I find it really depends on the account.
Posted By: Another VR MT on 2007-04-06
In Reply to: Question for VR editors - arthritic MT
I really lucked out that I am on an account that has been doing VR for a while and the docs all speak pretty clearly. The reports come to me pretty clean. I only have to verify demographics and make minor changes to the report and I can get pretty good line counts.
On the other hand, I know MTs who aren't so lucky and end up having to transcribe many of their reports because they are so bad and end up making less money.
I love my VR account. I decided to do VR to save my wrists. I have had problems with carpal tunnel, but not since switching to VR.
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RE: Depends on the account
No it does not!!!!!!
depends on which account
It really depends on which account you are going to be working on as to how much of a response you will get. There is one account manager who manages several who is NEVER around, doesn't answer emails or the phone and it's been whispered she may even work another job. There is a huge group of clinic accounts without a manager, they got rid of her, probably to save money since there have been lots of money saving cuts going on. Currently that one is being overseen by the HR lady with no transcription experience (the second in command, watch out for her, really thinks anybody can do the MT or Editor job without having any experience). There was another account with a really good manager but a bad platform, but she finally left, so hard to tell who is there now. The actual owner is a very nice lady but unfortunately isn't much involved and only knows what her second in command tells her, and she makes it look like she has all under control, and in reality she is the second top reason most people leave this company. A new manager has been hired for the new account we have, but yet again she will be limited by what Ms. G. will allow her to do, which won't be much. This used to be a really good company but steadily has been on the decline. Tell me what editor will put up with bad platforms, 100% listens and low work for 3-3.5 cpl? What MTs will stay on with bad platforms and being ignored when there is no work?
Yes, it depends on the account (sm)
I do think it would be strange to have a PE section. The physical exam section is the "O" section, for Objective. It would be redundant to have PE within O. You may want to ask for samples.
Depends what account you are on. I have been
there just over a year. DocuScribe is easy to learn, not bad at all. I don't have that many ESLs, mostly they are residents, but still I don't know about other accounts.
I think it depends on what the account wants, and
In fact, one account I type wants it both ways: They want all abbreviations expanded in letters, and usually no expansions except in certain circumstances on all other dictations by that account. The 'twice a day' vs. 'b.i.d.' thing is trickier. If my account has no specific rules about it, then for the sake of continuity, if the first couple meds in a list are written one way (such as b.i.d.), then even if they say twice a day on the next med, I still type it b.i.d. That way there's a little more uniformity, and I think also the list is easier to read. Of course, it all boils down to the preferences of those you work for.
Depends on account, but discontinued
would be correct (sometimes it means discharged)
It depends on what your clients or account wants. sm
BOS sometimes does not matter. The only thing that matters is what the people who sign your paycheck want on their reports.
It depends. If you have a very difficult account
an hourly rate would be great, but being paid by the line I make $20+/hour and I don't think companies would be willing to pay that hourly, so I guess I would have to say I'd rather be paid by the line, unless it is editing and that is a whole different story. I also think being paid hourly would make me maybe not work so hard to get lines and perhaps slack off occasionally. Depending on what shift I'm working I'm up and down every hour or so, putting a load in the washer, feeding animals, loading the dishwasher, etc. If I was getting paid hourly I should not be doing that stuff. I am not very disciplined and find it hard to sit still for more than 2 hours, so I would have to have a change in my routine. I enjoy the flexibility of being able to get up, even go outside and sit on the deck and watch the sunrise, etc. Another pro for the hourly wage though is at least you'd know what your paychecks were doing to be every payday and could maybe budget better.
It also depends on your account specifics too...
if it is verbatim, you type what they say...
Depends on your account, I would guess.
Some accounts want a strict SOAP format, so you would disregard the other headings.
I personally work on verbatim accounts so we put in any headings they dictate.
It depends on the account guidelines.
For the majority of the accounts I work on abbreviations are only expanded in the critical sections, such as diagnosis, impression, etc. This is to the client's preference, and it is considered an error to expand an abbreviation when it is not necessary.
