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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

A Matter of Pride

Posted By: Dee on 2008-09-13
In Reply to: Getting CMT is a personal choice. Obviously...sm - It's a personal choice!

I choose not to be a CMT (was one but chose not to renew as a matter of pride; i.e., didn't want to support AHDI's program of reduced-rate certification of Indian MTs at offshore sites with my fees), and I keep myself educated -- as a matter of pride. I participate in Medscape's CME program & keep track of the units. No one knows it but me--and indirectly, my employer, since everything I learn applies directly to the work I do. I make sure I tell any potential employer that I choose not to be a CMT and why. My current employer (an MTSO) totally agrees with my perspective. AHDI: Association for Healthcare Documentation in India!

Pshaw.


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Doesn't matter, IF you are not paid an hourly wage, i.e. a set amount no matter - sm
how much or how little you type, say $12.00/hour, you do not get OT. As someone mentioned here, certain jobs are exempt, and as most of us are paid a flat rate of .08 cpl or .09 or .10, whatever it is, that is all we get regardless of how many hours under or over 40 hours we go. If you want OT then go get an in-house job or get a job doing something else.
Job pride
After seeing several posts here about how boring this work is, I wanted to take a poll and see how many of you take pride in this job. Do you see it as data entry/typing or a rewarding career?
Pride?
Yes, I take tremendous pride in what I do. We are indeed language specialists; however, I am very disturbed that the pay is not any better than it was when I was doing it 20 years ago.
I take pride in what I do, but....
I no longer see this as a rewarding career. I make less now than I did 10 years ago, thanks to voice editing and outsourcing, this job does not pay me what I used to make 10 years ago, and I only had 3 years experience back then. So, for me, while I take pride in producing quality reports (98.5% was the lowest I ever got on quality control, EVER), I do not feel this "career" will last me until I retire. I love the personal benefits, and I love that up until this point it allowed me to be a stay at home mom to my son, while supporting myself and my son (single mom), but that pay is so low that I can't afford much. I'm much faster actually transcribing than editing, yet more and more reports are edited and so its harder and harder for me to make the money I once made so easily. It saddens me to see how little respect this career yields, yet I still hold pride in producing reports to the best quality. I unfortunately would not recommend this career to anyone new, and I myself am looking into going back to school next Fall to start another career. As long as this job holds out until I finish school, my son and I will be fine. While I still love my job, it just doesn't pay well, everyone I've tried to hire through pays what I was offered 10 years ago starting at a company, and that's sad to not have a raise in 10 years and to have to work harder to get less pay, so for my son and myself, being a single parent, it just does not pay what we need with more and more demands and less and less pay.

However, until my last day I will always work hard at producing the best quality report because I do take pride in my work. I always will.
Take all the pride you want but make sure you get sm
the minimal line count requested in the time allowed and I do.
I take a lot of pride in my work...
I am not in this to make money, I am in this because I love the job. I produce quality work and my employer knows that. I was told once many years ago that it's quality, not quantity that makes a very good transcriptionist. I don't care how many lines everyone else gets; I get mine in every day, have a decent paycheck, know that there are slow times throughout the year and don't fret when work is little to none. I don't bash my company for every little thing on a website that they can easily monitor and find out who I am! I started out in-house 3 months after taking classes at the local community college and have never had a period of unemployment in the last 7 years. This is a professional job and I treat it that way; I get up, take a shower and dress just like a "regular" job. My initials go at the bottom of every report; I am not submitting junk just to prove how fast I am. Those who rush through, don't proofread or don't take the time to look things up are the ones who should really consider getting out of the business. Leave the work to real professionals who want to produce quality work and know how to do it.
I take pride in my work. I always take care, as if the
aa
yeah, my husband's pride and joy!
Brenda and Eddie, king and the queen of the prom, were still going steady. LOL! He has 6 koi fish and some goldfish which he has named, but I can't remember them all.  One is Spot, one is Stripe, I remember.  He has a bullfrog, don't remember what he calls him, and he's not here right now, but it's probably Hrrumpp!  LOL!  It's funny, but when he goes down to see them, all his pond friends come swimming over to see HIM too!  Go figure!  LOL!
There is such thing as taking pride in your work. nm
 
Misplaced pride. The physician is documenting something, Or trying to. NM
nm
It is and isn't trivial. Trivial about the spelling, but there is obvious pride (which I have too
to America. I think THAT is what the post was all about. Here in America we do it this way, etc. Many, many Americans are tired of the pandering and adjusting to the "many" ways of life out there - This is America and if you choose to come here then you should abide by our ways of doing/saying things. I feel strongly about that too! No feelings hurt, I hope...

