Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Medical Transcription Discussion Forums:

General Discussion Forums:

Recently Viewed Messages: (An archive of over 1 million messages related to medical transcription industry)

Extend Text - Posted By: wvm

I know this has been hashed over many times but please bear with me just one more time!

Question is, if you are a very speedy typist and you transcribe for many doctors, is this a useful tool? How does it compare to Autotext? I am on the verge but just need to have an idea of how it would benefit with multiple MDs or, if it would benefit with multiple MDs with their different styles.

I work with ExText by the way which is definitely not the fastest and so would like to increase production.

Really appreciate any feedback.

has this happened to you? - Posted By: not fast enough

I just started at a hospital, hospital work is new to me, but they're giving me a week to get my line count up to 160 lines an hour. I've been there 60 days. My question is what company is good that trains you on-line that will help place you also with a company on-line. I just need help learning hospital reports. I've been typing clinic for 7 years. I think I'll lose this job. I can't believe it! Thanks for your help.

DIALUP?? - Posted By: FLMT

Please give me some companies that I can do QA or edit for? thanks, I don't have broadband right now.

Keeping reports... - Posted By: MT with a heartbeat

There was a thread this week about someone saying they kept reports as a sample of their ability. Everyone claimed this was against the HIPPA rules.

Well here we have an ad, and I hope I don't get in trouble, for posting this, but see below:

Let me know if you have experience in the field of neurosurgery and if you can, please provide work samples. If I get the information and qualifications quickly, we may have a chance to win this contract, and work for you.

Thanks!

Now, to me that sounds like you would need to send sample reports. Am I wrong here? I guess this proves that it is okay to save reports as long as the demographic information is deleted and it becomes basically a "sample report."

Just my 2 cents...

I need some help fairly soon. sm - Posted By: Wm Shatner, Rescue 911

There's a rash on my hiney (referred to hereafter as DH -- dear hiney). It's getting splotchy. Can you tell me what it is? Also, do you think it was something I caught or do you think it was something I ate?

Should I call somebody? Do you think I need to take DH to see a doctor?

I think this is going to be urgent fairly soon so please let me know. Thank you.

Do any of you ICs out there carry your own liability insurance if - Posted By: PK

you are working for an MTSO? I do not carry this insurance and was looking for what you all can advise me. Thanks.

For those of you working two jobs... - Posted By: TiredMT

back to back, like a full-time 8-5 and then part-time 5-9 or longer, how hard is it to do that? Any tips on not wearing out? TIA

What is, on average, a normal weekly IC report production? - Posted By: Stressed

I need your opinions please�.

I am an IC who works for four doctors who each dictate approximately 100 or more reports a week. They send them via over to their personal website and I download and transfer to Express Scribe (awesome program by the way). They tend to call me often and will ask for one or more patient�s report to be faxed over immediately for insurance purposes. Of course, they have no idea how complicating and time consuming this is on me, when I have to search for these specific voice files, one by one, and then transcribe the report, etc. I felt a bit of an attitude the other day when it took longer to perform my task.

I am wondering, am I just too slow? Is completing 400 or more reports (on average half page reports) a week slow, including transcribing these special request reports? I feel so stressed all the time now; their phone calls for insurance purposes are becoming more constant. I am wondering if they realize that I am not an employee, but an IC, and that there is a difference. How may reports do most full time IC�s complete within a week, plus deliver 2-3 times per week?

Thanks for any and all advice.

Clinic notes questions - Posted By: jmr

I see lots of jobs looking for clinic notes. I have only done acute care. What exactly are clinic notes? Are they office visits by specialty? Also is the pay for clinics typically higher, lower, the same for acute care?

Thanks.

Another question.. - Posted By: Faith

What does it mean when you see a little yellow fire burning next to a post that someone made? I made a poster earlier, and there's that fire next to it, and I didn't put it there. Thanks

Need Some Help With My Resume - Posted By: NightOwl

I'm trying to write a resume (first one in you don't wanna know how many years, LOL!) and my poor little pea-brain.... I can't, for the life of me, remember the exact dates and order of my various jobs. I DO for the most part remember WHO I worked for...

So today I called the hospital that I worked for twice. They were able to give me the dates of my second tour of duty there, but they claimed to have no record of my first stint with them. The rather rude HR clerk told me that those records had probably been purged. Keep in mind that I'm sure of what YEAR I started with them that time around (1991), but not sure of the month, and clueless about when I left that time around. Is 1991 really so long ago that an HR dept wouldn't have records????

