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You're extremely lucky. I bet there aren't 10 of us out here employed by a hospital, working f

Posted By: home, at a great hourly rate. nm on 2006-10-30
In Reply to: my employee status seems to be different... - aa

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If you're extremely lucky you get 9cp. Experience doesn't seem to count much anymore. nm
s
I do BUT I am employed by a hospital...SM

making an hourly wage plus incentive.  However, I own my home and do not have a house payment (an insurance settlement allowed me to pay off my house) or a car payment (I do not drive a fancy car).  I also live in the midwest where the cost of living is lower than on the coasts.  I have two kids.  My monthly expenses are utilities, groceries, and stuff the kids need.  We do okay.  I'm not one of those people that lives above their means.  I have a 50+ year old home that we are fixing up when we have extra money.  I drive a 2000 Chevy Cavalier that is paid off and has a couple of dents from some fender benders, but looks decent.


My husband is disabled and hasn't worked since he was discharged from active duty in 2005.  We are in the process for filing a disability claim for him, but it's such a process.  So he brings in no income whatsoever.  He he is my house-husband.  He does the housework, the laundry, runs the kids to school and picks them up, and even occasionally cooks dinner.  He also is a great auto mechanic and keeps my car running for me.


I just wanted to give you my background because one of my biggest pet peeves is people who post on here how they make $60,000 a year as an MT and neglect to give the little details like they are chained to the computer 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.


I'll be honest, at 8 cpl, there is no way my family could live on that unless I slept at my computer and had a commode as my desk chair!  I'm lucky that I have the job I have and we've managed to cut costs where we can. 


My sister is an RN and has been for 20 years and she makes really good money.  Between her and husband's salaries, they pull in at least $100,000 a year and they are in debt up to their eyeballs.  They have trouble making their house payment every month.  They have a truck and a car payment that are constantly late.  Creditors are calling them nonstop for credit card bills they can't pay.  All because they felt they needed to live in the fanciest house and drive the newest, fanciest cars, and spend, spend, spend.


I don't live in a big fancy house or drive a fancy car, but I'm pretty content and I don't have the financial stress to deal with most of the time.  My kids want for nothing and I am occasionally able spoil them.


It's the FL Hospital account, not employed by
x
You guys are lucky! The NPs I've had in the past were all extremely wordy and had endless dic-
s
If you're self-employed and don't pay quarterly,
xx
With that attitude, I'm surprised you're employed!
Paranoid much? Maybe you need some anger management,,,,
I was lucky and had on-the-job training in the hospital I worked for. SM
But, it wasn't the medical terminology that I had trouble with. It was the medications that always got me!
Lucky me then working for the amoral one. n/m
x
you're so lucky...
to have nothing better to worry about than a harmless human typo. And if you're the person who made the typo, we forgive you (at least most of us do and the ones who don't were just going to find something to be petty about anyway).
you're lucky
I also found Steve to be quite rude when I called the office and he answered the phone.  Didn't have anyone to complain to, though, since his wife is the owner or co-owner.
Heh - maybe if we're lucky, the U.S. will go to war
Serve the suckers right. And maybe we'd get our livelihood back, to where we could earn an actual living on it, too.
You're one of the lucky ones
I know many, many people, myself included who have just recently lost their jobs to EMR. I thought the that it would never happen to me because I was told by my employer, oh, we'll still need you to do this and this and blah, blah, blah, and just as quick as a wink we were let go.
Working Christmas - gladly. For years I was lucky enough (sm)
to have an in house job where others volunteered to work Xmas, Easter, etc. so those of us with small children could enjoy the holiday.

Now I feel it is my turn to pay back and work the holidays so the mothers of younger children can have that special time with them. It only lasts such a short time.

Happy Holidays to all.
You're lucky. Mine are usually way behind. It's
nm
If you're lucky they will not reply.
Employment with Focus is an experience most come to regret.
You're lucky to get that. I get 5 days and 6
paid holidays, but I don't necessarily get the holiday off.  If our schedule falls on a holiday we are expected to work it unless we have been approved for PTO, and you have to ask months ahead of time.  We are able to take the day at another time w/o pay, since we already got paid for it. 
So you're one of the lucky ones who hasn't
taken a cut in pay for working longer & harder? It's sad to not be able to feel compassion for your fellow MTs who are struggling to make ends meet when their pay is being cut & the cost of living is rising. The CEOs of the MT corporations aren't going hungry, but some of our fellow MTs are really struggling. My compassion lies with them.
When MTs aren't working
1. Burnout. It's quite common in this field, due to the intensity of the job. Anyone with any real experience in this field knows this and takes precautions to keep it from happening. Intelligent employers make sure it doesn't happen, recognize it when they see it and work the MT through it. If not, good MTs are lost. Many people supervising MT now are not MTs and are completely ignorant of the job.
2. Getting mostly crap work or unfamiliar work on an ongoing basis. If bombed with crap work without compensation for known crap work, MTs get the above burnout, pound their brains out for nothing then give up.
3. We are people, not nameless machines. Lack of adequate rest or reasonable time off without penalty is self-defeating. MTs that give up their entire lives for their jobs and then make less than 30K for it eventually slow down. No incentive to keep going. After two years without a mammogram, dental appointment, a filthy house and my family having to make appointments with me to see me, I found myself in a vicious cycle that was not worth it. These personal things have to be done and eventually people will do them when they get fed up with self-neglect.

