I would certainly base my decision around what
Posted By: I enjoy doing. sm on 2008-05-27
In Reply to: What would you do next? - see mssg. - Need a new start!
What are your hobbies or activities that you really enjoy? Look for a way to find training/employment in those areas.
It's not too late to go back to school at all. Though it will take some time and investment. You might discover your perfect interest along the way!
I'd open an Internet Cafe that serves gourmet baked goods, sandwiches, etc. :)
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You are WAY off base ...
WE don't have any control over any such thing at all.
The MAIN focus is patient care. We're part of the team that helps document that care but that's it.
I do NOT want such politics playing in my healthcare as a patient, I can tell you that.
Those physicians are very intelligent and educated and we need them. I know US physicians that are far worse dictators. The US is a melting pot (I believe Eyetype has already stated this all so eloquently); that is what we are made up of and will continue to be.
Get over it. We just don't have that much power...NOR SHOULD WE.
We have 500 at a base already SM
As early as today, the Ft. Custer Training Center, a fenced-in military base just west of Battle Creek, will become home to 500 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
I don't think you could be any more off base
Just getting my power back and being able to access the internet after Wilma, I know exactly what it's like. We're in an area that had to ride out the whole eyewall front, side, and back. At least with the eye going overhead you get a 2 to 3-hour break. We didn't. Our power went out in the early morning hours before the storm even hit and we JUST got it back. The east coast of FL where I am was told to expect a cat. 1 storm by the time it reached us. Usually that means limited power outages with restoration of power within 24 to 48 hours. The eye made landfall over the Everglades and it was moving so quickly that by the time it got to us it was still a cat. 3, and with the forward motion of the storm at 25-30 mph, it intensified the wind gusts to a cat. 4 in some areas. This was much different than the storm we were expecting.
We've got more than enough water and canned goods to last us, and DS joked that we had enough batteries to power a third-world country. But, we were on the verge of being out of fuel for the grill, camp stove, and lantern, out of batteries for the flashlights and radios, NO ice whatsoever because there is no way that ice will last for 3 days. Think about preparing for the storm. If you buy or make ice and your power goes out before the storm even hits, that means day 1 is over before the storm is even over. By the end of day 2 (which is considered storm day 1 by FEMA) your ice is already starting to melt. By FEMA day 3, you're already ending your 4th day and beginning your 5th. Any perishables you had are long gone.
In Broward County we were promised that ice would be delivered by 2 p.m. on the day after the storm (which had already been almost 48 hours since preparations were completed and the power went out). People had been waiting in line since 6 a.m. that morning. By 8:00 that evening the lines were already 1000s of people long and the ice hadn't arrived yet. Some people's medications had already gone 24 hours without refrigeration by that point. It was at that point that the announcement was made that ice wouldn't even be delivered to our area by FEMA until the next day.
So while it may seem to you that all those people are just standing there with their hands out, it isn't quite the picture you paint it. Ice was more importance than the water and the MREs, but FEMA doesn't let you take 1 without the other. So while it looks to you that all those people were waiting for meals because they didn't prepare, the majority of them were waiting for ice because what we had was long gone.
Coming originally from an area that was well known for blizzards in the winter time, the preparation for hurricanes is a lot different. In the blizzards when the power went out there were blankets for warmth and indoor natural gas stoves for cooking. Perishables could be placed outside and ice would keep for days. Frozen goods would stay frozen. Not so in Florida. Until you've actually gone through it you don't really appreciate the difference. And until you've actually gone through it, you're in no position to judge "all those people" waiting for handouts.
Way off base
Hopefully you answered to the wrong poster as she said nothing about investing in anything to help her KEEP the account she doesn't have it. If not, you are way off base and rude. Most of us charge by the line normally and it depends where you live and what you will be providing, printing, is it pick up and delivery, etc. What kind of doctor, etc. But most of the time between 12 and 15 cpl, I am at the lower end but that is me.
What company are you currently at, what is your base
pay, and how many years experience do you have? Me, i'm 10+ years, MQ, 9.5 cpl. Wondering if i'm at the top of the scale and the only way to go is down? I hate switching jobs as it is, was back and forth between Edix and MQ, pros and cons of each, but I want BIG BUCKS!!!!!
Does anyone have any idea what my base pay
will end up being on the new payment plan? I do clinical and ER reports/discharge summaries. I've been a Transcriptionist for 8 yrs (worked with them for six). I currently make 8 CPL as it is.
