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I got charged $75 for a copy of my old MRs, even though I transcribed it!!! n/m

Posted By: Achin' Belly on 2007-01-30
In Reply to: It hasn't been allowed since HIPAA. MT companies who outsource... - cookie

:p


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That is "web site" in post above. Also, Auto Copy add-on for Firefox will automatically copy
Auto Copy add-on for Firefox AUTOMATICALLY copies what you select (highlight) on a web site to the clipboard.

Then you can paste it in a document.

It just saves the step of right clicking and then clicking on "copy" to put something on the clipboard. Just select it, and it is on the clipboard.

It only works only on web sites-- only copies stuff you select on web sites, i.e. not in other documents.
Print a copy of the form on your printer, fill it out, copy and send it to your computer via fax may
Just a guess. Or print it, fill it out and fax it to her.
How do you copy your SH file to text - do you copy each dictionary separately? nm
nm
I do not copy to text. I copy the spf sm
file to a disk and save the whole thing there, update it occasionally.
$14.97 is what I was charged
They did not have these on the shelf (I wonder why). I had to ask for the model number. See my post above and they had to go get them in the back. You could call your local Radio Shack (what I did). They looked in the computer and saw them in inventory (they had only 3). I would ask them to pull a pair for you and hold them at the front register with your name on them until you can get there. Hope this helps. Happy holidays.
I think you should have charged them

the first time.  Tell them if you have to spend time to listen, then that's at a rate of $20.00 an hour in addition to the transcribed lines minus the reports they think are already transcribed.  This way, you are paid to listen.


How much more of this are you going to take Lisa?  My dear, you are letting them walk on you.


Are you being paid for the "meeting" in the morning? 


I can thank C-Bay for losing my job, too. 


Look, you are going to need to draft a contract to bring along in the morning.  Otherwise, you will be working for free, and this practice will drive you insane. 


You need to figure out what works best for you and set the ground rules.  You simply explain to the office manager that this is how you will be doing the work and what you will charge, etc. 


At some point, you will have to hold this office accountable for the work they give you and stop working for free.


If you are picking up flash drives, then they should not expect you to report back on patients, etc., which is time consuming unless they would agree to a flat hourly rate for listening and sorting out dictations and then a lower line rate. 


I know, I have a big mouth, but please, don't let them take advantage of you.  As I said in your last posting, they will continue to abuse you if you allow it. 


There are plenty of companies online hiring right now.  www.mtjobs.com - have you checked there?


AND CHARGED ME AND KEPT MY MONEY
when I asked for return. Thanks you for the post above. I think the people on here are mostly English speaking, are they not? Maybe some speaking broken-English. They are not seeming to understand. I do not think most would like to be stolen from. I would put this in several languages as I am thinking the posts coming in are maybe not comprehending what we are saying but I only speak English.
I charged per line
I charged per line because then they had no question with regards to hours.  It was gross line, top to bottom of page using Microsoft word.  Did all the uh's, yea, okay as they wanted it verbatim.  For a little over 2 hours dictation made $400 but it was very hard to do and I think that they got a deal.  It was a land use county meeting and people would not identify themselves and talk over each other, interrupt, could not tell who was talking, etc.  I think I averaged about $25 an hour but kept going over it and over it.  Had someone else helping me and we kind of relistened to each other's parts of the tape.  But again, they got a deal as between the two of us we put 10 hours typing and 5-6 hours reviewing.  But I charged .125 cpl.  Then told him that there would be review time and so we just settled on $400 and made sure that he paid me before I returned the tapes.  He had to review them to see who was saying what and I did eventually get an apology saying he now could see why I had the trouble that I did.  It was 7 men and 1 woman and all the men sounded alike.  But good luck.  I have done seminars, medical and building a computer chip and those were easier than this.  But the only way I would bid on this type of job again is to say I need to listen to part of the tape before I can name my price.   Good luck.
I used to do that and charged by the page. nm
x
They charged me almost $400 last year.
It goes up every year. I overhold on all my employee jobs so I'm not worried about that. I just can't stand paying someone that much for something I can do myself.
If you have not transcribed using BOS
guidelines that is probably the problem. See which version they are using and get a copy.
Forgot to say, doctor charged $79

for DH to come in and find out the results of the MRI, doctor never touched him.   It could be worse, we could have not had insurance at all.   DH and I weren't exactly thrilled with the doctor anyway (can you imagine an MT going to support their spouse and not being allowed to ask questions until the doctor gives you permission - LOL). 


The doc charged $500 I don't see that as a rip off - the hospital bill though - sm
for $5K is a bit outragous and has nothing to do with the doctor actually. I hope she has insurance.
Cigna may be charged with manslaughter in
x
Guilty as charged! It is very difficult.