If I were to move to France, I certainly wouldn't try to push my agenda or my way of speaking on others and expect them to pander to me in any way. I would respect their culture and their ways.
I did say that there are some that no matter what
will still be on the streets. In Houston though, our mental health resources/job training/etc. are severely lacking.
I think that no matter how much
They will always need US MTs because they will always have clients who will refuse to allow their work to be done by overseas MTs.

I think that everyone should be allowed to further their education if they so desire. I am studying for the LSAT and hope to be in law shcool by next year. But, this is really something that must be worked out between the two of you. Luckily, I don't have a husband to tell me what I can and cannot do. I'll only get married when I am truly financially secure, so that I'll have the means to leave him if need be.
Does it matter?
nm
I am a CMT and it does matter
to me, as a professional MT for my own satisfaction.

The English language is ever-changing. It has changed significantly since I was in high school and college. The BOS changes, technology changes, everything changes (except God). In healthcare, we learn to adjust to change or change professions.

I work for a large healthcare corporation/satellite facility, and CMT is not even recognized of any importance in regards to pay. The fastest MT at the keyboard wins -- quantity outweighs quality. As a CMT, I do not make "one penny" more than anyone else on my team. Since I am home-based, earn excellent benefits, and the pay isn't too bad, I continue to work for this corporation.

My supervisor's (a non-MT)philosphy is the more experience one has the more money one will make (ha!)

Again, I am thankful I took the extra step to become a CMT -- I strive for the highest quality for patient safety, my initials are on every report, and each report is a portrait of my professionalism.




She even made the comment that anyone, anywhere could be certified in anything. I encouraged her to take the CMT exam, but so far she has not attempted.
Does not matter in the least
about if you even have a job. If you have anything in your name, a house, carr, checking acct, whatever, you can have a garnishment. The company that now wants to garnish your wages probably has sent you duns and they want their money. More than this, I have worked for a company before (do not know how yours is) but only one (1) garnishment and you no longer had a job. Places you work really do not like to put up with this kind of stuff.
no matter if you are an IC...
you have to commit to something be it hours per day or lines per day. I am an IC and I commit to 500 lines a day. My day is from 12 am to 12 pm. Anytime in there, all I have to do is 500. I can do more if I want, I can work on the weekends if I want, but I have to do my 500 lines a day M-F. I don't see how so many can be confused by this. Seems so simple. Everyone of us that takes a job with somebody be it IC or employee has to make some kind of commitment.
No matter
I don't agree with that. As an English speaker I could communicate well enough with another American to get a history. They may be difficult but I could get it. I mean I haven't met another American yet who I have not been able to understand at all.
I would think you could ask, but no matter
what the "average" for a specific account it, an MTSO has a right to require a certain line count of its transcriptionists to maintain employment.
I did/do this, too. It's a matter of..

constantly re-directing yourself to the dictation/transcription in real time. What I did when I found my mind wandering: I would rewind the dictation to the beginning and force myself to relisten through it (to be sure I didn't omit anything).  The problem I noticed more than leaving out dictation was duplicating it, i.e. typing the same phrase or sentence twice. It takes a day or two of this method, but that's what it took to keep me focused.

Hope this helps.


Yes, it could matter a lot sm
My company decided to make me PT and IC and stopped taxes. When spring came around I didn't have the $to pay and had to cash in my 401K. Wonder what they'll do to me next spring, as I've paid PART of the taxes as I go along, but am not up to date..........
I don't think you are going to have much say in the matter - sm
other than thanks or no thanks.

In my state in the So West, 13.oo - 15.00.

Try looking in your local newspaper, in the want ads, to get a handle on the going rate.

3 cpl no matter what
which is why VR is so problematic....if the starting document has to be heavily edited you are getting peanuts for having to take alot of time fixing it. AND you still have to listen to the whole thing so if it is a long long recording (with lots of dead air space) you really are taking a hit.  Many times I find I can type it quicker from scratch.  VR is just not there yet, or should I say the line rates for VR are just not there yet.  Companies have no way of guaranteeing that the starting document will be good, so it's like playing Russian roulette--you never know what you are going to get.
I would think it's a matter of
servers are set up to reject attachments due to spam, viruses, etc.  They probably figured if you couldn't follow the application instructions how would you follow the account instructions? 
what does it matter to u
hi what does it matter to you, yes im not from US and if you dont like c my posts, please do not.  I dont care if the english is broken.  The subject matters.
No matter what anyone says, somehow
I think reverse 'cherry-picking' or whatever you call it goes on a lot more than the other way around. This is one MT who NEVER ever catches a break, no matter what time of day, what day of the week I consistently get the worst most difficult dictators, and the more I have complained the worse it gets. My pay is so low it is indicative of how desperate I am for money, perhaps another reason I get the bottom of the barrel. If in my queue an 'easy' dictator appears, it is about 85% of the time pushed down the list as the more difficult dictators pop up in their place, consistently, over and over, all day long such that I never do get those easier dictations. Continually I am told no one is assigning my work but as I mentioned, 18 years experience, that is not a reasonable answer because the odds would be all wrong...