And that is why some people aren't working.

why aren't you working?????
too busy reading everyone's posts?????
If you get sent home in a week, you're lucky, SM
I considered applying for an MT home-based job for a local hospital in my town. They wanted me to work in-house 8-5 for FOUR TO SIX MONTHS, even though I have 10+ years of experience and worked there several years ago, so was familiar with the docs. No thanks, especially with 2 kids at home that would need day care to the tune of $750 or so per month. I passed (the money wasn't great anyhow, but the insurance was pretty decent).

I do hear that in some parts of the country, there are still some good home-based jobs. Unfortunately, more and more hospitals seem to be either going the ASR route or outsourcing.
You're lucky you got hired hourly before they did away with it.
x
What I want to know is why aren't people working?
......
Figure in the $20k to $50k range, if you're lucky; less when first starting out. nm
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Gosh, you're lucky! I'd love to make that much!
I do hope to at least get 9 cents a line somewhere anyway.
Even if you're FT, you'll be lucky to have enough work to get your lines,
x
Aren't you the one working for a company you hate? How
is that any different.   You're selling your soul to the devil, just like you say others are.  A job now will help you prepare for later so you aren't living under a bridge, revolting and quitting will guarantee you'll be living under that bridge, sooner rather than later.  I'm not saying so oh well such is life, but continue to work while you make other plans, either going to school or paying off debt, but to quit work, especially in a recession is not the right thing to do.  I believe in being self-sufficient, providing for the needs of my family, but if I quit either my kids go hungry or I depend on someone else to feed them and that is benig irresponsible.   I don't work for WMX now, I'm proud to say I'm an ex-webber, and my kids wouldn't go hungry tomorrow or even next month if I quit.  I sure wouldn't condemn someone for doing whatever it  takes to provide for their family. 
Wow, you're just looking to insult somebody, aren't you?
Just because I didn't like Medware compared to my present company means I'm easily distracted and have problems? Nice attitude you've got there. If people don't like what you like, they've got problems or are unhappy. OK, whatever.... Different strokes for different folks. Did you ever think that maybe we worked on different accounts so I really was inundated with useless emails from them? Did you ever stop to think that people don't all experience the same things from the same company? How would you know? But thank you for being so judgmental and superior to everyone who doesn't like Medware. Honestly, did you start this thread deliberately to pick an argument with anyone who dares to disagree with you? Sure sounds like it. By the way, my company doesn't offshore. They rock better!!!
Give it some time. I think some people aren't working today and the ice
s
You're the one that quit about a year ago, aren't you?
nm
If you aren't management & you're making good
money on VR, then why are you so desperate to attack those who don't want to do VR & try to shove it down their throats? A fellow MT wouldn't do that. They'd simply say they like it & how much they make rather than having a meltdown over other MTs not being thrilled about the switch....
Working for a hospital
Most of the hospitals like for you to be in a certain radius so that you can attend meetings, etc.  The last one that I checked out said you had to live in a 50-mile radius.  They are out there.  Just keep checking.
Actually, it is much like working in the hospital
snarling and ignorant comments. I don't feel like I have left the hospital at all.
Jeannal, were you working for a hospital that
decided to outsource, or did you decide you want to work at home and so you are leaving the hospital?
Working inhouse for hospital, sm
There's 2 of us for 25 staff MTs plus monitoring the outsource vendor. We're both paid salary. Works out pretty well for my budget. Living in Florida, salary range for our jobs I believe is $35K to $39K annually.

I worked for a national company previously, we were paid on production, at about 4 cents per line. It was a horrible way to make a paycheck. Would never go back to that.

Its been my experience, even when working in the hospital sm
that MTs with seniority usually get the worst work because it is the more difficult work and newbies usually cannot handle it. Unfortunately, thats the way it works in this field...the more experience you have, the more likely you are to get the crap work. That work has to get done too!
Once, while working for a local hospital
I was also working PT for the service that the hospital used. The only conditions made for that were that I could not work on my hospital's account as that could be considered a conflict, i.e., less work for the hospital so more was available for the PT job. I have yet to have a problem working for 2 companies. Currently I work for a national company FT and a local company PT. They do not have the same accounts, so therefore no conflict.
You aren't wasting your time, you're investing in a potential "yes!"
As to why you don't get a response, it might be for one or some of the reasons below, or none of them:

a. You don't meet clearly-stated qualifications. I delete every resume or application that doesn't meet standards required. If you can't follow instructions, don't expect me to take time out of my busy day to spend time on explaining this to you.

b. You're an Indian pretending to be an American. Again, I'm not wasting Keystrokes on you.

c. Your application is filled with errors. Maybe the dead silence from recruiters is a message to go back and review what you've put out there.

d. Maybe your application got overlooked. It has happened. Email the recruiter. If you don't get a response, review a, b, and c above and e below.

e. Maybe the recruiter is swamped. There are days when 10 hours will fly by and I've hardly had time to breath. There are applications to look at, resumes to review, tests to score, interviews to schedule, paperwork to complete, interviews to do, reports to file, fires to put out, and someone has to beat the tech people/MT supe upside the head to get them to call an irate MT, who feels that YOU are responsible for her every woe and calls 6 times a day to tell you about it.

