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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I just checked my employment agreement and...

Posted By: justwondering on 2005-09-26
In Reply to: Unless you signed something when you were hired - sm

it only says you have to return the equipment, it doesn't say who pays for it.  Should I just shut my mouth and pay for it so they don't hold my last check for ransom?


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Did you check and see what's checked or not checked in Preferences. Maybe something got messed up
s
I am in agreement with you. sm
I haven't seen the word type ever, either.  I use the hyphen non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Am in 100% agreement with you...
this is what I have been talking about. This is a job and should be treated as such and not just a vehicle for you to be able to stay home. Thanks for the good post. Most of the MTs answering are really, really touchy about this because they are the ones trying to be supermom, wanting to put all else before their job and then wondering why falling short in pay, time to actually work, etc. I have never said not to love your family- you just really need to have a separation of work and family.
I am in agreement.
I doubt anyone is working for a national making that kind of money the OP asks about.  You need to cut out the middle man, take the initiative, and gain some accounts for yourself unless of course, you don't want to leave the house and don't want the responsibility of doing just that.  It does take more than just sitting at the computer to gain accounts.  JMO.  I have my own accounts, not large, and I'm not an MTSO, but I'm making $35,000.00 a year, and I don't work that hard, but I do have many, many years of experience.  The accounts I have were through the docs watching me transcribe on-site and being impressed and I'm not patting myself on the back, but I do believe being on-site for awhile can do wonders for your career. 
total agreement with you - sm
I myself am in favor of trying to find out which hospitals outsource the work to India and then writing letters to the local newspapers as "letter to the editor" kind of thing to let the residents of the area know that their medical records are being sent out to India. But that's just my opinion.
do NOT sign any such agreement
x
I'm in total agreement with you.....sm

Do not kill them....unless poisonous or unless they strike!  They can be caught and released or given to someone or some group who specializes in handling snakes.


Killing is the coward's way out...killing something that you are 10 to 100+ times bigger than......unless of course it's about to strike or is poisonous!


non-compete agreement
GA girl, where are you? Do you have experience with a n.c. agreement in GA?
non-compete agreement
I read the posts below about the n.c. agreement and wonder if you have any knowledge of them. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.
Exactly, a mutual agreement...sm
Where you find someone you can trust to do quality work and help each other out.

As I am preparing to go out on my own also, here's what I was thinking. (Now this is just a thought.)

You tell your prospect up front in the agreement stages of obtaining the account that on the rare occassion that you need to take time off - i.e., vacations, etc., that you will type the most important charts, up to a limited amount of charts, during that timeframe.

I thought I would take a laptop with me (yes, even on vacation) and type 1 hour or so.

Then, when you return, you will have the backlog typed in xxx amount of days at xxx discounted charge.

Just a thought. I'm also trying to network with local Independent Contractors to work out a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
You need to consider formalizing your agreement with them. sm

You don't sound like an IC to me but more like an employee. I would suggest that you clarify your status with this office by way of a contract that states the services you offer and what your charge is for your service. This should include the definition of a line and your per-line rate. Then, if they increase production, you increase your income, and it shouldn't really matter to you if it's thank-you letters or patient notes as long as you're getting paid. This also allows you to outline exactly what you are willing to do for this office. As a compromise, you may want to consider stating that you will supply a missing patient list at the end of each day. Then, stick to it.


This office sounds like it needs a REAL office manager and not  the doctor's wife who fills in or a manager who apparently doesn't know how to manage her own job.


Good luck!


I am in total agreement with
I also have many, many years of experience and find it hard to believe that the pay is only 7 cpl when in fact you must have a lot of experience and learn new platforms, accounts, etc.  Production suffers initially, and then all of a sudden these MTSOs want to switch you to another account, which makes it almost impossible to make a decent living at 7 cpl. 
another voice in agreement with yours...
I've been doing this 13 years, some of it as a QA Editor (the only time I've ever heard of being promoted to a "higher position" yet making significantly less money...)and I agree with all of the above. My favorite is when you put in for a raise and get ignored, time and again, even though you are called a high producer and put on difficult accounts because you "do so well on them". Also, voice recognition is going to destroy this profession entirely probably sooner than later. It's all changing completely. I finally decided I'd had enough and went back to college a couple years ago to change professions entirely. In a year and a half, I'll have my new degree and be done with MT forever and it will probably be the happiest day of my life.
Here's a wry smile of agreement instead. NM
NM
Confidentiality Agreement
Does anyone have a generic confidentiality agreement that they use for their clients.  I have new doc, and I don't have any agreement in my file.  I have signed theirs, but do not have one to offer the new doc.  Anybody have one or know where I can find one?  Thanks so much.
Confidentiality Agreement
There was an Agreement of Confidentialty that was posted on 05/20/09 by DeeAnn. that was really good. Hope this helps.
The scope of the agreement is much broader
It gives them the right to look at ANY document on your computer, any email you have sent.  They want to see who you communicate with, what you say to whom.  They want to manage what information about the company is sent out on message boards or anywhere on the internet.  They want to restrict any negative comment about the company from being posted anywhere on the internet or in private email.
I am in total agreement with what you have written
This job was quite enjoyable in my younger years and while it sounds like pay was low back in the 1980s, the cost of living was low as well.

