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How do you handle a family member who is a hypochondriac???

Posted By: no more sympathy on 2007-08-22
In Reply to:

Has anyone ever had a family member who they believed is a hypochondriac?  We have an individual who seems like he always has something wrong.  It is to the point now if he really does get sick I can't believe him anymore.  I can't even bring myself to calling him to see how he is feeling when he says he is sick b/c I think he is just making a mountain out of a molehill.  Am I being insensitive?  I am just so tired of hearing it. 


I am sure someone is going to recommend counseling but he already does that.  Anyone have any other advice how to handle him?


 


TIA


 




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So sorry for the loss of your precious family member -
My sister's lab has been attacked twice while on a leash in front of his own yard by a pit bull. The attacking dog seems to never been on a leash. Her lab had part of his mouth ripped open and required numerous stitches to reattach it, plus some bites to his back. Something needs to be done to stop people from breeding pit bulls with these temperments!
Tell that to my friend. They had a dog they treated as a member of their family. That is, until it a
Dogs need to be trained and need to know they're lowest in the pack. I tried telling my friend this, but she wouldn't listen and she continued to treat the dog as a member of the family instead of as a dog. And eventually that "member of their family" decided it didn't want any more competition for affection, and attacked their son. Thank God he survived, 92 stitches and some nasty scars tho. If you love your family and you love your dog, then TRAIN your dog. Don't treat him like an extra child.
I have a question regarding a family member and possible cellulitis?

I went to visit my aunt last night.  Last week she fell and broke all the bones in her ankle.  She has plates and screws.  This is her fourth fall this year, but that is another story.  I looked at her cast and placed my hand on her leg just above the cast and it was warm.  I felt her other leg and it was cool.  The more I went up on the broken leg the less warm it got, but all the way up it was definitely significantly warmer than her "good" leg. 


My mother is a nurse practitioner and she showed up while I was there.  I explained my concern to her (my aunt is also a diabetic) about a possible infection.  She wouldn't acknowledge my concern.  I repeated myself and still nothing.  Lately my mother and I have had a couple issues regarding family members and their heath.  I am not a nurse nor do I claim to be, but being in this profession you do learn about the medical field and somtimes I feel I see a different side of things than my mom.  I can't figure out why, but she just doesn't see any value in my thoughts regarding medicine, ideas, thoughts, alternatives, etc.  In every other way she is the best mom in the world and I love her so much, but I feel she is disrespecting me by not taking my opinions/thoughts into account regarding the field of medicine and our family.


Another example is she has trouble with the pronunciation of medications.  I'm not claiming to be a pro, but I hear doctors and nurses says these meds over and over and over and I feel the majority rules in this regard.  Again, she thinks I'm wrong and doesn't really listen to what I'm saying.  The only reason I correct her is because I think it would be embarrasing to speak with a doctor and not say a med correctly.  I think it is a reflection on her.  It also helps with dictation too (as we all know).


Any ideas.  I don't know what to do.  I tried talking to her about this a couple weeks regarding my dad's health and she really didn't listen to what I had to say.  With certain things you can just blow it off, but this is the health of my aunt and father and I just couldn't live with myself if something happened to them.


Thanks for listening and for any ideas. 


Transcribing Report Of Family Member

I am wondering what the proper protocol would be if I ever came across a report that was dictated on one of my family members. 


I just started doing transcription for a hospital in a really small town--the ONLY hospital in that town--and it just happens to be the same town were most of my family lives.  I know myself well enough to know that I won't break any rules of confidentiality.  However, is there anything in the *laws of transcription* that say I legally am not allowed to transcribe reports dictated on relatives??


I am afraid to ask my supervisor this question, as I really like this account and don't want her taking me off of it.  It's chopped full of *standards* and the line count/pay just doesn't get any better than this.


