Failing national skill test
Posted By: MidnightMT on 2009-04-24
In Reply to: failed skills test for national sm - Vicki
This is to Vicki. Please do not be discouraged. The MAJORITY of the companies out there (most of them advertising here) actually DO NOT want experienced MT's. They are looking for the stay-at-home mom (not critizing, wish I could be one) that do not actually have to carry an active part in family income. If you are experienced you would actually produce (imagine that-isn't that why we are working cpl?) and that would cost them money. Where a newbie makes the minimal amount for a time and that makes them happy. Not to say that they would not be on the newbie's butt to produce 98%+ etc.
I have 30 years experience, and I have failed tests from a national company. I have kept myself updated over the years and extremely computer literate, and had been in charge of staffing before they recently outsourced our workflow to India, so it is not a case of not accepting the "new ways" of doing things. Many of the "new" AAMT guidelines are grossly incorrect according to the major hospital system that I represent.
Just my say. Thank you.
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I think I failed a national test...
also, but I got a job with a smaller company, a job I much prefer! My accuracy rating is 99% at the company I'm at, so I really think it has to do with the BOS. I am still typing according to the BOS2 and apparently there is a newer one where they've changed a lot of things??
failed skills test for national sm
Hi all. I have been an MT for 10 years and took a skills test for a national and FAILED.
Oh my goodness, talk about a slap in the face! All I know is they require 90% accuracy and apparently I failed that.
It has me questioning my skills at this point. PLEASE tell me others of you have had this problem!
Thanks
trying to re-enter society and failing miserably
After 11 years at home minding my own business, having a fairly peaceful life, seeing people when I wanted to, not because I had to, i've become quite spoiled. I find that when i'm around new people, (trying to go to school) i'm easily annoyed and have no sense of humor like I used to. I've completely changed. I feel like a stick in the mud judgemental person, but people laughing annoys me and makes me tighten up rather than join in like I used to. I can't stay in my MT hole forever, but I feel like cousin IT amongst society now. Will this get better??? I miss my old self! I used to be FUN!
Sometimes it's worth it to pay to have them live AWAY and on campus. Failing grades here mean any
n
No I don't think so. Everytime I see postings about the MT market failing it gets pegged as "n
that's what I think OP is referring to, postings about the dismal future of MT.
A small national is a national company that is smaller
than a big national. There are a few "big" nationals, where they have hundreds, if not thousands of employees. I work for what I call a small national, only has about 30 employees. An MTSO could also be considered a small national.
I went from national to small back to national
My large national has all the resources and money to operate successfully and have decent platform, etc., to work on, the small company did not, and I went back to the national.
It's a test in progress to measure what MTs know and what type of test to give for the SM
different levels of MTs. It's over $90. That's a lot of money to pay to someone who is giving these tests for research as to what type of testing should be done for the different levels of MT. The AAMT will probably take the results and make a test that they can give in India or the Phillipines or some other foreign country.
tuning fork test: Is it about a hearing test? .See inside
A whisper is about 20 dB
Loud music (some concerts) is around 80 to 120 dB
A jet engine is about 140 to 180 dB
Hope I could help
transcriptions have a skill also
as far as looking up addresses go!
There's a shortage of US MT's because the skill is becoming obsolete
Schools don't even encourage anyone to get into this field anymore because they don't want to have someone take a course and then be out of work in a few years when this skill goes the same direction that shorthand did several decades back.
Like someone said on the Company board, education is the key. Don't allow yourself to be a one-trick pony and learn how to do something else while you can.
MTs with less skill s/b paid less with that money going to the best
I can do xxxx but it makes me sick when the slackers get the exact same pay as me. Please don't give me the xxxx story that I can make more by being more efficient.
This is all part of transcription and the skill
I have had in all of my years of experience many types of dictators. I can honestly say that I have had ESL dictators that were better than your run of the mill American dictators. We are a melting pot, and what's funny to me is that so many make comments about an MTSO sending ESL dicators offshore, yet we have Mexican, Chinese, and Indian restaurants that we eat from and love the food. I think we need to somehow learn to embrace the ESL dictators. I had an ESL that was the most lovely physician. He knew that his dictation was difficult and was always willing to answer questions and would take the extra time to explain why he stated this or that. 
Upping the skill ante.
You might go online and look at Oak Horizons. They have an excellent reputation and are affordable. Also check VO-Technical schools for grammar as they are less expensive but adequate and junior colleges in your area. Good luck and good for you in improving your quality.
Not a medical typing test but this website can test you..
It's called www.typingtest.com
Atleast it will give you an idea.. Sadly, I had to take it twice before I passed it LOL
Why would they do a microalbumin test when she has the period? A lot of test s will come out wrong
Why would they do a microalbumin test when she has the period? A lot of tests will come out wrong.
Neer's test is a shoulder impingement test
Don't think that has to do with the knee. How about "bucket handle tear" of the knee? Never heard of Neer having anything to do with the knee.
