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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Many many crappy jobs for me

Posted By: sm on 2005-11-18
In Reply to: What is the worst job U have ever had? - RadGuy

1. Emergency Room admissions clerk in a back-woods hospital in rural Western Pennsylvania dealing with drunks, freaks and worse on the 11-7 shift while working with a bunch of angry, nasty shrews who hated life in general and were too busy hating the rest of the staff to pitch in and actually do any work.

2. Working in medical records department of another back-woods Western Pennsylvania hospital (family owned and operated, I kid you not) where the medical records director was the 30-something girlfriend of some 90-year-old racketeering buddy of the hospital's owners and she got hired as MR department director directly from the bangle bracelet counter at the mall.

There are more but these two stick out in my mind the most.


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I just think it's crappy to judge m
someone's ability to responsible by their credit report, especially in these times when you can make the same amount of money as you have been and have just the basics (no luxuries) and everything has gone up and you scrape to make ends meet.  I know many people like this now.  I've even read articles on how people are in worse credit card debt than ever because of what I just described and they're bridging the gap by having to charge x amount each month to get by.  It's very sad.  Because one's credit is poor most often isn't because of a lack of responsibility or willingness to pay, just life happening.
Yep they are a crappy school. Unfortunately too

many take the course because it is cheap compared to the good schools, but it ends up costing more when they can't get a job and need further schooling/training.


Have you posted your resume on the job boards? 


Knowing about foot pedals or other equipment is no big deal, what you need to know is the terminology, good grammar, research skills  are things you need.


You can look for a mentoring program.   Some companies will pay you a minimal amount for any work you do.  There are some companies who want you to pay a monthly fee.   I don't know the names of companies, but there are companies that are not legit, so be sure and ask about them.


You could also apply to local clinics/doctor's offices, and hospitals.  You would have to work on-site, but that is the best training you can get. 


 


I'm sorry that you have crappy QA. I wish I had you to edit. sm

A good QA will not do that.  Where are you working that you have such bad QA personnel?  I'm not wanting to go to that company, lol.


Hope it gets better and you get helpful mentors.


I'm not currently in QA, but crappy dictators

isn't the only reason for QA.  You'd be surprised at the crappy work that some MTs do and QA corrects the errors so they bad work isn't going to the client.   Some MTs don't feel the need to proof their work, believe that is what QA is for.


crappy work

Must be coincidental, I just had it out today concerning your posting.  I sent a copy of it to the owner, I got a return message to never email "her" (the owner) again from the original person I sent it to.  Hmmmm, my email with cc to the owner must of sent of sparks!  (about what is really going on).  Cherry pickers they are!


but where do all the CRAPPY VR dictations
come from, then?
I guess, crappy dictators are EVERYWHERE !
But we all want to leave our crappy nationals...
and go BACK to the office! LOL. We're TIRED of the peace and quiet!
If so i bet they are a crappy MT. You have to KNOW anatomy to be good.
;P
downright crappy and unfair!!! SM

MQ paid 30% less pay for ASR reports, and they took just as long to edit as they did to type sometimes, so was very frustrating.  I have heard some companies pay straight line rate difference, i.e. if you make 7 cpl typing, you'll make 4 cpl for ASR.  It is totally unfair, as like I said, it does take quite some time to edit ASR, some more/less than others.  Needless to say, I left MQ for KS, who does NOT do ASR!!!!


somewhat. would help if the quality of the dictation wasn't so crappy. nm
nm
Guess what? There would be no cherrypickers if there were no CRAPPY DICTATORS! nm
x
Yes some crappy India people get this work
But I think it is also a great opportunity to keep this IN the USA.
sick of working for crappy companies?
I have been thinking about starting my own company. I have done some research and it looks like all I really need is an FTP site, handhelds (that the doc's purchase themselves), and to get accounts. If anyone is interested in doing this with me let me know...or if anyone has any other information on starting a company input would be appreciated!

