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Perhaps this doesn't belong on any board here, but I felt I just needed to say something about the very tragic state of medical transcription.  I have been an MT for over 40 years, most of which occurred in the clinical setting, but I also worked for 4 years at a very large MTSO.

No one in our wonderful profession is going to get anything changed until en masse.  If we don't stick up for ourselves and that means going to governmental officials (those people get sick too and do have medical records!), the media and other well-known sources where the message could potentially be heard world-wide, then we have only ourselves to blame.  I know this is a huge undertaking but if we don't like it (and I hear that many don't) then we have to impact it.  I would, for one, feel so much better telling my children and grandchildren that I had taken part in a grassroots movement to try and change/impact the manner in which a patient's medical visits were documented rather than leaving millions (ha, ha!) for them to use on fancy cars, trips, etc.

We only have today---some people who died on the bridge or drowned here in Minneapolis last evening will never again get a chance to make any impact ever again!

Have a great day.......  

When he said we pay by the hour not the line, I was unprepared to give him my fee!   I typed for these rads when I worked at the hospital so know them well.  About two hours per day of work for their outpatient imaging center (MRIs, CTs, mammograms, ultrasounds).

Thanks!

people who don't understand our jobs as MTs, I wanted to add a couple of comments I recently received at a HS reunion about which I just sigh:  When asked what I do for a living, one person said that she learned medical terminology and ShortHand in the past, realized shorthand is no longer used and thought medical transcription was obsolete/now fully automated.  I briefly attempted to explain what MTs do and about automated speech recognition, but she didn't seem too interested.  Another comment I received was how it would be nice to work when you want to; I didn't feel like explaining about having scheduled hours/punching in and out, TAT, production goals, etc., and just let it go...

I think the next time someone asks what I do for a living, I am going to say that somedays I am a magician, most days I'm involved in a race, and that at all times I am required to be a good interpreter! 

Hi,

How would a person go about getting into legal transcription from medical transcription? Would you have to go to school for it or is there an easier way? 

Thanks in advance.

You can only find out so much from a company's website......of course they are not going to include "not enough work to keep you busy" or "so much work you will never leave your desk again" or even better yet "we really never send you a paycheck."   I am looking for a full-time home-based position, preferably clinic, and I do have experience.  Can someone recommend a company?!?!?!?!

My 7-year-old son was just diagnosed with it.  He had a little patch of bumps that came up on his inner forearm.  He said they didn't itch or anything.  A couple of days later, he had another area on the other arm in the same place.  Then, the next day it was all over his back and on his outer thigh.  I took him to the doctor and was told it was eczema.  The doctor put him on an oral corticosteroid. 

My son has bad allergies to begin with.  He is allergic to practically everything that grows outside.  So springtime is tough for us.  He will be on two or three medications.  He is also allergic to nickel of all things.  The buttons on his jeans break his stomach out since they are made from nickel.  So I have had to become very creative over the years to cover that up in order not to break him out.

I was just curious if anyone had any tips that work for you regarding eczema that I could try with him that might help.  The poor boy, I feel like every time we turn around it's something else added on.

TIA!!

My neck is killing me, I guess from staying in the same position for hours. I am starting to feel a knot in my neck!

Thanks.

Once a report is typed and checked in by you and someone else accesses the report be it QA or another Transcriptionist adding a line or making a change per the dictator, is that second/third person required to indicate in some way that your report has been altered?  Thanks

He's about 3 or 4 months old.  He is a very playful kitty.  Usually attacking my ankles or feet when I work, attacking the dog's tail, etc.  A couple of days ago he just wasn't himself.  Laying around, not playful at all.  Yesterday and last night, he threw up three times, and today he basically laid in the same spot all day long sleeping and barely moving.  I'm not sure when was the last time he used the litter box.  I took him to the vet and they are keeping him overnight.  They indicated he was pretty sick because he didn't resist having his blood taken or being poked on and he didn't try to groom himself after they were done.  We haven't had him long.  We adopted from the animal shelter.  He was the only survivor of his litter and the momma cat was killed by a car. 

I am really bummed for my kids.  We just lost our cat and dog this past winter in a house fire and I just don't know how my kids are going to react if something is wrong with our new kitty.

I have direct line of sight wireless.  I am in a rural area and can't get DSL or cable.  Does anyone know of any companies that use direct line of sight wireless? 

thanks

Let me FIRST say that I do not usually rant, I am not a ranter, if something bugs me I take a deep breath, look at the offending item in the grand scheme of my life and realize that most of the time it isn't that big a deal.  However, these condescending trailer park references that I run into are a bunch of crap!

