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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I knew one that worked 18 hours a day and had a stroke

Posted By: me on 2006-02-21
In Reply to: I knew a woman... - emtee

and could not work for a long time after that. We have to be so careful in this business.


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I heard they were not nice to work for. Knew people who have worked there and left.
This is secondhand information, but I trust the people that told me this.
I worked for two hours right away this morning.
Then I went to the farmer's market and stocked up on the space hogging veggies I don't have growing in my garden, like potatoes, corn, and beets.  Now I'm supposed to be outside ripping off the back deck and sorting through junk with hubby and the kids.  However, it's 97 degrees out and my allergies are bugging me, so I came inside to package some things that need to go to the post office.  I have to go pick some veggies in the garden and weed the flowerbeds today, but the air conditioning is too nice.  We're ripping out a concrete pad when the deck dismantling is done.  Who said weekends were supposed to be relaxing?  Oh, well.  I can relax in my new office and dining room when it's all done.....  Whenever that might be....  LOL
I have worked so many jobs, so many hours before
in my life it is time for me to slow down and enjoy life more. One thing about working as much as I did in the past, gosh that social security really increased to a wonderful draw now that it has started. I am not planning on leaving MTing but just don’t have to sweat those 2, 3 and 4 jobs at 1 time. I did it, figure others csn do the same. I was young, healthy and willing at that time, now not so much.
Doctors documenting hours worked

Does anyone else find it unseemly that some of these doctors are now stating at the end of the report how much time they spent examining the patient, talking to the staff, other doctors, the family members, reviewing chart data, attempting a lumbar puncture, etc., from 9 to 12 and again 1 to 2, for a total of 3 hours?


For some reason, this seems very unprofessional to me.  Am I just being cranky?


 


Yes, I am - worked 7 hours @ 3218 lines.
It all depends on your account and worktype you transcribe, as well as your expander. I am an MT with 25 years experience also, transcribing all acute care, mostly op reports.

As far as tricks, I don't have any. I consistently do at minimum 2500 lines in 5-6 hours daily. I think the key is the account you transcribe.

I have been where you are now, and it is not fun. I finally found my company/account and have for the past 6 months. I have to enjoy while it is here, tomorrow may be a different story.

Keep looking for that right company/account. You will come upon it soon. Good luck.
Hours Worked and Line Count
I have a question about worked hours and line count.  These are remote transcriptionists who are employees--receiving all benefits.  The transcriptionists have a minimum daily line count and are scheduled for 8 hours per day.   At the end of the week they are paid time and a half for extra lines transcribed.   Do most companies require transcriptionists to stay on the system a full 8 hours ?  If a Transcriptionist can produce the required line count in 6 hours, can they be required to stay on for their full 8 hour shift ?  On the other side, can companies require that the transcriptionist be on the system for only 8 hours and must complete their line count in that time ?  Our system does not keep track of time logged into the system, meaning that some are on the system more/less than others.   I would appreciate any input into what can be required of an employee when they are working on production.  Thanks.
i think anywhere from 14 to 20 an hour depending on hours worked, kind of work, etc.
nm
Have never known shift lead who just worked 8 hours a day for 5 days. By the time they
:+
actual typing time versus hours worked-venting here

I just have to vent about companies that keep track of your actual "typing time" and then say you are not putting in your 40 hours.  I always come up short and not by just a few hours.  They have said I worked only 60 hours when I worked 80.  But they say "their system is not wrong."


For one thing when you look up old reports or do research on-line or if you walk to the fridge, that shouldnt count as "not working" as long as you are getting your line rate.  Also something is wrong because I dont take that much time looking up things.


Also how can they get by with making you work 40 hours when you are paid "production?"  This is wrong.  Either pay me by the hour or leave me alone!!


 


She looks like she has had a stroke.
nm
Only one key stroke

You can set it up so that you use just CTRL L or whatever combo you want.  If you do a lot of editing, this can save you one or two Keystrokes from placing the spaces in, deleting the first character of the next sentence and making it a capital.


Someone on here posted once that she has a macro that only saves her one total keystroke.  She's a QA editor, though, and she uses that macro hundreds of times a day.....................doing the math......................


Anything that saves you keystrokes = more productivity = more $$$.


One character or key Stroke is equal
... to one byte (including spaces or anyother character, remember one KEY STROKE regardless of the input). If you ever want to calculate your bytes for certain amount of text -> paste it on NotePad and save it as text file. Later you can right click on the file to get it's properties to see it's exact size.
I understand some don't pay for spaces, but that one key stroke isn't a big deal IMO.