Why are we working as IC's and the companies are making profits off of us? Lets cut out the middle man and make the money we deserve!!
I wouldn't hire you with that crappy attitude either.
nm
Pretty sad when you have to settle for a crappy company because all the rest are no better.
f
How true, I have one very crappy doc that drives me nuts, just got done 10 minutes of him that is-sm
riddled with blanks.  I go through it once more, then the office mgr goes through it and fills in what I cannot get. We have an understanding that I do what I can then send it in luckily on him.  It is an all-around non-money making account....I waste my time, she wastes her time then the owner proofs it. This doctor even has horrible residents who dictate for him. If there was not so much background noise I would do a lot better but they somehow manage to find the most horrible place to do their dictation and go to town with it........surprised I still have hair left.  I told them that if we continue to do this guy (the doctor had decided to stop using the service but changed their mind recently) that I should be paid double (I get the bulk of this twit) and they should charge more to do him due to all the heck he puts us through. ------Can't wait to see what happens with that one!
Venting session = so tired of crappy MT companies...

I have just about had it!  I mean I have over 14 years experience as Transcriptionist and all I can get is crappy pay rates, which now I am okay but could be better....And I am tired of getting crappy accounts!  Whenever I ask to switch over to a different account, they tell me no.  And these companies want PERFECTION, even though noone is perfect, for peanuts!  I have seen places where they want you to work set hours even though you are an IC.  What is up with that?  Plus these places never off any good benefits, if any.  What are we supposed to do.  I am ready to go to a retail job or fast food. Somewhere where I can get out of the house, do my job and not have to worry about it all day long - not have to worry if I get an 9 hour shift worth of VERY BAD dictators.  I bet I could surprise myself at how many hamburgers I could flip in an hour because I sure am tired of seeing how much crappy doctors I can type in an hour.


Does anyone else feel this frustrated?  What happened to this profession?


She got booted because she sang a country song really crappy.
nm
Actually, it is retranscribing from scratch, because the software is so crappy. Same work, sm

less money.


any encouraging words for a newbie with crappy line counts?
Today is my 3rd day of "real" work (not school) and I did 482 lines in 5.5 hours. That averages out to about 87 lines an hour.

How many lines per hour did you average at first? How long did it take to get faster?

I accepted an acute care position to get more experience, but now I'm wondering if I should have gone for a company offering clinic notes accounts ...

Please tell me it gets better!
If you work from a pool, it's when others are leaving you the crappy reports by skipping over the
s
supposed to be, after people lose their jobs, they are forced to take part-time, lower-paying jobs..
with little to no benefits. service jobs. where are you going to work in a few years, when Medical Transcription is replaced by technology? McDonald's, Walmart? you really going to like that?
Why would I go backwards? Simple thing is to fire the MTs whose quality is crappy. Weeded out abou
I get paid rather well, but I really should not have to do an MTs job. The point is I DON'T WANT TO TYPE!! Why would I want to be an MT and type ALLL THE TIME?
Several jobs on Monster & CareerBuilder for inhouse office jobs down there through an
s
I felt crappy for 8 days..while coming off carbs..but now feel great..don't forget calories still
for those who are carb sensitive..its a godsend and a lifestyle. I really like this site: http://www.lowcarbluxury.com

there are TONS of wonderful recipes. I made the chicken cordon blue for the whole family and mock mashed taters..yummy!! Obviously not the same but I was a happy camper to have mashed again. Good luck!
I did 3 jobs for a while about 3 years ago, you burn out quick, I was doing 3 MT jobs though...after
10 months I cut down to 2 as I don't like to have all my eggs in one basket.  But I am considering going down to 1 in September for my sanity, its a good steady job so financally it should not be an issue.  I have 2 right but have not worked the 1 in about 3 weeks due to some problems at their end, supposed to learn a VA account but not sure if I want to pursue it right now or not, they are waiting to hear from me at this point. I still have a lot going on with chemo, etc. so am mulling things over.  But if you have a full-time day job, then I would just go with 1 part-time MT job at night, unless 1 is during the week, and the other weekends only, then of course you will be working 7 days a week, very tiring I know.  I have been working 7 days a week for 3 years now but I do slack off now and then of course to recharge and get sleep etc. But burnout happens fast and I doubt you want to lose your day job so be careful. Good luck.
Two jobs very common, 3 jobs not unheard of.
x
Yep, a good MTSO will get rid of the crappy doctor, not the good MT...sm
unfortunately, there aren't many MTSOs out there who will confront a poor dictator and nip it in the bud to begin with.

