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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Compensation for Medical Transcriptionists

Posted By: Barry Wattss on 2008-03-30
In Reply to:

I just came across this on the AHDI site, what used to be AAMT, in an article with the above title: "It is a concern of AHDI that medical transcription professionals are often viewed by their employers and the clients they serve as keyboard specialists who have a familiarity with medical terminology which enables them to transcribe dictated reports for an originator's signature.  In contrast, it is the view of AHDI that keyboarding and transcription should not be confused. Medical transcription involves translation from oral to written in order to generate a record of a patient's healthcare documentation. AHDI views medical transcription as a medical language specialty which requires medical knowledge and understanding, sound judgment, deductive reasoning, and the ability to detect inconsistencies in medical dictation." You can read the rest here:


http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/rjobcomp.cfm


Are they actually going to fight for better wages, or is this just a ploy to get people to join?




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What a shortage of medical transcriptionists

Whoever says that needs to take a look at the job board and the posting that has over 1,000 views.


There are no transcriptionists looking for jobs either.


medical transcriptionists in US Virgin Islands

We are looking for experienced Medical Transcriptionists in the US Virgin Islands.


Please visit our web site and contact me.  http://www.globalmedicaldata.com


Thanks.


Bob


George Bush hates medical transcriptionists.
nm
The AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcriptionists, 2nd Edition,
s
Workers'/Worker's Compensation or Workmen's Compensation
?
compensation

Hourly charge.


Editing Compensation
I'm an Editor located in the Midwest. I edit radiology as well as most other specialties. I am paid by the line and average well over $20/hour depending on the day and the difficulty of the account; however, I am an IC, so therefore have no benefits. I also provide extensive feedback and assist with training and testing of transcription applicants. I am paid separately for the training and testing responsibilities. I personally believe that paying by the hour is the best way to compensate an editor. Paying by the line rewards speed, not accuracy.
I think your compensation would be based on the...sm.
following:  Your level of experience, the time that you are able to commit to transcribing each day, your use of expanders, your baseline typing skills, your ability to utilize the software package utilized by the company, your ability to adapt, and you ability to negotiate your line rate.
I would ask for some compensation for the "try
aa
Unemployment compensation?
Is is possible to apply for unemployment, at least a partial check, since we are supposed to "produce" so many lines a pay period and the work is never ever there.  We promise them so why should they not pay?  Anyone ever done this and is it possible? 
Workers Compensation
Have any of you who are employees of a national company ever had to file for WC due to hands that just won't work anymore?  I need to get carpal tunnel surgery but can't afford to make zero dollars while I'm off.  I don't want to start accumulating medical bills or alert my company until I've done my research.
Workers Compensation
I did workers' compensation claims in my pre MT life.  If MD says it is work related, should be no problem being covered.  Depending on what state you live in, there is probably a waiting period that you would not be paid for until you are off for a certain number of days.  State laws dictates the % you are paid of your average weekly wage based on a minimum and maximum rate.  Do not wait too long to get your CTS taken care of.  You could cause more problems with your hands if you wait too long. 
Workers' Compensation and the ER
I thought the correct order of things would be for him to be seen regardless of where or how it happened, and the Workers' Compensation part handled after the fact. What would they have done if he'd been hurt more severely? I thought they'd (WC) reimburse whatever out-of-pocket expenses you have once the insurance claim is settled. The boss was definitely trying to set him up, which is disgusting. The funny part is that he actually gave your husband ammunition for an even more complicated lawsuit, should it come to that.
Pathology Compensation
Can anyone tell me what the average compensation is for transcribing the gross only for pathology, by report, not lines?  Thanks so much for your assistance.
If you really are an IC, you set your rate of compensation.

The prospective client can then either pay what you're asking or find someone who is more in line with what they can afford or are willing to pay.


As long as I'm an IC and setting my own rate, VBC is not my line standard and I would not agree with any statement that it is the standard of the future.