I really need to know what I might make with this new plan. I NEED THE MONEY. I SURVIVE ON THIS PAYCHECK. Nervous as all he** right now.
Obviously not part of the base of
..
I am making 8 cpl base
I average 1800 to 2000 lines per day and gross 40K with just 8 cpl with incentive and that's not including any overtime. Maybe my production is above average, but my pay rate certainly is not.
Again, you can't base your rates on what
Are you an MTSO yourself, Suzanne? I would say not because if you were, you'd know there are just too many variables. How do they charge? 65-char. line or gross line? Are they paying for spaces or no spaces? What kind of account is it? What supplies will you need to service the account? What equipment will you use and what kind of maintenance does it need? Will you need to hire SCs to work on the account? All of those things will make a HUGE difference. For example, a gross line at 8 cpl is actually more like 10 cpl using a 65 char. count (do the math and you'll see). Saying one MTSO charges 15 cpl and another charges 13 cpl is not comparing oranges to oranges unless their account specs are identical, which you cannot be sure of from an anonymous MB.
You take all of the above into consideration and come up with a line rate for each client on a per-client basis. The only time you need to worry what others are charging is to see whether you are competitive or not. Find out what you need to make and if it happens to be too far above what others in the area charge, you can negotiate a little in order to obtain the business.
I do not undercut myself because I do all of the above and charge what I need to charge for each client in order to turn a profit. I couldn't care less what other MTSOs charge in MI and MO. I know the market in my area and each person needs to consider that when branching out on their own.
Me thinks you are way off base.
You may want to find a new career. When you refer to drop in for an hour or two, you are speaking about ICs who in no way are any less professional than you are working from your home as an employee. Some MTs work from a typing pool meaning they can take a job at a time and make money in that fashion as a contribution to the household (paying bills I might add). Many professions offer at home employment. We are not the only ones. I think you have a bad attitude and should probably find somewhere else to drone in your sorrows. Many of us here are professionals even at home with a husband and children. It kind of sounds like you are jealous about husbands that make money and have insurance. You may want to re-think what you are saying in regards to MTs working from home and not being considered a professional. In my experience, my friends and relatives are envious of my being able to make a living from my home office, so I'm not sure who you have that talks about you to where you cannot defend yourself, but that is usually a psyhiatric entity called paranoia. Sorry to say, but you make as much as you'd like as long as you can "hang with the big dogs". If you are not making enough money, then that is for you to either take some courses in typing and anatomy or just go with the flow. To blame at home MTs is way off base.
Sure, base it off of 1 experience....
that makes a whole lot of sense  . You must be the same person who said Radiology was an "easy specialty," right?
Base for the ball chairs
I actually bought my exercise ball/chair through ebay and it came with a base which has a small back support as well as wheels. It works out great.
Thank you your reply. He/she says the client base
is there and I know the funding is there. The plan is in its early stages, but they are ready to go forward and will. I can't decide whether this is something I want to get involved in or not and I appreciate your input!
Don't base your quote on rates
Why are you a better deal than anyone else? It's not because of rate, it's because you care about your work and you're reliable -- what else?
ASK them what they've been paying -- they won't know because they probably won't understand their invoice. Ask them to send you a copy of the invoice. Reply to me privately if you need to, I'll help you figure it out.
But even if you get that, keep the focus of the discussion off price, keep it on your quality, your caring, your reliability, what you can offer them. Do you buy EVERYTHING based on price? If not, think about the things you buy based on quality and base your letter on that.
If your sole value is because you have the lowest price, you're fighting a losing battle.
Our president has even alienated his own base.
I visit a local political board that is primarily conservative (something I am totally not, but it's still fun to go watch the "fireworks") and even the hardcore Republicans are peeved at him. Apparently this immigration "amnesty" bill he's pushing has really not settled very well with his "peeps." I didn't vote for him twice, so my conscience is clear, but I still think he's a tool, president or not. I never had respect for him and never will. I know I am not alone either and I'm sorry if that offends you, but I'm exercising one of the primary freedoms that our poor soldiers are dying and getting wounded for--freedom of speech.
This is my base rate for surgeries sm
I have an incentive program, I can make more, but this is my base rate. I had this rate at another company where I did OPs for 4 yrs and I made really good money at it typing just outpatient surgical notes (6 hours a day, 1500-1700 lines a day average during that shift).
In point of fact, it is much easier to get normals set up for this situation than for OPs in a hospital because you have fewer doctors and fewer different procedures.
maybe spray outside the house around the base? NM
.
