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

In-house is best for making the big bucks. It's only been a

Posted By: decent at-home experience for me. nm Not A Great O on 2007-07-26
In Reply to: is it really this bad? - Karen

s


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

That's just not me. I'm better off making MT bucks. :) nm
x
Making the big bucks
How are you well-paid MTs making the big bucks.  I need some good tips, the ins and outs.  Please help!
Told Im Making Big Bucks, LMFAO
I agree with this as I was told in the past what I was making 9.75 cents a line was way above what they pay..then I was told they were gonna cut me cause I went to DQS and could make so much more on that platform (what..didnt happen)..so Im down to 9.25 cents a line and have been told Im in the high average for pay, even though I have 36+ years experience..
Always comes down to the bucks, they can sugarcoat but is the bucks!
x
sure i was. i'm making fun of the people who are making a case for background checks, etc
to do medical transcription at home as if they may do something AWFUL with the info they receive. So if you want an invasion of privacy let's REALLY invade it and make sure fat chicks don't transcribe because they are so busy eating they can't get the work done, they mess up the keyboard with food and if they are provided health insurance they will raise the rates for the company sky high because their health risks are higher than others. Then there are the psychological issues overweight people bring to the table. After we eliminate fat people, we can go on to eliminate diabetic people who may have low blood sugar while typing and go into a spell and type the wrong thing. I could go on and on through the process of elimination. How about prescribed medications that may cloud your thinking? So you take Ambien to sleep but you have an Ambien groggy hangover when you are transcribing? Should they transcribe. How about your teens are on your last nerves and you take a Xanax? Should you be allowed to transcribe?
You realize by doing that they're making more money & you're making less? You should reconsid

And it's only 107 bucks.....
/
You want BIG BUCKS?
x
Big bucks sm
DRG's may get in the way, but some of the less professional are accepting "cash cow" kickbacks from drug companies. One local group (some of these receptionists are dippy and brag about it) was treated to a local restaurant with food, games, etc., with gift cards which had very high spending limits. Many are provided with free lunch and kickbacks for prescribing brand name instead of generic drugs. I overheard one rep myself with my own ears telling his trainee to smarten one doc up about his cash cow because he was presribing generics. It is passed off at times as a library fund, etc., but it's a kickback. All these perks such as bags, pens, coffee cups, scratch pads, etc., are being paid for by the poor patient. Some, not all, are still on the take. I could go on and on, but when is the general, uneducated public going to wake up and smell the kickbacks?
OP wants to do it for big bucks...
at least she should make comparable to what she is making now. And what do you think mentoring is...but more training?
Big Bucks????

In it for the bucks
I work for a pediatric urologist in Arizona. If I could follow him down there, I would have been gone 4 years ago. No ifs, ands, or buts. He may be the exception, but I would not trade him for the best, clearest doctor in the world. He spells the names of all the doctors he gets as consults, even the foreign ones (to the best of his ability). He even spells effect and affect, descent and decent, and other words I know, but that is just the way he is.

I am sure there are other doctors out there just as easy to type as he is, and as considerate, but they are getting harder to find all the time. I think some of them are only interested in the bottom line. and those that aren't are almost nonexistent. IMO.
At least you got 5 bucks.
My employer sent out a pen with the company name on it (much like the pens the drug companies strew all over the doctors' offices) and a laminated cheat sheet to remind us of all the things we need to remember, such as listening very carefully to make sure we have the right patient.

Charming.
AND wow the bucks you can bring in without having
x
Yeah, 10 bucks
You must work for the Miami office! That's 10 bucks if you hit 500 lines right?
I have RCA, behind the head, less than 8 bucks
from Wal-Mart...they are the lightest, good-sounding pair that I have ever had...love 'em!
LOL...Isn't that what we get paid the big bucks for? nm
J/K
Be prepared to pay big bucks - nm
nm
Charge him big bucks for them.
Those macros are yours not his.
Hmm. Pay US big bucks--pay india next to nothing
Gee, wonder what a company is going to do to up that bottom line??  Common sense
I don't make the big bucks but....sm

That's partly because I am fortunate enough to be able to choose to work less, since my husband makes a good salary and has good benefits.


However, in addition to the disciplinary strategies mentioned below, I would say work smarter, not harder. Use as many shortcuts and templates as you possibly can. If you are working in a full version of Word, use AutoText as well as AutoCorrect. You can enter a lot more in AutoText (I don't know the exact character limits). Set up dates, days of the week, months, etc., so that you only have to type a few characters and it will automatically enter it for you.


