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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Don't get sucked into joining AHDI (formerly AAMT)

Posted By: here is one I would avoid! on 2009-04-19
In Reply to: New To Site - B-girl




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  • New To Site - B-girl
    • Don't get sucked into joining AHDI (formerly AAMT) - here is one I would avoid!

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This has nothing to do with AAMT/AHDI.
This has to do with a gal going out and taking a difficult test and passing it and wanting a tiny bit of validation from her peers. I am a nurse and lived through globalization with nurses coming into our country from everywhere .. transcription has been left alone for a long time and because it is us, we all scream like crazy. Did you care when it was nurses, or auto workers or garment workers or is it all about you? I am a nurse who came into this grind by choice .. can hear the grass grow and know how to punctuate and create a sentence. I read my account specifics and I follow the rules and make a very good living. Let your politicians fix what they have destroyed. Exercise your arm and vote for people who will not solicit money and gain off the backs of the constituency and turn their backs. Don't beat up a gal who is proud of an accomplishment .. this is part of the reason our industry is a mess, we cannot support each other first and throw out even a crumb of kindness. Stop feeling entitled .. nobody owes us a bloody thing.
AHDI is the new name for the AAMT.
nm
it's AHDI now, not AAMT.....sm

because they became an organization NOT for the American MT - and over the years, many of us griped about it and so FINALLY they changed their name (last year) to AHDI............since they have promoted offshoring for the past 15-20 years...........


 


BOS is just one more AHDI/AAMT rip-off. -sm
Just a bunch of busywork, and needless 'rules'. There may be one or two things that make sense safety-wise, such as 'daily' instead of q.d., but REALLY...

All the nit-picking the BOS spawns just takes the focus away from the main point of MT -- to type a readable and correct medical record.
Since when has AHDI/AAMT cared about anything
where US MTs are concerned? 
AAMT/AHDI is what is sending all US MT's to
.
Anyone a member of AHDI/AAMT? (sm)
I'm interested to find out what benefits you actually get and use for your money, and if any employers are at all interested in the fact that you are a member etc. It's not a inexpensive prospect to become a member, that is why I wonder if the benefits are worthwhile to the working MT.

Thanks
AAMT/AHDI - Crooks, that is what they are!
I am one of the oldtimers who took the MT certification test in 1983. It only cost $75.00 back then. I had such high hopes that this industry was going to be a wonderful career move. But AAMT, now AHDI got GREEDY and tried to suck as much money as possible out of their MTs and never stood up for us. Money is all they cared about. And YES, the board members do receive a substantial salary. Who do you think is paying their salaries? Anyone who is idiotic enough to become a member. They lure in the newly graduated transcriptionists with their lies. I have been a Transcriptionist since 1980, and I have NEVER been without work. I only wish that I had not remained a member for 13 years. I regret that immensely. That money would have been better off in my pockets. I think they definitely be investigated and persecuted for their deceitfulness. They never intended to help the MT. They are a scam organization and only interested in stealing our lowly income. I hope they rot for their sins!
Then the unions would be in bed with AHDI (AAMT) huh!! sm
Don't we already have that going on anyway?
AAMT/AHDI is an organization that should be

AAMT/AHDI is the the same organization, and it -
has played the largest part in lowering MT standards and MT pay. They claim it's been 'raised' by their attempts at standardizing all MT work, and by offering bogus 'CMT' credentials, but all it's done is backfire for the American MT. We paid our US Dollars for these credentials, (at a higher rate than the Indians, I might add). AAMT/AHDI's power grew stronger as the duped more and more medical establishments to do things their way, due to the cut rates they were getting from national MTSO's who were in bed with AAMT/AHDI, and sending more and more of their work to India. That in turn has decimated American MT wages. I know of few (if ANY) other companies, other than those who are facing bankruptcy, that are paying workers less and less each year. The MT business is alive, well and growing, but each year its workers see less and less in the way of compensation for a job well done. It can't go on forever. Eventually they're going to hit the zero-point. Then what? Maybe we'll pay THEM for the 'privilege of doing MT work?