As far as dosages, I always transcribe what the dictator says unless it is a prohibited abbreviation or an error. Prohibited abbreviations are changed, per client preference, to the acceptable term. If it may be an error, it is flagged for review. If the doc dictates "twice a day," they get "twice a day." If they dictate "b.i.d." that is what I transcribe. It is also considered a error, at least at my company, to alter what is dictated.
Much depends on the account/accounts that you are on (sm)
Like everywhere else, I suppose... I've been with JLG for almost 12 years and have had the same main acct the whole time. It's a large hospital system, and yes, lots of ESL, but only a few that I would consider dreadful. Have been on some other accts with virtually no ESL. Have also been on work types where I could rack up lines like crazy, and other times (like now, for instance) struggling to get 1200-1300 per day. Have had times where I felt extremely micro-managed, other times don't hear anything from anyone for literally weeks. Paycheck has always gone out on time, but unfortunately no longer do direct deposit. I guess you could say they've been a little erratic since I've been with them, but overall I am pretty happy. I believe they have several different platforms - I'm on "EHR" (for the past year or so) and while it's a little slow going from the patient information screen to the document screen and back again, it works with your own Stedman's spellchecker and with Shorthand, so better than some others that I've been on. I will say that the support personnel have not always been the best, but, again, I've seen a lot of people come and go! Hope you find a position that's perfect for you - or at least nearly so!
I have been paid both ways. Depends on the account. nm
n
I guess that depends if it is a verbatim account...
I think even so I would type feces....
I agree, it depends on who you work for BUT also the account
and how long it has been on VR. If it has been on VR for a few years, piece of cake. If it is just starting out on VR - tedious work, low pay as it takes longer to edit than to just transcribe it.
I have been doing VR editing for 4 years now with an account that has been on it that long also...can make up to $50 an hour, and some times as low as $30 an hour when we add new dictators.
Hope this helps.
Same for me, I made more 10 years ago. It depends so much on account, SM
work type(for me), and expanders. I find it hard to stay motivated when report after report is ESL and a work type I can't make money on. The above poster likes radiology, I like OPs. It is easier to stay motivated when you have that.
Depends - one account I make 40 an hour, other - s/m
I grunt it out to make 10 bucks an hour. If I worked just the ER account, I would definitely make full time money for part time hours.
Durn second account. :}
How to find new account?
Hi Folks,
I'm looking for some advice. I am an IC right now, but the work has been trailing off since September. Now that the holiday slow down is starting I've had a very pitiful 10 hours of work in the last 2 weeks. So... I'm thinking about looking for an account of my own. Any hints on how to get started? I've always worked from home and don't really have any "network" locally. Do you advise finding a local account or going national? How do you do that?
Luckily, we don't rely too much on my pay to survive, but I'm finally starting to panic now with the lack of work and would like to branch out on my own.
I'm posting this anon because I don't want the MTSO I work for to find out.
Thanks in advance!
P.S. Why not keep the account and find someone to help you. (n/m)
x
depends on location, I know someone who lost a local account - sm
in Woodbridge, VA, was charging .12 a line (60 character line), got underbid and lost it after having had it for years. Now in order to get more but look less, she bids at .10 a line but a 50 char. line....comes out to .13 if a 65 cpl. You can't get much over .10 around here on your own which really stinks, or do some fancy accounting which in this case works.
depends if you can find something
one of the oldest tricks in the book in the MT field is to change the way the work is counted...used to be a line was a line was a line, even if it was a line in between the address and the salutation. So first they took away blank lines, then they took away incomplete lines, now they are taking away spaces... so if you can find something better AND you can figure out how they are actually counting the lines.....might be good to move on. Depends? do you know the dictators well on this account and can you get good production. I bet the next place you go to will have more ESL's and switch you around on the accounts... think about it.
I consider myself a pretty fast Mt, and I am lucky to hit 100 reports a day...depends upon account.
depends on what you find threatening
I personally hate VR and would find a steady diet of it exhausting and boring, but then I've been transcribing for years and am worn out anyway and about ready to get out of transcription and into some kind of hourly-paid job. I'm truly tired of never being able to produce enough to make my company happy and am trying to find a smaller local outfit to work for where I don't have to do VR. I'd quit my company in a heart beat if I were closer to retirement. I'm tired of mentors' reminders of all the little classes I can sit in on to help pick up my speed. I tune it out but I do feel threatened even though I'm a dependable worker.