Another trick using AutoCorrect or any kind of word Expander is put in any words you normally capitalize so you don't have to hit the shift key. You would be surprised how much that will speed you up. I do mostly radiology, so I have all the vertebral levels - C1, C2, T12, L5, etc. - in AutoCorrect, as well as MRI, CT, etc.


Hope this helps...


Smartype is also $200 bucks.
Is there an Expander that works well that a poor person can afford? Sheesh.
makin' the big bucks

I agree with you that some people have a real talent for MT and some don't.  However, I think the reason so many people find it hard to believe that big money is possible is because, sadly, they have never had a decent account.  If you have the talent, a good platform, work that does not run out, and a decent work ethic, you can make very good money at transcription.  It is very hard to get that combination of positives all in one place these days.  I'll admit that I don't have that golden combination right now, and I am making nearly half of what I used to make.  I'm dog-tired all the time, and I am just about ready to give up.  I'm happy for those of you that have found transcription Shangri-La.  I miss it.  Send me a postcard, would ya?


I bet 5 bucks its Axolotl. nm
nm
A few bucks.. So $3.00 a year?

Some of the webinars I looked at on their site cost $100.00.  I don't consider that a few bucks... 


50 bucks a month??!
Wow. There are tons of FTP programs out there -- CoffeeCup Direct FTP, for starters; total $39 one-time cost, & a lot of them have free versions that are great if you can handle the ads. For $50 a month -- are you saying you got storage space on their server? Even at that, there are places that give you online storage with really easy & secure transfer capability (like mydocsonline.com) for less than that, though you can pay for more depending on your needs. Even plain-old GearPlayer has built-in file transfer capability.
I really think the days of big bucks
might be in the past instead of the future. I have been at this job since the 70s and the pay has only decreased for most, not increased. No raises for most, just type faster. I work now because it is a want to thing whereas in the past it was a have to thing. I raised my family on what I made without struggling in years gone by but I think some are having trouble making ends meet now on the salaries out there. I did not start this thinking working at home because in the 70s there was no working at home, as far as I know. Did not start working at home until around 2004.
Twice a week, 60 bucks a pop..
My son does this twice a week, getting $60 each time. He says the wait is pretty substantial at 4-5+ hours each time.

In Oklahoma, however, they won't take plasma from females because of some inflammatory reactions a lot of patients get from female plasma. This may be the same in you area as well.

Personally, I worry about my son doing this on a regular basis. His hematocrit level is way high, often hovering around 45-50% with his hemoglobin at 13 or so. He does get profoundly weak after each draw. However, it is ultimately his body and his decision (although mom worries).
Why pay the extra 100 bucks for all that fancy
crap on IT if you use it like you would shorthand?  Does not make sense to me. 
Where the heck are you paying 5 bucks
What does that have to do with what was being talked about. How is bashing Bush going to change the gas prices that he has nothing to do with.
She was being facaetious about the big bucks..geez.
x
oil execs make the bucks but ....
I work in the oil & gas industry as my day job, and believe me, I've never seen a big enough check to make it worth it.
I don't believe anyone would pay the 90-somethng bucks to do a beta SM

test which is practically useless. 


I made my headpiece for 18 bucks.....
I went to Michaels and bought a pearly thing that went across my forehead around to the back.  It has bendable metal tips, which I attached to a white satin bow that I bought at Claire's or some place like that.  Then I got a piece of white veil material at a fabric store about 2 to 3 feet long and put that into the clip on the underside of the bow.  The veil material just hung down the back.  It was VERY attractive, inexpensive, and with my hair all done up, the pearl thing around my forehead was very pretty. 
I got mine at Wal-Mart for 3 or 4 bucks...
xx
How horrible! No more big bucks for doctors?

But thank goodness they can keep their income up, thriving and growing by their savvy investments!!


