, wonderful people, couldn't be happier. 12 cpl would be awful tempting, but I don't understand why they let all us old-timers leave without a question. Never heard a thing from anybody but my PS, who was fired a couple of weeks later. She was the only good thing left for me at MQ as far as I was concerned. Why did they let everybody just leave and get new jobs, get settled, only to call us back months later? Has anything changed there? Reading the MQ board, it sure doesn't look like it has.
Interesting,
I'll have to ask my sup about that.
This is interesting! Something I would like to know too! nm
s
Very interesting...SM
So that way you could evaluate them before giving notice at another job, I suppose, and they check you out, too. By 20 minutes, I'm assuming you mean 20 dictated minutes, so about an hour's worth of work or so?

Do you have to buy your own software like spell checker, expander, and all that, or is that part of it? What all did it take to get started? I'm seriously thinking of applying here.
Interesting...
Thanks for the replies.  Sometimes I think it might be easier to edit??!!
Interesting

Since I have never been under the illusion that any of our medical reports are 100% accurate, while they gather errors and misstatements from speaker to printer, I find this very interesting...I work on a major account for a large MTSO...the account manager has actually told me that the client rarely, if ever, is concerned about the body of the report...only is concerned about headers and footers.   Apparently, the HIM department at the facility is mostly concerned with headers and footers, courtesy copies, etc.  Most of the reports are electronically signed.  So, unless the doctor actually proofreads, they pay no attention.  The only dictator on this account who has ever made corrections to the report body, as far as I know, is a PA who talks a mile a minute but seems to expect 100% superhuman perfection on the part of the transcriptionists.  For all I know, the QA people might have been instructed to correct the report body or fill in the blanks in whatever way works best, including deleting entire sentences.


Again, IMHO, some of the reports can be nearly accurate, or a near-accurate representation of the speaker's opinions, which may or may not be accurate, but I doubt that the medical reports are 100% accurate with regards to the patient or the situation.  There is too much room for human error, misinterpretation, incorrect editing, etc.  Medicine is an art, not a science.  Furthermore, any medical provider who reads previous patient repors as part of the medical record and accepts them at face value, drawing conclusions from them, is doing the patient a grave disservice.  Their education is supposed to teach them the power of discernment.


With that being said, it seems to me that the only ones required to be 100% accurate are those who are subjected to the QA/QC process-the MTs.  Does this seem unfair or what?


Please don't bother to respond to tell me that I should love it or leave it.  I've already decided to move on.  This transcription business is way too oppressive for an MT who is just trying to make a living, doing the best that he/she can do, while constantly being graded.  I've never received a formal QA/QC report below 99%, but I still find the entire process to be distasteful, annoying, insulting, etc.  After all, the client and/or dictators are never critiqued in the same way.


The other thing that I have observed is that many MTs, as a group, are either not able, or not ready, to stand up and support each other in making this business more fair for all.  I guess we just, collectively, know that we are up against a brick wall.


Thank God we live in a free world where choices are our own.


Interesting. Thanks. nm
,
Hmm, that's interesting.

I wonder why some do and some don't.  I would not like to have to clock in and out either.  


Thanks, that's interesting. Seems like it'd be the
I always wonder when they only post on non-MT employment sites if it's because they don't know about MT sites or because they have a bad track record with MTs. Thanks for the input!
that is interesting

That is interesting as when I did a search on the BBB and on here it was pretty quiet and nothing was said but now that I have had it happen to me I see all the remarks popping up all over the place. 


I think all of us who have been scammed by them should get together and get a class action lawsuit going against them to get our money back that would be alot of money they would have to pay us back.  


Everyone who has been messed over by this company lets get together and get a class action suit going we owe it to ourselves to get our money back plus a little bit more for stress caused by all of this.   


Very interesting.
I clicked on a letter of a company that advertises for US only MT's and found them.  This is a good site to checkout when applying with a company.  If they are on here - keep on truckin'. 
Really, that's interesting
I'd better take a look at the website again. It looked like it was in the US. Thanks for information.
Interesting
I have been in contact by email with this company and was thinking this may work for me, but now I am not so sure. Did you work for her?
This is interesting.......
I am so sorry to hear this.  I think I know what account you are talking about.    That is incredible that they are asking that....quite a shocker in fact.
another interesting
addition about voice recognition - are you seeing pay cuts in QA, supervisors, leads, CEO's of companies as a result of voice recognition.  Why is the pay cut only for those who generate the money? 
Interesting

I notice that none of the companies that I mentioned as currently offering overtime are on the above list.  I really think that offshoring no longer plays much of a part in the no work situation.  Why would they need to offshore when they are getting U.S. MTs to work for a crummy 4 CPL?  Unless maybe the offshore MTs are actually paying the MTSO to work for them, they couldn't go much lower than what they were already making.  I rather think the problem is that these MT schools are churning out so many newbies who will work for nothing or next to just to try to get a foot in the door.   They see they are going to starve to death and move on only to be replaced by more newbies.  I also don't think it is particularly VR because the majority of those I know are making only about half of their straight-typing paycheck.  There are, of course, always exceptions but when a company tells me their top producer kicks out 30,000 lines in a payperiod at 4 CPL, I most certainly am not impressed.


I have noticed that these fly-by-night schools have quit advertising on TV so maybe that situation will resolve itself too.  I personally know 3 such newbies.  The stayed with it maybe 6 months and have since moved on to other types of employment here they have benefits and a decent guaranteed paycheck.