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

LOL If VR could transcribe his dictations it would be a miracle!

Posted By: NCMT on 2006-03-28
In Reply to: I feel your pain! sm - FootOnMyNeck

:-)


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

Okay, say right off the bat by some miracle - sm
You can type 150 lph, so that would be 900 lines in 6 hours IF you can stay consistant. So at .07 a line that would be $63 a day, x 5 =$315 a week, $1260 a month, $16,380 a year. I'd say that is a realistic estimate on average, it may be less though. My first year was about $8K and I know I worked at least 6 hours a day then doing acute care (clinic is easier), I have steadily increased but still only make about $16K a year after 5 years, but I only type 50-60 wpm and goof off a lot. I find it hard to sit here all day and type so my work suffers. I know I could easily make $20K a year if I would be more dedicated. So no, you will not be making $40K a year, maybe in time if you get a really good job, great pay, and a very easy doctor that you type every day, but the odds of that happening are slim; granted in time you can get your own accounts too and make more money that way (I am seriously considering trying this). Unless you really need the extra cash I would not kill yourself after working all day with kids, and if you have your own kids they will hardly see you as you will be working every night and possibly weekends too. Also if you do decide to give this a shot, take a good MT course.
12 FOUND ALIVE - THE MIRACLE DID HAPPEN.
 
Hahaha. Used to happen to me until I discovered the miracle of coffee! n/m
xx
Missing dictations
I also get a patient list from the doctors office. I check off which ones I got voice files for, i.e. which ones I typed. I don't keep track of which names or not checked off. How do I know if that patient just didn't show up for the appointment, walked out without being seen, or if the doctor put off dictating. That's administrative work that the doctors' secretaries do at my client's office. If they can't find something they think he dictated and ask me to look for something or check on something I'll do it because it only takes a few minutes but I don't do all the stuff you're doing.

Practice dictations
I am at a hiatus in my transcription career, but I do not want to lose what I know, or lose my speed.  Is there somewhere you can purchase practice dictation tapes, or digital downloads?  I would prefer digital downloads of voice files if there is such a thing.  Just wondering.
missed dictations anyone?
Does anyone have any real experiences to share with the missed dictations? I would like to buy them but I don't want to if my accuracy might decrease with them due to missed dication. although, I think any of my background noise would be louder than any dictator. But I guess on the other end is where the problem lies.
STAT dictations

Re:  Stat dictations.  Does anyone out there charge extra for STAT dictations that come in during the day so that we have to put aside what we are working on and type a STAT letter/document and send in?  This sort of thing can keep one behind in Turn Around Time if it happens on a regular basis.  If anyone charges extra for STAT dictations coming in, what would be a good fee to charge for these besides the line count?


 


Ginny


Downloading dictations (sm)

If you key in alt-ctrl-Z while the first one is loading, it will prevent the other two from downloading from the queue.  When you are ready to submit and do another file, you will need to key in that sequence again to allow the next one to come in.


Assigning the dictations............sm
SO RIGHT:
' The Leads (MTs who assign the work) have to get their lines in, too, and no doubt they're not keeping the ESLs for themselves......'

When I got a lot of crappy dictations in my queue, I complained about this and asked WHO assigns the work, who gets the crap and who gets the good ones.
I was told that it is NOT assigned at ALL, the oldest is picked first out of the pool and so on, and that it is all random and nobody is favored.
Now I read in this post that the Leads (team leads ?) distribute the reports. Who are they? The owners, the supervisors or the QAs?
I had once an argument with a QA about grammar and I was right and she was wrong, and from that moment on I got the crappiest crap of the crap into my queue.


but where do all the CRAPPY VR dictations
come from, then?
I guess, crappy dictators are EVERYWHERE !
Thirty minute dictations -...
that are actually about 5 minutes, once you get past the ummms, and ahhhs, and talking to the nurse behind you, and listening to other people's conversation, and changing your mind 5 times before the completion of a sentence.  Other then that, I can't think of a thing....ahhh, ummm, go back and change....no....under ROS put....
Where to find some Sample Dictations?

Anyone know where I can find a few sample dictations, like WAV files, on the internet, along with the completed typed reports.  Need to test job applicants.  Happy Holidays!


Supposedly these are sample dictations.
http://www.mtbot.com/links/index.php?PHPSESSID=87548e85937eae92e899386c81c6c8e1&PID=10
You left out blank dictations
The ones with no dictations - I have a feeling doctors probably pay the MTSO by dictated minutes - but how about MTSO paying the Transcriptionist who has to waste their time listening to them, signing them off and sending them to QA multiple times a day?
Noone can send you sample dictations, definitely
a breach of confidentiality. You should have learned this in your course.
Right on, JMO. Also, when I have the ability to choose dictations SM
from a list (which I don't have at my current work, darn), I like to gather up all the dictations I can find for bad dictators and do them together to learn that dictator right up front, instead of struggling over months. I'll also use them to put together a template, which if dictation's really horrible will include a whole pack of phrases he/she has been known to use, a grab bag of possibilities to scan over. May sound like a bother to some, but it's a real serenity-saver.
Things that dry you looney during dictations, for example.

