Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I love OPs because they can be so interesting. (sm)

Posted By: MT1981 on 2008-12-14
In Reply to: Why do so many people LOVE operative notes? I see posts about it all the time... - jj

Give me something to transcribe like a total cystectomy with an ileal conduit and neobladder creation, or an open brain surgery with PCA aneurysm clipping or meningioma resection, or any other kind of really complicated OP, and I'm happy!!


Kind of morbid, sure, but still fascinating to do.


Of course, one can do only so many laparoscopic cholecystectomies or C-sections per day before it becomes a bit monotonous/




Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

love, love, love the show. hate american idol. this show is for real.
the only reason i entertained watching it was because of mark burnett and as usual he has such genious casting and editing. btw, don't know who anything about "metal" music but these performers make me like it. love marty and jd as performers. HATE JESSICA. susie is so nice and so emotional. it seems they all support each other and enjoy each others skills. regarding ty and bob marley, ty was excellent but he also lucked out on the song! bob marley was genious too and his music is very easy to listen to. i don't like 3/4 of what the others are given to sing but their performances make me love the music. dave navarro shines on this show, very gracious for the most part and letting the contestants down easy when they have to leave. he was great last night with brandon (?). sweet, sweet show. i am so impressed with everyone involved.
Yep that's it, 4000. Love, love love the zoom
But I feel like a dork typing...every time I try to type But it is coming out as Nut!
I love it too - love doing my nails 5 hours a day and staying awake

Love NOT getting paid while sitting doing my nails too.  It's a real turn on.


I tell all my friends to try it -- sit in front of your computer while you have no money to pay your rent and instead do your nails, you get a real buzz down in the pit of your stomach.


 


Also LOVE LOVE ESCRIPTION and make good money but...
Can I ask how you sit there for 8 hours. Lately, I'm having a motivation problem. When I focus, I can rack up the lines, but lately, I get so easily distracted. My mind wanders and I struggle to get my lines. Any tips on how you stay productive who do you work for?? I work for Transcend.
People either love it or hate it. I personally love it
but I know a lot of people say you cannot make any money on it and will not work on it. I do okay. I'm obviously not getting rich but I am making a living. I found it easier than Dictaphone and faster such in downloading and uploading job and you only have to log on one system and not like Dictaphone where you have to log onto the VPN and then log onto the program. It's always worth a try, but yes, the biggest complaint I hear is that no one can make a living and the cpl isn't that great.
Well, isn't this interesting
A job ad on another board caught my eye.  It stated they pay on a 65 character line plus numbers and punctutation.  If they are stating they DO pay for numbers and punctuation, would that not mean that some companies are not paying for those items???  OMG, it just gets worse and worse the way MTSO's are finding new ways to screw the workers.  Gee, no wonder we were told to not spell out numbers any longer. 
I think it's interesting as well....
While MTs often think it's fine for them to throw out every negative they can think of about a company, they tend to freak to think a company might tell the negatives they experienced about the MT. Why is that?  I understand the need for MTs to support each other, it's good for us. Yet surely we arent' so naive as to think every MT is good, skilled, and has a work ethic that should demand the kind of respect they seem to feel entitled to. In my experience, it's not always the company who is at fault, thus I take everything with a grain of salt and make my own judgements.
Yes, she has a very interesting bio
and she seems like she is a genuinely nice person.  Just not a fan.  (feeling a little less contrary now)
Yes, well its interesting the big 3 will be for me...
if I decide go to school, I work in Health Insurance and here a lot of words and I process claims and thought I would try a practice tape of a friend.... thanks for the help
I think it will be interesting to see how many--sm
"big stars" donate millions to the relief effort. Bono and Brad Pitt went to Africa--will they go to our South also??
VERY INTERESTING
This is probably similar to what I have heard about, called EMR (electronic medical records). I work for a very large orthopaedic clinic (as my part-time job) and I have been told that they are going to implement this in the next two years, but they expect with all the docs and everything that it will take three to five years to totally run with it. It upsets me because it will eliminate the need for Transcriptionist as well as billers. Apparently this EMR does it all. I'm trying to get my finances in order so that I can go to nursing school because I don't feel secure in the field anymore. I am a single mother and I have over 20 years experience. It's just a shame.
Interesting! I know somebody

a check for around $100.


I thought too it was just for folks who had typed on DQS, but not so!