Another 4-5 years of serious studying and I could have possibly obtained a degree in an area which had better job security, had a future I could count on and didn't require 50-60 hours of week of work to bring home 50G.

Plus, at 48, my hips, hands, hearing, have taken a beating that I am not really being compensated for, most jobs after 20 yrs, land a person into a supervisory position of some sort that allow the worker to teach what they know, and yes, to relax somehat and let the young and spunky ones keep up the grueling schedules.

So, in retrospect, I would have gotten student loans, applied for grants, did what I had to in order to acquire a higher education (I wanted to be a doctor).

MT employment
I would be interested in getting into any kind of MT employment.
Employment
Hi Cheryl - Can you email me at deb@medicaldictation.com?

IRS says I owe $$$ for self-employment tax (sm)

I just received a letter from the IRS saying I owe over $7000 for 2003.  It looks like they say I owe self-employment taxes for that year.  I was an SE that year and employed by a national.  Is this a mistake?  Has anyone else had this problem?  I'll call or go to an office tomorrow.  I'll be up all night working anyhow, but heck knows what I'll be typing while I contemplate this...


 


Again SE do not owe self employment tax. nm
:
That is what self-employment tax is for - sm
as stated below you fill out a schedule C and a SE when doing taxes; this takes care of your FICA (SS) and Medicare payments.
Self-employment

Just wait and see what happens.  Don't panic yet.  It is not worth it financially, but worth it for the flexibility.  I just gave up 10 years of being self-employed and flexible to go inhouse for a sure job.


 


 


You should have signed a confidentiality agreement which allows you to type this unless-
you do not feel comfortable typing it, in which case I would ask my supe to reassign it.
part of the agreement is to not portray the company in a
.
I'm in TOTAL agreement with you, I just hope they don't retaliate.
x
This is not illegal in most states. Sometimes it's in the divorce agreement.
nm
Try calling back about a payment agreement.

deal with compared to my state department of revenue!  I owed taxes over $10,000 in taxes two years in a row to the IRS, so over $20,000, and they let me make payments on it and I got it paid off.  I also got the INTENT TO LEVY notices, but when I called and set up a payment agreement they stopped with the threats.


Right now I owe the IRS about $5000 and when I called to set up payments I asked them if I could make payments of $150 a month and they accepted that without question.  I was a little afraid to suggest such a small amount, but they took it.


Now my state department of revenue is much meaner than the IRS.  They told me to pay what I owe them in six months or else.  They put a lien on my house.  They will only accept payments if I take the total and divide by 6 and pay that amount each month (impossible for me to pay that much) so I am just in a holding pattern seeing if they are bluffing or if they really are going to do something.


I'd say if you really have nothing of value the IRS can get, then it is to their advantage to work with you.  I think you just got a bad agent.  Call back and try to get another one that will work with you. 


Despite having just read the Subscriber Agreement, Section #10...
Re: Limited warranty on Equipment (stars); their legal people pretty much covered their ass. However, based on my experience with IPs, if you keep plugging away (it may takes months), eventually they will tire, thus removing said charges. Again, be prepared for a long battle and make sure to document everything, and I do mean everything. Please keep me posted.
Self-Employment Taxes are different, hun.
If you're getting a paystub, you're not self-employed so I don't know what you're talking about. Small business is taxed heavily in California.
employment opportunities
Have you thought about getting into medical record coding? I have a friend who went back to school at age 59 and is now coding and she had no medical experience at all -had worked for Nokia and Motorola for years and got tired of the layoffs - she loves it other than getting the overseas dictation to decifer - but that would be easier for you as an experienced transcriptionist. It's just a thought - but you would probably breeze through the course or might could find a hospital that would train you doing ER coding.
self-employment taxes
Can anyone tell me how much I need to pay for self-employment tax? I'm thinking about taking a position as an IC and I don't know what percentage needs to be taken out for taxes. Please me tell what ya'll are doing. Thanks!
SELF-EMPLOYMENT FANTASY

Am I living in a dream world thinking that I can actually find clients that will allow me to establish the rules by which I will run MY business?  Or, does being successfully self-employed in this industry mean that I must allow the clients to walk all over me?  I am flexible to a degree, but just want to be able to set limits while still being able to make a living.  Maybe I should find some other industry?