In the old days we used to do this all the time. A doctor was put on report and told to shape up and if he didn't he would either be charged more because they had to pay an MT more to do his lousy dictation, or he was always given the option to do his own reports if he wouldn't comply.

Believe it or not, almost every physician my former company did this to straightened up their act became good dictators and found that it was actually less stressful and less time consuming for them too!!

The MTSOs just don't have the guts to do this anymore... and they should. I can make more money on good dictators with a lower line rate than crappy dictators at a higher rate, and would rather have the better dictators and lower rate than the other... it's a win-win for both the MT and MTSO because the MT is making more money per hour and the MTSO gets to pay less for her MTs and make a better profit. I can't believe the MTSOs haven't figured this one out.
Yup! Not only short jobs, but also jobs from
extremely difficult dictators, bad sound files, jobs that need lots of ADT info added, and anything else that is not "easy" to do. I also questioned them about this and was told the same - they do not allow cherrypicking. Definitely not true!
MQ R jobs
the R stands for Reserved.  My office will call me to tell me they are reserving a job for me, for instance, if a doc calls them asking where a report is that he needs asap (don't they always) or if a doc forgot to make it STAT.  The coordinator can then reserve the job for you, used to be just simply assign in the good ol days
other jobs
I think that if you were unhappy at your job and you weren't making money then it was a wise decision to get another job. I wish you well.
Where are the $20-$30/hr jobs?
Just wondering if they are out there.  So far I make $10/hour or LESS and it's not going to pay bills. thanks.
no. of jobs
take some 20 files in the begining for working for 8 hours.

that is sufficient.

regards
aroun2000@gmail.com
Jobs
Like you, I've worked over 30 years in the medical field. Seems a shame to waste that knowledge sliding groceries across a scanner but what the hey, why not? At least you are working, getting paid and have some benefits. It "ain't" all that bad, is it? Our so-called "profession" is becoming a joke! I'm still working here and there but got dumped by my own group of doctors after 26 years--I think the bottom line is they didn't want to pay me big bucks any longer--even though I knew the ropes, obviously, knew more than the girls they hired, etc. Bottom line. . . money! They want to keep it all for themselves. I didn't even have sick leave for years until I screamed loud and clear! I did get a huge pension and profit sharing, though, for my grief so I guess it was worth it. I just didn't like being "dumped" so unceremoniously when I came to their rescue years ago because their Transcriptionist quit. Oh well, such is life, I guess.
Other jobs can be the same too...
I agree it is stressful to always be watching the line counts, but other jobs have stress too. I worked as a physical therapist assistant for 7 years before becoming an MT and it was all about numbers and paperwork at most places. Even had to keep a number chart at some places with how many patients seen and how many hours worked doing patient care, etc. The director wanted us to double up on patients, seeing 2 to 3 at a time. I feel lucky now to work for a supervisor who puts quality above quantity. We get paid by the hour, so lines per hour is not in the forefront, but we get bonuses if we go above what is expected. This job is much less stressful for me and easier on my back as I was lifting patients and injured my back in the process doing the physical therapy job. I also love working from home, so that is a wonderful benefit too.
Second jobs
I tried that for awhile myself.  The first job picked up and I had to stop.  The important thing is that you meet turnaround times for both jobs.  I made it clear up front with the second job that it was a second job, and that I could not take on as much work for them, since I was full-time with the other company.  However, whatever work I agreed to do, I was expected to get finished on time.  It got to the point that I was not going to be able to do both and meet deadlines, so I had to give the second job up.  I have worked a second job several times for various lengths of time.  You just have to make sure you can realistically do both. 
I'm going to try two jobs and see what happens...sm

I have always had my eggs in one basket.  I recently picked up a second job and so far I really like it.  When one job had no work, I just started my other job early.  My first job has a set schedule, but my second has a 24 TAT, so this is beneficial to me.  Originally, I was going to quit my first job after a couple weeks, but I'm going to keep both just to be safe.  I have to make a certain amount in order to pay bills and I can't have my account running out of work (which happened three times last week).  I just can't risk it.


Just an idea.  I might actually pick up a very very part time third job too.


