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I had heard China holds our notes, and this article verifies that. Also, are you

Posted By: aware Saudi prince is cuddling up to Asia? on 2006-01-29
In Reply to: Does China now own a large portion of U.S. Treasury bonds? You sound "in the know." - Should they cash in, there'd be problems

Back decades ago the US had a gentleman's agreement for the oil from Saudi in exchange for us to be their police protection.  Now suddenly the prince of Saudi has been courting Asia to sell it's oil to.  Well, Asia will be a good customer.......for the short haul but China does not have the infrastructure to use as much oil as the US does. 


An investor I know keeps telling me there is an expected depression this year or early next (2007).  I keep seeing things that make me think its so.  I know WalMart is doing odd things with its merchandise.  And they are working their employees like slaves! having cashiers do toilets, and working the floors way understaffed. 


Other companies are seeing the same thing.  The companies are trying not to reduce their expected profits, so they are taking it off the backs of employees through taking the pensions, whittling off health insurance, less and less holiday leave, making people do the job of 2 or 3 others.


Our economy is built on hot air.


There were more bankrupcys this month than every before.  Also credit cards are getting slower and slower payments in.


People all around me are losing their jobs with the speed of light, I don't care what you READ in the newspaper.  They can print whatever they want to, but the reality is in talking to your neighbors and putting your ear to the ground.  Salaries are going south, people are sitting here like us with no raises for years. 


What makes me sick is our govt officials keep feeding vitamins and jobs to countries that HATE us - China and India.  Why in the world!  I know they are under the idea that *democracy* spreads peace in the world, but the *democracy* the United States is spreading right now doesn't look right to me.  We are losing our rights, our homes to eminent domain, being overrun with illegals and yet the illegals are getting the health care (I typed on someone last night who was not working in this country, not even a legal immigrant, and they were doing scads of tests on this person! and yet I sit here having paid taxes for 45 years and can't afford to own a home or go to the dentist.  My car is 20 years old.  Where is my country when I need them?)




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CMT holds more credibility.

I fear what the future holds too...
Those three beautiful souls growing up thinking this is the normal way to live. Call your family today and start planning to leave this creep. It won't be the easiest thing you've ever done, but it will be the smartest.
Praying that your luck changes soon and your job holds out. nm
s
And you'll almost never get just Op notes. Probably get mixed acute care - op notes, discharge su
s
China?

Costco owned by China you say?  


So what?  SO WHAT????? 


I just left China
Actually, I just left China. Poor old souls. Not many pretty women in China.

I needed to get home to the states to see all the beautiful women. I felt like I was intoxicated when I came through the door at Medquist and saw all my beautiful gals.
Sara Lee in China?
I'm also hearing that Sara Lee, you know, cakes and pastries? Well they also have many of their products made in CHINA now!!!
yep, it's china - who will take over world by

google that subject......if you so desire....about China taking over the entire world (not in my lifetime thankfully) by 2039-2040. 


I remember when I was 12 years old, a chinese restaurant in White Plains, NY, that my folks took us too all the time, was closed down because they found dog and cat bones in their trash. 



LOL - in another 25 years China will be

If indeed more co. using China labor we need
x
Not the least of the borrowed $$ from China is for...sm
of course, those stimulus checks! Does that make sense to anybody? Not me in this credit-card-driven economy. This is starting to catch up with this country. Some day very soon, trust me, we are going to be owned by other countries - or just plain bankrupt and barely scratching by. My thoughts (from some research I've done) are that this will be yet another third-world country, thanks in the largest part to Bush and his wasteful spending on everything but this country or its citizens!!! Such a sad state of affairs!
Used to be machinist, until all the jobs went to china. NM
z
dog abuse in China story
Listen . . . .what is your real posting name anyway?

My priorities are not your concern. It is a well known fact that people who abuse animals easily go on to violent behavior against people. If clubbing innocent dogs to death doesn't bother you, it should. There are much better ways to deal with a rabies problem than that. Perhaps instead of ranting about my priorities, maybe you could put your energy toward helping create a solution for the abuse of innocent childern or one of the other million problems going on in the world. What ARE YOU doing to help make the world a better place?
killing of dogs in China

Please click on the following link to help stop the killing of the dogs in China in such a horrible inhumane way.  Thank you.


http://ga4.org/campaign/china_petition/sbk3x64f53ttjk?


thank you for the dogs in China link

We CAN make a difference - thank you.


