Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Saw JLG hiring SE and IC. SE can take home office deductions, right? (sm)

Posted By: Looking on 2005-11-29
In Reply to:

Any other pros/cons about this or the company in general?


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

I'm an employee and can take home office deductions. You
have to have a $$ amount equal to a certain percentage of your income to be able to claim expenses if you are not an IC.  I don't claim home office because it only made about a $50 difference in my report and I'd rather not claim it than worry about an audit since my office isn't 100% office use, my internet service isn't 100% work related, etc.   HR Block does my taxes too. 
But as work at home IC, deductions can often lower
x
May have a home office in tn
But definately is affiliated with the Phillipines, know the person who runs it.
Home vs. office
Well, I've done both but did billing in between. Each has benefits. Our local hospital pays more per hour if you get over the req. amt. of lines. Pretty cool. However, they're small and don't often have openings. They have a good starting wage too.

OTOH, I like being at home, working in my sweats, and having my 3 cuddle babies (my 3 pugs) at home with me. We are trying to breed our 2 black pugs (just once to carry on the line) and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had still been doing med. billing at an office. I had a TAH last May and had to use all my vac. days. I have to be home with my female if she has puppies in case something goes wrong and with the puppies in case she abandons then litter. Home trans. allows me to do that.

So, I guess, to each his own. At first, when I left an hourly paying job, I wanted to run to the local hosp. and beg them to hire me. Now, I'm more secure in what I can do and I feel comfortable at home. :-)

You can work in the office or at home....
if you dislike the office, or find it tense, you should ask to work from home. There are only about 15 people that work in the office, most are not transcriptionists, and my experience is that they would rather transcriptionists work from home.

Life's too short, go ahead and make arrangements to work from home. Why would you want to work in the office, especially if you dislike it so much?


PS, I was a supervisor in the home office
That is how I know for a fact that it is done this way.
Transcend has their home office there,
don't they?
Link to home office info

xx


Does Diskriter still photograph your home office?

I have been wanting current info on them, also.  Anyone out there help?


 


Working from home/office work

I feel I need to speak up. I understand that the industry is going backwards in pay and for all of the more experienced MT's this is really degrading from what I hear from some. I understand and I would probably feel the same way. This is a craft. Not everyone can do what we do. It is a very hard craft. We should be paid what we are worth. There is no doubt about that but I also know how it works in an office in this industry. Being in an office is awful! I did it for 15 years. I worked at 2 different companies and both took advantage of the hard worker I was. I had MULTIPLE jobs and was not compensated for it. When I hear MT's complain about how bad they have it I want to scream. Yes, the pay is an issue. Yes, the belittling emails from managers is ridiculous. I completely agree and all of those managers should be let go but you do not know how awful it is to be in an office setting dealing with those belittling managers.


Trust me everyone in the company you work for or wherever that is not a VP or CEO is going through hell on a daily basis and not getting paid for it. You are making a lot more money for the time you put in than the people working in the office mostly. The people in the office are probably working on salary. When you figure the hours they work and the amount they are paid that are probably making about $5.00 an hour or less. They also have to work nights/weekends etc. from home. They also are having to listen to all of the MT's daily when they have a problem, they call in giving a excuse as to why they cannot come to work and trying to scramble to get the shift filled when the MT is really not sick as she said, problems dealing with the clients and their complaints about the work or turn times, problems with MT's and editors fighting via IM or email, problems with the Sales guys telling potential clients...oh yeah, we can do that...when we CANNOT.


I could go on and on. Being in an office is a lot more work than you would think. I would be greatful for what you have. I am not bitter at what I have gone through in an office setting. It got me to where I am today. I just want to let you know it is not easy working in an office and it is a lot harder than being an MT when you can type and then stop for the day and not have to answer to others and deal with their issues. Being an MT is a craft and it is hard...just be thankful!


Have a HAPPY HOLIDAY! Be joyous! Feel Blessed!


"People are quitting" -- who? I work in the home office
and no one has quit in the last month.
I realize we work from home, but where in Ky is their base office?
nm
That is the owner's home. Office is in Ahmedabad, India. It is deceptive sm
to advertise otherwise.  All of the work is sent to and comes from India. 
There are many hospitals now hiring for at home MTs.
You just need to search for them. One, I know of, is in Georgia. Some are hiring employee status, you must live in the state the hospital is located, and others are hiring as IC, you can live anywhere in the US.