How can you make a derogetory referrence regarding people who live in trailers?  If it had something to do with race or sex you have been flamed by the whole board.  I am sick and tired of generalizations directed basically towards me!  I live in a trailer in a trailer park and I MOST CERTAINLY am not a skank.  I have heard it all, white trash, trailer trash, skank, etc. when people talk about parks.  My town even named it a "Manufactured House Community" and hid it where you can't see it!  I am here because I can afford it here.  The average price for a house in my town in Maine is $250,000 ++.  While we do just fine, I cannot afford that on my MT salary (been MT for 6 years) even though my husband works his butt off at 3 jobs.  Oh sure, we could probably get a loan for a $300,000 house but I refuse to get in over my head in debt just to convince people like YOU I am in your league!  I also LIKE it here.  My neighbors are the best I have had.  All of our homes (trailers) are well maintained, the lawns are spotless, and there is not a single car up on blocks that I can see anywhere!!  Don't even bother to tell me that is not the norm for parks because there are 300+ trailers in this park and they are all just as well taken care of! 

Another thing that irritates me is the word "skank".  I have never understood why women have to tear each other down using trashy descriptions like that.  Of course I am sure there are those out there who DESERVE the title but most of the time women seem to judge based on the look of the offending party. 

You may think your comment was tiny and I am blowing it out of proportion, but I am not!  It is comments like that that makes people like my neighbors ashamed to even tell people where they live. 

I have said my piece and I await the flaming.  When you drive through my park (yah right) and see me standing on the nice, green lawn in front of my pretty trailer with my 7-year-old in the yard, my toddler on my hip, looking very pregnant in my cutoffs and tank tops, you can THINK "skank" all you want.  I KNOW that I am a strong, educated, well-employed woman with a nice little family who refuses to put all our happiness and our hard-earned savings on the line to prove that I am EQUAL to people like you! 

Things in this field have changed for the worse over the past years.  Salaries have decreased, yet expectations have risen.  Benefits are contingent upon production, yet a good share of the time production can't be met due to complications outside of the MT's control.  When it comes to taking the losses due to changes in the field such as offshore outsourcing and technologic advancements, it isn't the clients or the service owners taking the major hit.  It's the transcriptionists.  Yet AAMT has done NOTHING to help the transcriptionists in general.  In fact, it has gone out of its way to PROMOTE offshore outsourcing and even to change some of the guidelines in the newly published, amended BOS to accommodate voice recognition and other technology geared to replace the MT or relegate transcription to other forms labeled "editors", which in reality involve retyping whole reports or major portions of reports at a cut in pay, of course. 

All anyone, newbies included, needs to do is to look at the history of the medical transcription field, see the changes, and then see how much AAMT did to promote the worth of the Transcriptionist in this country.  The depressing message isn't coming from those speaking against AAMT, it is coming from the consequences resulting from the actions of the AAMT.  One fact alone can depress a newbie, and that is to look at the average line rate in 1995 compared to the average line rate now in 2005.   Thank you, AAMT, for promoting that.

Yes, I work for that company that has Itype so please do not hold it against me.  I would just like to know if there is a trick to getting Instant Text to work with the Itype platform?  Sometimes Instant Text will work and sometimes it won't.  I really miss my Instant Text when I cannot use it and it hurts my production so if anyone knows that secret please let me know.

Thank you so very very much

Z

When I click on a letter within a word, the whole word is automatically highlighted and selected.  Is there an option I can change so it doesn't do this?

Thx for any help.

I have a trial version of Word 2007 on my computer, and I really like its layout.  It's not a fully functional version, so I can only try it out so much.  Has anyone made the switch from the older versions of Word and liked it better?  Has it improved your productivity in any way?  Any problems with it?  All feedback appreciated.

Thanks!

All our hospitals/facilities Outsource - to us.- so unless we all want to loose our jobs, we need to be careful what we complain about.  It's Offshoring that we're protesting. 

My eyes have gone downhill big time since starting in this field (around 3 years ago).  I have always had near perfect vision, and this is about the only thing I can attribute it to. 

I have nearly all of the symptoms of this when researching (in all 3 categories; vision problems, eye problems, and general discomfort) - then again, I found that some doctors are skeptical about this.  I have an eye appointment on Thursday and I am hoping that my doctor will take me seriously.  I am at my wits end with this. 

Was anyone told they have this, or does anyone have any suggestions for me? 

Thank you!  

Has anyone else had trouble installing Winscribe?

When I try to install I get the install prompt and then a progress bar, but no progress is made...I can get it installed on other PCs, but not the one I need to work on.  MTSO is no help and I am out of suggestions...I have rebooted, changed web browsers, checked popups, checked security settings, checked firewall settings...I'm at a loss.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated!!!

My DH just got his Christmas bonus from work...out of the $4000 bonus, he brought home $2450 after taxes...Thanks bunches Uncle Sam!!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the extra money, but geez, 39% tax rate on a bonus, come on now, that's a bit much!!! Just venting here, Merry Christmas Y'all!