My biggest and best suggestions are to type a specialty that interests you and try to keep up with the report.  In other words make it a challenge to diagnose and treat the patient before you're through with the report.  I use an online timer set for 45 minutes.  I'm not allowed to do anything but type during those 45 minutes.  If I'm feeling a compulsion to research something that I found while checking on a word, I write it down and give myself 5-10 minutes between 45 minute sessions to do exactly that.  I also take medication (adderall) without it I would be completely lost.  I also have to make myself use the interest as little as possible.....too many shiny things to take my attention away.  The good thing is that usually ADD people are exceptionally bright and innovative, so I can accurately produce in 4 distracted hours what most can produce in 6-8 diligently working.  However, can you imagine what your line count would be like if you stuck to it the whole time??


So, to summarize:


1.  Try to find an MT job that interests you.


2.  Use a timer to limit your distractions.


3.  Take medication.


4.  Avoid the internet for reseach if at all possible. 


and this is how our records are transcribed =(
x
I have not strictly transcribed in about 10 yrs.sm
I work full-time doing medical transcription but I also have other duties that do not involve transcribing so I don't keep up with lines or anything like that; I get paid by the hour.  I have worked 3-4 hours in the evenings for one of the national companies for a little over a month but I can't seem to get my line count up.  I've only been able to do around 100 lph.  I know it will take longer than it would if I worked 8 hours just transcribing.  I would like to quit the other job and just work from home transcribing but I'm afraid if I can't get my line count up I won't be able to maintain my current income.  I'm not a blazing fast typist, I probably type 75-80 wpm without any kind of expanders.  Any helpful advice or encouragement on whether you guys think at my typing speed it is within reason to think I can make it to 150-200 lph?  I've done straight transcription in the past but I never had to keep up with lines.  I have 30+ years of experience.  I just need to decide whether to keep things the way they are now or take the chance on income by production only. BYW, I transcribe acute care for the national.
has anyone ever charged insurance companies for doing their work - SM
I have a lot of medical issues with my family and so see a lot of doctors and pay a lot of copays.  Each and every time I see a doctor or facility I have to pay a copay, which I always ALWAYS charge on my credit card.  No exception.  Do not pay, do not see the doctor or have the test.  Yet time and time again I get letters from the doctor's billing or facility saying I owe a copay to them.  When I call them up, explain that I paid my copay at the time of services rendered and do not owe anything further, I am told they don't have a record of it.  I must find the receipt and send them a copy for proof of payment.  In short, I must do their job because they are either too lazy or inefficient to do it.  Earlier this month I got a statement from the x-ray facility saying that I owed a copay.  The customer (dis)service person was very unhelpful when I explained that I always made my copay first and it showed up on my credit card statement.  Finally I told him I would call the facility myself and get things straightened out, which I did (they had put my copay into a different account by mistake).  But I ended up doing his job and got treated rudely to boot.  Then yesterday, I got yet another doctor's billing statement saying I owed my copay.  I called and left a message saying that it had already gone through on my credit card bill and would not be paying.  They want proof.  Am I out of line saying, fine, I will photocopy the receipt (and this is an NCR receipt so the office has a copy of it) and my credit card bill (with everything else blanked out) and send it to you as proof of my payment, but it will require my invoicing you a $10 processing fee.  If you are not willing to reimburse me for my time to straighten out your mistake, then I will not provide proof of payment.  This takes time out of my day to hunt through my receipts, make a photocopy, document it in writing (LOL I learned that VERY early on), then postage, etc.  Why must I do this without being reimbursed for it.  IS ANYONE ELSE FED UP WITH PEOPLE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS?????  Arrrrghhh.  I feel every so much better.
An MTSO that I worked for charged $6 a page. NM
d
Some of my accounts are charged for blank lines..nm
x
Wow! Thanks for the info. I didn't know the nationals charged THAT much!! I'm going for it! n
nm
Agree, but geezzo, my acct only charged 150 to
x
line rates charged to clients
I know that 10 years ago, Medquist charged one of their big hospitals in St. Louis 24 cents per line!!! Yet of course they pay their employees peanuts, since they pay by the WORD. (MQ is more concerned with paying Wall Street.) But there's your upper ceiling of what you might dare think of charging!
Very impressive. Reading this really charged me up, and I hope it does him also. nm
nm
Your transcribed report would be your testimony, if anybody, for whatever SM
bizarre reason decided your input would be needed. Why the heck do you think you'd get called to court?
QA Help: Earlier I transcribed a report where
the doctor used a really offensive curse phrase.  He was actually quoting what the patient said (ER report).  He said place this in quotes.  It was a really ugly thing to say (mother F word).  Even though it's in quotes as what the patient apparently said, I felt uncomfortable actually transcribing it.  And believe me I'm no prude.  I've heard it all (and said some of it).  However, it just seemed really unprofessional and not appropriate in a medical document. It's not like it was a psych report.  In fact, it really had no relevance whatsoever, in my opinion, but I could be wrong I guess.  So,  I left a blank.  But now I'm thinking, was that really not my call?  Should I have just transcribed it?  What would any of you out there have done?  QA?  What do you advise in cases like this?  It's happened before but never as filthy as this.
Contact the clients you transcribed for
n/m
VA accts transcribed offshore
My first editing job was for a company located in Virginia that has since closed and one of their largest accounts was for a network of VA Hospitals. I always wondered if they (the VA) had any clue that the actual transcription was being done in India.
It is 10 reports transcribed for free.