It is a startup company with base in Phillipines. That is all I know! nm
x
I've used it. There are a ton of knowledge base forums out there
where you can research your results.
Thanks, Mardi. My base rate is .085, so the most I am paid . . .
is .095 a line, whether it be 16,000 or 20,000 lines per pay period. I try to get 1800-2000 lines a day, or 9000-10,000 lines a week. This is for employee status, 1st shift, acute care, with 15+ years' experience.
I have seen so many job listings only requiring 5000-6000 lines a week and a line rate of .07-.09, and figured my .095/line was about average. If I can do better than this, please let me know!!!
I just assumed the low line requirements were due to the fact that anything more than that was impossible, whether it be due to ESL dictators, complicated platform, or just the lack of work. I would love to know of any MTSOs that can provide enough work for my production level with a better line rate. Thanks again!!
Is it at the thumb base? I had mine x-rayed, and it
NSAIDs and wearing typing gloves seems to help. Also, after the initial 1-2 yrs. of constant pain, it did settle down considerably, now only hurts if I use my hands for twisting, such as opening jars, wringing out wet washcloths or laundry, or using screwdrives instead of a power drill bit to assemble, dissasemble things. I also have a lot of pain riding a bike. I padded the handlebars as much as possible, and try to ride with the the sorer of the 2 thumbs resting on top of the handle bar with my other fingers, not gripping it.
Anyway, good luck, and hopefully it'll settle down in a few months!
Dolfan you are so far off base you are foolish. I don't troll these boards and don't come her
that often. I am baby-sitting and I can be on the computer on and off today. Can't work. I don't know what you are talking about trolling when there is a discussion going on with people's taste in men. You are LOL with your "wisdom" and "insight" on trolls.
PS: Sorry if you like girlie men. Didn't mean to offend you. It is what it is and the unisex look is okay for some, male and female.
you are soooooo off base, it really is funny. i am a single woman who
runs my own household. i try to surround myself with smart people, or at least as smart as myself. i am not threatened by anything but the dumbing down of america and lots of that can be seen in situation comedy for the masses. i raised four boys, all of whom are doing very well in life and i can do things i can't do and know things i do not. i am not threatened by them. i enjoy them. i am a student of life even at my age and want to learn and be amused not at the expense of someone else, male, minority, blonds, etc.
Mayo Clinic in AZ has an ad for in-house MT in Advance Mag, $19/hr base pay. sm
Plus shift diff and bonus, plus $1000 sign-on bonus, and relocation $. What a great offer if it's true.
Have you forgotten we have not gotten the new pay plan yet which will lower the base rate I am sure
and be incentive tiered according to production which is next to impossible on so many accounts anymore. This is only the beginning of the pay decrease.
At our base the civilian employees are treated worse
than the prisoners from the nearby federal prisoner. Military thinks civilians are the scum of the earth. You will never get a promotion or recognition unless you are married to an active duty person.
Many words are formed with a base word with a prefix or a sm
suffix or both and are not picked up in spell check. Arousable is a word formed by combining arouse with the suffix -able and in this case the E is dropped and the able is added. This has been going on for a long time and like the above poster says, many of these forms are not in spell check.
Exactly! We have a broader knowledge base. My sister has been an RN for 30+ years and I have the u
I could never do what they do. I am an anxiety-ridden person and the thought of someone's health and well being, not to mention physical comfort or discomfort being completely my responsibility and then to be able to function in a calm, methodical manner in a high-stress, life or death situation... Well, let's just say I know I could not handle it. I would have a nervous breakdown.
It's a pity that some nurses can't return to the favor and respect us for what we do. My sister respects me. She actually comes to me with medical questions because she realizes she doesn't know it all and I basically get a medical education on a daily basis what with new terms, drugs, procedures, equipment, etc. And let's face it, MTs are the masters of research and medical references, searching the internet, etc.
But all people see when they see an MT is that we sit at a desk all day and type and to them it looks easy. It's just a shame.
Just got a letter in the mail from MQ stating that they will be paying 80% of our base rate for ASR.
So this is the start of the new pay plan the rest of which isnt out yet. We will lose 20% of our line rate for ASR starting October 1.
Next they will reduce the base pay we get just wait and give us incentive tiers which will be almost
impossible to make. Great fun. This company sucks big time. I have never been so sick of jumping around in accounts to make lines and then expected to have no blanks and maintain 98% quality. What A--holes they are. I can hardly stand to even talk to those people anymore. They are nothing but BS like MQ tells them to be.