So, the mystery continues.


interesting
Wow, that is interesting. What have your topics been? Maybe the info was too helpful and someone was threatened? Who knows!
so interesting
Your comments are so interesting to me. I have had the same experience with MQ and it has been really difficult. I've gone into debt working for them. What I don't get is why they wouldn't want us to produce. When we produce, they make money. It's a no brainer. What's the deal?
interesting
My first husband I met at a work party (I was a paramedic). He was a cop who volunteered part time. My second I met online in a chat room. He messaged and said "I'm looking for a wife" and I told him "well good luck to you" and shut him off. 9 years later here were are! My oldest son met his wife online, and I did a singles ad online for my ex and he met someone and married as well.
Interesting...
I own a service, and the ladies who transcribe for my clients are referred to as subcontractors, not independent contractors (ICs).
Interesting
If anyone has used this, please share your experience.
Interesting
I can't wait to be out in the field learning medicine everyday. I am learning now in school, but it isn't the same. I am not good about reading the news mostly because of my lack of time. Transcribing would keep me in the loop much better. I think of Oncology, and I think sadness. You are right it would be interesting to see the new technology that prolongs life.

Interesting ...
I've run across few of us with the same name in this biz.  Nice, I guess, to know there's at least another out there.
That's interesting...sm
I had to have a license when I had an "office" outside of home with employees, etc.,  but not now since working at home.  Been home for 8 years now without one and my accountant says I don't need one.  I know many, many IC's at home none required to have a license.  I'm certainly not arguing with you, just think that is strange.
That is quite interesting, but
I have always considered myself a pretty good judge of character. For instance, the first time I saw Mr. Mason I said that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his fiancee, who later came to be known as "The Runaway Bride".

Anyway, I really feel that in the case of Patsy Ramsey she is innocent. (I think too that her battle with ovarian cancer began before the murder took place . . . can't remember for sure.)

Another thing, I see the photos of Van der Sloot and the Kalpos, and I can just see the horns, tails, and pitchforks as though they were part of the picture . . . I'll be surprised if it is found that they had nothing to do with the disappearance of Natalie, but no matter what I feel certain that they are up to no good.

interesting
To see these responses.  I have been in 25 years and I think it's getting steadily worse.  I was single and divorced for 9 years prior, and I think those must have been "the good years"!  Maybe not as much $, but a LOT less stress!  At my age, I don't need it!
Interesting!!!

I did go to your link and found out it is KForce.  I looked at their jobs and they do have positions for traveling transcriptionists (also for traveling coders).  It looks like the MTs are needed in Pittsburgh and somewhere in Oregon.  Also looks like the pay is $20/hour. 


That would be fun to do.


But don't you think a hospital would send out work to a service rather than have a temp come in to do their work?


That would be interesting to know -
x
Very interesting
Now I see why so many errors in reports. Some of you are tuned to the tube instead of paying attention. Yeh, Im talking about you, I know who ya are.
interesting
I am probably going to get bashed for this, but I have to say it is interesting how this thread has just totally spiraled and how it keeps going around and around with basically how hard this and that job is, and how great this or that job is, and how great this or that education is.

My experience with has been this... When I was a CNA, some of the LPNs at the nursing home would never miss a chance to gloat about how superior they were because they were LPNs and we were "just" CNAs. When I was an LPN at my first hospital job, there were those RNs who could never miss a chance to gloat at how superior they were because we were "just" LPNs. As an LPN I then worked at a medical equipment company and primarily dealt with insurance submissions, the enteral feeding line and incontinence line. At that job, I was viewed as lower on the totem pole by some because I didn't have maybe as glamorous job as someone who did marketing for wheelchairs or something like that. Now that I am doing transcription, I run into the you are "just" a typist.

I have to say that if I waited for everyone in the world to think that my job was important to feel satisfied doing it, well... it could be a long wait. I know that in each job I have had that I am making a difference to someone somewhere by doing my small part, and knowing that I am doing a good job is my own satisfaction in itself.

This whole situation reminds me of that Dr. Seuss book/movie about the star-bellied sneeches... any moms out there know what I am talking about?
Interesting...
Class and Style? I would rather have a job.

Thanks for sharing your opinions, but the bottom line is simple: people do MT training in order to have a career and income. That is why people turn to Career Step.