transcribing report on family member
When I worked at a hospital, I asked my boss, the director of medical records, if I was allowed to transcribe a report on a family member, and she said "yes".
Excuse me? Arrogant for buying a house for a family member that was sm
about to become homeless? I think not. You sound like my ungrateful, jealous sister in law who can't stand anyone else to succeed. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. They were unfortunate at the time and we bailed them out! Ask them, they will tell you where they would be had my husband and I not put our credit on the line for them.
Family member got an Acer recently. Working great for her. My PC
s
I was sent a courtesy copy of the office notes for a family member once.
This was soon after I became an MT. I was so appalled at the sloppiness of the typing and the rampant use of inappropriate abbreviations that we switched doctors. At least I knew what the abbreviations were for, not sure the typical lay person would have.
my hypochondriac...
I finally said that's enough and separated myself from that individual in the family when I saw that they were not following the doctor's instructions on how to treat a medical condition I know they really have. If someone is serious about getting better.. they will not eat what is wrong, refuse to exercise or go to the doctor to seek help or refuse any advice given by family members. What they want is to get really, really sick, get admitted to the hospital and get all the attention they can from close friends/family members when that happens.
Tell him, "I think you're a hypochondriac."
``
not a member
AAMT must not be there only list because I am not a member and I recently received e-mail from them too.
I have been a member and not
I got nothing out of being a part of it except that it looked good on my evals to be part of an organization, but the raises I was getting didn't justify the cost. I have thought of getting certified, but see no reason are looking at it for a long time.

Reasons I was told to get certified is that you get hired faster if you are certified, especially by the outsource companies, but I do not seem to see people very happy with any company so I will continue to work fo the hospital I do. Plus, the outsource companies are sending work out of the country to get cheaper laborers and are not interested in paying top dollar for certified and competent transcriptionists.

To get hired for hospitals, etc., they are also tightening their belts and I will go with a good non-certified before a certified Transcriptionist and pay less.

This "AHDI" has made themselves "self-proclaimed" association for MTs. I could start one today and if I had investors to get it organized. We have the Joint Commission setting what is acceptable and making the industry unified in the way things are done and that overules ADHI anyway. I think someone is making lots of money off already poor MTs!
JD is the newest member
of INXS. I liked both Mary and JD and especially loved their original songs "Pretty Vegas" and "Trees". I especially loved Marty and plan to download all his tunes he performed on INXS.
You do not have to be AHDI member sm
you only renew CMT credential every 3 years and CE credits are free.  The renewal is $50, so that amounts to $16.66 every year.  Exam was reimbursed by my employer 100%.
Hey, I like that! I'm a member of DUST
Downtrodden US Transcriptionists....
Not sure on this but I think you pay to be listed with the BBB - (join a member) so many probably j
the money to do so. Search the archives or Google them. Otherwise unless they are offering some outragous pay over such as over .12 cpl, then I would not worry about it and go for it.
To Proud Member of AAMT: I think it's just as

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.


i see you never worked as a union member before lol
/
I quit being a member when I heard they were going....sm

to start holding hands with India. They are not out to help AMERICAN MTs. They don't care one way or another about American MTs anymore.


Their latest pitch is to the  MTs STOP transcribing verbatim. So not only will we have to be language specialists, we'll have to put a doctor's words in "proper English."


It doesn't matter what the docs want. It's what they want. Baloney. They are not our boss. Our docs are our bosses. If the docs want verbatim, that's what they'll get...at least from me (except for the JAHCO list of unacceptable terminology).


I'm so glad there are hospitals and doctors out there that don't give a hoot about AAMT. I sure don't. Oh, and if anyone noticed, usually buying products through AAMT doesn't save a dang nickel. In fact, you pay just as much, if not more, for the same products you can get by dealing directly with the company that makes them till all is said and done.


I'll save my money and spend it on more important things.


The BTK killer was also respected member of
x
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
I am. Member discounts on references SM
and continuing education (I am a CMT and need it to maintain) are worth it to me.  The discounts I received on those add up to more than I paid for membership.
I'm a member, it costs me $20 to take a webinar.
Over 3 years, 30 CEs at about $20 each.

Over 3 years, CMT differential at $6K a year.

You do the math.

LOL

Very good post - was getting discouraged as a member myself.
x
If you are a member of the AAMT, how have you benefitted in her career? CMT? SM

I have been at this for about 15 years and have thought off and on about becoming an AAMT member and about getting my CMT, but always stop short because of the cost and basically the inconvenience of having to find the testing center that seems to be located in some obscure office building I've never even heard of.


However, I have recently started working for a facility that actually encourage their MTs to further their education, to network with one another and share information, and offer pay raises for the CMT credentials.  So, once again I am considering the pros and cons of membership and taking the CMT exam.


A member of my team simply did not make contact with
the trainer on the day of her scheduled training session on the secondary account! The primary account is easy for her as she is just off of a major university and now is doing small town work and whipping them out faster than I can log in patient information.

