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Me, too! Type in silence...shhhh...the droning of dictators is more than enough! nm

Posted By: passing thru on 2005-09-30
In Reply to: I can't stand a TV or radio on while I transcribe, almost anywhere in the house. - memt

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I think it probably depends on the dictators and type of reports.

Personally, I think it depends on the dictator, how familiar you are with the specialty, and if there are expansions/normals that can be used. 


For argument sake, lets compare $1.15 per minute to 9 cents a line, if it takes someone 1 hour to transcribe 10 minutes of dictation. 


If you have a slow dictator who reads the chart, changes their mind every other sentence, or uses terms/equipment that you have to constantly research, and at the end of the hour, you only have 100 lines typed, then you are ahead of the game.  You earned $11.50 that hour.   


10 minutes x $1.15 (typed in 1 hour) = $11.50 per hour.


100 lines x 9 cents per line (typed in 1 hour) = $9.00 per hour. 


BUT, if you have a great dictator who knows what they want to say, are organized,  normals or a great set of expansions are used, you never have to stop to look anything up, and in the end, you have typed 200 lines, that is a whole different story.  You could have made $18.00 an hour. 


10 minutes x $1.15 (typed in 1 hour) = $11.50 per hour.


200 lines x 9 cents per line (typed in 1 hour) = $18.00 per hour.


So in my opinion, unless you can talk to other MTs with the company doing the same work, there is no way to know in advance if you will be making more or less by being paid by the minute as opposed to by the line. 


Please update us after you have worked for awhile and let us know how things are going.  GOOD LUCK. 


 


SHHHH, don't say that!
Oh, my heart...
Brownie recipe.... Shhhh, it's a secret.....
I got a GREAT to die for brownie recipe of his. This one is much more specific as he wrote the stuff down. Double chocolate batter, chocolate (and sometimes caramel) sauce, white chocolate and pecans on the top... He calls them Suicide Brownies.... would be happy to share if you're interested.
Ah, you've discovered the secret of working at night!! Shhhh....

Everyone will be doing the same! I work nights and weekends, have for years and years.  Don't worry - you will get used to it, and its GREAT! Most companies will pay a higher rate for nights, you NEVER run out of work as long as you're on acute care, dictators are usually GREAT - don't know why, but have always been for me, and same on weekends.  Never a lack of work on my end for over 10 years!  You won't find me scrambling to literally pull the dictation out of a doctor's mouth, along with 100 other MTs signed on waiting to get 1 poor report to trickle thru...But remember - its our secret!


Nothing to do with needing silence
Has to do with protecting the privacy of the information I am transcribing.
Nope, and no music on, either! Must have silence! :) nm
s
Dr. Zhivago, Silence of the Lambs, To Kill a
nm
I need absolute silence in the background when transcribing. sm
Even nice sounding music bugs me. Silence, please
Not always. Tongue stumblers. New dictators. Speedy and lazy dictators.
D
Grease, The Silence of the Lambs, and Dirty Dancing
/
Silence of the Lambs, Close Encounters of Third Kind,
Dirty Dancing, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Animal House not far behind.
?? Bad dictators are bad dictators regardless of their mother language.

wonder when people will just get over it and do what they can and move on. 


don't type double spaces. Type single. Then no one will be cheated.
x
I can type with wine, can't type with coffee, though...too jittery.
x
That is, type the code above before and after what you want bolded in the text-to-type box. nm
nm
For me it isn't an account type but a dictator type ...
and that would be oriental. An oriental dictator (hahaha, that kind of sounds funny...hahaha) is the most challenging for me.
No, you don't type directly into ES. You type in Word -
or whatever their platform is, just like you did with your tapes.

Then you do your line count in Word or the platform.
You should type them. I usually type them in parentheses following the diagnosis.
x
remind me, type what they say, type what they say, type....
"He indicated that at the beginning of the year he complained of health problems recently but has gotten better."  C'mon doc, which one is it?????
Shorthand users: Is there a way to type a word, use a slash and then type another word..sm

immediately following the slash and have it expand.  For example if I needed to transcribe mass/sebaceous cyst, is there a way to use my expanded sebaceous cyst without having to back space after I type the slash mark?  TIA


how are they going to get used to all the dictators

if your source says they cherry pick and only do American dictators?   Sounds like never.  But you knew that. 