2 bucks for pizza...usually $5 for hair cut...nm

DRG'S - DEATH OF BIG BUCKS FOR DOCTORS
I still remember when DRGs came into healthcare - before that - you could just go to the hospital and get yourself admitted - relax for a few days or a week - have nice nurses to wait on you hand and foot, and then leave - with the insurance company picking up the tab.  Oh, they would give you some aspirin or tylenol - something to charge for and do a complete routine lab panel on you at each admission, but you didn't have to have anything really wrong with you in order to get in.  Then came the DRGs, insurance coding and the end of the primadonna transcriptionists - This also ended the big bucks to the physician's (for the most part).  Some still make a lot - but it is due more to savvy investments than it is from healthcare.  Google DRGs if you want to find out more, especially those of you who are new transcriptionists.  Our days of the "big bucks" is over, as well.  I have seen about a 50% decline in pay from when I started working 15 years ago.  Most of that within the past 5 years.
No big bucks for docs nowadays
So true. Compare it to the union thing. Just my take on it. I've worked in-house & at home, and have seen this thing slide down the hill big-time!
Correct - a few bucks a year.
That's correct; it costs a few bucks a year to keep up the CMT. I pay exactly 1/3 the renewal fee every year plus postage for an envelope. Compare that to a $6000 salary increase. (If your employer doesn't pay that, go to work for one who does.)

"$20 webinars" are not the only way to get CEUs!

You can meet your CEU requirements at NO COST WHATSOEVER if you wish. You can do it by reading journal articles (readily available online) and writing a short synopsis, attending free online webinars or presentations offered by other professional organizations, going to local hospital grand rounds and anything else that gives physicians CMEs (usually free), doing free CEU activities offered by some free publications, and a variety of other things.

Yes, there is some time involved, but it is time spent learning something, so it's not wasted.

If you do not have the credential, you should not be offering advice on it, because you do not know what is required.

The low salaries in MT are, in part, linked to the failure of MTs to band together enough to make the CMT a respected and required credential among employers. AHIMA did this with the RHIA and RHIT, then did it with coding credentials. Those professions now enjoy higher salaries because of it.
It costs $275 bucks. Robbery sm

I don't see how it helps money-wise (job) You need to renew every 3 years $.


I think the association that offers this is not with the MTs but with business.  They are the ones who helped Medquist manipulate line counting..  Oh yes, it is documented in court papers and can also Google Medquist and AAMT, articles come up.   They sell their Style Guide for a whopping $90 bucks 2nd edition, now $70 still toooo much about 400 pages.  One can get a hugeee meedical dictionary for half that.  They are not for MTs.  Years ago when this test was developed, nobody could pass it, so what did they do, they reveloped the test so MTs could pass (thus they got income).  Hardly a validity of MT skills.  Been doing this 30+ years and I am not bothering.


If I wanted to "make bucks" I'd use Indian MTs
Yeah... I'm rolling in the dough.

lol
Of course not, and that's why we're paid the BIG BUCKS to transcribe.
x
how about "work an extra weekend day, get 10 BUCKS!

50 bucks for 4 hours? good deal!

Free trial version, 20 bucks to buy...(sm)

I use the Abacus line counter. They have a trial version which is free and gives you accurate line counts, or you can buy it for $20. Here's the link: http://www.theabacus.biz


- Jane


Bucks stop at facilities who pay for MT service.
x
i took an adult education class for 5 bucks,
in California 33 yr ago. I'm pretty sure most everyone trained on the job in those days, but i paid $5 for the course and bought a few books (med dictionary, workbook etc). This was an intensive course though with a great teacher -- 8r a day x 6 months and i probably studied 4-5 hr a night. I had a job before i got out of 'school' and i've worked continuous ever since, in many capacities, a number of states. I do think there are too many places nowadays however that take your money and don't prepare you well. But it's WHAT they teach, not the name of the school. We spent a good deal of time on word roots/prefixes/suffixes, interpreting sound, easily confusables, how to research, etc. Training my ear did not come easy for me, but i believe everywhere i've worked, i've been considered one of their best. Again, its not where you've been but what you learned when you got there!!
Yeah! With the big bucks I make now that AAMT has championed our cause!
What a joke!!  I saw an ad for an MT for $10 an hour.  Worse than when I started 35 years ago.  Thanks for nothing AAMT!  Have fun at your convention...don't let all of us disillusioned MTs who thought you were actually going to help promote our profession and give us some credibility and professionalism spoil your good time.  After all, that's about all you do these days is plan one convention to the next.  This organization is a joke and all MTs know it.  The only reason most belong is to be credentialed...until they realize they don't have to send you anymore hard earned money.  Bitter?  Yes I am...you have sold us out!  Shame on you.
bush bashing? Do you like paying 5 bucks a gallon for gas? NM

get a life.


I do, 20 bucks plus shipping. Pedal works fantastic, hardly used.
click on blue link to email me.