From a recruiter POV, don't put your experience on page 4 under everything else you've done. I don't care that you work in the church nursery, or that you drive bus, or that you swept floors at Mitzi's Kut n Kurl. Don't make me wade through all that to find out if you can do the job I'm trying to hire for. I suspect I've tossed good resumes because I don't have time to read someone's life story before getting to the information I need. I also don't want to know your parent's names and professions (why do Indians do this?).

So, if you don't get a response you can either call or email, or just move on. It's not necessarily a rejection of you, but rather the reality of a busy society.
i just started working for a local hospital. sm
They pay for the entire phone bill and internet for an extra line to do their work.
Probably each company has their own rules, but when I was working in a hospital sm

generally, it was 7a-3p for first, 3p-11p for second, and 11p-7a for third, not including lunch breaks.


 


Hope this helps.


I make twice what I made working at a hospital.
And I even work for MedQuist, no less!
12 cpl editing; 18 cpl transcribing - not working for a company, but a hospital. nm
x
I remember working for a hospital on the new IBM word processors - boy

didn't we think we were hot stuff using those!? Then I discovered this little feature on one of the menus called Stored Text and come to find out, you could actually type some text there and then call it back up?!?  So I did that with one of our docs who would rip through the physical exam so fast you could barely understand what he was saying BUT he always said the same thing (everyONE had a blood pressure of 120/80) so I typed up his spiel and then called it up and read along with him every time I had one of his reports. Then I figured it was so clever I showed it to the supervisor and was told we can't do that! Because it might lead to errors if you don't type it from scratch every time.


and how about those impact printers! Remember they were so loud you had to actually have a special plastic box to put over them and dampen the noise so they didn't sound like machine guns.


and here's the lil whippersnappers spouting off about ALL the files they have had in their entire CAREER have been .wav files   LOL too too funny


 


Diskriter - Working for the largest hospital system in FL.
The benefits look fabulous! Strict schedule? Good PTO?

Thx!
Curious, can you make more money working for a hospital rather than a clinic?
I've never really did acute care and curious?
I have a friend working in a hospital and she is looking for a company from home as an employee.
Would anyone care to recommend a good company?
There's no comparison in being a hospital employee with benefits working rotating weekend and IC
Initially what made being an IC worth sacrificing benefits was having a flexible schedule. I have read the laws and have done research. An independent contractor is not obligated to a set schedule and this definitely includes holidays and weekends. So what if this is a 24/7 business? How many hospital workers do you know that work every weekend with no benefits?? Nada! I knew student nurses who chose 24 hours every weekend so they could go to school thru the week, but they were compensated quite well at 40 hours with full benefits.

A company may hire a lot of misinformed ICs for Sun-Th and Tues - Sat schedules, but by law they are pushing the envelope. ICs need to remind these companies what the legal definition of an IC is. I'm sure they remember that we don't receive benefits. They want it both ways. If I'm going to be an IC with the only benefit being flexibility, there's no way I'm giving that up!

A national I worked for, which I won't name (squid)tried that on us after taking over our company. They even used scare tactics. We still didn't get on every weekend. There was nothing they could do and they knew it.
Anyone happier working for a national versus local clinic or hospital? SM
I'm with a national but from time to time, openings come up with areas places. None are in my own town, but would be 30 to 45 minutes away from home. In the case of at least one of these places, you are required to work in-house just to get used to their system, which I understand, but they say it usually takes a year before being set free at home. Now I can understand that if you are a brand new MT, but as far as just getting used to how they do things, that seems excessive. If you meet the criteria sooner, you can go sooner. It worried me about the length of time. That would put me in a bind with little kids and being away from home on certain days after they got off the school bus.

On the flip side, they pay hourly so I might like that, rather than make next to nothing on some days where the dictators are horrible on my current account. On the other hand, on a good day the lines are worthwhile and I'd come out ahead by LPH rather than hourly rate.

So many things to think about...oh, and another biggie...with this local place I'd get health insurance free for myself (not the family, but I have the kids covered on a plan I'm already paying for myself, along with me on the plan, which I could then drop myself from).

Anybody worked both scenarios and decided the national really was better? I actually interviewed here a year ago but didn't have to decide because they offered it to somebody in-house so I never got an offer. I have 3 years of experience but I still worry I would take forever to meet the criteria to work from home. I guess there are a few that have been there over a year and haven't met it. I don't want that to be me.
that was working for a hospital direct, honestly calibrated line count...
11 cpl, easy, easy dictators on a pull up a number, type/type, save and repeat system.

those days have been discussed on this board before, and those days, unfortunately, are over.

It's a buyers market.
Hope they're already told the employees at the hospital that they are out of a job. I don't t
they should post specifics like this.
Right now we're all working PT at MW.nm

but true


You're working weekends, though. nm
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