IC Workers Compensation
Having come from being a workers compensation claim represenatative in my prior life, unfortunately you do need to carry your own coverage as an IC. 
VR compensation/2 wk period
It seems that we have to make that high productivity in voice recognition for two weeks straight. If for even ONE day in the two weeks, your productivity was not as high, it bumps your average back down to making way less money. For example, let's say you work hard to edit 350 lines (voice recog.) per hour for 6 or 7 days, but one day your productivity was only their minimum of 150 lines per hour- that reduces your two-week average. What am I missing? What are you doing to keep productivity really high for that two week average?
VR compensation/2 wk period
No, I have not been able to achieve 350 lines per hour with voice recognition, or anywhere near it. But at 150 lines per hour at 4 cents per line for editing voice recognition, that is $6.00 a hour pay, and so the minimum wage requirement kicks in, as I am an employee, and I make $6.55 per hour for 150 lines per hour. So, how do I double or triple my voice recognition editing production per 2-week period, to at LEAST 300 lines average per hour (or even more if possible) so I can make more money?
Thanks for clarifying the compensation plan. sm.

If it is just a matter of maintaining 98% accuracy with QA, then there is no problem.  My concerns were with changes in the structure of the payment method to the MT, MedQuist's interpretation of a line count, what constitutes a line, as MedQuist is no longer adhering AAMT's line count standard, etc. All of this would directly affect the MT.  Thanks again for all of your responses.


Geee compensation is wonderful!!

You should be eligible for unemployment compensation.
``
Just sounds like more rules, what about compensation, PTO, raises across

does workman's compensation cover us for carpal tunnel? nm
x
I would buy new a Dorland's Medical Dictionary, Stedmans Medical and Surgical Equipment...SM

and Tessier's The Surgical Word Book, 3rd edition.  Books you could buy used I would say would be Stedman's Pathology and Lab Medicine and Cardiology/Pulmonary word book.  These are all the books I use the most during my day.  You could buy other speciality word books as you need them and could probably go used with those.


I wouldn't bother with buying a drug book, new editions come out every year and I just stick to the FDA website and RXList as my drug references.


Also FYI, not a book, but I use my Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictationary a lot.  It's easier to open the program than it is to pick up a huge 30-pound dictionary.


Age of transcriptionists
61/female/married 40 years/ 11 grands
How many men transcriptionists
are out there?  Have been noticing a few men's names lately and was curious as to how many men transcriptionists there are.
M.D. transcriptionists
The doctors who are supposedly training for transcription have degrees in ayurvedic medicine and homeopathy. Neither has much to do with western medicine. And, can they type? Some of this sounds like bluster to me.
MS transcriptionists
Hi guys.  I put this on the state boards, but I don't think anybody reads those.  Are there any MTs from Clarksdale, MS or around that area?  Love to hear from you.
Low Pay for Transcriptionists
I am 57 and have been transcribing for 28 years.  I recently moved from California to South Carolina.  I was doing VERY well there working in a clinic, but since moving here I am living at the poverty level.  Even with my experience they started me at $ 10.00 an hour.  I've checked all hospitals in the area and none pay any better.  This is very disappointing.  I've applied all over the place, and nobody seems interested.  And working for 7 to 8 cents for a 65 character line is like giving your time away for nothing and 3 to 5 cents per line for editing.  At 57 I am in bad health, have spent my life transcribing, and don't know how to do anything else.  I plan to enroll in school in the fall to learn a different trade. 
Hey VTS transcriptionists! DQS still down
Now BizGroup, too.  Just keeps gettin better and better.  I know that MQ is huge, but we are teeny-weeny, and this is day two with no work...gettin really frustrated.
Medical Transcription In The Era Of Electronic Medical Records
EMR has revolutionized the healthcare industry in recent times. Many experts felt that EMR & Voice Recognition would totally replace Medical Transcription - however; the industry soon realized that transcription has certain advantages over point & click charting and many physicians preferred to dictate notes rather than document the data at the point of care themselves.
are you implying that transcriptionists
that work for MQ are less professional??
meant transcriptionists!
nm
Retiring transcriptionists
I retired at age 62 after sixteen full time years and twenty part and full time years. I worked in a fast-paced institution doing all types of transcription. Believe me it took a toll on my hands and wrists. I now suffer burning tendinitis in my right wrist with deQuervain tendinitis in my thumb.
Veterinary Transcriptionists??

Does anyone transcribe for a vet?  How did you get in to this area of transcription?  It sounds like it would be interesting.  Maybe they just have their secretaries transcribe.  Thoughts on this.


Thanks!


Diskriter needs help all around - they need transcriptionists for
all shifts, and are finally getting desperate enough to hire PT
Any dental transcriptionists out there?

