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I've pretty much just done the informative part so far.

Posted By: a few days off on 2005-12-29
In Reply to: nope, still crunching last few days of year to hit my 50k this year. how can you when you haven' - firefly

Download software, fill in personal information, sorting through receipts, printing off from my accounting program. I'm trying to do it a little bit every week instead of staying up all night to get it done.


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Pretty presumptious on your part. I work my own schedule,
off schedule according to you. I can work when I want, that's what an IC does. Yes, if we're working at the same time then we're both working, that's what we do. You presume too much to think that people who don't work regular set hours and who work when they want to make their line counts are also cherry pickers. Getting petty here and this sounds like it's just to start trouble. Bravo!
pretty much all my docs think neck is part of HEENT...I edit them. nm

I've done pretty darn well (sm)
with the book smarts!

Don't get so tweaked about a silly label -- having a high IQ just means I process stuff faster, remember more of what I'm exposed to, make more connections faster, and do well at taking tests.

I'm also a really nice person and an incredible parent.

Lots of MTs are smarter than the average bear.
How? I've done pretty well staying out of debt, but
I'd like to get some money set aside for retirement and pay off my home. Any advice you can give?
You will run across some pretty rude people around here as you've seen...(sm)
but not everyone is like the one above.  Welcome.  I don't have any of my own clients, but the service I work for recently lost the account I worked on pretty much out of the blue.  It's a real shock to have the work yanked from you like that, and I agree it was pretty cowardly for the wife not to just come out and admit when you directly asked.  I don't know what to tell you but just wanted you to know that you can expect some real nastiness around here at times, but don't let it keep you away.
I've been using it a few years now. It's pretty good. You'll get used to it. -nm
x
I've been letting them stay up pretty late, so they sleep until 10:00.
Still, they get bored in those two hours between getting up and my finishing work at noon.  Goofy kids.  I do have them in band, but it ends this week.  Maybe a day camp for a week or two.  I think I'll haul them off to the library for some books.  The only Y or rec program in town is in the rougher neighborhood, and they only offer certain scheduled classes.  Thanks for the tip!
I think I would refuse too. I've seen some pretty silly names here, including Why Worry Lane and
x
I've found this resource pretty useful for rehab work. Link inside.

Have this as one of my bookmarks - found this handy whilst handling rehab work. Hope this helps!


http://medicaltranscriptionwordhelp.googlepages.com/rehabmedicineterminology


I've used the player part of Winscribe,
which worked fine. I have heard MTs were frustrated with the full Winscribe package, but maybe they have improved it.

Good luck.
I've just used the wav player part, and it works fine.
I have not heard good things about the rest of the product. I have used Winscribe wav pedal with RIS Logic for radiology. Terrific combination!
It was vey informative.
I watched it and I hope Oprah does more of this type of thing. I am so disgusted with the turn that greed is causing in medicine. Michael Moore made the statement that he felt that socialized medicine that was not called that be put in place and that he as a citizen was prepared to have a nonemergent problem seen in order for 50 million uninsured Americans to have coverage. I feel the same way. If you are in dire straights you go to the head of the line and don't say you will tax me .. but do what needs to be done to insure all of us and for God's sake, leave the money alone and don't dip into the funds just because you think you can. I do not have a clue what makes me more angry .. intrusive government or big business. Time to go to bed .. blood pressure rising .. feel the blood in my temples!!
Informative website

All you MTs who are wondering why it's so hard to get work and decent pay check out these websites:   Spheris India Pvt Ltd  and Indiadaily.com


Spheris says it doesn't outsource to India but guess where a lot of the old accounts have disappeared to.  When they say there is no work, they mean for USA MTs.


This is excellent! Very informative!
Tons of good information on these sites!  Thanks again for your help!
Excellent informative post!
You have given us all something to think about because you are right. We are not the only field this is happening to.
thank you for your concise and informative answer, NM
z
Thanks for this open and informative post ...

It seems that now getting your own accounts is the only way to go (at least for the time being until the pervasive mood of the industry corrupts even in that area).  My curiosity though lies in how those who are claiming that they work for services are able to do this. 


Also, congratulations to you for your success in getting your own accounts, and thank you for sharing your insight in a manner that doesn't imply that you're trying to belittle those who don't have their own accounts like I've seen others do on this board.


P.S.  On the matter of panhandlers, in the area of the country where I live an investigative reporter did a feature on just this subject a couple of years ago.  Believe it or not, it was estimated that panhandlers in this area average approximately $120K per year.  I tell you, I'm in the wrong profession ...