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I've worked for the Q at least 3 times (it might be 4, due to acquisitions and mergers). I worked for another medium-size MTSO twice also. Sometimes I was working 2 jobs at one time. Once I worked for a lady who was doing IC work for the VA. I have no clue what her name was, and she no longer has an office in the place where I worked for her.

How do I possibly consolidate this all into a functional resume????

Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

CMT credentials and AAMT - Posted By: rambling

The post below about AAMT certifying offshore MTs made me wonder. Do you think an offshore CMT is just as good as an American CMT? I ask because I am quite certain most doctors would think so. I remember hearing once about an Indian MT that took the test over 6 times before passing. They just kept giving him money to take it until he passed. Doctors may not know or care what CMT means as far as we are concerned, but if an Indian company telemarkets your doctor with a too-good-to-be-true offer, and oh by the way, did we mention we were certified by the AMERICAN Medical Transcription Association? All of a sudden your doctor and my doctor and all doctors will care what CMT means, and to them it will mean, same quality - but cheap.

So, the CMT definitely benefits someone, though if the transcription service doesn't live up to the doctor's normal quality standards, what does that tell him about the CMT or the AAMT in general?

Am I ranting or rambling? You decide. :)

Hospitals vs. MTSOs - Posted By: cmyu

I am applying at both a hospital for a prn position and with an MT company for part time work. I have the option to work in-house with the hospital, which I may do because I have to drive 25 miles to the city to bring my kids to their preschool anyway. My question is, what are some of the differences between working for a hospital and working for a company? (Pros and cons for each) I have less than 2 years experience, and some of that time was spent doing chiropractic transcription, so I am concerned that I might need more experience or training for the hospital work. Is it more difficult to work for a hospital? Thanks in advance for any comments.

What magazines should I read for MT, Medical, etc? - Posted By: Beverly Tilly

hello everyone,

I am new to MT and just want to see what magazines or publications do you read? Any publications that have to do with MT or Medical and Pharm would seem the most logical.

Anything to keep me up to date is appreciated.

thanks all

Anyone here use a TypeMatrix keyboard? - Posted By: OP gal

I'm thinking about purchasing one. I use the Goldtouch now but wonder if the TM would have softer touch to it? Any comments? Thanks!

Recently offered $50 p/h for seminars, etc. (sm) - Posted By: dinosaur?

I asked and received some samples of these seminars, etc. They had several speakers, speaking one after the other, quite clearly, so okay. Then they had q&a sessions with several speakers. You had to make out who was speaking etc. The speakers were discussing new treatments, med's, etc.most of which were not in any medical dictionary or speller. So to make a long story somewhat shorter, I found the most complicated sample that discussed new cancer treatment options and did ten minutes of this sample dictation to see how long it would take. Now, I pride myself on being a fast typist (120+ wpm) but between looking up "famous" doctor's names, new theories, compound medications, etc. it took me one hour. And, that was the easy part. I had not reached the q&a portion of the seminar yet. So that means that depending upon the difficulty of the dictation I would be making either $10 ph (for the most difficult) to, at most, $15 ph. So I politely explained that to the client and further explained that I usually charge by the line or page and what I would usually charge for this. I was told that the client only charged the company that provided the seminar $150! (So, in order for them to make a profit I had to work for peanuts!) I sent my sample transcribed dictation and my current price for the same type of work and if I get it fine, if not, I'll eat more hotdogs! With 25+ years of experience I will not provide expert transcription services of complicated seminars for $10.00 ph. We are so going backwards in pay!!! Wrote about that another time but sheesh! Enough is enough!

Looking for TX Platform like Bayscribe, Etc. with Low Cost - Posted By: David

Hi,

Starting up a TX business here. Want to be able to offer clients a platform like Bayscribe or Vianeta, etc. However, I am looking for one with low cost, I love Bayscribe, but if you are low volume, which we would be starting out, their per line rate is very high. Does anybody know of a good platform with a low per line rate and no or very low startup cost?

Thank you,

David

Venting a little. - Posted By: maj

Surely, we all get those dictators who have clear voices but are halting and hesitant, change their minds frequently in the body of the report without TELLING us they want the text changed; sometimes it's obvious/sometimes it's questionable as to what they mean/want. I've been running across this a lot today and it's really very trying!

Thanks for listening to me vent.

