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With the deaths of three people that I grew up with on TV, and now with what I hard yesterday from  Dr. Phil yesterday he reminded us that if we have 20 years left in our life it -- and that sounds like a long time, but that equals out to only 1040 weeks which then makes you realize as the weeks go by so fasssssssssssssssst that it is not very long and we need to make the best of those weeks as we can.  So that made me stop and realize what is really important and what is not and what is worth fighting about and what is not.  This may not stay with me but I am going to keep thinking about those weeks instead of years and hopefully it will make me enjoy the weeks that I am here. 

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guy! OMG!

Animated to see and listen to heart beat and other.  Great Site.  Trying to learn all I can about cardiology to help with transcription and understanding!  Still learning! Kinda like an old dog! Ha!

http://www.blaufuss.org/tutorial/index2.html

A gum-chewing, lip-smacking, flatulent, yawning ESL cardiologist.

What do you guys do when you don't get paid?  I am an IC and the company I work for is a month late paying me and won't answer my e-mails or phone calls.  I am ready to scream! What can I do?

Thanks

Reminder: Croc Hunter fans, watch Steve Irwin's Memorial filmed at his Australia Zoo's Crocoseum tonight on Animal Planet.  The memorial is commercial free and airs from 9 to 10 PM ET/PT tonight and then an encore will air at 12 to 1 AM ET/PT.  If you are a fan of our beloved Steve Irwin, make sure to have a DVD or VCR tape ready to record! 

Am I missing something here?  How do you get Smartype to let you put in an abbreivation to expand to a phrase longer than 34 characters.  I tried to put in snn for Soft, nontender, nondistended.  It said your abbr. and expansion cannot exceed 34 characters.  Well I need to know how to be able to make shortcuts for phrases longer than 34 characters.  TIA.

Has anyone backed up their aco.file from a Medquist expansion dictionary they created while there and found a Expander program that was able to import it?  I am leaving the Q and going to be an IC and need to get my own expander program but really, really do not want to have to rebuild this file.  Way too long...

He thanked me for my letter, said that as he understood it, this bill didn't cover anything of what I had mentioned.  However, he said he would be paying more attention to this bill when it comes before the full senate for a vote.  He said he was against outsourcing.  Below is my letter to him:

Dear Senator Barrasso:
 
I am writing to request that you support the above bill. I am a medical Transcriptionist in Wyoming. I moved here 2 years ago from Colorado, bringing my job and income with me. I make an above-average income, which I spend in my community, but my job is at risk because so much of this work is being outsourced, particularly to India. More importantly, the health and privacy of the American public is being put at risk by this practice. First, Indian transcriptionists do their job poorly and inefficiently. The gross errors jeopardize health care. Every error has the potential to injure or poison an American citizen, including many young children for whom accurate diagnoses and medication administration can be a life and death issue. To add insult to injury, Indian transcriptionists are NOT required to honor HIPAA. Once a physician's dictation leaves this country, it is no longer private.
I am a very hard working medical transcriptionist and I am still able to earn a decent living in this industry, but it is certainly not what it used to be. I am paid 9 cents for every 65 Keystrokes I type, whereas an Indian is paid 2 to 3 cents for the same work. This undercutting has hurt this industry and every woman (95% of us are female), many of whom are trying to support families on their own, has been dragged to the poverty line because our wages have not grown with the cost of living. I make 9 cents today and I made 9 cents in 1996, the year my career began.
Please protect the healthcare and privacy of Americans, and help to protect yet another industry from moving to overseas. Support and sign S.810/H.R. 1653.

For longtime comfort which is best - split keyboard mounted on chair arms or split keyboard to be used on the desk?

Also, why the preference over split keyboards that come totally apart versus split keyboards that are permanently connected at the top?

I want to revamp my office and there are so many different options.

I'm looking for a real good MT school or some sort of MT on the job training or willing to train a person to work out of home. Have been LVN since 1984 but now disable, need something to do out of home. Please reply, disability not enough income. Thanks!