Thanks for posting that very informative link!
The part about the asterisk will help me a LOT when I'm looking for certain phrases in order to find a specific word within that phrase.

I LOVE Google... it's amazing!
Yes, I went and it was great. Very informative. Lots of people. sm
I love being able to talk to fellow transcriptionists to share war stories. The place was beautiful and not expensive as most of our meals were provided at the conference.

I think that transcriptionists should stop complaining about everything and start taking action. One of the best ways to do it is to get involved with the 7000 other transcriptionists with the AAMT.
Lengthy but informative article from 2005

Here is an important post from 2005.  It is lengthy and I have edited it to make it more concise…


Posted By: n on January 05, 2005 at 21:35:45:

In Reply to: offshore posted by beth on January 05, 2005 at 19:58:08:


Offshore medical transcription is a large enterprise financed with capital. The Soros money is in the Spheris deals. Look for more and more to go overseas.


From GeBBS Health Care Solutions http://www.gebbs.com/pressrelease062004.htm  : In a world of steadily rising medical costs, Nitin Thakor thinks he has a cure. It works like this: A doctor treats a patient and sends the medical record to Thakor's company, GeBBS HealthCare Solutions of Englewood Cliffs. The company ships the records electronically to India, where employees - earning about one-tenth of what they would get in the United States - process a bill for the patient's treatment, create a claim, and send it electronically to the insurance company. The process costs the doctor about half what he would pay in the United States, Thakor says. "It's faster. The quality is better," he says, brimming with confidence. "It makes perfect sense." It's also part of a growing trend in the health-care administration industry: sending work to low-wage countries - mainly India - in the same way that offshore outsourcing has sent U.S.-based IT, call center, and other jobs around the world.


The health-care work ranges from simple tasks - such as transcribing notes dictated by the doctor - to more complex processes, such as assigning a treatment code and filling in forms that doctors submit to insurance companies for reimbursement. In North Jersey, GeBBS, Allserve Systems of New Brunswick, and ClaimPower Inc. of Fair Lawn do work in India. Marlton-based Medquist, one of the largest transcription company's in the United States, also sends work offshore. Other players across the country include Perot Systems Corp. in Texas, HealthScribe Inc. of Virginia, and Alpha Thought of Chicago. "There is not a lot of offshoring yet," said Barbara J. Cobuzzi, president of Cash Flow Solutions Inc. of Brick, which does billing, coding, and collection. "But they [offshore companies] are going after it. ... They are approaching companies like mine and saying, 'Get rid of your staff and use us.


Cobuzzi said she spoke from experience: In October, she terminated a contract with a Florida-based company with offices in Chennai, India, to put patient demographic information into a computer. She said the work contained too many errors. "I'm sure the doctors would rather use someone who is not offshoring," Cobuzzi said. "But the doctors have this huge pressure to get their costs down." So, too, do their contractors, said Marilyn Grebin, president and CEO of Silent Type in Fort Lee, which transcribes doctors' notes. Though offshoring has not yet had a big effect on Silent Type's bottom line, the company has lost work, Grebin said. For instance, last week, she said, she lost a $50,000 contract with the John T. Mather Hospital on Long Island. Grebin said the hospital, which had been her company's client for five years, hired a company that will do the job in India. "I went to the client and said, 'What can I possibly do to help you, she said. "And they said, 'No, you can't possibly charge what we are getting - half the price.


On Long Island, hospital vice-president Kevin Murray said the non-profit community facility moved the work offshore in a pilot program - a small part of the facility's $500,000 annual spending on transcription services - to see what the quality of the work is like. "The hospital lost a significant amount of money last month," said Murray, putting the loss at $1 million and noting that many hospitals in New York face similar budgetary problems. "Every month is a struggle. ... This was one of our cost-saving ideas." Thakor knows the scenario well.  With about 85 employees in the United States, GeBBS provides health-care administration services and also develops software for the same field. The company's two centers in Mumbai, India, employ about 180 people, of whom 100 process health claims. Last year, the company had revenue of $12 million, and it expects to make $16 million this year, Thakor said. He reaps the benefit of Indian workers - all of whom have degrees - who earn about $2,800 to $3,300 a year, compared with the $35,000 to $45,000 that U.S.-based employees would make for the same job, he said. "We're making a 45 to 50 percent gross margin," Thakor said of his own company. "A client is seeing a 45 to 50 percent cut on their cost structure. So we're happy. They're happy."