Speaking of class and style, you should visit the websites of various schools; it seems Career Step is winning in that department, too.
How interesting! Thank you. nm
*
That's interesting

I'll have to try that.


I have been setting up one row the way I want and then doing just a Ctrl-C and pasting it into the next row. Once I get a few rows built up, I copy the block of rows and paste a block at a time.


Fortunately I have decided to let this account go so I won't have to do this much longer. If there are any radiology MTs out there looking for pretty much all the work you can handle and then some, click on the link below. It's a good account, but I have two other part-time accounts that provide enough income and I just don't need the stress.


 


Interesting you should say that
Actually I used to drive truck before I did MT work. Believe it or not, I make more money now than I did then. If the wheels aren't turning you make no money, just like you don't if your fingers aren't typing.
Isn't it interesting?
I find it interesting to see how everyone reacts to a message like the one posted. Years do not give you a leg up in this business, knowledge and application of it do, however. I have worked in all aspects of this business and I have come to realize that certainly not every MT with years, with a CMT, with an HIM degree or that sort of qualification makes you a good transcriptionist. It is not about time in .. it is about what you know. It is not about the technology per se, it is about how willing are you to be flexible and learn the new stuff and it is very much about showing up to do your without an attitude. It is about not cherrypicking while at work because you respect your colleagues! It is about helping those around you be better at what they do that strengthens your own resolve.

How many companies fail because they cannot find dependable help, knowledgeable help who do not put a hang nail before showing up for work and doing their shift. How many need continuing education to stay current in this business but feel it is an intrusion.

Perhaps Dee was taken out of context .. she has been in business for years and has very good things to say about her MTs. Ever been in a room with MTSOs joking about the people who work for them? Most unsavory, let me tell you!! I am not defending Dee if the quote is what she said, but I might point out too that M-TEC's reputation is a good one amongst MTs primarily and that to me is the best advertisement for a program - how well the grads have done overall. My phone rings and I get stoked about some new atrocity every single day, but I have long come to realize that I can only watch my own back and I have settled down into doing just that and to preserving my very own ability to be employable. I find it works well! I am making good money and I have pulled the knives out of my back and am finally sort of having a life!
interesting...
These are some interesting posts. I had the same thought, that maybe he thinks this career is not impressive enough, because he certainly was proud of me when I was a cancer registrar. This makes me wonder. But anyway, I am not out to impress anyone. If this is what he is feeling, then he will have to get over it. He is very academic and you may have touched on something here. I will ask him when we are talking again...
Yes it is interesting...
but you must admit that some of the questions asked are very basic.  I look at the word board all the time just to see if I can figure out what the poster is asking.  For instance, the posts by AJ.  If this person had an ENT reference book, it would be very easy to go by what she/he is hearing, look under fracture and they could have come up with zygomatic. Less time than it takes to post and wait for an answer.  Same with the other 2 questions AJ asked.  Very basic. 
that's interesting

I was just checking out that site for filesanywhere.com - I gave them a call - they said they are a "webfolder" and I am checking into that - it sounds like a possibility, but any other ideas still appreciated. 


Have you ever used filesanywhere or know if it works well for anyone?  Thanks


Interesting...
Most cardiologists I've typed for over the years have been pretty persnickety about the accuracy or what they dictate; cannot imagine any of them putting up with badly transcribed reports. What kind of doctors must these be, I wonder. Spooky.
Interesting

So you put your phrases first, and your words second in the phrase side?  How do you do this?  I am horrible at reading comprehension and have read the book that came with Instant Text a million times but I still get confused on some things.  I have been putting things like "anticoagulant therapy" as "anth" on the phrase side as well.  Can all of these smaller entries be moved down to the bottom of the list?  Any help or suggestions is welcomed. 


Interesting

I'm going to have to think about and process this.  It makes total sense.  It also takes away the time you would spend proofing your own document. 


I'm stuck at my lph right now.  I'm going to try this a little and see what happens.


Thanks!


It will be interesting to see...

I know many transcriptionists whose facilities have gone to EMR and still do traditional transcription, myself included.  I think what you are referring to is that your physicians are going to EMR with possibly some type of templates or point-and-click system, etc.  EMR in and of itself is not a template or point-and-click system, it simply means electronic medical record.  Having electronic medical records is better for patient care.  Whether transcription is affected by implentation of EMR depends on the specific facility.  I hope MTs will go and research what exactly EMR is and how it may or may not affect transcription.  I feel we have been left behind as far as knowledge of technology is concerned.  The more I research myself and read comments on MT sites, the more embarrassed I become at how far behind we are.