It's imperative that MTs start getting in touch with each other. Their co-workers, MTs they meet online, MTs who work at other companies. It's time to start comparing notes, and start coming up with a plan. Regardless of whether it's a walkout, a sickout, a letter-writing or phone campaign, posters, flyers, radio time, or an ad in the newspaper, the more people that contribute, even a tiny contribution in the way of time, skill, or just their own voice, the better our chances are of still turning this thing around before we all become extinct.
So go hang with the dogs at the AAMT/AHDI...
Fit right in
CMTer, AAMT/AHDI has done really nothing for me. I tried to see the forest that you
thanks to the way AAMT (now AHDI) has caved on US MTs over the years.  It is my professional opinion (and after 24 long years, yes, I consider myself a professional in this industry), I believe taking the CMT is a waste of time and money.  If you call my opinion a grudge, so be it, however to this end, it is my opinion based on many, many years of experience.
The only thing AAMT/AHDI "did their best" on was
I think it's a company that the Feds should consider investigating. What happened to US MTs is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
AAMT (now AHDI) destroyed our profession by
convincing the hospitals to outsource to services to save money. I have 25+ years experience too and remember when this profession could hold its head high. The numerous MT schools making unrealistic promises lured students into thinking this was going to be a dream job and easy money to work at home. All of us old timers know the sweat and long hours it takes to be a successful MT. The hositals are to blame also for being greedy. Most MTSOs cannot bid high on jobs because the hospitals want more quantity for less quality these days, and then in turn must pay their MTs lower wages.
Best recommendation is chooosing an AAMT/AHDI approved course
x
AAMT/AHDI is run by and for the management of companies that offshore!
I too used be a member and an officer in the local chapter.  I too attended all the activities.  I have since let my CMT lapse.  Never once has being a CMT earned me a better job or more money, it's all about the experience and the quality of work you can produce, not whether or not you're a CMT!
didn't you ask this last week? We told you, AAMT is now AHDI. sm
It's the SAME organization, but they changed their name over a year ago, hence the change in website. Look up the AHDI website.
No offense, but you were unaware of the history of AAMT/AHDI
I would suggest that you learn more about the history and realities of these subjects before calling for a big strike or walkout. Credibility is an issue here.
AHDI (formerly AAMT) group disability insurance plan ... sm
I'm in the process of trying to find an affordable individual disability insurance plan. I was browsing through AHDI's website and found that they've made arrangements for members to participate in a group plan for this! The cost of membership to the organization might be worth it for me to take advantage of this.

Has anyone here participated in this plan? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks in advance.
How would I go about joining the
lawsuit? Is it possible if I still work there?
How about joining a gym?....sm
You can go at various times, and there area a variety of people there....working, nonworking, retired, semi-retired, or whatever.  Also, how about volunteering at a local hospital?  
Do you know anyone you could talk into joining under you?
From what I've read, the program pays when you get down to the 8th level. So, you need to sell someone who can also sell someone 8 times before you'll see any real money.

You may make a few bucks at first but compare that to the joining expense, what things you have to buy, I understand 2 or 3 things, and something about a $20 monthly site fee (just what I've read, remember).

Personally, I wouldn't waste my money on it.
Having compassion is not the same as joining
x
don't get sucked in to thinking you did something wrong

What a tough situtation. It would definitely be a good idea to tell him you don't want to continue the relationship until he gets the appropriate help.


I agree with the other poster, it is somewhat of an abusive relationship. My father was like this and is still. He would go through "moods" and we all would be walking on eggshells, he'd eventually fly into a rage . . . once even going so far as to hold a shotgun to his head because the world was so against him . . .(drama). He's never gotten any professional help. At one time my mother decided to put St. John's Wort (herb for depression) into his mashed potatoes. What dysfunction, I know. Anyway . . . People like this just have it in their personality to be miserable . . . it goes back generations in my family, I think it's the internal negative dialogue they  have, never being able to let things go.


Think about what your future will be living with someone like this (and your children's).


With a family history like his he very well could be depressed but maybe it is viewed as a weakness in his family to admit it. He's probably embarassed. It definitely sounds like he has anger issuses, which they say "depression is anger turned inwards".


How about manipulative? Could he like the even negative attention he gets from acting like this?


You have done the right thing . . . to be concerned. How would you feel if you made no attempt to help and something bad happened?


I think he has too many problems for you to be involved with him. Find someone else. Don't waste your nice caring personality and life on someone like this. Sometimes people like this are just happy being miserable and wouldn't have it any other way. So just let them be.


Definitely take a step back until he gets his life in order.


What do you think you should do???


Do not get sucked into the black hole -
MDI is not as great as they want everyone to believe and as far as the OP goes, her word is very "questionable" to say the least.
They never, never follow through with what they say they are going to do!


4000-5000 I can't believe I'm getting sucked into this again. SM

This is gross pay with two different places. It is not full time. Yes, I use expanders, no, I don't do the same two doctors every day.