Concerns about patient confidentiality in the offshoring era were heightened last October when a woman in Karachi, Pakistan, threatened to post patient medical records from a San Francisco hospital on the Internet unless she was paid the money owed her for transcribing notes dictated by doctors.


The woman dropped the threat after she was paid. But the incident helped bring the issue to the attention of lawmakers.


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., have introduced bills that would require companies to notify customers before they send confidential information overseas, giving the customer the right to refuse. Still, industry insiders are concerned. Cobuzzi and others said the main problem is that anyone who violates U.S. patient confidentiality laws abroad would be beyond the reach of U.S. prosecutors. But offshore companies say there is no danger of leaks. Thakor said GeBBS' facilities in India have guards and an electronic security system, along with a full-time privacy officer to ensure the company complies with U.S. confidentiality laws. In addition, the computer system that health-care administration employees work on is sealed, he said: The terminals have no hard drive and no connections to the Internet, floppy disk, or CD writers, or even a printer. They can only open files on the server, change the contents, and close them, he said. "So there is no way - unless you can memorize all the information - that you can take it with you," he said.  


Thanks so much for the insight and advice, guys, I really appreciate it, books are informative but
when you are in the at-home world like we are, there's nothing better than getting it straight from people who have been there!
Long, informative read - Merck vet manual (sm)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/71600.htm
It's the first time i ran through your site and I found it very informative and interesting. Nice
I really appreciate what you're doing here. Very interesting site. when Table Steal Table Expect , when Opponents Expect Cards Give Good, Greedy, Central nothing comparative to Faithful , Table can Loose Stake Industrious Boy is always Faithful Girl
I think I'm pretty bright and pretty good, too, but
I am not a CMT. I am a medical transcriptionist who enjoys her job very much (most days). I have chosen not to pursue certification simply because I cannot afford to do so. I believe the certification is a nice thing to have, but I don't believe it is necessary for employment or for excellence in my job. If you can afford it, go for it. If you can't, don't feel too bad. You can still take pride in and do a very good job without it.
The easy part is making the decision to leave, the hard part is
actually doing it.  Been in your shoes and it took me a year and a half to leave after I had made the decision to do so.  It was the best thing I have ever done for myself and my girls.  I had family and friends and a counselor telling me what needed to be done and I knew what needed to be done but until I had the courage on my own to do it I stayed.  One day, we had an argument and he spit in my face and that was the last straw for me.  Even though it is something that I will NEVER forget, that day is also a day I will never forget because it is the day that I took my kids and left.  I am a single mom of 2 and have been single and supporting us for 5 years now.  I have been healing ever since and still am to this day.  You can do this.  I know that if I hadn't have left and I would have stayed one of us would be dead by now or both. 
Very informative site. Good job. when Circle Percieve Round Hope: http://www.imsdb.com/ , Compute Be
Two thumbs up!!! Cosmos will Stake unconditionally , when Round Do Mistery Roll Collective, Good, Big nothing comparative to Beautiful , Memorizing Corner becomes Big Corner in final Beautiful TV becomes Faithful Table in final
I use EXText with my current job and I've used at a couple of other jobs I've had. I've ne

used DocQscribe, but I have used Meditech, Cerner, Vianeta, the Precyse platform (I can't remember the name), Dolbey, and  Lanier platform I think was called Cequence (?). 


Out of all the different platforms I have typed on, I have liked EXText the best.  In my opinion, it's very user friendly, easy to learn, and I really like ESP which is the built in abbreviation expander.  Plus it is very easy to create your own normals which I love.  My fingers literally never leave the keyboard because there are macro keys for everything.  You can use your mouse if you prefer or learn the function macros.  I love it.  I think I'm more productive on EXText than with any other platform.


it's not all junk on tv. you just have to weed out the junk. some is very informative.
don't watch "fake tv" as in mysteries or situation comedy so ruling that out, there is plenty of good stuff left. always wanting to learn new stuff.
What's up with the CMT part A and part B exams?
I thought it was all one test.  How can a half a test last 6-1/2 hours?  If anyone knows, please share your info!  Thanks! 
Does anyone know if you are a part time employee for 1 company and part time IC for another can you
still claim deductions for IC on your income tax even though you are one of each.
Depends on how part time the part time jobs are.
You can do it. You just have to work out a schedule you can live with.
Spell as best you can or blank them and keep going. I've passed many tests when I've left blan
s
As you can already see, you've come to the wrong board! By using the word professional, you've
excluded about 99% of the population of "whatever" it is that hangs on these boards. Certainly not professional for sure! But you sure are doing a good thing for someone! Its the thought that counts. Sorry you met the dregs right at the start.
HELP! I've turned my screen sideways, I can't straighten it up. I know I've seen sm
this before, but I can't remember what it is.  Do you realize how hard it is to read sideways?  TIA.
I've lost track of how many people who've asked about it to NOT
.
I've always verified every line I've typed (I have my ways) -sm
If you're supposed to be paid a certain $/line, that's what you should be getting no matter how they do billing unless of course it's specified in YOUR contract with THEM.