I thought after seeing on television so much could get away from this but just had a dictator say, "drowsy and unable to, you know, respond to questions appropriately."


I thought the you know, you know, you know would not come through on here.


In dictations, I always hear "as well as" when "and" would do. sm
"At this point in time." What does that mean? One says "At this particular point in time." Raises the line count but it is annoying.
Saving dictations on flash drive??
Hi again,  I figured out the settings, and how to recover the files marked done.  Question though on saving the actual dictation.  My files come through email, I was saving in My Wav files and an Archive File; however, the doc tends to send me a lot of duplicates which the Archive obviously does not like. But, also, since I have had a computer crash on me and lost some things, I am thinking of saving my actual dictations on a flash drive and eliminating the Archive file. How long would you suggest I keep them for?  Once typed they go in the Recover folder, how long should I keep those? I found in the help information that we can order foot pedals through Express Scribe and they will be sure that they work with their program, so I ordered one today - figure can't work without a pedal so best have a spare on hand.  Anything I might be missing? Tips or ideas in using the program. 
hosp acute care dictations..please sm
Are hospital dictations difficult to type? I have always typed various specialities for clinics. The company I just started working for lost the account I was hired for. They did offer me a position to type for the hospital dictations. Do you think it will be a rough transition for me? Any advice please! Thanks.
I had one who like to do his dictations with a Donald Duck voice. nm
xxx
Why is it that when I work evening here/there, all reports are 15-min. ESL dictations that no one fe

,,


Legal dictations usually are multiple speakers
But, legal dictations usually have a longer TAT. 
I think doctors in general just don't care about their dictations... sm

I know there are some who are really great and are careful or even just considerate.  But I think for the most part they just think it's a pain to do and want to rush through it and get it done... let the lowly MT deal with whatever garbage comes out the other end.  Maybe I'm a bit bitter, but at this point that's how it feels.


 


Disclaimer: No need to critique spelling, grammar, or punctuation within my posting... this isn't work, it's a message board.


One of my accts is in Baton Rouge and just today getting a few dictations trickling in. nm

:I


wanted to add it was nice of you to positively reinforce MT efforts on difficult dictations...(nm)
`
I learned to put my phones in front of my ears inbetween dictations so I don't get blasted.
s
transcribe it
there is no reason not to. You are a "professional" which presumes the information will remain confidential no matter who it is. I happen to live in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and half the town is related. Nothing would ever get typed if that was a consideration.
I tried to transcribe one of those

*mask* things once (and ONLY once).  What a crock!  It's like trying to transcribe an auctioneer.  I always wondered how the accuracy couldn't suffer with this method.  (I guess I was right, considering the government is now using it.)  They make less money because there isn't much skill involved in doing it that way.  Legitimate court reporters go to school for quite some time and have to learn what's basically another form of shorthand.  (It's been years, and I might be wrong, but I believe, for example, the letters PB=N (or something like that.  LOL). 


I was around when the court reporters in my area went from straight dictation to *the computer.*  In fact, I did editing/scoping work for one court reporter who bought the new system, way back when the technology first became available.  (She also bought my computer for me to do her work and anything else I wanted to do on it, and part of her *offer* was that after two years, I would own the computer outright!)  It's a whole different world than transcribing.  I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now.  It's easier for the court reporter, who can pull his or her notes right up on the screen when something doesn't make sense and see where the *typo* was and figure out what it actually should have been.  So in order to be an Editor for a court reporter today, you basically not only have to know how to read their notes, but knowing how to read their TYPOS is the important thing.  This particular court reporter had the wisdom to know when her notes weren't that good, and rather than give me a very sloppy transcript to edit, she'd dictate it instead.  She was a great person, and I miss her a lot.


Scoping/editing for a court reporter is a great field to get into if that's your cup of tea.  If you're a typist, it's real difficult to get the "rhythm" that you can get when transcribing, and that's what I don't like about it.  (Very same thing with VR in medical transcription today.)  However, after doing this kind of work for 20 years, I might wake up tomorrow with carpal tunnel and might be forced to pursue it.


One thing about court reporters, from my own personal experience in my area:  They are the most generous, easy-going, NICEST people I've ever encountered, considering the enormous amount of stress they're always exposed to.  Back in the 1980s, I remember reading stats on suicide rates, and court reporters and DENTISTS were right at the top of the list!!


Do you transcribe too? How much are you
required to transcribe per day/pay period? What are your responsibilities.