A different kind of job - Posted By: Patti

I have no idea how these things fall into my lap and don't how this will go but just met and got offered to do "formatting and editing" of finished documents for a Waste Recovery Company -- fancy name for garbage and recycling company. This manager has to do long reports, handouts, employee manuels, etc. and just wants to type the report and all I do is edit -- not grammar or punctuation -- use a consistent outline form, do title pages, do headers and footers, make sure pages are correctly numbered for $25 an hour. She wants me to make it have "eye appeal and look pretty." She spends hours formatting and hates it and so I am going to try it. Decided I had nothing to lose to try. Depending on how fast I am probably not more than 6 to 12 hours per month so we will see how it goes. But she did say if it worked out well, they have several other branches in Montana, Idaho, California and they might be able to use me more at those facilities also that have to do the same reports. So guess I am branching out somewhat. Just as one door closes, another open as had one of my most profitable account, suddenly retired due to ill health. So was thinking of looking for another account when I got this call. SOmething different at least.

How long does it take you to transcribe... - Posted By: Using tapes...

a 60 minute tape? And this would be a well spoken english speaking doctor too. I am wondering if I am of the norm or not.

It takes me about 5+ hours with some short breaks in between.

Need to Vent Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Posted By: Penny V

I am so mad at these big companies. I know this is has nothing to do with my job as a medical transcriptionist, but I just need to vent a little. My husband works for the government as a meat inspector and this "BIG" meat packing company just decided yesterday that it was going to up and close with no warning to any of the employees. It was just "At the end of the day, you will be out of a job." I cannot even begin to express my feelings for the workers at these plants. At least my husband still has a paycheck coming in from working for the government. Today, he is working in a plant that is a 6 hour drive from our home. We will probably be sent out to the east coast for relocation. We have 2 daughters that are in high school and a 3 year old that do not want to move. We have always lived in a very small community of 125 people in the Midwest. My daughters are so upset and I am just mad. How can a big company do this to its valued workers without caring? I am just missing my husband as I know he will be detailed out to just about every state until they decide where THEY want to put him. I AM SO MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone here do Windsor Pilates? Are you getting results? Is it a good - Posted By: workout? Thx. nm

s

IC question - Posted By: MT

I live on the east coast. Does anyone know the standard line rate that an independent contractor should charge for radiology reports, these to include a mixture of CTs, MRIs, US, x-ray and mammos or would it be appropriate to charge per report?

Thanks for your help!!

Question about Spheris - Posted By: CLS

Is Spheris a reputable company to train with?

TIA

new one to me.. need some help - Posted By: upnorth

Doing a report for a transgender patient and the doc keeps going back in forth with the he and she. The patient has taken on a female name but still has male genitalia. Do I stick with the he for consistency? Definately a new one for me.

A Question regarding pay. - Posted By: noodle

I posted this last night, but I cannot find it anywhere on this board. It is a serious question for me and I would appreciate any opinions regarding this.

I am an Independent Contractor. One lady who I have been contracting through for several years, who carries the contract with the clinic, had a stroke. She was in the hospital for one week. I immediately stepped up and took over everything that she was doing, including final editing for 3 other transcriptionists, processing to the clinic, bookkeeping/billing. She has not done any type of work for 2 weeks and she will be out for several more weeks to months. She offered to pay me $100 every two weeks for the bookkeeping and such. I don't want to be greedy, but I feel this is low. I spend at least one hour each day doing the extra stuff and more when it comes to billing. I was just wondering if anyone has been in this situation or if anyone has an idea of what would be fair. Of course, I stepped up to be helpful, but I also don't want to lose this contract with the clinic.

Can anyone see the posts? People are posting replies. Wonder if it is everyone who is having probl - Posted By: ??

??

I have not strictly transcribed in about 10 yrs.sm - Posted By: Curious

I work full-time doing medical transcription but I also have other duties that do not involve transcribing so I don't keep up with lines or anything like that; I get paid by the hour. I have worked 3-4 hours in the evenings for one of the national companies for a little over a month but I can't seem to get my line count up. I've only been able to do around 100 lph. I know it will take longer than it would if I worked 8 hours just transcribing. I would like to quit the other job and just work from home transcribing but I'm afraid if I can't get my line count up I won't be able to maintain my current income. I'm not a blazing fast typist, I probably type 75-80 wpm without any kind of expanders. Any helpful advice or encouragement on whether you guys think at my typing speed it is within reason to think I can make it to 150-200 lph? I've done straight transcription in the past but I never had to keep up with lines. I have 30+ years of experience. I just need to decide whether to keep things the way they are now or take the chance on income by production only. BYW, I transcribe acute care for the national.