I always write a "touch base" email, making sure they got resume.
hasnt failed me yet :)
(I mean, even if I dont get the job, I hear back.)
decision
Why not just be honest and say, hey, I have a better offer. Either pay me what they pay me or I'm out of here.
decision
I would have to consider the headaches and extra responsibilities of "lead" and the UNPAID hours you will work if you are salaried and do you still have to type a minimum of time/lines.
right decision
Tinkerbell, I think you made the right decision.
Independent contractors will eventually be forced to move to Vista when their XP boxes die, and they need to get a new computer. But if you have an option of staying with XP, I think for most MTs that course will avoid lots of heartache and problems.
--vJoe
My decision is my own....
I'm not looking for anything from anyone other than just to see if this has happened to anyone else. The fact that she did not allow me to explain the position, account specifics, what I expected, etc. tells me she is a difficult person to get along with. It's too bad too, because this account pays up to 14 cpl, so it's her loss, not mine. There are many other good MT's out there and I have several other resumes I can choose from.
Obviously, your decision
You don't mention benefits...I don't know whether you need them, if you have them with the at-home position, or whether they're a non-issue. I would love to find a hospital where I could get in for 3 days a week typing radiology. It would be great to have at least that much guaranteed money (although, admittedly, if you're part-time they could call you and tell you not to bother coming in unless you're actually covering a shift). Plus, after 20+ years of doing this at home, it's kinda nice to get back out there among people again. I worked for a very brief time for a temp agency and it was actually pretty nice; I felt like a little kid playing dress-up for the 2 days a week I went into an office!!
If you really like the current large company you work for, I would probably hold on to that as well, leaving the door open so that if you found after a month you really couldn't bear it, you could go back.
Thanks, I agree......I am okay with his decision, but will
absolutely miss watching him play. He has so much talent and to see a young man walk away from a game he once loved so much is very upsetting. He will be fine and is so intelligent. I always tell both my kids, academics are more important than anything else while in school. He gets that drive and push from me.
I am very proud of him, always will be. He has so much character and courage to actually face the coaches and explain his feelings.
Inside, I am sad just because I am feeling sorry for myself cause I won't get to see him play anymore.
Thank you so much for your help with this! I just needed to hear some opinions and hope I am doing the right thing by supporting him in his decision.
I will get over it tomorrow - today I want to sulk!
Only you can make that decision.
Will you be looking for another job any time soon? Will you make more money as a CMT? Will it make you feel good about yourself to have the certification? Will you have time to study for the test? Make a list of pros/cons and decide from there.
Personally, it's not worth it for me. I don't want to support the AAMT because they're supposed to be for Americans, but they promote offshoring. I have enough certifications and education papers kicking around that I don't need another one. CMTs don't get paid any more at my employer. I also don't want to drive 300 miles each way to take the test. It's expensive, and you have to recertify every three years.
It's a personal decision.
I prefer IC as well. When you're an employee, they pay you less per line than as an IC. You still pay taxes, federal, state, Medicare, Social Security as an employee. However, the employer pays for Worker's Comp and matches the social security and Medicare only portion of your taxes, which I believe is only 7.65%. That social security percentage is quite small when you consider the fact that self-employment taxes are only 15.6%. I don't remember the exact percentages because it's been a while since I had to manually figure it all, but you can look it up on Google.
As an IC, I get to deduct every little thing I can think of. I can deduct my home office, a portion of my utilities, a portion of my Internet and phone, any mileage, office supplies (and I love office supplies!), furniture, software, computers and other equipment, paper, reference materials, everything.
The issue is that when you are an employee, those taxes get taken right off the top so you don't even miss that money. Most people don't set aside a percentage of their pay that should have gone to those taxes, so they grumble when they owe at tax time. You actually get to see how much you're paying out in taxes. However, they got to use their money all year instead of loaning it to the government interest free. That's a perk.
Yes, that is a wise decision. (nm)
dd
Trying to make a decision
I have just been hired with a super good company, who is offering the right amount per lines and have an abundance of work, but I work for a company that pays only pennies and I mean literally pennies and I've been working for them for years, trying to keep them on float. I feel loyal to them but with the new company's demands with the workload, I am not going to be able to keep up with the company that offers pennies. I just don't know how to tell them good-bye.... 
At the end of the interview, the decision
was up to Mr. Trump, not Randall. In the business world, you protect your own position and interest, and he showed Mr. Trump that he was indeed tough enough to do that. This is not "Survivor," taking someone to the final two.