"How to off-shore MT to China?"...
Why in the WORLD would they be involved with something in China, unless they are planning to assist them with taking MORE of our work?????  I can see it now . . . first China, then India, Pakistan...on and on.  We can pay to watch them put us out of work.  Yipee.  "American" was taken out of the name for obvious reasons.
Same here, although I won't be spending it on a trip to China
I do disagree about not being good at MT though. I think many competent MTs shoot themselves in the foot by not recognizing the value of their skills and working for less than they are worth.
Especially their interest in CHINA, of all places. -sm
Look at what's been coming out of there already - poison pet food, poison people food, badly made and dangerous children's toys, flimsy everything else, etc. They try to bend the rules on just about everything they make & export.

Imagine the quality of their medical transcription.....

[* SHUDDER! *] :/
not only that, last week 172 miners in China
and they say China will take over the world in 2039-2040.....thankfully and hopefully by then I'll be longgggggggggggggg gone....*lol*
And India and China can organize their own
And the big salaries of AHDT board members will go bye-bye!
Walmart opened up 15 stores in CHINA....nm
x
2039/2040 is when CHINA will really control us.NM
x
India and China will undoubtedly be creating
Just as the blue collar workers in manufacturing can be replaced, in this global setting, so can the entire corporations - I give them 10 years before the enterprising businessmen in China, India (whereever US CEOs have fled to gain access to slave labor) steal the info and create their own companies and compete as they certainly would be happy with a fraction of the American CEOs income.
just wait - in 2039 or 2040 CHINA will rule...nm

It's CHINA for Pete's sake, where they still kill girl babies. Do you think
they have some sort of dog euthanasia patrol of paid government employees?  Puhleeeze yourself.
Does China now own a large portion of U.S. Treasury bonds? You sound "in the know."
dd
Agree, we are only seeing the beginning of losing so many jobs overseas to India, China, etc., etc.,
This is a sad reality.  However, our country has let this go on for years now.
UNBELIEVABLE!!! I am speechless. I literally have no words! A $5000 trip to China to teach

them how to steal our jobs?



 


 


I WASN'T GUESSING. I HEARD WHAT I HEARD VERY CLEARLY.
I don't even agree with what QA said, but they are QA. Question them, and your out the door.
article
51, trained on the job 26 years ago,
article...

I'm 57, learned on the job 28 years ago.  I can out transcribe people half my age.  I have no arthritis, no carpal tunnel syndrome, no fibromyalgia and only occasionally get a crick in my neck from my job.   My QA score is 100%, has been for years, and I type 90 wpm, transcribe 200 lph at least and that's on an account that is almost all ESL.   I could do this job another 20 or 30 years if I wanted to (barring sickness or accident that could happen at any age).


As far as the AAMT rep saying younger people are not lining up for this job - have they done anything to market MT to younger people?  I'm sure a lot of high school kids or even community college people would be interested in this work if they were educated about it. 


One last thought - the people they are offshoring this work to in India, Pakistan, Trinidad, the Philippines, are not spring chickens!!! 


I for one am sick of AAMT trying to justify their greediness by blaming their victims, the US MTs.


 


article
There was an article in the news online that said it has spread to 3 more countries through ducks and geese and that it's only a matter of time before someone carries it here.
one article
Boy do you have it wrong, we have both stated our sources about googliNG pet food ingedredients, and if you choose not too, that is your problem, I am sorry for your pets, but you need to read up, not one article but thousands. I hope you check your facts, sincerely,
Article
Can anyone tell me where this article was originally published? I forwarded it to a friend who asked... I wasn't able to tell her.

Thanks!
Article.........sm
http://health-information.advanceweb.com/common/EditorialSearch/AViewer.aspx?AN=HI_06may22_hip18.html&AD=05-22-2006

Try pasting this in your browser - it's an article from the latest Advance magazine called A New Set of Shoes for MTs!

I saw that article too

My first thoughts were like you, just another way to cheat us.  But then when I considered the possibility (trying to be kind here) that some companies are not giving us full credit for every character typed (as in perhaps counting 3 Keystrokes as 1 as has been mentioned here before), then even if they didn't pay us for spaces, we might make more in such a situation if they had to pay us for every single black character.  They can't hide that from us!  In other words, they would not be able to manipulate the line counting as much as I think they are doing now.  Now how much they would pay us for every black character might differ from company to company, but I think this might work in our favor overall.  If pay based on production is better for us than an hourly wage, we need to find what works most to our advantage.   And with the difference there is out there now in line counts from one company to another, pay by character might help us. 