More at-home transcription questions - Posted By: Scott Schneider

Hi everybody. . . I have some more questions about at-home transcription. Can anybody tell me the definitions to some terms or a glossary where I can find them. What is an IC? What is acute care? What are Basic 4 or Big 4 Reports? Also, when a company advertising for an employee says they will provide the software, does this generally mean just the transcription software? Does this tend to include text Expander and spellchecker as well? Thanks!

Is no raise after 7 years acceptable? - Posted By: EB

I work as an independent contractor. I have been with my office (had two doctors to begin with, took on a third two years ago), and I have never raised my rates. I went in and talked to my docs about a raise today (after emailing a couple weeks ago to set up a meeting about it). Not only did they say that's NOT happening, but the doc actually told me he expected my line count to go DOWN with the new system they are implementing. He was upset that he had been paying me for a line count that included macros of a few paragraphs and it only took me a few key strokes to get there. Also, they checked around and someone under-bid me for 2 cents less, so they were acting like they are doing me a favor by paying me my same line rate. Am I crazy to be super upset about this?

What are some good review books? - Posted By: RT

Hi everyone,

I have a question that I hope you can help me with. In short, I graduated in 1997 from college with a certificate in medical transcription. (I took a 1 year program) Even though I never worked in transcription, I have recently been offered a chance to work and do transcription from home. I was required to take a test and actually made 88% on it with no review at all. I needed to make a 90% though and am wanting to find a way to review and boost my score. I was wondering if any of you could give me the name of a good book or program that might help me out. I have seen one book called "The Do's and Don't's of Medical Transcription" but would like to have some opinions on it and other books out there. I would appreciate any and all help on this as I'm really looking forward to getting into the medical transcription field for the first time.

Many thanks,

Never in my life - Posted By: Sheltered MT

I guess I have led a sheltered life. I never in my entire life heard about so many companies bouncing checks in this business! I would be out the door so fast, there'd be no dust behind me. Have I just been lucky?

does anyone know about a 3-limit install on DocShuttle, Wavplayer and other Bytescribe products? sm - Posted By: New MT

they told me after three installs, even if I buy a new computer, I have to buy the program all over again, at $100 a pop. Has anyone else ever been told this? Sounds like a rip off to me.

IC status - Posted By: Just venting

Why is this so hard for some places to understand? I am an IC and have found very few places who understand this.

1 - Yes, acute care needs a schedule which is understandable. I agree to do X lines between X time and X time. If I get those lines in early, I should not have to stay on unless I choose to work more. A contractor that comes to your place of business or home to do a job who finishes early is not going to sit there until 4 even though the committed job is done at 3.

2 - If the work is not able to be done because it is not there, again, the contractor is not going to sit there and wait on you without charging a heftly hourly rate.

Frankly, I feel an IC schedule is a guideline. If the client needs a schedule, by all means, I try to stick to that as closely as possible, but it is the contactor's responsibility to budget their time. I am soooo tired of interviewing with companies for an IC position and they freak out as soon as you say, "So, when I finish early..."

If you want someone who will sit in front of that computer for 8 hours whether there is work or not, and remain there even after making their line committment you better pay their taxes and pay for any down time - that is called an employee people!

Sorry about the rant. I am just frustrated.

Does anyone use SmarType with XP?? Thanks so much. nm - Posted By: AzMT

.

Getting paid only for STRAIGHT TYPING - Posted By: Maria

My company set me up to work from home - - - I am new at this and confused and am need of imput from others in the field. Currently I get pain 8 cents per line. I have a quota of 7,000+ lines a week - -however the computer I have been set up with does not enable me to add programs (if I wanted to add a word expansion program) and, interestingly, the ability to set up macros in MS Word has been disabled.

With that said - - - For example, I will type a new consult on a patient that ends up being 4 pages in length. I want to "work smarter and not harder" (who doesn't) so I incorporate word Expanders that I have in MS Word Auto Text as well as an Auto Text "intial office visit" outline which includes the doctor's "normal" exam. All I have to do are make any necessary changes with each individual patient. We use a nationally known dictation program/softwear which enables me to go to a "statistics" screen to see the line count for each document I have typed. I have been finding, however, that on these 4 page consults, I am only being credited for 60 lines or so - - - aren't there 65 lines PER PAGE - - -why is it not 4 times that amount?? Looks like I am only getting paid for STRAIGHT TYPING, not for the total line count of the end product.