Lon

Just have to vent a little...

I have several extended family members and friends who give the impression that "just typing" and getting to work from home translates to "waiting for a REAL job to come along."  I have tactfully tried to drop the hint that first of all, a Transcriptionist does way more than "just type," and I'm sure make more per hour than any of them, to no avail. 

Anybody else noticed this, too? 

This was posted on GURU.com - it's a job up for bidding.  But read carefully and look at all the EXPECTATIONS this person has .... for $20/audio hour.

Description:
I am looking for several Document Production Specialists to start ASAP.

Requirements:

*  At least two years of transcription experience
*  Excellent spelling, grammar, punctuation
*  Extensive vocabulary
*  Medical, legal, and general business terminology
*  Ability to research
*  Excellent listening and comprehension skills
*  Detail oriented
*  Ability to follow simple instructions
*  "Just do it" attitude
*  Professional attitude, communication skills and work habits
*  Express Scribe software and foot pedal
*  Microsoft Word
*  Committed to providing a quality work product

Let me emphasize that this is not a simple typing job.  If you have
fast and accurate typing skills, good, but that's not enough.  I have
extremely high standards and you must be able to meet these high standards.   

***If you cannot complete one hour of transcription and provide a
PERFECT transcript within 24 hours, please do not bid.*** 

It is very important that you be able to work without advance notice
and without distractions.  If you cannot do this, please do not bid.

It is also very important that you be able to take the ball and run
with it and not ask a lot of questions.  If you need a lot of
hand-holding, please do not bid.    

If you get frustrated easily and cannot handle challenging
transcription work, DO NOT bid. 

For those of you who want super-easy work for tons of money, DO NOT
bid.

I need for you to indicate your days and hours of availability.  These
days and hours should NOT be flexible.  These should be the days and
times that you are ALWAYS available to work.  You will be receiving jobs
during these days and hours without advance notice and you are expected
to do them, no excuses.

Please don't ask me if work is available.  When work is available, I
will send it to you during the days/hours you have specified.

If you are a serious professional, confident about your abilities, take
a great deal of pride in your work, and don't mind working for a fair
but demanding boss, please bid PER AUDIO HOUR.  Keep in mind, however,
that you will not be paid more than $20 per audio hour to start.

I responded in a polite way, stating that I do not know of anyone that would take work on a MOMENT'S NOTICE, turn it around in 3-5 hours for the total cost of $20.  I got the nastiest response back .... "Well guess what?  I've had bids for $10 and $25.  So there." 

What do you all think? 

Hi Guys -

This is my first posting on this forum, so greetings from a newcomer!  I have a question I wanted to ask.  I'm currently working for a company that pays a flat rate per line regardless of what type of job report is being done.  It's been my experience in the past that certain job types, specifically op reports, typically earn a higher rate of pay than, say, ER or discharge notes.  I believe that is based on "difficulty of skill" premise.  Can anyone comment on this?

I was offered a position as an IC and in the information for me to fill out is a W-9 form.  I did not think as an IC it was necessary for me to fill out this type of paperwork.  Also another form has a section for my social.  Is this normal practice?  This is with a small company which does not even have the company name listed on the paperwork, but the owner's name?  Advice please. 

They started me way above minimum because of my experience.  I was shocked and happy all at the same time. 

And of course I'm esctatic to not be wondering how much money I would be getting each pay check.  Working on production in transcription now is like playing Russian Roulette.

There's good benes where I going, retirement, sick days, no games with my health insurance.  I should have done this long ago.

Is there a switch that I can buy in order to one use 1 monitor with 2 HD.  I thought it was called KVM or something to that effect.  Please help me, as I would like to only use 1 monitor, but need two computers. 

Thank you.

http://www.scambusters.org/ScamBusters8.html

http://www.scambusters.org/809Scam.html

http://www.scambusters.org/ScamBusters9.html

I just purchased a new computer that came with some sort of SR program.  I'm wondering if I could teach it my voice and then respeak a doc's dictation that would create a typed document in Word that I could then paste into the work platform?  Sounds like a neat idea, huh?