Somebody gets those easier reports, every day, all day, but most never me. For my own sanity I sign off here and there just to take a break from the abuse but no matter what I do the only work I get is the bottom.

Not sure what causes it and frankly I do not know how anyone would know someone else is picking work unless they are doing it themselves or those people who are in charge who are specifically assigning bad work and then sitting back to see if you do it (?).

We are all vulnerable because there is no accountability and everything is covered and managed and the bottom line is there are people who somehow know how to makes umteel zillion lines but a bigger percentage of MTs like myself who struggle every day just to make minimum...
what the matter with you?
There is ONLY

1 TYPO 'bookd' instead of books !

Is English your 1st language?

Because you see mistakes where there are none!

Either you need a new pair of eyeglasses or a book about grammar and spelling.

Go to bed, it's late!
If it is a good buy, it should not matter! Go for it. sm
I would not care if the street was named Poop! If it is a good buy, I'd go for it. Who cares what the street name is. You are being silly about this.
well it doesn't matter
that's for sure....
Well I Just Got fired so it does not matter !!!!
Back to the office for me thank god I had a plan B !!!!
It doesn't matter if he did it before; he WILL do it again. Get out now.
The man who hit me hadn't done it before, but once he started, it didn't stop. Several police officers at various times all told me the same thing--it doesn't stop, it progressively gets worse. I chose not to listen. Get out while you can. Beg, borrow or steal the money for a lawyer. Call a women's shelter; they can give you advice on legal help. Just do it now.
spaces do not matter
If there is 1 character on a line, it counts as a line.
I agree with the other MT on this matter
Wow, is this ridiculous, or what? I have been an MT for 5 years, and I enjoy every single minute of it, even if I always get the hard work that no one wants, or seems to be able to do, for some reason! I also get the less than 1 minute cherry-picked jobs from my "SO-CALLED MANAGER," who does give a rats ____ if you get your quota, or NOT !! They send all of the bigger jobs to people in India, etc, and MTs like myself get all the small, small, almost nonexistent jobs, and that is every single day!! I am switching to another company with much better pay, and much better respect for MY HARD WORK!! I am, basically, MY OWN QA person, as MOST OF MY work needs NO editing by QA people !! You had your vent, now I had mine, so let's get to work, already!


No matter what some people think,
animals are very smart.  The dog probably really needed someone with a big heart and chose you, obviously with good reason. 
It doesn't matter
It doesn't matter HOW time consuming running spell check is - it's something you do, or should do, to ensure an accurate work product period.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did and I do.
nm
Best of luck to you, no matter what. sm
The smaller MTSOs are really struggling now with the offshoring going on.  I can only pray that changes.  My daughter has been an MT for 12 years.  She has two children, 9 and 17.  Two years ago she started pursuing a criminal justice degree and will work as a victim's advocate when she is done, which will be two more years. I am so glad she got out of this field.  No matter what, though, as I said, best of luck to you!
This is a matter between this person and
It would be different if he were not trying to get his job back.  I agree with you in that I think people should post both negative and positive experiences here. This person is in an appeals process to get his/her job back.  If you were the owner of Keystrokes and came here and saw this person's post...would you consider giving them their job back?
doesn't matter-
Professionalism is a state of mind. If you bring pride and caring to your work thats profressionalism. Doesn't matter what you do. I've met very unprofessional lawyers and very professional, honest plumbers who bring dignity and perfection to their work. Do the best job you can do no matter what you do and don't let any elistist snob tell you otherwise.
font does matter
if you are on a gross line account, like me, font does matter. I am "required" to use a 12 point font and no more or less, and it does make a difference in the line count...but then again, gross line ends up paying more than 65 character lines!
fonts most certainly do matter and do....sm

I remember having a private neurologist who wanted Ariel 11 and at that time I only had access to 10 point fonts.....Fonts take up space in a line, and if you use Ariel 11 or 12, you are getting more characters into an inch of space.