What state do you live in and are you looking for employee or IC?
MTSO gift to their at-home MT's who make their living for them and all the office staffs' livi

Why is it so hard to share their profits with the at-home MT's? ? ?   Give me MONEY for Christmas because so much has been taken throughout the year -- I won't it back -- or at least some of it !  I will buy my own gift or pay my light bill or buy my children/grandchildren a gift with it.


In general, the top echelon is getting so greedy at most MTSO's!   They would have nothing w/o the MT's constantly tapping those keyboards . . . and I mean it gets more and more difficult for us MT's as with each passing year to make a decent living . . . I dare say a living of any sort.  Only those MT's who have husbands to support them are happy with whatever few cents they are offered, because it is only play money for them anyway.  Hubby pays all the bills.   I guarantee you that if a poll were taken of the Happy MT's with their at-home job, it would either be hubby making living for them OR mommy not having to pay a babysitter to work outside the home.  Those in HR/management, with a little research, can easily see how our paychecks are dwindling month by month due to lower wages because ASR/VR is taking away the decent dictators and leaving only the horrible dictators (who take lots of time to transcribe a quality report), lack of cost-of-living raises, rising electricity bills at home that the MT has to pay, high-speed internet/phone bills higher and higher and loaded with taxes, rent/mortages/taxes/insurance continuously rising. 


The office staff don't have to think about those at-home costs, as theirs are paid by the MTSO during their working hours/shift, nor do they have to worry about the lack of raises, etc, because in-house employees get raises automatically with tenure or with a 6-month or annual review or at the discretion of management at any time.


Personally, my line count continues to decrease; I don't know what the reason is because in the past many years, I could transcribe 200-400 lines per hour, and I do good to transcribe 100 or 150 an hour with the horrible dictators sifted out by the VR machine Dictaphone ExText.  


Please don't yell at me -- because I am thankful for a paycheck -- but why is the burden put on my fingers to WORK HARDER AND HARDER to earn that paycheck.  Don't say try ASR/VR because it will double your income, because I have tried that and know better and have proven that theory to be wrong -- at least on Dictatphone ExSpeech you can't !


The other thief of a good line count/wage for the U.S. MT's is the majority of our work going offshore because it can get done CHEAPER !  Who is all that extra money saved by offshoring our work going to ??  Not the at-home MT.  That is exactly why I request MONEY for my Christmas gift from my employer, rather than some promo gift that is handed out to any and everyone.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL US MT's in the good 'ole USA !  ! !


What about deductions?

I also recently started working as an IC, for the first time. Besides setting aside part of my wages, is it true that at tax time I can lessen the tax bill quite a bit by taking a home office deduction, such as utilities, etc.?  Do I pay separately into Social Security? Inquiring minds want to know.......Thanks!


Deductions are still allowed
Even if you are on employee status, you can still take deductions for your at-home office. I didn't think so either until my accountant told me that absolutely, you still can. It isn't as much as if you are totally self employed, but there are still quite a few allowed. The best of both worlds is statutory employee. That means you do not pay both sides of the SS Tax but you still send in quarterlies. This way, you can take all deductions for your home office, etc. Hope this clarifies it a bit better.
Are you sure taking all available deductions?
x
You forgot to do some deductions - sm
like medical benefits, taxes, no pay for vacation or sick time, no rasies, etc.  I got out of this field about a year ago but still visit this board.  It amazes me how the same baloney is complained about for at least the 10 years I was an MT.  Not everyone can type 200 lph no matter how long they've been typing.  You have no idea how BAD it is for your health to sit for long periods of time.  Glad you're happy with the position and I'm happy I'm out of it.  Now I get bennies, vacation pay, don't have to work holidays and/or weekends and make about $16/hr. 
Those things MTs pay for are tax deductions. And
dr. to you? DO you think it just magically appears in your PC?  And who do you thing handles the disgruntled facilities, dictation-to-MT break-downs, and all the other irritating details that come with this business.  It is not just work in, work out, cash the check. 
In the early days, MedQuist said working at home was a benefit, therefore at-home sm
employees did not receive as many benefits as those working in-house.  As I believe, it was something like at-home employees got 3 days off a year versus 10 days for the in-office employees -- WHAT?!!!  I told them it made no sense to me, since by working at home I was saving them money -- no need to provide office space, equipment, references, utilities, etc. -- yet I get shafted.  I was only part-time when they took over the previous company with their great policies, and I told them to kiss where I can't. 
Please excuse typo--I meant deductions
its getting late and I stacked wood all day. LOL!
I thought statutory could claim those same deductions? NM