This is not fair, it seems to me. When I contacted her via e-mail to see how the account was going, she simply said that she had not been trained on it yet when I vividly recall that her training date was over a month ago.
AAMT member, yes. Love Texas de Brazil!!
!
I have been AOL member since 1999. Can you bring link to this story to board?
dd
Love to know how far back it goes, was a member for about a year in 1998, we could use $$, furnace b
so its cold here! Actually it broke the 15, the night before we left for Disney on a Make-A-Wish trip for my daughter Jenny....(we had a blast)...got back 2 days ago, it broke again that night (21st). DH got it running again, but the heater guy disassembled it last night and has not returned yet to put it back together and fix it. Luckily we have a propane fireplace or we'd be in big trouble, still chilly though especially since it goes down to 25 at night, brrrr!---so any $$$ if we are included or entitled would be wonderful...but I doubt we will get so lucky since it was so long ago that I was a "member" of AOL. Guess I will just have to work even more to pay for the repair, fun.
family is family wheter 3 or 8 sm
i live in MA and $1200-$1400 a month is what good health insurance costs, ie $20-$40 copays.  it was just passed into law that if you live in MA you have to have medical insurance so without being self-employed, you can go right to BCBS etc and get a plan directly from the major health insurace companies, but for a family plan and a decent income bracket, forget it.  the prices are outragous.  right now my husband pays $120 a week for family plan and this is after his employer pays 30% of the total cost.  we have $20 copays, but we have a $2000 individual deductable per year with a $4000 family deductible cap.  so when my daughther needed her tonsils out, $2000 and when my son broke his arm, $2000.  someone on this board has to be able to tell you what they pay for insurance through their company as an employee.  good luck.
How do you handle
Your first year as an IC regarding taxes? Should I go ahead and set up some type of payment plan like that?
What? That's what you can't do - handle someone else having a
Take your own advice, please.

here's how i handle it N/A
when enrolling my son in high school they wanted all sorts of information like that about family history...i left all blank with N/A....

They also wanted his social security number....N/A There is no reason in the world they should need his social security number and I asked about this.. They said it was for when he signed up for college loans etc. I told them he's not in college yet and I would not be furnishing that information to anyone.

In a post below someone said something about ppl being over paranoid these days....I had my identity stolen a few years back. It nearly destroyed my credit, wiped out my bank accounts, and took me literally years to clean up. In this day and age you can never be too careful with privacy. You just cannot be sure what anyone is doing with your private information. Better safe than sorry.

How do you handle if you are an IC??

You need to know how to handle these people. sm

They will try to get you to work like a dog, your fingers to the bone.  You just tell him no.  I will work x number of hours a day and that is it.  That is what I did and it worked out fine.   They will try to push you to work 24 x 7 if they can.  That is the way they are (men from India).  Just hold firm and they will accept it.   You need to be "thick-skinned" I think to be able to work with them. 


 


My DBF can't even handle the 2 hours
that he watches them every evening. They drive him nuts. He doesn't help with the cleaning, cooking, laundry, and like I said-those 2 hours from 8pm to 10pm, I don't really get much done cause they are in the next room screaming-him included. It's not fun. He does his best with them....when he takes them places in the evening, but of course, this can't happen every night. (I'm ready to bail in the relationship anyway) Just be so thankful to those of you who have "adult" spouses, he's like a big kid, leaves clothes all over, etc, doesn't know where the garbage can is. He is still in the dark ages I'm afraid when it comes to "women in the house, barefoot and pregnant" attitude. He's only 39. Blames it on the way he was raised. K. It's 2005, get with the program. It's a lost cause.
easy to handle

Merely sent an email. In the subject line put MTSTARS (company name) so when you get a response you have the details.


 


Merely say, I have a couple of question prior to sending in a resume or testing taking.  This saves time on both sides. 


 


May I ask, what is the lowest to the highest rate of pay. What pay rate formula is used, for example, by the line, by the minute, by the word, by the gross word.  Are spaces paid, ALL spaces.


some in their ads say "we pay for ALL spaces"  so I guess some companies pay a percentage. 


For instance Medquist does not pay for the demographic screen, the CC notation or the headings. and prob more that is not known. .


You need to know how to convert this to an hourly rate so you know how much you actually are making.