As far as Rebecca goes, she is indeed a very impressive 23-year-old. Her exposure from the show will take her far, perhaps farther than the Trump organization. However, she is still quite young. The right candidate was selected for this position.
Decision on taking a job
I took 3 documents in Word and the program calculated the amount of characters with spaces and without spaces. I divided the character counts by 65 to get a line count. I then multiplied the line count with spaces by 8 cents per line and the one without spaces by 9 cents per line. In all 3 cases, you are better off taking the job at the lower rate counting spaces.
Example: 1 document 4339 characters without spaces, 5179 with spaces. Divide each by 65 comes out to be 67 lines without spaces, 80 lines with spaces.
65 lines x 9 cents = $6.03
80 lines x 8 cents = $6.40
The others came out with a discrepancy of 78 cents and $2.16.
I did other size documents and none of them came out where you were getting a better deal by being paid the higher line rate with no spaces.
I hope this helps.
They should post their decision
on one of the 'sticky' messages so it is always at the top of the boards...all of them!
You made the right decision nm
Crass.
Tough decision
I have been an MT for just over 20 years. I don't think I would ever consider QA. Knowing the poor quality of many (not all) of the MTs these days keeps me from even considering it. Knowing that the reports that I personaly end up sending to QA are the worst of the worst, I would think that is what other seasoned MTs are sending.....which means YES you are getting nothing but garbage coming your way. Inexperienced MT work *plus* don't-give-a-crap-except-for-my-line-count MT work *plus* really tough stuff from experienced MTs *equals* NOT FOR ME!!!
When I get ready to sit down and work I HOPE there are some good dictators in my future.....being QA I could almost bet I'm going to have a crappy day. I for one could not take that day in and day out. Plus the money is so much better in MT. I am going to try ASR soon, so a mixture of ME and MT. We'll see how I like that. Good luck with your decision.
Another thought would be that I might consider QAing for a hospital that has their employees at home, NOT a national company. Like the university hospital where I used to work. If I knew the quality of the MTs was up there, and that the MT supervisor tries his/her best to get onto the horrible dictators.
Best of luck with your decision.
Difficult decision
Hi,
It sounds like, despite all the problems, that you love him and want to remain a family, particularly for the sake of your son.
Without disrespecting that, what I would suggest is that you tell your husband to either grow up already (and pull his weight around the house while he is at it) or please go ahead and divorce you and marry his mama.
In the meantime, make sure that your name is not on his credit card bills, etc. and that you DO expect him to provide child support while he is absent from the family, the home, the marriage. If he fails or refuses, take him to court--that should make him wake up and smell the coffee and grow up fast. Otherwise, let mama figure out how to manage his payee check with that new expense.
HTH.
editorial decision
I think combining the measurement with the unit of measure is an editorial decision. I personally like it, for I think it is more clear, and you never have to worry about the measure and the unit being on different lines (with auto wrapping as in all word processors). I believe its origin stems from the scientific community.
You would never see 2 " for 2 inches, but it is 2". By the same token:
10mg, or 5cc or 1L seems more clear than:
10 mg, 5 cc or 1 L.
10mg qid. Seems very clear. It is just an editorial decision. No right, no wrong, just an attempt at greater/unmistable clarity.
Same editorial factors are working in writing 0.125mg and never .125mg without the 0. Leaving the 0 off can lead to misunderstanding: To the fast reader the . could be a fly speck, the the 0.125 is unmistakable. I think clarity ought to be the goal, and not strictly historical considerations.
vJoe
again editorial decision
Not an issue of right or wrong, just an editorial preference/decision.
You prefer:
1 tab 10 mg p.o. t.i.d.
Other prefer:
1Tab 10mg po tid
To me the second is easier to read and is clearer. To you the first is.
vJoe
questioning decision...
Can any of you that have been at this for a long period of time answer me this question? When you first started out...did you feel overwhelmed? How long does it take a person to really see if this is something they'll be good at? I find myself getting headaches really easy and only after a few hours of typing. I feel fatigued. Is it normal to feel this way in the beginning and what suggestions do you have to help? When do you feel that things are finally settling down and you start to move along at a normal pace? I'll give it a few months I guess...I'd think at that point I would have a pretty good idea if this is something I'm going to be productive at or not.
Sorry for all the questions.....I guess I am feeling uneasy and was hoping for some reassurance or words of wisdom from none other than another MT. 
need to make a decision....help pls
I have tested this week with Medware, Execuscribe, and JLG. Offers from all, not heard much current info on any of these. Any input would be appreciated TY!
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