I would think having your document look right would be more important than whether or not you had to strike one extra key.  After all, we use a lot of tools like ShortHand and get paid for the whole word even if we just use a 2-3 letter code. 


I guess I am just not getting what the big deal about hitting the space bar again would be even if you aren't paid to do so.


My hubbie had a massive stroke in 1996 and since then I have been the only income...sm
in our home. Our vehicles were repossessed on Christmas eve of that year and within 6 months of his stroke we lost everything. We had no car, no home, etc, but by luck insurance paid most of his medical bills, but our credit was shot. He has not been able to work since and I am an MT, so that probably tells you what type of money we are making. I am only telling you this because there is light at the end of the tunnel. You hubbie will be able to work again and it might take some time, but you will be able to get out of this mess. I would recommend a book by Dave Ramsey called "The Total Money Makeover" and he explains how to get completely out of debt no matter what your situation. He also has a daily radio program, you can go to his web site and find it, but he really has advice that can help you right now. I am not sure if you are a believer, but prayer right now if you are can really help to give you some peace. I really do understand where you are at and have been in your shoes. Believe me, it will get better. Please feel free to email if you need to talk.
My doc is speaking....fruit salad...not making any sense. ?stroke

  This doc stutters, stammers, doesn't know how to use the reverse key to make corrections and ...corrects over himself all the time so I have no idea what he REALLY means...


Talks through his nose, buries the words up somewhere in his left sinus I think, drops off the ends of words, I think he EATS that last parts of words so they never get said....


and now tonight he will just say terms like ...Temperature 98.5....then a pause...then Temperature 98.6....then he says I'm sorry....then he just starts in talking about the spine.


 


It's like standard phrases are just falling out of his mouth as he sits there and he's not even knowing he's saying them and they have no connection to what he's doing. 


 


HE'S DRIVING ME NUTS.....ER than I am. 


It sounds like you've got a key stroke in your macro that retrieves from your clipboard.
I would delete the macro and start again.  Be very deliberate and slow so you are aware of every keystroke in the macro.  That's what I've had to do in the past.  Sometimes I will even just one finger it so I can watch every key I hit.  It's a pain, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
I nearly suffered heat stroke taking a bike ride in 105 degrees.
dd
it can also perform utilities - one stroke deletes 1 through X words to the left, jump up
x
I knew him well before I asked him out, so I knew
a long time before our first date that he was the one for me. He didn't know it that soon, but I did.
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit

you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.


That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT.  Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day.  My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive.  If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.


Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs.  JMO, tho.


FDA warns that it delivers higher doses than expected, and has a higher rate of stroke. (sm)
http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/115/111590.htm
If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.

They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
Every company is different -- I worked FT for one as an employee but worked a split shift - sm
So I never took breaks. I would work 5 hours, break for about 4 hours then do another 3. Another company I worked for did not care what hours you worked (IC) but wanted a min. amount of work each day, 500 for PT and 1000 for FT-- BUT they paid you by how many lines an hour you put out, the higher the lph the higher up the scale you made per line in pay; they have since changed everyone to a flat rate with incentive. But bottom line, if you are an IC it does not matter what hours you work, though many ask for a schedule and ask you to stick to it, they just want you to meet line requirements daily, i.e. 1000 per day, 1200 per day, whatever it is.
I got up early, worked during naps, and worked when DH got home.

You have to be disciplined to make yourself work when baby is napping instead of maybe watching TV or doing housework, etc.   


I might also go the route of having a teen come into your home, or either trying a mother's morning out program at a local church/daycare.   I've been home since my youngest was born and he has never been in all-day daycare, but I did have him in a mother's morning out program 15 hours a week at a local church.   It didn't help a lot with my work schedule because I had an older son in school and was a room mom and tutored other kids, but that might be an option.  The only problem with the mother's morning out program is they are around other kids and tend to pick up every germ.  I finally took my DS out of the program because he stayed sick.  You were supposed to keep them off if they had green nasal discharge and I did, but no one else did.  Every time I got him well after 2 to 3 days back he would be sick again.  Other than that it was very good for him because he would not have had a chance to be around kids his age otherwise. 


I knew it had to be you! - sm
Sorry you are having trouble and I hope it is fixed soon!  Don't work too hard!
Of course she knew that (sm)
She obviously hasn't had her own medication today.
What about it? We already knew about that..
huh?
See? You knew someone would ask... sm
I try to be concise too, but sometimes you just gotta throw it all in there.