2 jobs?
Has anyone ever successfully worked 2 FT jobs?
2 jobs
Been doing this since 1976. Never had two jobs, but my first work-at-home job in the mid-1980s offered endless transcription. I, too, was a single partent. Before I knew it, I was working 12 hours daily (sometimes longer) 6-days-a-week on an IBM Selectric. I would work at times until midnight or beyond.

After my shift, every single day, I would pack up my reports and make about a 12-mild round trip to deliver them to the company which at the time was being run out of a residential home. I shopped cooked, cleaned and gardened in between. I would go months and months at-a-time with my only human contact outside of my home being with cashiers in the store. The only voices I ever heard (except for my son's) were electronic, from dictation and the TV.

Five years passed without a vacation. Can't remember too many holidays when I wasn't typing. It didn't seem to take much time at all before back pain was making it take longer to type the same amount of work, thus stretching my work day from 12 to 16 hours. By the time I was 34, I was diagnosed with DJD at multiple levels in my back. At age 42, I had a physical (and mental) collapse, and for the next 7 years I could not do transcription. I lost my home and my car. My son went back to live with his dad and I had to move in with my elderly mother. When unemployment ran out, I ended up on food stamps and at the door of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. They told me I wasn't "handicapped enough" to warrant assistance or job skills retraining.

I had to figure out my own physical therapy because of the public health care system was such an abdomination. That was a long and painful process. I learned how to take care of myself again and how to restore balance back into my life.

Ultimately I ended up back behind the computer cranking out medical reports again. I work 5 days, not six, and I type 8 hours over a 10-hour window, allowing for plenty of "stretch" breaks and time out for lunch. When my shift is over, it's OVER


2 jobs
Been doing this since 1976. Never had two jobs, but my first work-at-home job in the mid-1980s offered endless transcription. I, too, was a single parent. Before I knew it, I was working 12 hours daily (sometimes longer) 6-days-a-week on an IBM Selectric. I would work at times until midnight or beyond.

After my shift, every single day, I would pack up my reports and make about a 12-mild round trip to deliver them to the company which, at the time, was being run out of a residential home. I shopped, cooked, cleaned and gardened in between. I would go months and months at-a-time with my only human contact outside of my home being the cashiers in the grocery store. The only voices I ever heard (except for my son's) were electronic, from dictation and the TV.

Five years passed without a vacation. Can't remember too many holidays when I wasn't typing. It didn't seem to take much time at all before back pain was making it take longer to type the same amount of work, thus stretching my work day from 12 to 16 hours. By the time I was 34, I was diagnosed with DJD at multiple levels in my back. At age 42, I had a physical (and mental) collapse, and for the next 7 years I could not do transcription. I lost my home and my car. My son went back to live with his dad and I had to move in with my elderly mother. When unemployment ran out, I ended up on food stamps and at the door of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. They told me I wasn't "handicapped enough" to warrant assistance or job skills retraining.

I had to figure out my own physical therapy because the public health care system was such an abdomination. That was a long and painful process. I learned how to take care of myself again and how to restore balance back into my life.

Ultimately I ended up back behind the computer cranking out medical reports . I work 5 days, not 6, and I type 8 hours over a 10-hour window, allowing for plenty of "stretch" breaks and time out for lunch. When my shift is over, it's OVER. I have a life now.

I can tell you this much. When I look back on those years, my regrets are not because of what happened to my house, my car or even my body. I was able to get all those things back eventually. But I never figured out how to have a second chance to be there for my son more when he needed me. I was usually too exhausted to help him with his school work. Missed a bunch of soccer games. The TV and video games were his babysitter when he was younger. He was a latch-key kid and during his junior high and high school years, he and his friends (usually other latch-key kids of workaholic parents) virtually ended up raising themselves.

I was lucky. He turned out just fine. But I can say without hesitation that the extra money, the good house and the new cars were most definitely not worth the price I paid to get them and I am a whole lot happier (and better off) without them. I indulge myself in simple pleasures that money can't buy and live a full and satisfying life now.

If I had it to do over again.......