Our agreement with our clients regarding referring physician names
When we accept a new client, we request a listing of all referring physicians and their addresses. We enter those names and addresses into our address database which can be accessed by the MT at any time while transcribing the report. They can search by first name, last name, partial name, city or state. We also instruct the physicians/dictators (and their staff) to SPELL physician names if they have not been provided on the initial list. If the dictator dictates a name not found in the database or does not spell a name, the MT has permission to leave a blank (or spell phonetically with a flag for the dictators staff). Our clients print their own work and can make changes/corrections to documents at their end. Therefore, it is THEIR responsibility to fill in the blanks if the dictator uses a name not provided or if he/she does not spell the name. QA staff does not have TIME to look up addresses, and in my opinion, doing so would be a huge waste of our skill. We edit hundreds of reports daily and if we had to research names and addresses in each report, we would never meet our turn-around time agreement. Additionally, we have a customer service department at our home office who can assist MTs with issues such as this. Check with your supervisor/QA staff to confirm what your company policy is regarding names and addresses. Perhaps blanks are acceptable for physician names. As we all know, even if the dictator dictates John Smith, it's possible the name is spelled Jon Smythe. There is no possible way for you to know that; therefore, it should be the CLIENT'S responsibility to confirm the spelling and add the address.
when you work for a national, you sign a confidentiality agreement...?
the same rules would apply, and you must have signed a confidentiality agreement with whomever you work for. you can be fired, if breached.

my opinion, as a professional, you transcribe it and mums the word...

when I worked in a hospital, someone was caught 'sharing' information about the CEO from a transcription report, and was fired on the spot.
It's a written rule in some companies confidentiality agreement.
I know my company has it as a written rule so it just is not good business. I would think an MT would know this
http://www.oracleti.com/employment.htm
x
It depends on employment status.
When I was an employee at the hospital, they paid for my phone lines.  As an IC, I pay for my phone lines.  I've only worked for one company that required me to dial into their system using my phone line, and that didn't work out due to constant phone calls bouncing me off their system.  Now I just have one phone line and DSL, so I won't work for a company that wants me to dial in to a Lanier.
TN doesn't have State self-employment tax?
I'm moving!! :)
Employment after home study
Does anyone know who will hire a Transcriptionist who has studied at home? Also, will they hire you if you have not been employed as a transcriptionist outside your home? (I have a little hospital experience but years ago).
Court Reporting Employment
How do you get into this field of work?
the self-employment tax IS the 1/2 of your social security...
"On top of the self-employment tax, etc., you don't get the benefit of your company paying 1/2 of your social security so that is where most of your money at tax time goes to. "  please don't post if you don't know what you're talking about.
Your $7182 only cost you $538 in self employment tax...sm
you seem to be missing the fact that there is always 15% paid on your income taxes, 7.5% from your employer and 7.5% from you. When you are self employed, you only pay an additional 7.5% (because you are the employer). You pay the other stuff anyway. No way around it. Death and taxes, ya know.
Has anyone had problems with getting responses for other employment?

Your taxes do not pay employment insurance.
You don't have a right just because you want it.

If your unemployment is govt-subsidized in anyway, remember you're riding on my tax dollars too and I say no way!

An experienced MT in your employment is worth

Sorry, but that needed to be said again - for all you MTSO's out there reading these boards, who think it's good business to keep losing top-notch MTs due to dismal pay rates, and simply replacing them with less-experienced (or worse, OFFSHORE) workers, here's a news flash:  


A seasoned MT in your employ is a money-maker for you, and they should be paid closer to 15-18 cpl to START... not the lousy 7-8 cpl peanuts you're so callously throwing at them. The people who are sending you dictation are for the most part huge, wealthy establishments that can afford to pay a premium price for the premium quality transcription and "I-want-it-yesterday" turnaround-time they're demanding from you.


So please grow a spine, and charge them for what you're MT service is really WORTH.  Don't sell yourselves (and ultimately your MTs) short by always having to bring in the lowest bid for an account.  You might just see more high-quality accounts, and less of the *garbage*.   And then, try paying your MTs who are lining your pockets with money a fair wage with decent benefits, and see how many more of them will stick with you instead of constantly changing jobs in search of one that pays.  Not only would it be the right thing to do morally, but it would be a better for business in the long-run.   


 


Would you wait until your first year of employment is up
to discuss wage increase or would you just get right to it now and not wait til a year is gone by?
question about pre-employment tests

I'm a long-time IC, but new to applying to jobs from a forum like this and am hitting the employment trail! I've applied to jobs that I see on the Job Seekers forum just by submitting my resume on the board. When I visit their own websites, they often have pre-employment tests too. Do I go ahead and take these tests or am I supposed to be "invited" to test for them, like I hear people talking about on these forums? I don't want to take the test if I'm not supposed to yet, but I figure if it's on their main website it must not be private.


Any advice for this new job hunter? Thanks.


I've used TurboTax for self-employment
and never had any troubles at all. I've used them for about 4-5 years now.
In total agreement, Chris and ManDIVA rule, Taylor