Below is a quote from a company in Texas TSI and I sat down with the calculator and figured some of the hourly rates.  For the most part, way too many lines for most MTs


Below is the quote in email from TSI.  The calculated figures are mine.

.____________________________________________________

Less than 1000 lines per day average = 6 cents (these we consider to be part-time positions and we really prefer to work with full-time employees.)

 

1000-1100 average lines per day = 7 cents

 

(this is $70 for 8 hours ($8.75 hr)

 

1200-1399 average lines per day = 7.5 cents

 

This is $90. for 8 hours $11.25 hr and 150 lines an hour about almost 4.5 pages/hr.  This is a lot of pages/hr.

 

1400-1599 average lines per day = 8 cents

 

This is 1400 X 8 = $112 per 8 hr.

8 divide into  $112=$14/hr

1400 lines divide 8= 175 lines/hr

Figure 34 lines/page+ 5.41 pages an hour.

 

No way I could do this. I would not work for 6,7,8,9- no less than 10 and this is not really great.  You cannot predict what you will end up with. You could be on target and lose it all, wham. .

 

1600-1799 average lines per day = 8.5 cents

 

1800 or greater average lines per day = 9 cents  So then this would be:

 

225 lines per hour, about 6.61 pages

 

112 lines 30 minutes, 3 1/2 pages

 

56.2 lines 15 minutes 1.65 pages

 

greater than 14,625 Keystrokes per hour

 

nearly 4 lines per minute

 

Well over one million keystrokes/8hr

 .

Here's how I'd handle the situation...

First off I'd tell my mom that he's a pig and what he has done. 


Secondly I'd never be around him without a recording device turned on in my pocket so that way you can record his comments, and if he touches you or flirts then get a recording of your asking him to not touch or look at you that way and his response.  Then play the recording for your mom and other relatives.


While it may be true your mother may go into denial you need to stand up for yourself.   My mom was a fool and protected my father when she was told about his untoward advances towards women for years.... and then something happened that made her realize that she had been a fool for years and that he was the one with the problem. 


Here is an even nicer way to handle it!
I totally agree with having her over in YOUR space and being nice to her. Tell her you can hear everything through the walls and celings (blaming them was a good idea) Tell her other things BESIDES her that you can hear. Tell her what you do for a living and what times you work, and how those "other" noises are so distracting. You don't have to tell her she is too loud; she will surely get the picture if she has any sense at all. If that doesn't fix the problem, then I would go to the manager and ask if there have ever been other complaints about her first. He/She may already know this is a problem. You never know how people will react if you tell them you would appreciate it if they would be quiet, no matter how nice you say it. I would have her over for snacks and a "chat" real soon though or you will go insane!
And another one who can't handle reality.

/


The reference I handle THE MOST - sm
is my Medical Phrase Index - I happen to use the 4th edition and I mean I use it often. It really comes in handy for mush-mouthed docs and ESL docs.
How do you handle no work?

I have not had work for most of July.  I am an IC and have been doing this for years.  This is the slowest I have ever been and I'm stressed out.  Luckily, hubby pays the majority of the bills so I am not starving!  I have applied several other places with no luck.  Is this just a summer slow period or what?  How can I keep from going a bit crazy?  I am getting rather depressed.  TIA


How would you handle this situation?

I picked up some extra IC work back in May, and since that time have covered for the owner by editing for her while she was on vacation for a week, and then taken extra work as the MT with whom I share dictation from this doc was on vacation for a week, then sick for a week just after return, the next Friday had a family emergency, etc.  This was supposed to be part-time work, and has turned out to be more than I would expect for part-time . . . to the point where when this doc was going on vacation, I was trying to hold out and not say anything about it being too much, thinking that I'd be caught up and fine to take on the work when he returned, but wound up "breaking" with one day left to go, and told the woman it was too much, and she asked if I could just hang in there with her as she was testing another MT, and would reduce the amount she gave me if this girl worked out. 


Well, the doc returned from vacation and I did not get any of his work for about a week, and then the next week (this past week), I was given slightly more work than in the weeks prior to his vacation, although I had already told her it was too much, and it was still the same girl working the account with me.  At the end of the week it seemed that she had hired another girl, but did not reduce my work, just switched from girl 1 to girl 2. 