2 jobs
Whoops! Sent this incomplete message by accident. Completed message posted abov.
2 jobs sm
I did not lose anything, but for the grace of God, but you told my story work-wise. I had to "retire" because of the back pain and each day that goes by, I think of returning to the same work because that's all I know after all these years of 100 hour work weeks. However, the posts on this board are very discouraging as to who to work for, etc. If I had it to do over, I probably would not have "killed" myself the way I did, but then again, my son would never have gotten his master's degree. Can't win. I am using a laptop and can't do much else for too long without wicked back pain. Paying the price for being an over-achiever but still have high hopes "repairing the damage"  myself once again and doing this again soon. I thank God to still be here but pray the back pain will go away. Tried PT, heat packs, all kinds of gadgets, but the damage is done - overuse to say the least. A rheumatologist had the brass ones to say he sees "nothing wrong" with me. Good God, I wish he could feel the way I do just for one day. I sure am relating to others today. My gift, I guess, there's always someone worse off. Take care of yourself. We all need to share to help others not make the same mistakes we did. Don't overdo it and do it ergonomically correct or the damage will be permanent. Thanks for sharing your story today.
That would be 2 FT jobs....nm
s
jobs
Check online on MT Jobs...there are quite a few services on there that are hiring, most of which are asking for only 5+ yrs experience. I've been applying past couple weeks. I have 24 yrs experience, & got the definite impression that they're nearly desperate for us seasoned pros!
JOBS.

I hear people complaining from the big companies that they hate their jobs or that they are low on work and etc.  So, it brings me to this question; I have been working for a small MTSO and was thinking about trying to get on with a big company, but then I read all of the bad posts about them.  What do you think is better?  Dont the Big Nationals offer benefits? 


Thanks tonz for all then INFO!!


 


jobs
Hi,  I apologize in advance if this is posted in the wrong spot.  I live in Grand Rapids, MI, and my husband has been looking for a job since September, to no avail.  If anyone knows of anything open around our area, could you please send me an email?  I would greatly appreciate it.  My husband has 10+ years experience in customer experience.  We aren't even getting any unemployment, so it's been very difficult.  Thanks so much just for reading this, and God bless you.
Some of the new jobs are second and third
jobs obtained by people whose primary job doesn't pay enough to take care of basic needs - thanks to corporate greed and the government's complicity in absolutely ruining the middle class little by little!!
There might be MT jobs but only 1 for every 10...sm

I've been in the field for 25 years and been watching very closely what is happening with outsourcing, VR and EMR. I bought a VR program and became proficient with it to see if it can be done. I went to the hospital in the next town when I heard they had a VR program that in 30 days, had the docs doing their own radiology transcription, without proofing. I went to the EMR conferences to see what the programs can and cannot do. If you think you have 30 years of MT work left until you retire, you will be in for a big surprise...There is a huge push to automate. The only work left will be crappy ESL's that the machine can't understand. Oh, there might be jobs, but 1 job for every 10. Wages will fall, and it will be cutthroat. Only the most shrewdest MT's will survive. Dictaphone is a million dollar company that will only exist if they can convince doctors to keep dictating. Yet they know the cost has to be competitive. Solution: Speech recognition. They put their smartest engineers on task to find a way to make it work. They consulted with MT's to find out how to make it efficient for editing. And guess what? They were successful. As far as India taking the work, in a few years, there will be experienced MT's that can do the work.


Best advice I can give is to at least get a bachelor's. It will get you in the door somewhere doing something you like.  I'm getting mine in a field that is growing and can't be outsourced...nursing. I LOVE working from home  but I don't have my head in the sand.


VA jobs
I did VA overflow for a while and I did NOT like it.  Talk about poor dictators, bad reports, etc.  Also the government does not want to pay much.  Very frustrating to me and gave up after a month or so.  This was a couple of years back but it was way worse than any teaching hopsital that I have done.   Of course I did to a lot of psych posttraumatic reports that were really weird.  But that is just my opinion. 
new jobs

i see where a lot of people are getting out of transcription and thinking about doing something else I was just wondering what else people were getting into knowing that MT will no longer exist in probably 5-8 years and the fact that we are getting older, etc.  Are you staying in the medical field at all or getting out all together?   Would like to know what some of you are doing to make up for the income that we seem have lost over the past 5-6 years and will continue to lose (as it sounds) to make ends meet???


 


I like my 2 jobs, too! nm
x