Good research skills the best skill an MT
x
If you believe editing is a HIGHER skill, then why are we being paid
If I had just one other skill that allowed me to pay for my modest lifestyle, I'd utilize it.
Maybe it is the 20 yrs in this business. I now have tinnitus, am absolutely sure that sitting for 8-10 hours a day is having a detrimental effect on my health, am more anxiety ridden now that there is very little job security and I am a sole operation here in my little world, have arm and hand fatigue (it's a freakin miracle I do not have CTS yet). I just really do not enjoy doing this as I used to. I have to really force myself to stay focused and am really really trying to find some joy in it by realizing other people have tedious jobs just as I do that they must also dislike.
B.S. in HIM, no MT school, OTJ training for that skill, but the HIM classes for the knowledge. nm
x
It depends on your skill level, your speed, your ability to do the
nm
Editing is the higher skill since it's more brain work,, AND SM
the computers are taking over the finger work. That and practitioners entering directly into the electronic medical record mean that most traditional transcription jobs before too long will be a thing of the past.
So I'd recommend you go directly to editing since you'll end up doing that anyway. If there's a future in this, it's going to be with a higher level of medical knowledge and a more expanded involvement in medical records beyond merely editing dictation, but likely including that.
Plus, with editing you'll be in at least twice as many reports as if you were transcribing them, which means you'll get much more experience more quickly. Whether you'll lose some benefit from not typing every word out I don't know, but you will spend a lot less time getting verbage you don't need to learn on paper. I.e., instead of typing some version of, "The patient presented to the emergency room by private automobile with a complaint of" a few hundred times a week,...you don't.
Do commit to developing an expansion base that will cut the Keystrokes it takes to do your work to the very minimum. As long as anyone's paid on a production basis, and as long as we're using keyboards, someone using 5 keystrokes to make 2 edits will BOTH make a lot more money than someone who takes 9 keystrokes to make one correction AND be a much more valuable productive worker--i.e., worth keeping on and developing as most traditional jobs disappear.
And do sign up for more medical classes, the ones people preparing for nursing and medical school take.
Whether you'll make more or less money one way or the other right now probably depends more than anything on the particular talents you bring to the job and the particular skills you choose to develop. Unlike the previous poster who does better transcribing, I make more editing, but I'm a fast reader and a slow keyboarder, so the less my income depends on what my fingers are capable of the better. Best wishes!
Yes! We're talking critical skill developement here! nmx
x
happens quite often i would test again or go see your GYN for blood test which is more accurate
nm
Totally agree. They're no longer paying for this so-called skill
and that's part of the reason the quality is down.
This is a very basic computer skill/concept. You copy files to another drive using Explorer.
There are very detailed instructions in the Help files that accompany Windows. You can read those for more information.
Basically, you open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer). Locate the files you want to copy, highlight and right mouse click. Choose Copy. Now, find the location where you want to copy these files (usually another drive like D: or H:, whereever the flash/jump/thumb drive is located) and paste the files there.
Good for you, Linda! SM First, editing's a desirable trend. Higher skill, easier SM
I feel it may be like a train about to rush around the bend at me.
For the discussion, editing is a higher skill and it's easier on the hands--absolutely no carpal tunnel problems since I started editing. And the WAGES ARE ABOUT THE SAME--you go through approximately twice as much dictation (some people more, some less depending on talent) in the same time it would take to transcribe it and get paid half as much for that amount of dictation, ending up without a drop in wages from editing. This is fair and market-driven.
Fewer editors would be needed, but some would be needed for the stinkers, even scary-good as VR gets with most dictators.
The big threat is from the electronic medical record, where physicians and their assistants check boxes on a handheld device they carry around with them and there is NO text report to come to us at all. England has had this for some years; go look and see how MTs are doing on the Emerald Isle.
No Chicken Little here, guys, AND not burying my head in the sand either. I don't have a view into the future, but the one thing that's clear is the future will require developing new skills, professional or trade level, of one kind or another. I just hope and pray it doesn't require going back to suits and office politics. School's okay, even at my age, but am guilty of putting it off to see if I'm going to be allowed to continue pretty much as is until I'm too old to work...huh--maybe there's some sand obscuring the picture after all. Best wishes.
Yeah a 30 minute test---work for free, he gets enough to test, his work is done - nm
x
Or maybe that in itself IS the test! It's really an ethics test, LOL. nm
R
It's not funny when you're on a board where language is one skill you're selling.
.
It's not even a sport - these guys aren't athletes - it's a SKILL not a SPORT
x
Editing is the higher skill. I earn more editing SM
because I'm able to produce more--if the company doesn't adjust the way production's figured down and down again to keep the account from going elsewhere (when that happened to me on EditScript with no explanation of why my income was dropping, I went elsewhere also).
(1) Don't work for a national. (2) Don't work for a national. (3) Don't work for a nation
If you still want to stay in MTing, which is a dying job, go to a hospital and apply to do radiology. They sometimes hire people just out of transcription schools.
But don't work at home thinking you will make any money at all - even with 20 years of experience - the nationals have wrecked that.