Here is something interesting to know about it.
The last week, if you are at a dribble, do not take that lightly as it is that week of wages while will determine what you will receive. Also, accumulated PTO which you will be paid is also taken into consideration as your unemployment insurance income.


Interesting way to look at it...
It's TTD Inc
interesting...
as i was just going to suggest Norton 360 -- which has served me very well...
Interesting syntax. nm
.
Interesting, so what company is this?
You can email it to me. I am quit intersted in these ethics, so to speak. I would like to speak with this lady personally and see how this works out for her and some of the details of such. I am wondering how she does her hiring process, as I have found some MTs do AWESOME on their tests only to do HORRID work in general. Because of this, i am looking to take over recruiting, so i would like input.
Interesting...never been an issue before..sm
He has never ever in 15 years been in trouble. I can also say that had I been home, the second would never have happened as the fear of God would have laid down immediately the first time as they have been raised knowing that school is their job until they graduate, no ifs or buts about it, they are there to learn and follow the rules. He knew he could get away with her from her and fully expected her to talk us into no harm no foul and she took free advantage to tell all 4 children that if they loved her they would not tell us. LOL
your post was one of the more interesting
posts i've read in a long time, and amusing, sorry I didn't comment.  As for dinner, tuna casserole and oreo cookie pie oh and my puppy says hello.
Interesting you bought this up. sm
So I'm sitting and typing the other day, all happy and cozy, and I feel the cat brush against my leg under my desk and lay across my foot.

And then I realize, I don't have a cat.

So I yank my foot very quickly but get it caught instead under the foot pedal, which I promptly kick clear across the room. Fortunately, it--and it's rudely detached cable--survived.

The "cat" turned out to be a detached piece of carpeting which I had glued to the side of my desk to keep me from knocking my knee. I'm sure my neighbors are still wondering where all the screaming came from...


Interesting Question

The only other job I worked where I got paid by production was in a sewing factory(definitely blue collar). But every time we picked up a bundle, we tore a ticket off it for our particular job. We knew when we completed that stack of 20 side seams we would get $3. For the stack of 20 button holes we knew it would be $1.50. 20 cuffs, $5.25. We knew exactly what we were getting it and why we were getting it. Funny how we don't expect the same for our professional jobs.


Know what I find interesting?
I'm impressed that you somehow were able to get this information. MQ offices are so... how should I put it nicely... not willing to divulge these kinds of things?

I mean, we (the noncherry-pickers) know this stuff goes on. I don't even bother to call and state my suspicions because I know they'll either not tell me the truth or your scenario will unfold. It's pretty much common sense and not worth the time... or the false hope.

I know you must be pretty bummed about about this, but at least you have a good comradery with someone in the office who tells you what's going on.

Having said all of the above, I just want to say I do love my office and know that I am getting dregs, but I do have an office that appreciates and compensates.

However, it does bug me that the MTs who won't or aren't given the chance (forced) to master the difficult doctors are going to lose in the long run. With VR and MTs who will and can do the difficult dictators (no-hope VRs), the rest will be phased out. They no longer will be needed and... that is the plan.

Interesting web site...
http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml
Interesting article

Please see article below that was published in 2003. Does anybody know if the law it mentions was ever passed in California?



Following news that a Pakistani medical transcriber threatened to post UCSF Medical Center patient records online unless she received more money,

a state senator said she will introduce legislation barring all California hospitals from allowing medical data to leave the country.

Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, said she will introduce the bill in January when the state Senate returns for its next regular session. (A special session on financial matters is likely before then.)

"California already has the strongest medical-privacy laws in the nation, " Figueroa told me. "But not strong enough. There's always something you didn't anticipate."

What she and other framers of the state's medical-privacy laws, which prohibit the sharing of medical information unless for clear medical purposes, didn't see coming is the explosive growth of the $20 billion medical- transcription industry.

U.S. hospitals have such a huge need for help transcribing doctors' dictated notes into written form that the work is routinely farmed out to private transcribers throughout the country. Those transcribers, in turn, frequently subcontract with other transcribers.