Back to the menopause question - - Posted By: anon

Has anyone ever heard of Happy PMS cream and what is your opinion if you have heard of it or used it?

Resignation letter ideas - Posted By: Moving on

I want to put in my two weeks' notice. I haven't had to do this since working at home. Just an e-mail to the supervisor? Should I cc it to the manager? Also, I would like to make known how much I like my supervisor.

Suggestions?

Stiffed by Doctors. What would you do? - Posted By: Stiffed in NC

How many independent contractors here ever been stiffed by a doctors' office when you didn't have a written agreement? Just did business on a handshake? What did you do to collect payment or did you ever collect payment? I'm being stiffed and know I won't take this sitting down. I worked too long, way too hard. Invoice is teetering 7K. Any help/advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Average lines/day - Posted By: MT in CO

How many lines do you average a day or how many lines do you need to type in a day? Just curious to see what everyone types. Thanks. Happy typing!!

How do you do the time stamp on escription? nm - Posted By: LuvDAS

nm

How do I get a good line count...? - Posted By: nymt

...when I keep getting different accounts and different doctors. I see people on here who say they can make 1200 or 1600 lines a day. What kind of account are you on that you can do that consistently. I have been doing this for almost 16 months now and if I am left alone on my usual account, which is a ER account with some pretty bad Southern dictators and a few ESL doctors that no one used to want to do, I can do right around 150 lines and hour, but now it seems that we have lost part of the ER account and I am getting consults and discharge summaries from 3 other accounts with a ton of ESL and no samples for anything. Something like this seems to happen every time I get to where I am getting my lines in a reasonable time. What are some suggestions for increasing my line count on discharge summaries and consults.

Anyone else tired of being at home? - Posted By: Lisette

Have been transcribing over 9 years - love the flexibility - tired of being at home alone with earphones stuck in my ears all day, sitting in a chair.

Anybody else feel this way?

Editor versus Transcriptionist - Posted By: anonymous

Just curious... does an Editor make more than a Transcriptionist or about the same?

Northwest Indiana MTs - Posted By: Siren

I am from Northwest Indiana and have Comcast. It is always down. Does anyone else from Northwest Indiana have this problem with Comcast? Are there other companies out there to choose from? My husband swears up and down that Comcast is all we can get here. I know south of us there is Nitco, but I do not believe you can get it where I live. Any information would be helpful. I am trying to obtain a new at-home position and am worried about the Internet connection going down on me while I am working.

Is there a reasonably priced digital recorder with a memory card/stick out there - Posted By: Need Help

that works well for transcription? I've been trying to research them and find Olympus has some, but pricey. The Sony's are less expensive, but they have proprietary software where you have to convert all your files to a format you can use, and I'm not sue I'd know how to do that. I just need a decent digital recorder for one doc to use and I'd like a memory card/stick so I can just stop in and swap out the cards to get the dictation. Does anyone know of one that doesn't cost hundreds? Or have a better suggestion for how to do just one doctor's dictation digitally? I don't need one with all the mailboxes/authors, etc., since it's only one doctor. Thank you!

Eclipse voicewriting & pedal - Posted By: Voicewriter

Does anyone use Eclipse to do voicewriting transcription? Can you tell me what footpedal is compatible with Eclipse? The goal is to get off the footpedal but in the beginning it will be needed.

A few digital questions - Posted By: Patti

I really need to talk my docs into going digital, have been trying for the past six months really hard. To help me do this can you tell me that when they save their file are they able to save it so you know who did it and what date it is, like we name the file in word? I did some digitial for a gal that was off on vacation and they just came over with numbers and so you did not know who it was from unless they said so in the cover form when they sent it to me. I am just trying to show them that they can send from home because right now they take home to dictate, forget the tape or the machine and I get no tapes and then next day I get double tapes. Trying to show them that this will be so much easier and no question of "lost or broken tapes". And if there is a question of a patient, they can check if they don't believe me when I tell them that there was no dictation. So again, can they name the file or is it automitcally named by the machine?

Thx Patti

Help on word board pleeez! thanks. - Posted By: durobach

Has anyone bought special mattress like Tempurpedic or the air mattress that let's you select - Posted By: Just curious

comfort level. I'm in the market and can't make up my mind. Definitely want something a little better than box springs and regular mattress. Do they make water beds anymore? I had one in the past and that was really ugly but comfortable.