Oh no. Also check to see if your tax deductions (fed, state, social security) were
nm
The main office was in Bolingbrook but they built an office in Yorkville last fall. SM
I think that the owners live in Yorkville, so it was built close to their house. Nice office, just pretty far out.
Just curious, is the MQ Nashville office the old Lanier office? nm
nm
I don't work in the office and never claimed to. I am just saying that since the new office open
October with everyone of the admin staff in one place, these problems do not occur any more.
Can't get paid in the office if you don't work in the office.
JLG has MT's working at home, not in the office, not to mention working out of state.  The mail is the only way to get paid since they have temporarily suspended direct deposit.  The only ones getting paid on time are the ones that do work in the office, like the management and people answering the phone. 
Closed FW office, Indianapolis office too. nm
xx
I am including all insurance deductions including nm
n
Maybe MQ is over hiring now in preparation for something. Must be some reason they keep hiring when
some people have not work.
did that at home...
worked for a court reporter service typing depositions at home for a while. The biggest problem was that it seemed there were often 2 or 3 people talking at once and it was hard to tell one from the other. Things had to be verbatim to the letter, with absolutely every word spoken included in the report. I can see where it would be easier to do that in an office setting where you would be able to ask questions about things you were unsure of. The pay was excellent, but I found it really difficult to do it at home.
About MT at home

I am - or hopefully soon to be - was on eof those recruiters, and I coul dgive you a heads up on what they are thinking when they advertise, and what they really expect.


First, not all companies are making 14 cents or more a line with so much off shoring - BUT that doesn't mean they coud not give more. I have been asked to low-ball on many occasions. What a company needs to realize is that without MTs, there is no company. After soul searching, I will be leaving my inhouse job for an at-home MT position NOT WITH THEM. Now that I know what they do, I am hoping to cope, and work around it to make what I need without the stress. Cause the stress is making me physically ill, and I am too old and too professional and too qualifed to be treated the way they do. AND I wont be a part of their antics with the MTs. I mean how many times can a bank possibly make an error. MTs are smarter than that. Them leaving would only make my life more stressful in the office.


 


Yup. Only 2 at home still, 12 & 17 NM.
nm
FLOATING HOME - PLEASE
No houseboat just a floating home with the sun rising and setting over Mt. Hood. 
PT at home with benefits
Does anyone know of a good company to work for part time at home that offers insurance?
New at home based...

I would like to get some feedback on a few companies.  I have been offered positions from AccuScribe, Cymed.  I am an IC now and have been in a hospital setting for several years, now at home working for a local company that does not pay well. 


This newbie really needs some help! 


Thanks in advance!


Carly


At home positions
DTS America Brentwood TN has at home positions awesome management group there.
Used to work for them at home--sm
You don't work for any certain facility. They now have the MTs working on all their facilities depending on the region you are in. They have heavy ESL.
Thanks. I am used to working at home
and not having to deal with this.  This hospital has opened up a new surgery center which is its own entity and that took away a lot of our transcription plus a good majority of our radiology has gone to templates so in other words we are now very over staffed.  They pulled some of us in-house to work on other stuff when transcription gets low which it frequently does so when I work on other things I get paid an hourly rate.  I make more typing.  Some of the other transcriptionists refuse to do anything else but type and one of the supervisors made a comment that that is not the right attitude to have.  I have considered the nationals mainly due to my pay cut and gas prices and of course this coworker doesn't help, but am afraid of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.  I have read horror stories on this board.   Its hard to decide what to do.  There is little opportunity for transcriptionists around here.  The ones that have a job are holding on tight.  One of the local multispecialty clinics outsource to India  and another one of our big multispecialty clinics do voice recognition and templates. They still have transcriptionists but let a lot of them go.  I live in a remote area also and never thought I would have to worry about India, templates, VR since big city people claims we are soo far behind but it has happened.  Oh, well thanks for letting me vent.  I feel like I did this on the wrong board though, probably should have been on the main board.  Sorry.   
radiology at home

MDI-FL pays 10 cpl for radiology and acute with Meditech experience.  Good company.