Your reasons are totally justified and I figured they were just by the tone of your post, but for future reference we need ALL THE FACTS!! LOL

Have fun, sweetie!
I knew almost right away

I'd say it was at the very early stages of our relationship that I started to realize that i could marry him.. then I kept telling myself "what are you nutz? you barely know this guy! stop thinking that!! LOL


But now looking back, there was some kind of "special spark" that was there & that was unique from any other experience. We both remember when we first (very briefly) met. We didnt actually start talking and getting to know each other until about 5 months after that. Then when we started talking/dating, it was like we had known each other for yrs, we were just immediately comfortable with each other & had this "chemistry".


it was great, it still is great, i hope it stays great!!


 


Wish I knew
x
Um, I knew when I was 5.
and no one did a thing to me. Gosh, there goes your theory! Sorry 'bout that.
I knew there was something about the IBM M15

From here:


http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/12675/subcatid/0/id/125888


Maybe the folks at Clickykeyboards.com could give you some leads on where to get it repaired, if not the other site I posted above. 


Once again, good luck! 


I knew it!!!
I "frickin" knew you meant that how I took it! Yay! Another fan! Got my laugh for the night! Thanks!
If you knew then what you know now....
I've been an MT now for almost 10 years.  I don't know about you but I didn't really give MT a lot of thought before I decided to get into this business.  It seemed like a good way to go with my typing skills and interest in the medical field.  Plus it sort of "fell into my lap" with an opportunity that was too good to pass up.  So I plunged in and starting learning what I needed to get started and took it from there.  Wow, what a long journey and I'm still learning new things all the time.  Looking back I really don't think I would have gone into this field had I known all the blood, sweat and tears required just in order to get started, not to mention even now keeping things going day to day.  I am honestly glad I did stick with it because it has worked very well for my family situation over the years.  Some days I am fed up with it but it has so many other benefits that outweigh the negatives.  So, I keep sticking with it and keep going day to day.  How about you?  If you knew then how hard it would be would you have run the other way?  I know I probably would have but I am glad I didn't have a clue and kept plugging away. 
Wow! I never knew that, though we have
spoken many times. I had no idea you - disallowed - offshore MTs to post here? That is really sad to me, but I'm glad I know now. Your 100% right as owner of the board, but also my choice to now not be a part of something like that. Thanks for sharing.
WOW - I never knew that
nm
thanks - I already knew that....*L*...sm

but because of what you said, I went back in to windows update and told it to let me know when they are available and not to download or install them until I say it's okay. 


oh well, looky looky - Windows update is trying to install IE7 - so you're incorrect I do believe:


Size: 14.8 MB


This free upgrade to Internet Explorer for genuine Windows customers offers improvements such as: enhanced security to help protect you from malicious software and fraudulent websites; a cleaner look, including tabs for browsing multiple pages in one window; features to make everyday tasks such as printing and searching the web easier. This upgrade preserves your current home page, search settings, favorites, and compatible toolbars, and can be uninstalled if you decide to do so.


More information for this update can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=71727


Thanks so much..just knew there had to be a way! nm
nm
I knew right away because I keep

my TV on (in another room) and just happened to be getting a drink of water when the first one hit. I immediately called the hospital I work for and they told me to keep them informed. Well, I could barely tear myself away from the TV that day. Thank heavens, my hospital was very understanding. I reported every time something happened which, on that day, was about every half hour.


I also had scanners in my office and would inform the hospital MTs when the ER was diverting patients, or if there was a bad accident or fire, so they would get a heads up for STAT work coming their way. It worked out well.


I couldn't work without noise of some type. With the job I have now, I only have the TV on but not the scanners anymore. I listen to the traffic reports as my husband works 60 miles away and needs that info if traffic is tied up on his route to or from work.


 


I knew somebody who
went to a dermatologist for it. The dermatologist gave her injections into the scalp. I believe it was prednisone or something like that.

I remember going to school with somebody who had a patch on the side of his head that he'd had since he was very little. It didn't show as long as he didn't get his hair cut short.
Yes, I knew that because
I have searched for medical-related terms before and got responses from where someone else had asked the same thing on here!
Never knew that.

That set-up sounds so simple and cost-effective as well.  I didn't know you used steno pads.  The carbon paper would terrify me, though! 


 


I knew it!!!!

So really, the only GOOD JOBS out there are for Newbies or Indians!!!! 


 


Great. 


I have learned something!! I never knew this was possible!
I've always thought liquids damaged/ruined keyboards, but I guess I was wrong. What a good idea you all have!!
Wow, I never knew that existed!
At least you were spared 35 or more years of that "monthly" stuff!!!
This is exactly when I knew it was time to
I found myself losing my social skills and having nothing to talk about to my husband when he got home.

Time to move on and be back in society. I'm much happier and feel like an interesting conversationalist again.