Be under the umbrella of protection at a hospital. That way when your computer breaks, the weather is bad, you are sick, there is no work - you will not be without a paycheck.
The nationals are selling a line of BULL. Gradually they have taken what used to be our built-it benefits------------> and moved it over to their pockets and called it their PROFIT. They are not brilliant - but they are unethical thieves.
have you tried another national?
It seems you may have worked for one national, have you tried any others? There are a few good ones. I found a great one, but am keeping my fingers crossed because every time I find one, they start growing and changing (for the worst, in my opinion).
Unfortunately, it seems to be the trend in our profession. It could be we will all be out of jobs one day, just all at once in a heartbeat.
Like the age of automation, didn't people lose jobs and become 'displaced' like all at once?
I hate to say this, really, because I respect your feelings, but a lot of us lately are running out of work with our nationals. Complete flipside - I have been running out almost daily, even on 3, 4 accounts. I just ran out now and am waiting to get some work because I really need the money...
There seem to be no easy answers. We are all at the mercy of our employers and whatever they decide to do. Seems there are no laws for people like us...we are like slave labor.
I hope you find your answers, and I think your Sparkle paper towels are giving some great advice! (smile)
$36.5K, national and
For national MTs: how many different...
accounts does your national have you on...just curious.
I started with one and now am up to three and they're trying to shove two more accounts on me for a total of five. Simply hate it...would love to have just one primary account again with just one back-up.
As soon as I pick up momentum on the account I'm on at the moment, I get switched over to help out on another.
And yes...I have complained to them already...just wondering if this is the norm nowadays.
what national?
At home work or office work? How long did it take you to finish the program? What did you do or say to get hired before graduation?
Does that mean I should keep my job with a national?
Most definitely. Not MQ, another national. sm
I've been going on-line from dawn to midnight to get my hours in. You know, this has happened with every service I ever worked for between Thanksgiving and mid January, so I'm not hysterical YET! 
my national because she is very....sm
Only ONE out of plenty I am sure do I like because she is communicative, will email you your qa'd reports if you want, and will even call you at home if you request.....I have NEVER met another QA person like her and I nominated her for QA of the month (year if they offered that but they do not - *lol*)
To me, it's all about COMMUNICATION!! 
A national,
Can anyone help me out?
Thanks!
national
!
I'm an IC with a national
and transcribe for a hospital. My TAT is normally 24 hours. Also, they hired me right out of school for 8 cpl.
the BIG national........LOL.....nm
for the national now on DQS...sm
but privately, which is my main source of income, (4 MDs), having them for a long time, I do about 300-400 LPH with a 68-72 character line in a DOS program with ShortCuts expansion program.
I used to type 250-300 LPH for the national before they went on DQS 3 years ago. That's been sliced in half.
best of luck to you!!!!!
7 CPL for a national for VR.....nm
.
I got 9 cpl with a national
at their mercy as well. I'll take the 8 cpl with freedom to work when I want thank you very much and not be at anyone's mercy ESPECIALLY as an independent contractor like some folk do for these companies. I'll take the 8 cpl, but if I don't feel like working then I don't; end of story. I have my own accounts that I make the rules and the line rate, not some MTSO spoon feeding it to me. If I need more money then I'll just go out and get my own accounts. Not getting rich off the companies online that's for sure. Funny thing is whoever thinks that they are going to make top dollar on an account someone else (like a national or even a small MTSO) really has their head in the clouds. If you are good at what you do, you can go and get your own accounts and make 13 cpl or even more... go figure right???? Good luck my fellow MT's. Nationals are not for me.....
I have only tried one national and that was
I have even tried a small MTSO and they didn't want to pay squat either. I had no trouble at all with the dictators, but they still only wanted to pay 7 cpl as an IC and wanted to run my life, quick turnaround, yada, yada, yada. I would have been better off taking the morning shift at Bob Evans restaurant or better yet, the Dunkin Donuts (Indian-run) would probably pay me better than that. I say try your best to gain an account on your own even if it is only just one. You are better off with a small MTSO, but.....they lose accounts too even faster than the nationals, so then what? Put your efforts into finding an account on your own. There have been some suggestions on this board regarding such and someone was even going to hire a business consultant to get her business going. The other option is, if possible, try an on-site job especially at a hospital even if that is only to network. Make sure all of your friends know that you are a medical Transcriptionist with a great worth ethic. Word gets around and you would be surprised what can fall into your lap. Good luck. I do not like the way the nationals or even small MTSOs operate as far as pay and how they treat you especially when you are an IC.
Not at a national, but it was (sm)
most definitely there when previously working in-house.
Is this a national..which one?..
Just curious because I did hear of 1 co that wouldn't let you check your counts, and it seemed to be causing a lot of issues with the MTs of course. It ranged from some MTs feeling they were cheated out of lines to other MTs just wanting to know where they stood as far as their progress for the day.
The thing is, I can't remember the name of that company for the life of me. I thought maybe if I heard it, it would sound familiar if it was the same company.
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