 


Trying to adjust to home

I've had a tough time working at home.  It takes more discipline than in an office and I applaud anyone who can do it and make money. 


Hospital at home now.

Please forgive me but I really need to vent.  I think  I am at my lowest now.  I have worked in local Hospital Radiology dept. for 10 years and was told I must work at home, or no job.  I must provide high speed internet and pay for it, I provide space in my home and desk and chair, must show proof that my homeowner's policy will cover their computer equipment, and must show picture of area in my home showing a door for HIPAA compliance, they say.  I get 9 cents per line, only what I type, one line each for headers and footers.  They won't tell me how they determine a line, they won't say if macros and normals are included. I went to personnel and they say my department head determines what and how she pays and they won't interfere.  I have a one year old mortgage so can't say no, and my pay is down to 8-9 dollars an hour, and that is before I deduct what I have to pay to work at home.  When I told my supervisor that the new program they put in is not Transcriptionist friendly, she said, no it's not, it is mainly designed for Voice Recognition.  I can't check my lines, they give me a paper with total lines for the last two weeks on it with my paycheck.  I feel abandoned and abused.  I called local labor board and they said if I was getting minimum wage and overtime pay as required by law, then I should be thankful I have a job!


I am about to default on my mortgage, and have three kids to worry about too.  Can it get any worse than this?


Will likely still pay hourly, even at home.
But I agree; 1200 lines will be required at minimum.
Working at home
If you compare working at home to having to get up and go into an office somewhere, rain or shine, that is a big plus. The only drawback to this profession is the declining line rate. Guess thats really up to the MT I guess. They will pay what you are willing to take. Just have to keep shopping around until you get what you want. Much better alternative than getting all nasty about the company you work for, there are plenty more out there, and they all pay different.
You would not be sorry to work for them. Like any @ home job, it is a job and to be taken serious (
The pay is good, it is based on a line rate and bonuses for tier levels. You would not be sorry. A good group of people, excellent technical support and communications within the management!
Staying at home
Hi: Our children are grown and gone and I still choose to stay at home. I like the flexibility that I have working as an IC. I like making as much or as little as I would like to. I like being off when my husband is so that we can spend time together, go see our children, travel. I even take my laptop with me when going to see kids so that I can work if I am scheduled. I could not do that working in an office environment. I agree with the other poster. You take the good with the bad. You pick your battles. Also, after working at home for so long, I'm not sure I'm a candidate for working in an office environment! That would mean wearing a bra every day! Hope you find the answers you are looking for.
At-home Transcribing
I have been working from home since July 2002.  I absolutely love it.  I have worked for Spheris, MedQuist, and now I am at Webmedx.  The company I am currently with is the best.  Spheris is also good, but they do not have bonus incentives.  All 3 of these companies have PT positions available.  You pay a $250 deposit for the equipment (which is better than using your own cuz if anything goes wrong they pay for it and not you!) which is split into $50 from each paycheck.  If you ever leave the company you get that back.  Also they have full medical, dental, 401K, and vision, and PTO time.  I work FT and absolutely love it!  My take home pay is around $1000 every 2 weeks.  That is TAKE HOME!!!!!!  So, if you have any more questions please feel free to ask me.  Good luck in your job search!
other at home jobs

I know a few days ago there was a post from someone on where you can get other work at home jobs.  Can someone please tell me where to find these.  I remember them saying there was a web site on Good Morning America.  You can email me directly.  Thanks in advance!


working at home
I work for a local hospital that has been promising us to go home for 7+ years and still be employees of the hospital.  We have Dictaphone and recently got speech.  We are in the learning phase.  We were told they (hospital) cannot decide if we will use their equipment or your own equipment.  I and another co-worker also work for a service.  That threw up a red flag for us both.  Our own equipment - independent, no benefits or possibly every thing outsourced and then possibly lose the job.  We both figure with the speech recognition coming and possibly having to use our own equipment, it would be easier for a service to take over.  Any thoughts to that?
This is why I like working at home - ALONE. nm
x