I'd advise any newbie to get very good at VR. I can certainly see where it could be near perfected, especially if there is a way to get the docs more cooperative with how to dictate and get them to submit more standards. I sure would if I were a doctor and hated to dictate; just think how quick it could go for most of them (and the transcriber) if they had sense enough to just dictate specifics for each patient, then say "do my standard HP or discharge." I do believe VR will be perfected down the road. The job is changing.
lines produced also depends on type of account, doctors, specifics, platforms.
nm
Depends on the pay and account. My lowest average is $15.52 an hour (roughly 182.6 lines an hour) w
;'
What is the difference between an acute care account and a multispecialty account??..nm
nm
I've never had a problem switching from account to account.
The problem I had was being switched too soon. If I don't get one account spec solidly in my memory with QA feedback on mistakes before starting another, I get confused. The other problem I had with former jobs was inconsistent QA. One person tells you one thing, another person tells you another.
Lately, I don't have a problem with it. Right now, my binder has 8 account specs (some I've never had to use) and I'm picking up a new weekend job for a while. The terminology and report formats stay basically the same. It's just all those little preferences. LOL
go to chat room on web site and find out. i'm working but if you find out, let me know.
creepy dude.
I find most of my abbreviations here. Scroll all the way down until you find the abbreviation box.
http://www.mtchat.com/frame.php?frame=message
what is your account and specialty on the account?
no one is watching. tell us all about osi.
I didn't find an 800 number, but I did find this number...
1 650-253-0000
Look, if I were on an account that
kept me sending more blanks to QA than was allowed to qualify for an incentive program, I would ask for another account or get with a different company.
I've bid off accounts before; I've also changed employers because of this problem.
I've been there. It's not what I wanted so I fished until I got the catch I wanted.
As well, if your dictators are dictating on cell phones, that can be a real source of contention with HIPAA guidelines and they should be reported. I report that when I run across it; I also tell my supervisor I won't do that physician again if he is dictating on a cell phone. I've never been given a problem with that.
Second account........sm
Does your company base full-time status on line count or on hours? If line count, it doesn't matter if you do the work in less than 8 hours. You're still holding up your side of the bargain and you have every right to refuse to work on a crappy second account. Just tell them you've decided that your one account is enough and keep your second job. Same goes for the post below stating co-worker is avoiding taking on second account. Unfair? I give her credit. She's a survivor. We're not the ones who started the game. But many of us are quickly learning how to play.
If your account uses the BOS ...>>>
you use numerals for all numbers (and the old way is to spell out numbers UNDER 10). The BOS says to use numerals for ordinals; 10th, 2nd, etc. BUT, many accounts have their own preferences, so why don't you check to see what yours wants?
My own account
My own accounts been doing them for over 4 years, it is just one office person that says anything. I think that she was having a bad day last week and we about went on a minor screaming match with each other not only over this but some other things. So will let things calm down, check and double check to see if I can figure things out but without showing me, I am in the dark like I explained to her. When nothing comes back you think all is great.
I don't do any of that. I have each account in a SM
separate folder on Word and I just click on the appropriate folder. I do 4 hospitals in one state and two more, plus a local.
I never have gotten anything mixed up that I know of.
Take the account and run!
You really need to ask?
I don't know anything about the account
I am considering an IC position and want to know what is an average rate. I have 9 years experience as an MT and have only wored in a hospital.