I transcribe all ops, and I have an oral/maxillofacial surgeon, but no samples on him.  Is there anyone doing this type of transcription who might be able to send me a few good samples of dental surgeries? 


Thanks. 


Ophthalmology transcriptionists out there?

Any other MTs doing ophthalmology?  I'm working for docs who are on the east coast.  I get so FRUSTRATED because the reports are so short I feel like I'm starting and stopping all the time.  I've done 33 files today for a whopping 600-ish lines!  Great docs, easy to understand, mainly letters to the PCPs.  Most of my files are easily less than 3 minutes long and when I do get a long one, he can't make up his mind so I end up erasing and retyping, and STILL don't get a decent line count. 



Just looking for a sympathetic ear from another Ophth MT.  I feel like I'm in a different world than these other guys I read about on here! 


male transcriptionists
I worked with one where we were paid $25 an hour - he would come in on Saturday and Sunday and milk the clock for 12-16 hours when there was only about 1-2 hours of work. This went on for a couple of years. Then I had another male MT as a supervisor and he was very nice and has always helped me to find work when I needed it. Different strokes for different folks.
Are there any traveling transcriptionists out there and do you like it.nm
x
Transcriptionists are smart!
I had a doctor say to his "residents" that they should do transcription because I was answering all of the questions they could not, just because I've transcribed for so many years!  That was kind of a nice feeling, if I do say so myself!  So... maybe we could all be doctors some day! 
Transcriptionists that do not know punctuation
I just had a dictation in which the doctor specified (correctly) where the quotation marks were in relation to the period at the end of the sentence and stated that he was tired of having to correct reports where it was incorrectly placed. I was aghast! How could anybody transcribe and not know elementary punctuation?
remote transcriptionists
Go to mtjobs.com. There are plenty on there.
any Tampa transcriptionists here?

I would love to know - I have a question.


thanks!


EMR will not reduce the need for transcriptionists
What we do at our office is we transcribe the reports and they are scanned into the EMR - the only difference is there is not an actual paper chart anymore.
any transcriptionists been disabled by
I am an avid gamer and a MT.  I'm only 30 and already my wrists get sore periodically.  I'm wondering if there is a point where I will be disabled due to transcribing and difficulties with their hands and what to do to prevent it.  TIA for replies
VLM -Tried in the 60's to get transcriptionists to join a
union to no avail. Nurses at that time also were non-union - they decided to unionize as their pay and benefits were also abysmal at that point in time. Compare that to their income & benefits now compared to ours. The reply I received for not joining a union then was that the transcriptionists did not want to jeopordize patient care in case of a strike. Well,I agreed we played an integral part in patient care, albeit felt it was secondary compared to the role of nurses regarding patient care - who decided to risk going on strike and made the choice to unionize!!

I totally dropped out of transcription for 10 yrs, only to return and find that AAMT was the answer to our problems. Need I say more ?

As far as the scenario of striking in this day and age with no income, I imagine if I'd add up all the slow days, days without work, holiday periods without work, I could also survive a strike. Only difference being knowing I'd return to work with better benefits including help with health care coverage and increased pay, rather than decreased pay. Shoot - maybe even being recognized as a "Profession" instead of a typist - cognizant of our intelligence & knowledge!!

I don't know to this day if unionizing would have helped us back in the years when it was feasible, but still feel we couldn't have been any worse off than where we are today!

Trying to organize a union now I'll leave in the hands of my internet savvy young ones. How this could be accomplished in this day and age is now beyond my level of expertise!




psychiatric transcriptionists

Please help! We are a group of psychiatric transcriptions working for a hospital who have been bought out by another hospital. We had no line count or QA. Now the new hospital has QA and wants us to type minimum 1500 lines a day. We type assessments, h/p, progress notes, consults, neuro and psychologicals. We have many foreign docs who ramble on. We also work on Dolby transcription and dictation system.  Their medical people are required 1000 lines per day and x-rays 2000 lines. We don't feel like any of us can reach this. Are they asking too much?


 


Radiology Transcriptionists needed
Hello Meg,
I am the GM of MDI and would love to hear from you. We have excellent benefits. Our radiology transcription coordinator is the best. Mary will help you with scheduling and start you out with an account. Yes, we do pay $29.99 for ULD. Call me at 800-205-7047.
North Alabama Transcriptionists
Are there any hospitals based in North Alabama who use at-home Radiology Transcriptionists?
funny of the day- substitute transcriptionists