BTW, I've never caught a company cheating me ever.
I've used it. It's the worst piece of crap I've ever seen.
seriously. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy, or their Vianeta program. Awful, just awful.
Wait until you've been there six months and if you've improved
quality and quantity, I'd say go ahead and ask.  Otherwise I'd say annually...  good luck
I've seen the same every place I've done acute care, and
pointing out dangerous or repeated errors (often in normals for goodness sakes!) never got the result I expected. When I would press the issue, supervisors said if the dictators didn't complain, then the mistakes must not matter!

It didn't matter if the MT changed what had been a cardiac med in the beginning of the report to an antifungal by the end - I kid you NOT! One poor girl used facial for fascial and fascial for facial!


I've used a few expanders, and of those I've used, all must be "coded" to get things lik
One thing I do to get around this, is to create a macro and then link the ShortHand command to the macro. It works for me, but I do the same five clients every day and only have about 20 or 30 macros/Shorthand commands that work like this. This may not work well for you if you have lots of formats and hundreds of docs.
I've been doing this doc for many years, so I've learned how to function with him. sm
I can tell what's a stutter, what's another word, what's just an "uh." Years of experience will get you through a lot.
Wouldn't want to do his charts all day, of course, but a few per day aren't bad. I haven't had to send his to review in a long time, but they do take a little longer to shuffle through.
I've worn contacts for 30 years. I've had both
hard and soft.  My vision is much better with the soft ones than they were with the hard ones.   When I first started trying contacts soft ones were still new and they couldn't get me to 20/20, so I went to hard.  Hard were okay until my eyes started changing shape and then I could no longer wear hard ones.  The soft should give you better vision as they conform more to the shape of your eye. 
I've been a bully; I've been bullied.
I used to sell a lot on eBay. There are some people who buy high-priced items and play games with you. I've had to call them repeatedly, report them to different agencies. It's not fun. You put time and money into the business of selling, and there are people out there who live to manipulate the system and cause trouble.

And, I've been bullied by buyers who made unreasonable demands, insist that they pay by check when you clearly state you don't accept them. It's not fun, and is one of the reasons I don't sell anymore. People!

I've also bought from some sellers who I would not deal with again because of their unprofessional attitude.

But, overall, ebay can be a great place to be.
I've become the man I've always wanted to marry.
I live alone, am 46, never married, no kids, just dogs horses and chickens and just got done building a new house out in the boonies away from the rat race. (Used to live in Manhattan) Couldn't be happier. Selfish maybe, but never out of time, never stressed, and I don't take anything out on others. There's something to be said for being alone but not lonely. I'm not looking for a man to "make me complete." They only sap me of my time, energy and money (how little of it there is with MQ). I consider myself lucky getting to choose my time with friends, and not just stuck with a deadbeat partner. Ladies especially: Be strong and allow yourself to be independent. Any old man will not make you stronger!
Well, this is just pretty much par for the
course for MQ. Guess they never heard the saying "If it's not broke, don't fix it." I'm sure the underpaid tech people will fix it soon.
But they have such a pretty name...
Isn't that the main thing to look for?
pretty much just what they are- I know nothing

How are they like CD's, are they better, worse?  Basic info.  I've googled it, but still not sure.


Pretty is as pretty does.
and your not looking too good here.
pretty....
Thank you for reading my post and taking it the way it was written.

Some others on this board twisted what I said - as if I was saying "everyone is doing it" by citing the fact that hospital staff are under the influence of various substances - drugs (legal as well as illegal - although someone took it to mean marijuana), alcohol, glue sniffing, aerosols, etc.

Nurses and doctors have the highest percentage of addiction of any professionals - there are many factors that go into, but it is merely a fact, not an accusation or finger pointing, just a fact.

Pretty!
Very nice!
Pretty sure you have to pay for that.
Which makes it even sadder. That she paid for such a poorly worded post.