Keep that account @ .12 cpl
Keep that account (tell them you will meet or beat the competition). Don't say another word, just keep sending out advertising brochures, etc., until another higher rate really needs you, then tell these cheapskates that your accountant has informed you that not only are you losing money but it isn't fair to those others who do not question your charges nor would they ask you to "cut your rate." I've been in this situation and it has made me very depressed but that's the way these others work, they will undercut you for 1/4 cent, done to me by "friends". Just go along to get along and then you have every right to be the "dumper" instead of the "dumpee." Treat them like a bad boyfriend, until a better one comes along. Had this done to me many times and my only regret is that I let it affect me financially, I used to take the "moral high road" and now I take the "me" high road. If they are thinking only of their wallet, then you should as well if you need the money. Hope this makes sense. Most likely it isn't the docs, just someone in the office trying to say, "See, I saved you some money, so how about a raise?" Don't let them spoil your business accounts receivable, just hang in there and smile a lot.
You must be the OM at this PIA account. (nt)
I am getting .08 on one account and ..sm
.085 for the other acount I work on.
One account, can get only...
250-300 because they are obnoxious. The other account, can get sometimes over 500 lph.
Usually, each account has a
prescribed method of formatting and if you work for a service you should get all of the specifications for formatting in a document when you start working a new account. Inhouse, asking the manager will get you the information you need. It is purely a subjective matter with each and every account; however, AAMT and ASTM are working on best practices in dictation and these of course would include a standardized formatting for all medical records .. making it eaiser for all of us to do our jobs and then ultimately find information in a chart.
I have been on my account
with 15 doctors for the past two years, but I am sure someone else had it before I did. We are about to get a new one in August, as well. I am sure you have just about everyone else beat though.
Pay Pal Account
I have a dumb question regarding my pay pal account. My new employer pays through Pay Pal. I do have an account that I've used only for ebay transactions. She's asking for my account number. I can't find any information in my account as to what my account number is? Does anyone know what that would be? Does she want my bank account number associated with my Pay Pal account? Sorry, I told you this was a dumb question. TIA.
I have a second account sm
You should never work for only 1 company. I learned this the hard way. It's always good to have a backup.
Come take my account
First I get "Mrs. Ed" who talks just like Mister Ed and now I've got a dictator that sounds just like Granny from Looney Tunes. Gives me a little laugh now and then, guess you gotta look at the little things in life, or you'll become a looney tune! :) I pray next week is better for you.
If you want an account,
go out and honestly bid for it.....don't "steal" it from your MTSO!!!!! That is just wrong. Bidding on accounts that you don't know the MTSO is a different story. When you take an account from the MTSO you are an IC for, that is "stealing" and you'll get yours when you get to the pearly gates...if you get there!
Nothing really if you want to keep your account. sm
sometimes as an IC and in business, you must compromise. Looks like they are dictating the way they pay. Hey, it would be worse, you could invoice and not be paid for 60 days or longer. So, you will just have to adjust.
own account
I took a small account a few months ago. 3 docs, I do 2 and 1 has his own MT. She is an employee but we cover for each other for vacations. It is lucky they have that other person and they are flexible when I go away (rarely). Some accounts might expect you to find your own coverage. I have had problems with them not paying on time. It's not their fault, they have a large institutional accounting office over them. But MT is my only income so it has been a problem. Make sure you have a cushion in your checking account or whatever that you can live off of if you don't get paid for a while.
Another option might be an IC position if you can find the right one. I also have an outside contractor position with a local hospital that has employees, but I charge them like a service and they make no demands on my time.
Something to consider is how much time you will spend doing administrative things like billing, recordkeeping, marketing, answering emails, picking up tapes if applicable, traveling for interviews or training if you will be working on their system. I find that stuff eats up a lot of my time.
You might want to consider a 30-day trial period in case you dont like them. My account turned out to have a crappy dial-in system, they expected me to fax every report 1-4 times, and they eat up my time with emails and phone calls - each doc has his own secretary and they have another MT and they all tend to call me for things they don't need to bother me with like I'm an employee. Instead of telling them to find one person to deal with me we agreed I would charge by the hour instead. I have no problem telling a secretary who calls me at 7p I will take down the info and call her back during business hours unless it is an emergency. It is hard to anticipate those things hence the trial period.
New account
Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to convince a doctor's office that they need transcription done when they haven't had it done in the past. This is my first big meeting on my own and I am nervous about what to say. I have other accounts, but I never had to convince them because they were already using transcription. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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