Yes, I am very lucky. Yes, I am very fast. No, I am not lying, and I am sorry if you are not in as good a position as mine.


mine sucked when I first started with them
They were so bad I actually thought it might be a joke. but I stuck it out, made very little money for a long time.

I've doing the same crappy dictators now and average 350 lph with them. They say the same thing over and over. After a while your ears can hear what they say and you can pick up your speed.

Most MTs flit from job to job so fast they never get used to the dictators.

got to stick it out to make the $

Yep, sure do. They've sucked up to the Trinidad thing, just like some other
companies we know.  They use a platform and it's a system where they use common MTs, and those common MTs are in Trinidad.  It APPEARS as though they don't outsource offshore, but in reality, they do.
I went to a local business college which sucked.

My first job was a p.r.n. position with a local hospital filling in for vacations and people off sick.  That's where the real education came from.


I got a discount by joining a study group...I think they still offer that. nm
;)
It'll be the most expensive magazine subscription you'll ever get! No point in joining. nm
s
Oh, someone benefits from AAMT - AAMT DOES!
x
AHDI
I had been a member of AHDI, but when I had a problem with a MTSO not paying I contacted them. The reason I contacted them was to ask in their assistance, not in my instance, but to protect their membership from this type of company. They completely ignored the context of my letter and referred me to local agencies. My thought was that with this industry being so new and unprotected online, that they should take an interest in have legislation passed... went right over their heads. Thus, I did not renew my membership.
SO well-said! I think AHDI should be
nm
what is AHDI and sm
why are only 1/4th of them medical transcriptionists?

Wouldn't you think they all would be?


AHDI

I started a thread below about the government stepping in and making the MTSO companies step up to the plate and conform to a standard form of counting lines for US based medical transcriptionists and to perhaps have a baseline pay so that MTs are not sitting all day long waiting on one more report to try to make a count that is making the MTSOs richer. While not everybody agreed with my points, let me say that there are probably far more MTs in this country who are not independent contractors and who are trying to support themselves than not. ICs would almost be classified as (mini) MTSOs. Not everybody has the luxury of negotiating what they will work for. That whole conversation is moot when we are talking about the industry as a whole. ADHI has spoken for years that they support standardization but when they were recently asked about "policing" the MTSOs methods of counting lines, they dropped the ball. This is just my opinion, but there definitely needs to be an accountability to the U.S. worker concerning this industry. While on one hand we are described as highly skilled workers with a wide base of knowledge, we are then described as home-based, bunny-slippered, pajama mamas.  It cannot be both ways. We are highly skilled and do have a wide base of knowledge and we need to band together. I do like the name United States Medical Transcription Association. Works for me. 


AHDI

I am not sure it matters who is behind ADHI or their corporate sponsors. The reality is that the U.S. based MTs need to quit taking a knee jerk reaction to them. ADHI started small. Your comment about the displaced workers just proves my point that the government and the Dept of Labor do need to be involved in the restructuring of the MT Industry.  When a major MTSO company can initiate a program whereby it cuts the salaries of thousands of it's employees for its own gain, there is a problem there. In the area where I work, there was an article in the newspaper about the outsourcing of the radiology dept on weekends to Australia so that coverage was 24/7. This is a U.S. owned company who employs radiologists from Australia. I am betting those doctors over there do not make less than their counterparts over here. So, it is up to us, the MTs of the U.S. to start to organize in order to reinstate the true value of the work we are entrusted to perform day in and day out.


AHDI
Completely with you. making almost minimum wage for over 30 years of work. mostly because of account specifics, slow platform, always blaming it on the Internet, awful audio.
AHDI: BOS...............
Yes, it is:
For instance:

AHDI tells us:

5cc's was injected.

????

1. Why has there to be an apostrophe cc's? It is just only the plural of cc, css is right, like MTs, the 70s, etc.....

Why 'was' injected; ccs is plural, consequently 'were', this is the right grammar.

But, AHDI says:
'NO, you have to look at it as a UNIT, 5ccs, is a UNIT, so you have to type 'was'. BS!

And there are a lot of these examples.

Yes, but AHDI is quite the
wishy-washy change horses in midstream type - maybe they will smell conflict coming and hop on the no-outsourcing bandwagon if too many MTs lose interest in AHDI membership.  At any rate, it will be fun to see what happens.
ahdi

I have been reading the posts here for many months and I agree with everything said above regarding AHDI.  I resigned as treasurer of a student chapter after realizing they seemed to care more about foreign MTs than us here in the US.