Sorry so long, but here's the BIGGER problem . . . in the early part of the week, the owner e-mailed with an attached voice file, requesting that I download the voice file and listen to a blank she was trying to fill-in.  I listened (over and over) could not find her sentence, so responded with what I was hearing in and around that area.  She then gave me another location and said that she had two counters on her program and did not know which one my program used, could I listen at xxxx location, so I did, gave her the fill-in, but was a little bewildered as to why she would request my assistance in that way as SHE IS NOT PAYING ME FOR THIS KIND OF HELP. 


Here we go again, yesterday she sends an e-mail with some voice files attached and some sentences with blanks, and she is requesting the same thing, that I listen and fill-in the blanks.  I am just not sure what to do here.  Early on, a couple of weeks after she returned from her vacation, she asked me if I could "proofread" the other girls files for that day as an appointment she had was "screwing her up".  I e-mailed back that, due to my heavy workload, I would not be able to EDIT work for her.  (The girl's work requires editing, not proofreading, which I quickly found out while covering the owner's vacation.)  I thought that I had let her know then that I do not work for free, in a nice way.


I would like to keep the work, but only what I am being paid for, so . . . How would you handle this situation? 


How do you handle burnout as MT? Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've only been doing this for 7-1/2 years and I've about had it with all the junk.
How do you/your company handle this--sm

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


Need advice on how to handle this --sm
I am an IC and have several accts -- One of my accts has not pd for services since early Nov 2006.  I have given notice that will no longer be providing services as of 02/09/07 -- Should I continue to provide services, knowing that I may not be paid -- or can I just give notice saying that since I have not been pd -- i can no longer continue.  I have no written contract with physician.. pls advise Want to do right thing as this is small area but also want to be pd for work performed. ...
Question ... How would you handle this?

I have 44 clients for my business.  I charge 18 cpl.  I pay 7 and 8 cpl for my MTs (ICs).  With the 10-11 cpl left over, I have to pay all my overhead.  Sometimes, I have no money left over to even pay myself, and have even put in my personal savings to make sure the MTs get paid.  Now, I have a company that has offered me to do work for 5 cpl but it is offshore.  I have to say, tho, that the extra 3 cpl would allow me to sometimes even pay myself something.  My contractors are complaining about wanting more money but I will go under and close down if I do that.  Also, this company will do the work overnight and return it in the mornings when I have to constantly juggle with my current contractors because they only want to work days.  I don't want to cut my contractors but I don't see any other way around it.  What should I do? 


See the dilemma?  It's not as easy as you think.


 


how to handle -- be sure and dot your I's and cross your t's
First you need to be able to substantiate what you are saying.
you need to know who is signing off the report? Is she??? or is the physician???? or is she signing the report off by another physician???? If she is how is she doing it.

You need to get all your ducks in a row so that you dont go to administration and look like a troublemaker making things up.

Personally I would gather all my proof and turn a copy of it in to adminstration anonymously (make sure that cannot trace it back to you because when the fire starts you dont want to get burned in the aftermath).

If doesnt take care of it take that same info, write a letter explaining what you have witnessed and that you reported to administration but it continues and anonymously submit all of this info to JCAHO.
Complaint Hotline
800-994-6610 complaint@jointcommission.org
How do you handle your mistakes?

I am an IC and for the past 5 years have worked for the same doc.  He still uses tapes so I deliver on a daily basis.  I already load the work on his PC and make sure the pages line up etc. and do not get paid extra.  I also convert some reports from WP to Word and e-mail to him at no extra charge.  Now he starts calling me after I leave the clinic and expect me to either turn-around and come fix the mistakes/changes (15 minutes later) or I must wait in his office until he is finished with a patient consult, can go through the work to check for mistakes/changes for me.  The mistakes range from doctor's names misspelled (workmen's comp with lots of different doc names, impossible to search and find as no clue where the doc is located) or template changes etc. and sometimes silly mistakes which is totally my mistake.  Am I fair in stating that I do not mind doing the corrections when I return the next day but that I cannot wait around in his office for him as he does not pay me for that and I will also not turn around after I have left the office to go back when they call me? How do all of you handle this type of situation? 


 


if you get a handle on the situation - let us know, k? NM
x
How to companies handle?
I understand that completely, (this is not the case, but something I just thought about), BUT let's say that a relative or your friend decided to bring about a malpractice case.....how would it look that you typed your own note, your family's note or your friend's note.  I know when I worked for a hospital, we were not allowed to do that and I am just trying to set a standard for my independent contractors.  I was just wondering how other companies handle it.