Certainly, I would not speak or do anything that would conflict with HIPPA laws.

Can weight gain be a side effect of hormone-replacement therapy? Has anyone tried anything else for symptoms of menopause? I need help! Gained 40 lbs in the 1-1/2 years on HRT and gotta do something about it!

If this evolves as planned, there will be no typing at all by 2010. 

I am making the switch from straight transcription to VR editing.  Just curious to know how many lines you all average.

Thanks

and calling it AMTS: AMERICAN Medical Transcription Society and leave the AAMT or whatever their new name is, to the transcription WORLD.

My "society" would be kind of like them but the only difference is that absolutely NO oversea members would be allowed; only those American MTs working in other countries who could prove to the society or association that they are, in fact, American Born and Bred.

What do you say? I would charge a minimal amount per year and begin local chapters.....by contacting local colleges and tech schools and employers telling them about our local networking, American, society or association.

I would periodically work with large MT companies and large hospitals telling them of our highly skilled MTs and DEMANDING that pay be increased and showing them why American MTs are the way to go......Doesn't that sound like fun?  It wouldn't be anything like a union, as I don't believe in unions, but a UNION of MTs around this great country I call MY AMERICA!

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS YOU!!!!! Allah and Buddha could bless the AAMT all they want, but I just don't think they will do that.

Hello,

I've had a Bytescribe pedal for about seven years now.  I think it might be "going bad."  I have two questions.  Has anyone experienced your pedal taking a few seconds to play after you've pressed play, like a lag?  It also seems to go back further than I have it set for rewind when I take my foot off.  These are new happenings with this pedal, so I'm wondering if this is a sign that it might be time to get a new one. 

Next question is can I use Express Scribe with this pedal that I have now, and does any have any opinions on Express Scribe?  If I do have to buy another pedal, I don't have to buy a specific pedal as long as I have the correct software to play the files, is this right?  There are so many software and pedal options out there, and money is tight, so I don't want to leap on something and it not be what I need.  I also don't want my pedal to break down in the middle of working.

Thank you in advance!

...or MTs who used to work in-house, have doctors/clients who want you to call them by their first name and insist on it.  I'm in California, so I'm used to the first name stuff - though I was raised by "formal" parents who insisted that I call everyone by Mr. or Mrs. or Dr., saying I should do so even when I became an adult, particularly with customers or clients.  But I still want to keep it professional...just my pet peeve I guess. 

If the mom wasn't in Aruba throwing a fit and crying on TV, we would all speculate about why she wasn't there and why she doesn't care.  Either way, whatever she did, there would be someone there complaining about how she was doing it. 

I would say until it is your daughter or son, maybe we should just keep our mouths shut and not pass judgment on them. 

Also, I don't care what kind of bad decision or how drunk the young girl was, wrong though it may be, that doesn't mean she deserves to be murdered or raped.  It makes me sick that we are always so eager to jump on the victim and the family at times like this. 

I suspected something when pay didn't seem right and now another employee also believes it has happened.  No proof, unless the paycheck is proof.  I am so done with this profession run by crooks.  This is the second time this has happened to me, and I am just fed up.  

You are the only ones who understand.  You try to tell someone outside of the profession of the stuff we have to deal with and they look at you like you are either crazy to stay in it or a big crybaby.  Sometimes it just really gets to you. 

Any of the sites that people can go to and rate their doctors? 

There was an interesting story on the Los Angeles news tonight about doctors who are requiring their patients to sign an agreement that they will not go on one of these many sites and post a less than favorable post about them.  Kinda like the arbitration agreements some make you sign that you can't sue them for malpractice but rather agree that it will go before an arbitrator.

There were some interesting comments on EMR on the Trusted MD website.  It might be a good place to comment on the EMR/Nationalized Healthcare link letting the general public know what MR information is going out of this country.