And yes, even if it is a template, every character should still count as well as spaces, returns, tabs, demographic insertion, and also for our knowledge which comes into play every single time we keep the dictators from sounding like idiots and/or catching their mistakes.  Let's face it -- we do at least basic editing too, folks.  We are NOT just typists!  We should be reimbursed for our knowledge as well as production.   We're not donating our time to a charity here.  This is a way of making a living.  We should be paid for whatever we do for the company we work for, just like in any other job.  This might be a step in the right direction. 


I am cautiously almost hopeful. 


 


Here is the article
http://www.networkworld.com/net.worker/news/2002/0408networker.html
I think her article is a little sm
outdated in reference to VR.  Apparently she hasn't been out there in trenches lately.  There is a LOT of VR work out there and unfortunately the pay isn't great, in fact it's awful for the work involved.  Although it won't actually replace the MT, but rather move them into a different area, the pay is never going to match the effort that must go into it. 
FYI - article
I just read an article yesterday in the Oakland Press that Oakland County, Michigan, is getting rid of all their court reporters and going electronic to save money.
EMR Article
I have done transcription for about 19 years. Over the years I have been concerned about off-shoring and voice recognition, but still felt fairly confident about still having work for a long time. Now, with the EMR system coming into play, along with the other factors mentioned above, I feel that eventually, not too far off, this is a losing battle.

I love doing this type of work. It has supported my family while my kids were growing up, I had a secure hospital job, and the luxury of working at home, I have to face reality though.

I am going to go back to school and maybe look into being a radiology tech and/or ultrasound. I will not take anything in medical records, such as coding or biling, as I think that will also become automated eventually, and is already in some instances.

I think doing the editing and/or transcription (if there is any) would be a good part-time second job to have in addition to another job, but not fulltime, as I don't think you could support yourself. I still have a good 15 years or more of working left and do not want to be left out in the cold whle hoping that this is not really going to happen.

I think if the off-shoring could be addressed it would keep more work here in the long-run to keep us working until we have other options. I have seen postings here regarding contacting the president regarding off-shoring transcription (which is a good idea) but you need to also write your local congressman in your particular area. That is what they are there for (that is very important.)

It is ridiculous that the medical records of patients are so highly confidential, but yet we will send it to another country, and with the economy as horribile as it is too.

Maybe the government should retrain us LOL.

I do feel sorry for the newbies, and that these MT schools keep recruiting people into this occupation, and they probably know full well what is going on.

Just my opinion.
EMR article HERE
From Medscape Family Medicine
Physicians Are Talking About...
The Government Push for Electronic Medical Records

Posted 02/24/2009

Nancy R. Terry

The economic stimulus plan currently being considered by Congress allocates $20 billion to health information technology such as electronic medical records (EMRs). Recent postings on Medscape Physician Connect (MPC), a physicians-only discussion board, offer frank opinions about the utility of EMRs in clinical practice -- opinions that are decidedly mixed.

"EMR is the worst thing that has happened to me professionally in over 25 years of practice. My care of patients is impeded and the quality of my care is worse as a direct effect of the introduction of EMR," says a MPC contributor who championed the installation of an EMR system for his physician group.

"I absolutely love our EMR," says a nephrologist. "It has improved the quality of our practice immensely. I spent a lot of time customizing for our practice, but it was worth it. Everything is point and click. To improve care and cost, all patients need a Web-based collection of medical records that include hospitalization, lab reports, x-rays, as well as office notes. That would be the ultimate care."

Physicians who are dissatisfied with EMR systems cite loss of productivity, the negative impact on patient care, and high maintenance requirements. Physicians who have embraced EMRs cite the increased efficiency the systems have brought to their practices. EMRs tend to get high marks from subspecialists and low marks from primary care physicians.

Some of the MPC physicians least satisfied with their EMR systems are those practicing at large healthcare companies or medical centers. "My hospital solicited medical staff support for EMR," says one MPC contributor. "After implementation, administration took over and now EMR is solely for the benefit of medical records as a storage device. To he11 with the medical and nursing staffs. RNs are input clerics rather than beside nurses."

"The very few efficiencies were all on the administrative side," says a regional medical director who helped bring an EMR system to a nationwide healthcare company. "A good sales pitch with nice graphics and testimonials sell it, then the clinical staff is left to suffer."

"EMRs need to address work flows and clinical efficiencies and not seek to provide administrative support," says a general practice physician. "Unfortunately, the administrators are the ones with the time and energy. The rest of us are seeing patients."

In smaller practices, issues of EMR maintenance and support infringe upon patient care. "In my clinic," says a family medicine physician, "provider meetings are completely dominated by EMR issues and problems. There is virtually never time left for discussing topics pertinent to improving patient care."