 


PS:  Are you absolutely sure your source has your best interest in mind with this detailed ratting on another person regarding Indian cherry picking doing non-Indian work?  


Dictators who keep....

I'm having a bad day with dictators and got this in my

email. It cracked me up. It's a typo in a medical brief that a lawyer filed for a continuance. The typo is on the 2nd page.



http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0916051disk1.html


I have had dictators like that!

when most dictators were from the USA. nm
x
bad dictators sm
I can take an ESL more than I can take an American who speaks fast just to show off to his buddies or because he has a hot date and is dictating from his car or worse yet, if you can't understand him, he has an excuse why his report is incorrect, he can blame you for it. They do it, believe me, and they are the ones who should be shot down. Give me an ESL any day who says thank you very much and is trying hard to learn the language. Some of these fast-talking big shots could care less about us. I had one guy who could fit 15 discharge summaries on one side of a 15 minute tape and everyone would send him to me because I was the outside service. When he was spoken to, he just threw his head back and laughed. Ignorant!
dictators
don't you just love it when you have to turn up the volume to hear what the doctor is saying and then in the middle of the dictation he finally puts his mouth to the mic/phone, blasting your ears; so you turn it down then by the end of the report you have to turn it back up.......no wonder I have ringing in my ears sometime
Bad dictators
Chewing gum very loudly, blowing bubbles while dictating, drinking something and then chewing on the ice....all in the average day lately.  Don't these people stop to think that someone has to listen to this?  That they are chomping incessantly into someone's ears.  No common sense.  Maybe once, someone in authority should remind them that these are legal documents and need to be transcribed as accurately as possible, so no chewing, drinking, talking while yawning, etc.
Bad dictators
I have got to one-up y'all... there is a woman doctor in our group who actually takes her dictaphone INTO THE BATHROOM with her and, yes, that's right, uses the potty right while she's dictating...
ESL dictators
Maybe the ESL docs, knowing that the Transcriptionist must be having a difficult time with the language barrier, should hire an English speaking person to do their dictations. It would free up their time for being a doctor and seeing patient's, give a more accurate transcription, and a better quality report. Wha'cha think???
ESL dictators
Seems many MTs have this complaint. We should be told the correct percentage of ESL dictators BEFORE accepting a job. Imagine all the money a company would save by going over details with each new applicant honestly and thoroughly in the beginning instead of making the job sound good and then have a disappointed new employee, who will quit and the company will have to advertise and hire again. Advertising and training on a computer system is costly, including the time involved etc. The more a company can do to retain its employees, the more money it will save in the long run. Also, pay based on production, not quality of work, is counter productive. Imagine if each Transcriptionist was paid a salary and did quality work and no QA people were needed, except to pull random reports of new employees during the first 30-60 days or so. I feel there is too much QA and not enough emphasis put on quality reports from the beginning. Many transcriptionists feel, the QA people will fill in my blanks, yet they may be able to find the word/words themselves if production was not such a huge factor. But too many employees are trying to meet a line count. With a salary, you can establish a budget and know what to expect in your paycheck. I've transcribed for 25 years. I love my work. Since outsourcing and pay by production have been instituted, I feel pride in transcribing has suffered. Give an employee a job they can feel great about, benefits, and treat them with honesty, fairness, and respect and they will be glad to work for that kind of company. Hopefully, there are companies out there like this It's up to us to find the good companies.