The OP states the account goes through transcriptionists.  I wonder why?  The OP states later on in the thread they go through transcriptionists. 


I'm trying to protect Lisa from getting abused from the get-go.  All she has to say is "my charge is" and go from there. 


Too bad if they were already transcribed.  Does that mean Lisa should take the loss?  NO.  Absolutely not. 


Again, read above where the OP states "they can't seem to keep a transcriptionist." 


To the OP:  Charge them!  You won't regret it.  If you are an IC, you have every right to charge them. 


Plus, look at rockinMT's post.  She bent over backwards for an account and what happened?  It turns out she was spending more time than it was worth. 


These are all my opinions, and I am trying to give my opinion on what the OP should do in regards to reports that she transcribed and should, yes, be paid for since she was not aware ahead of time and especially because it is a new account. 


What do I know?  Ya know?  I mean really?  Just looking out for the best interest of the OP, but hey, that's just me. 


The reports that are transcribed get scanned into
the EMR record. They do the same thing with the lab slips, x-ray reports, etc. The transcription is still performed in the usual way it has always been done.
I have transcribed from handwritten notes
and it was a nightmare.  Sometimes the info was missing and my neck hurt like heck looking down and up, down and up.  I charged per page.  This dr went from dictating to these 5 page forms that he would fill out when he saw the patient.  He scribbled and it was horrible.  It wrecked my neck, so I gave it up.  I was better off straight transcribing at lower pay than when I had to keep looking up and down from a page and no a stand for the forms didn't help because my eyes kept leaving the monitor, so it was hard to get back in gear only to have to take my eyes back to the handwritten form. 
MTs by definition are hired to transcribed - sm

what the doctor dictates.  We can't be expected to have to catch their mistakes - they're supposed to catch their own.  That's why they're being paid the big bucks and we're note.  Years back, we weren't expected to know all this stuff -- the meaning of every word we transcribed, the normal/abnormal lab values, what a particular drug is used for, and I could go on and on, and we were paid better, appreciated more & respected more.


I do agree that we must know how to spell medical words and words of English usage.  That's what they get for their 7-8-8.5 cents per line.  I do NOT believe that we should have to look up doctor's names, on our time, when the dictator has it right in front of him/her and would take him/her only 2-3 seconds to spell it, thus also avoiding any confusion.  But I guess that would be too easy.


I didn't always feel this way.  Years back, when I was treated as a professional and compensated accordingly, I performed as such.  If I want to flag a doc's mistake, I do it for the PATIENT'S sake (but for the grace of God it could be me or a loved one lying in that hospital bed) - and as a courtesy to the doctor.  But they really expect too much for too little.


Yep, my son's doc charged 111.00 for a 3 minute visit to tell him he had a kidney stone.
And to think the insurance paid it. Hmmm.
figure an average at 1.20 and 1.50 and charge double..we charged 2.50 and 3.95

I've never heard of sales tax being charged for a service, only
for a tangible product.  
I charged by the gross line and made more money that way.

I swear, I just transcribed Bill Cosby! sm
you know that voice that Bill Cosby does, kinda sounds like he's drunk?  Well, this doc I just transcribed sounded like that!!! and it's workers' comp, no less. Just had to vent a little!  It's still too early for all this!
Not an MQ employee but have always transcribed via turnaround pool.
The office manager I worked for set it up so they could bill faster, i.e., ERs in 24 hours or less, op notes, discharge summaries, etc. She said it made for a better cash flow for the hospital. That's probably what MQ is trying to accomplish, maybe per client request.
Well, I just transcribed 1500 lines in 3 hours. sm

I work on the same account every day, same dictators, lots of templated reports I did myself and put them into auto correct.  I get up early, start at 7 am and today I was done by 10 am.  Cleaning the house now.  Also, the line pay is slightly higher than most, so 1500 lines is fine for me today. 


On harder days when the account is really behind,  I get up and vacuum the house after 3 hours of transcribing then come back for 1 hour.  If things are caught up, I stop for the day.  If not, I will go back in the evening. 


I can't sit for 6-8 hours straight.  Making $160 bucks in 3 hours is good for me and enough.   Tomorrow is another day!


Use templates and short cuts - that will help!  I have whole reports in my auto correct, but you have to listen through and change and correct things as each patient is a different case. 