In the case of UCSF Medical Center, three separate subcontractors were involved in handling the facility's records. The last link in the chain was a woman in Karachi, Pakistan, who sent an e-mail to UCSF earlier this month demanding help in resolving a financial dispute with the Texas man who'd hired her.

The Pakistani transcriber said she'd post UCSF's files on the Internet unless the medical center assisted her. She backed up her threat by attaching actual UCSF patient records to her message.

This was the first time an overseas transcriber had used confidential records to threaten a U.S. medical institution. The transcriber withdrew her threat only after receiving hundreds of dollars from another subcontractor in the case.

Figueroa said her bill would prohibit anyone possessing information involving California patients from sending that information abroad.

State hospitals would likely be barred from outsourcing transcription work unless they could guarantee that all related files remain within the country -- a move that would make hospitals accountable for any subcontracting that ensues.

"We're not banning the practice of overseas workers doing transcription," Figueroa said. "But we can regulate the practice of medicine within California. "

The law, at least on the health care front, may be on her side.

In most instances, federal law would trump state law, and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 outlines rules for safeguarding medical data. Anyone doing transcription work for a U.S. hospital would be required to uphold HIPAA standards, although the law is virtually unenforceable overseas.

A unique aspect of HIPAA, though, is a provision that if a state adopts more stringent restrictions, state law will prevail.

"If there were a statute that no health care information in California could be disclosed outside the country, HIPAA wouldn't have a problem with that," said Paul Smith, a San Francisco attorney specializing in health care issues.

"The state has a clear interest in protecting health information," he added. "This would seem a legitimate exercise of state regulatory authority."

At the same time, though, Matthew Nakachi, a San Francisco lawyer who specializes in trade issues, said it's unclear how the proposed legislation would square with federal laws related to commerce. A hospital might argue, for example, that it has a right to do business with whomever it pleases.

"If California decides to do this," Nakachi said, "it would probably go into the courts and take years to fall out."

For her part, Figueroa expects the health care industry to fight the legislation, just as the banking industry opposed state restrictions on the use of customers' information. But she thinks that in light of the public's increased sensitivity toward privacy matters, her bill would eventually pass.

"The interesting thing will be to see where our new governor stands on privacy issues," Figueroa said. "At this point, we don't know."

Mystery woman: The Pakistani transcriber at the center of the case involving UCSF is still something of a mystery.

In her e-mail to UC officials, she identified herself as Lubna Baloch, "a medical doctor by profession." Beyond that, little is known of her.

In May, however, an interesting little exchange occurred on MT Stars, an online network for medical transcribers. Baloch, using the same e-mail address she used in her threatening message to UCSF, posted her resume at the site in hopes of attracting work as a subcontractor.

Sheri Steadman, who runs MT Stars, of Phoenix, said she's against U.S. transcription work going abroad and routinely deletes postings from overseas transcribers. In Baloch's case, she said she was concerned by the vagueness of Baloch's resume, especially as to her whereabouts.

Steadman wrote to Baloch to say that MT Stars is only for U.S. job seekers.

"I am US based," Baloch replied.

"Not enough info," Steadman responded. "Where?"

"Santa Monica, LA," Baloch wrote back.

For Steadman, this wasn't a very good answer.

"Santa Monica isn't in Los Angeles and it's not in Louisiana," she told me. "It was pretty clear that Baloch wasn't in the country."

Steadman confronted Baloch with her suspicion. Baloch never wrote back.

"She was trying to gain work in any way, shape or form," Steadman said. "She was trying to sucker U.S. medical-transcription services into sending her business."

It didn't work that time. A few months later, though, probably using a different online service, Baloch was more successful in her efforts.

That would turn out to be a very dark day for UCSF.

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU's "Mornings on 2." Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.


ER reports are interesting and are sm
very repetitious.  You will be able to create a lot in your expander.  You might want to brush up on some of the drugs the paramedics regularly use.  You'll be typing these a lot.  I think you'll enjoy doing ER work.  Its fun, it's interesting, and occasionally really funny.  Maybe the best thing to do to prepare yourself would be to type up a list of the most common IV drugs used in the ER and their doses.... example... Toradol, Zofran, etc.  You will get the same drugs over and over again.  Best to put them in an Expander right off the bat with their usual dictated dose (Toradol 30 mg IV for example).  Good luck and let us know how you like it.