Courier 10 or any other font #10 is the standard and customary font in my area for nearly 3 decades...outside of that one neurologist, who then demanded a 5 line credit on every report (for one year that I kept her as one of my accounts).  By the end of the year, I figured it out and I lost $1000 with that 5-line credit for each report.  The following year I gave her 3 options......One was to keep her at 12 cpl but with no 5-line per report credit, the second was to up her to 13 CPL with the 5-line per report credit, and the third option I gave her (and secretly hoped she would take, which she did) was to PULL THE ACCOUNT! She was such a nasty, negative, young WITCH that I couldn't wait to give up that account....and today I make sure to tell the public NEVER to see her as a neurologist and refer to other neurologists in the community.  (payback is a *ITCH, now isn't it?)   


as a matter of fact, ...
I have worked as an I.C. and have had my own business for the last 15+ years and presently charge 14 cents a line. I have made a very nice living, thank you very much. But recently, thanks to all the outsourcing, the work I might have prevously gotten is now being sent elsewhere at 3 and 5 cents a line. So I am now forced to seek additional work with nationals. Believe me, I am aware of making a profit but at the same time I paid my subcontractors 9 cents because they were worth every penny. I am not going to spend the day arguing with anyone. I just wanted to make a statement that MTs are NOT being paid what they are worth and they should take a stand and fight for that! Until they do, they will continue to get paid a meager rate.
Shouldn't matter.....sm
Your macro will open the original template each time. If you need changes to it, make the changes and save it as a different template and link your macro to it. I'm not a macro expert, but I've made a few and it really isn't hard. There's info in Word's help files.
doesn't matter to me either what U think..LOL
just seeing a political lucid moment from you blew me away, for a split second           
welcome.. doesn't matter what you do around here - sm
someone will jump on you for it.  LOL 
As a matter of fact

I started taking the medication because I told the doctor that working afternoons was nearly impossible for me, as I constantly needed to nap for at least a couple of hours. Since I started taking the medication I don't feel the need to nap and I can also stay more focused and less inclined to be distracted but things.I'm currently on 300 mg, which is the maximum dosage, and I take it around 10 a.m. every day, including weekends.

For me, it's a wonderful drug.


Yes, it does matter where you live.
  
Does Accreditation matter?
I currently work at an on-site technical school and have recently decided to make a career change from my general office position.   Upon the start of my searching for on-line schools, I was told by many coworkers to make sure the the school was accreditted by the DETC.  Are the "top three schools" accreditted by this body, or any other sort of board of education, other than  just being affiliated to AAMT?  Does this matter?  Is it just as easy/difficult to find an on-site job as it is a home-based job with these "top three schools?"  Alot of questions, I know.  But I am so excited to start learning transcription, but all the choices out there are slowing down my process.
It's not a matter of "getting through" to her...sm
Everyone who smokes KNOWS it's dumb, it stinks, and is possibly going to kill us.  All the negatives have been pounded in our heads for many years.  It is just a matter of  "deciding" to quit.  Noone is going to talk someone into it.  Probably when her health gets bad enough, she'll do it.
...or anywhere else offshore for that matter? (sm)
Cost cannot be allowed to be the sole driving factor when private information is involved. It seems that companies that store private records just will not learn this lesson. So, every other day we hear about another million credit card records compromised, laptops stolen with the files of half the Navy personnel on them, etc., etc.

Now we're sending both medical and credit records overseas to be processed (yes, the Big Three credit agencies now have offshore companies handling inquiries). The security issues with all of this are simply enormous...but hey, we're saving money!

It was not that long ago that an offshore worker threatened to post medical records on the Internet if the American MTSO she was working for didn't pay her more money.

What's really funny about all of this is that the poor schmucks overseas don't seem to realize that they're just the step-down along the path from hands-on American transcription to speech rec. It's as if Indian companies had suddenly discovered in 1900 that there was a thriving U.S. market for buggy whips and spent enormous sums to build whip factories...just in time to watch the Model T to come rolling off the assembly line.
mind over matter

I'm no Supergal, but I think it is a case of talking yourself down. 


I used to wake up in the wee hours and then my mind would start thinking about all of the embarassing things that have happened to me in my life. It would start to feel like a panic attack, a loss of control.  I did that for a while until I got tired of feeling bad.  I just talk myself out of it now.  I tell myself to stay in the present moment, and I breathe deep and slow.  It works for me.  I just say "STOP" to myself when it happens. 


I think about something pleasant to take over the bad thoughts.  The deep breathing helps to go back to sleep, too.  You have to concentrate just on the breathing and let nothing upsetting creep back in.  I like the feeling of control this gives me.  I am not a slave to my past life embarrassments anymore. 


Hope this helps someone.