Sorry for all the questions, but I think one of the biggest problems in this industry is lack of consistency. If the positions were the same, we could compare apples to apples, in terms of hiring and applying :)
How many of you transcribe while
using your telephone line as in you're 'on the phone' the whole time you work?  How does that work out for you both with your phone usage but also with unlimited LD.  Could you recommend any unlimited LD plans that are good?  Our local one isn't that great as far as a high price, so I'm looking around.  Thanks for any help!
I transcribe ...
IMEs, Consults, Re-exams, Followups, Treatment notes,etc.

I am located in Texas, but I work directly for a doctor in Florida and then I transcribe for a small MTSO out of New York also doing chiropractic.
Why don't you just transcribe it?
Get creative - and type ... the patient...peeing, peeing, peeing, more peeing... is a 38-year-old

sorry i could not resist

transcribe from CD

Is there a way to transcribe a church audio lecture from CD?  It is a .cda file.  I have "associated" the .cda with Start/Stop and ExpressScribe, but I still have no control with my foot pedal.  any suggestions? 


Thanks, Debbie


This is how I do it. I transcribe

a minimum of 2000 lines per day x5 days a week for 8 hours a day, making 9 cpl which equals out to $180 per day. That comes out to $900 per week or $46,800 per year. That is just at 2000 lines per day. This is w/o shift differential and line differential added in. We get a bonus for going over a certain number of lines per pay period and we get a shift differential for working 2nd and 3rd shifts, which then works out to over 10 cpl. Transcribing 2000 lines per day works out to 250 lines per hour. W/o using an expander, I probably type about 100 words per minute and with my Expander it is a lot more. My pay stub shows how many lines per hour I average each paycheck. This week it was over 300 lph. I use my expander to its fullest. I have macros for everything and anything you can think of. I do radiology, oncology, and ER transcription - lots of phrases said over and over. I do not cherrypick. I cannot see what report or doctor I am going to get, the chart just pops up and I type it. Some days are all good docs, lots of days they are horrible but in this profession you take the good with the bad.


Everybody's work habit is different. Focus on what you can do instead of what person A or person B can do. When I first started I set goals for myself. I wanted to be typing 1000 lines by so and so date in 8 hours. When I reached that goal I made the goal higher by 100, 250 and then 500 lines. To me, it's all in the attitude you have for work. I look forward to work each day because every day there is something new to be learned.



This sits over my desk: Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden 


 


Does anyone use Transcribe+
that you can use Dragon naturally with? Starting the new platform and just wondering? TIA
You know ... just transcribe (nm)
what you hear!

I transcribe
250 to 300 lines an hour, is it possible to edit voice rec up in the 600 lines per hour to make an equivocal line rate to transcribing?
I don’t even know if I could transcribe
without my expanders. I have basically typed so long using them it would really be hard.
Sorry, but our job is to transcribe
what is dictated. If you leave out a word, you did not transcribe what was dictated. Where I work, leaving out a word is considered a "major" error, but it is "discounted" if it does not change the meaning, however, it was left out, therefore transcription was not correct. Not sure what you mean when you talk about deleting paragraphs. Our job is to be as accurate as possible for patient safety, if nothing else. Audits are needed.
Well, at least we don't have to transcribe Elvish (yet?)

I don't think fat people should be able to transcribe either.
They have personality problems that may lead to selling info about famous people just to get more food. They also munch while they type and they are slower in getting the work out. I think there should be a weight test throughout the year to ensure MTs don't gain weight sitting at their computer.
MANDATED to transcribe?
By who? Harvey the rabbit?


Correct way to transcribe

Can someone please tell me the correct way to transcribe 10 to the fifth E. coli.


Thank you very much for your help.


Transcribe it and keep quiet. sm
We're professionals. We do our job and we keep any info learned to ourselves. I've even typed reports on family members. Never disclose any info you learn as a part of your job.
I transcribe anywhere from 25 to 40 per hour. sm
However, on one account which is mostly MRIs, CTs and ultrasounds, I only do 20-22 per hour. Expanders, expanders, expanders.
Every day I transcribe an op report on someone who is REALLY having a bad day, sm
and no prospects at having any kind of a happy life.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, especially when you're feeling down. And never lose faith as you're supposed to be learning something from this, and God really is looking after you.

I'm sorry things aren't going well. My very best advice,again, is for you to be positive--look at the ever-present bright side--COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, and never, ever lose faith.
I used to transcribe for a county (sm)
agency where they interview sexually abused children. I can't describe all the emotions that ran through me while listening to them try to bare their little souls to complete strangers.
The hospital I transcribe for uses it. I know
about Smartype.  I HAVE Smartype, but I've never tried to use it with ExText. 
I PRAY that you NEVER transcribe my
Your attitude is scary!  You think we don't need knowledge or skills and are just "hamsters on a wheel?"  Believe me, I QA work for people with your attitude and it shows.  I pray to God that someone who thinks like YOU, never, ever touches my medical records!!!!  Maybe you should look for a different career option.
Do you transcribe on Word with that?
Thank you!