Now all US transcriptionists have an option.  There is a new organization "American Transcription Association", ATA.  The mission of this organization is to bring to the forefront the situation here for out MTs and all the off shoring to India and elsewhere.  This organization will only accept US transcriptionists.


Check it out at www.ataus.org


Maybe we can make a difference!


 


AHDI allows scammer because THEY are
x
as long as it has nothing to do with AHDI or whatever - nm
x
AHDI members.

Did you know there is a corporate member of the AHDI that is known to be a scam? I am not allowed to post the name on this board evidently as it keeps refusing my post when I try to post the name saying it is a “bad word,” but it is a company that will train you for free, have you pay $400 for software, and then tells you they will hire you and pay you once you are up to their standards.  However, somehow, the MTs they train can never live up to their standards.  How do you feel about this company being a member of your organization?  Who exactly does AHDI represent?  Why do they allow a company that is known to scam MTs and is a complete ripoff to be a member of their organization? Will this company soon be an "approved" school? LOL.  Any thoughts on this?  Please share.


CE's Online at OA-AHDI
You can get many CEs online through the Online ASsociation of AHDI. They offer live webinars monthly and they are all preapproved for CE credits from AHDI.

You are also able to purcahse downloads of previous presentations and view them at your leisure.

Visit www.oa-ahdi.org and you will find some information there.
No, and I'm am more of an AHDI/BOS-2 supporter.
There are few changes in it and the ones that are there are ridiculous, in my opinion. Makes us (as MTs) look like idiots for following:

No more periods after abbreviated personal and courtesy titles! WHAT? So, now you should write Mr and Mrs Happy (not Mr. and Mrs. Happy).

No more commas to separate names from titles with roman numerals! WHAT? So, now you write Harry Happy II (not Harry Happy, II).

No more hyphens between numbers and their units, even if it is a compouned modifier! WHAT? So, that means you would write ... close the 2 cm incision (not .... closed the 2-cm incision).

Just nitpicking crap to make us look bad and make them more money.

Use the BOS-2, it's much smarter. Use the AHDI for its good stuff and leave the bad stuff alone (i.e., if it benefits you, use it...and BTW, you would just periods with that latin abbreviation any longer, lol).

BTW, the BOS-3 won't be available electronically. Have to buy a book or pay a monthly fee to have web access.

Better stop my rant now. LOL
MTIA **is** AHDI
see "driving directions" in post below.
AHDI Misunderstood?
I do not thnk AHDI is misunderstood at all. I think it is very apparent what they are doing. They are embracing the global atmosphere to make more money for themselves just like the big MTSOs. I personally believe it is time that the Dept. Of Labor get involved with the way American MTs are paid in this country and institute a standardized method of counting lines for all MTSO companie which would include using the same software for all of them.  I think that MTs who are paid by the line should have a baseline line pay that is in dollars and cents just like factory workers do who are paid doing piecework. I would bet there are many many MTs in this country who are working for less than minimum wage for these MTSO companies because they pay so little and expect so much.
Why I despise AHDI
see link.
Dropping AHDI and CMT - anyone else?
It took me several years to make up my mind - I decided this year to drop my AHDI membership as well as not do my CEUs for my CMT (due this past January). I've been an MT for over 23 years. I joined AAMT 18 years ago and was thrilled to be part of it including in my local chapter for a long long time. I passed my CMT in 1994 - 15 years ago. I have never been paid any extra for my CMT.

I worked for MQ from 1997 to 2006 and finally found the guts to leave and have been happier for it. I don't make any more money. In fact, I'm making the same cpl that I was in 1997 now - that is no raise in 12 years. That is in spite of my CMT, in spite of taking on every new and difficult account I could, etc., etc.

I will leave AHDI and the certification process because I am finally admitting to myself my thorough disgust with the connection between MQ and AHDI - that started well before this so-called settlement. I sure wish I had checked in here before now, I didn't take note that there was a deadline to send in objections.

Most of my coworkers, with more experience than me and with similar hard-working, transcription loving ethics, long ago left AAMT in disgust at how they were not doing a thing for us to raise wages and how they paid more attention to MTSOs, hospitals, etc... and then, the whole offshore thing.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my 2 cents. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with their thoughts. I've been reading and listening to pro-AAMT stuff trying to wade through and made my decision. My final bottom line was that I listened to my gut, my instincts, and and accepted that I know in my heart and head that for AHDI to still pretend they are for us MTs is a sham - and shameful - and their getting anywhere NEAR a company like Medquist says all that any of us should need to hear. Or, rather, that I need to hear.