I do have to tell you, I do not get this many lines every day in such short a time.  It just happened that today was a good day.


 


Hope this helps.


copies of previously transcribed reports
What I always found helped, make copies of reports from the medical record charts.  Make a few copies of each doctor and keep them in your desk that way you can refer back to the report when doing the doctor.  You will get the hang of it.  No hospital wants to go through the money and time hiring someone just to let them go right away.  Usually you get about a three to six month probation period. 
Guidelines are one thing, but if your client wants it transcribed a certain way, just do it.

p


My grandmother transcribed part time into her mid 70s.
,
I am filling out a job app and they want transcribed words per minute.
Thanks.
I have transcribed for doctors in the past who have dictated...sm
that the patient is heterosexual. I'm not much on what is politically correct or not, I just transcribe what the doctor dictates.
Pull up the whole period for which transcribed...see more inside
Say July 1 was the first day and July 14 was the last day - are you able to do a date-specific count? If so, get that on the screen, hit the "Print Screen" button (above SysRq next to Scroll Lock). Then open a Word document or go to Accessories and get either Word Pad or Notebook. Do a control C, which is the Word command for copy. This will copy the whole screen shot into that new document. Go to "file" on the task bar, do a "Save as" and name it what you want, say 07012008to07142008 or something so you will be able to recognize it. This will now give you a document that you can email to their payroll period with a nice little message something to the tune of "WHAT GIVES" or other equally professional question - just kidding, but now you have proof of what your total lines were and a bargaining tool. If you can only do it 1 day at a time, you can still use the screen shot method, but you will have a lot of documents to email if it comes to that.

Be sure to question them verbally by phone first as that might clear up any confusion. If not, then you can tell them YOUR line count and ask why your figures are so different. Just a thought. Good luck!


Meds are not given based on transcribed reports
Meds in hospitals are not given based on what is in transcribed reports. There are so many errors with transcribed material that everyone expects there to be errors in meds, either because it was dictated incorrectly or transcribed incorrectly.

Physicians write orders for drugs, treatments, tests, and procedures. They're in a different part of the record entirely. They're either handwritten or they are in electronic form.

That's not saying there are no medication administration errors, but just saying the likelihood of an error stemming from a transcribed report are almost nil.


"For 30 years, I've transcribed things by what is..SM

correct."   This is where the problem is.  Do you know that some of the most stubborn, difficult, argumentative, inflexible MTs I have ever met in the course of my career are the ones who parrot that particular sentence?


What was done or has been done for 30 years is not necessarily the correct way now.  Language has changed.  With the advent of VR, the way we transcribe is now more of a verbatim way than ever.


These 30-year MTs are still adding 's on to Down syndrome, still typing out the word "centimeter" even though it is no longer accepted as anything but line-padding....get my drift?


We're paying 9 cpl and everything transcribed plus spaces is paid for.
/
Depends. Did you just study or have you actually transcribed lots of tapes as sm

part of your training?  If you can't put down on your resume that your home study included multiple tapes in many specialties, etc. you are going to be hard pressed to find a good job. 


On the other hand, you might be able to type some orthopedics or pt notes (and then at least have some experience to put on your resume.)  Orthopedic doctors have TONS of dictation.  Besides their clinic notes, etc, most of them do IME (independent medical evaluations) which are fairly easy to do.  You'll need some good ortho books to get you started, but most will let you start without the experience if you can demonstrate you know the terminology.  Good luck.  Get some experience and the doors will start opening REALLY fast for you.  Sometimes, taking a low paying job is okay in the beginning just to get the experience.  If you can possibly get in a PCP's office to help out with clinic notes (even offering to to backlog/vacation stuff, you will get good experience and your resume will look great for the future stuff that comes up.  Good Luck to You.  Hang in there and learn everything you can.


Let the docs use their reports transcribed in India as a defense! LOL
The doc can sit there while the personal injury lawyer shows the jury a grieving family and the messed up report.
US MTs should not accept sweat shop wages or conditions. We are providing a service to them! We are their first defense!:) :) :)
If US MTs stoped working for low wages, the physicians who value patient safety and their livelihood would pay a descent wage. The other ones can try to explain the report being done in India to the personal injury lawyer tearing him apart.


IMO, you violated a patient's confidentiality by even posting about this - that you transcribed t
I know you didn't give any personal info, but even mentioning this in a public forum on the "world wide web"  - I don't know, I would consider that a violation of medical record confidentiality.  I know some may post a sentence or a blooper or something, but this is probably something I would have kept to myself... I am sure you thought what an interesting coincidence when you show the show, but my opinion is you should have kept it to yourself, and if I was the transcription supervisor at your hospital and I found out you had posted on this.... well I would think that would be reason for discipline.  No offense meant, just my opinion.