In speaking about their day-to-day experience with EMRs, primary care physicians complain that entering patient information is cumbersome and time consuming, often because of a template-based system that does not reflect the patient encounter.

"The assumption of the EMR is that you already know the diagnosis when the patient arrives." says an MPC contributor. "This may be better for specialty care, but in primary care, patients come in with fatigue, rash, insomnia, diarrhea, and cough. It's difficult to enter all this until after the visit."

An internist who describes herself as "tech savvy" says that her system's scripted entries for patient information are inadequate. "If you free-text, it is much more time consuming. And we are discouraged from free-texting by our administration because it doesn't trigger adequate billing codes. Not only has it reduced my time with patients, it has added an extra 2 to 3 hours of work each night from home."
The Choice of Systems

"My advice to practitioners," says one MPC contributor, "is wait for a decent EMR that produces useful notes that accurately describe a patient encounter in a way that helps a clinician."

Waiting may not be an option for much longer, however. One provision of the government stimulus plan would impose reduced payments on physicians who are not "meaningfully using" information technology. Whatever is meant by the provision's phrasing, one thing is clear: the push is on to go electronic. Physicians must learn how to make information technology work for them. One EMR expert says that it starts with the choice of systems. "Primary care practices should stay away from templates and stick to a new program by Praxis® [Infor-Med Medical Information Systems, Inc., Woodland Hills, California] that uses pattern recognition of similar cases as well as rare cases. It decreases the workload immensely. For specialty practices, I recommend templates, and Visionary™ Dream EHR [Visionary Medical Systems, Inc., Tampa, Florida] is excellent in being very user friendly," says an MPC contributor whose research in medical management focuses on EMR systems.

Another MPC contributor notes that the technologically adventurous can customize an EMR system by using open-source software. In open-source systems, he explains, the source code needed for programming is included in the software, making the program infinitely adaptable. "When you buy most proprietary software, you have to accept the functions that come with it, as designed by the developers. With open-source systems, you can modify the software to your heart's content."
Is a Choice of Systems Really a Choice?

For some physicians, however, EMR systems remain a nonissue, and the heavy government funding of healthcare information technologies is nothing more than a smokescreen obscuring the real issues in primary care.

"The government and the public are not able to deal with the real problems facing medical practice and the real solutions necessary to turn it around (ie, reasonable reimbursement rates, malpractice reform, regulation of the unscrupulous practices of the insurance industry)," says an otolaryngologist. He adds that once healthcare information technology is "fully implemented and solves nothing, we can start to talk about real reform and real answers."



Author Information
Nancy R. Terry, medical writer and editor, Jackson Heights, New York

Disclosure: Nancy R. Terry, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Medscape Family Medicine. 2009; ©2009 Medscape
ER notes

Don't worry.  It has been my experience being a Transcriptionist for a huge hospital that I loved the ER notes the most.  They are really pretty much abbreviated H&P's and are sometimes the most interesting reports of all.  Not nearly as difficult as some surgeries or discharges notes can be.  Simple and brief and sometimes a really good story.


OP NOTES
I just started doing op notes at the hospital I work in and it is hard as there are so many different instruments they use that I have never even heard of. I use a surgical word book and Google a lot. That's about it.
To me, O.R. notes
get really boring.  I prefer discharges  - just my personal opinion.  Plus once I get used to them, I can go really fast. 
Doc notes

I do two internal medicine Docs, SOAP notes only and minor procedures and love it  I also did other specialities, but all that was lost to outsourcing to INDIA!


op notes
Operative notes.  Perhaps as far a leap from clinic work as is possible.  Not something for you to jump into with no experience. 
Not op notes but
This site has brand names of surgical instruments. You can choose by speciality and manufacturer also.

http://ptiresource.50megs.com/about.html
Even for op notes? sm
I can see where being paid this way would have its advantages when doing DS and work types where there is a lot of paper shuffling, looking for values, etc., but I am concerned about op notes where the dictation is speedier.
OP notes

I love doing OP notes. They are so interesting. Anyway there is a website that I use now and then and it is


www.mt911.com it also has samples.com on it and has alot of different samples.


Also a good reference book is The surgical word book by Saunders.


Hope this helps.


OP notes
I only type OPs. I have done it for 8+years and LOVE IT.  Its a niche that is hard for companies to fill, it seems.  I would say it would be a great move on your part.  Good luck!
Op notes
At my current company, op notes are paid at 9 cents a line for over a year experience. At my previous company, op notes were paid the same as any other type of report; cpl was based on difficulty of the account and ranged from 7.5 to 10 cpl, with op notes being paid the same as other basic 4 reports.