Of note, 10 years ago transcriptionists were being paid around 10-11 cpl and $3.50-$4.00 a page. What happened, outsourcing!! We used to get a higher salary than coders, but not now. We need to keep our work in the USA.
Bad Dictators
I had my share of bad dictators this afternoon too!  Is it full moon?  I am sure I had your doctor's wife.  LOL  Can we band together and chart a bus to deliver them to the firing squad??  LOL  At least maybe would could let the air out of the tires on their golf carts!   Do these people listen to how bad they are???????
Dictators
OH PULEEEEZE spare me the whispering, breathy female docs who sound like they could talk all night on a phone sex line. I don't care what you sound like on the phone. Just TALK lady - spit it out. Am I mad or what? Gads I'm sick of these bimbos.
bad dictators

You ever wonder that when the powers that be become aware that you are making lines on low volume work days, they somehow sneak all the worse dictators your way?  I have had bad dictators, none of them in sequential order, and am no where close to my lph this morning.  


Dictators
I could send you a lighter!  Seriously, I have considered sending a voice copy to them to play after the fact, a day or two later, so they could see what they could understand of what they said! 
BAD Dictators
Oh, you're not alone. They all must have spring fever or something. I have had more dead air than dictation on reports lately. If this keeps up the pay should not be by the line, but by the minutes listened to.
To all the dictators out there

SLOW DOWN!  This is not a race.  I cannot stand it when these dictators talk so fast that you cannot understand them.  You know who you are, especially the cardiac dictators!!!! 


 


Thanks for letting me vent.  I get frustrated when my production goes in the toilet! 


bad dictators
My huge pet peeve when it comes to dictators is them stopping to flip through the chart and not pushing the pause button.  I mean I am just sitting there listening to dead air, wasting money while they find what they are looking for before they start talking again.  How RUDE.  I think all doctors should take Dictation 101 as part of their medical training before they get licensed.  Speak clearly in complete sentences, speak at a fairly fast pace, and for heaven's sake.......hit the pause button if you have to stop dictating.
Bad dictators
IMHO, these are all due to the HIM department folks not training the docs properly.  I worked at one hospital long enough to find out that the HIM department heads have total control over what type of dictation behavior is accepted, including the reports that are outsourced.  It seems that, if the HIM departments for the various hospitals that outsource to us, or the office managers for the various doctors, would just care about what type of dictation we are getting, they would go out of their way to do something about it.  I know they have plenty of time, cause these are the very ones who have no problem picking apart reports and complaining about missing commas!!
Bad dictators

Now my  pet peeve.......dictators who say "go back and change" or "forget that last paragraph". You are essentially typing 2 reports and being compensated for only 1. Had 1 report today where CRNP did that 16 times.


Any suggestions welcome!



dictators

If MTs did the kind of job some dictators do they would be fired.


When dictators take a long time shuffling papers I just hold down my foot pedal down while awaiting the next words and check my email or read a paragraph in a book or do some upper body stretching exercises.


Recently I had a doc dictating over the barking of a dog. I wonder where he was? Or where the dog was?


 


What is it with these dictators..sm
They'll  ...um and ...uh and  ...er  all through the patient history..wasting more and more of the MT's time than necessary .. with the occasional 30-45 second pause between each item to paper-shuffle (on OUR time).  But when it comes to the MEDS and LABS, which are the mainstay of an H&P or consult, as other doctors will base patient care on the meds the patient is already taking or present lab results, they'll race through them at 78 rpm so as not to be understood or able to be transcribed without rewinding 4 or 5 times.  Just because they can race-read medications or labs doesn't mean we can type them just as fast... I guess accuracy in these areas takes back seat. (Who cares where the patient moved here from or went to school?)
bad dictators
I think the shoe should be on the other foot. The doctors have absolutely no respect for what we do - we should be the ones giving THEM feedback - They will be the first ones to speak up if there is an error on the report when in fact, it is entirely their fault. We are intelligent, professional MTs, not magicians !!!!
The dictators that....
Have a pager sitting right beside the microphone and it continuously goes off, a shrill BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP right in my ear and they don't bother silencing it, turning it off, merely MOVING it away from the mic so that my ears are still intact, they just let it beep and keep on talking away.
What are your favorite dictators?
I like the ones who right when they begin dictating, turn around and speak directly into their armpit.  Or how about the ones who carry on a complete conversation in English to the nurse next to them, then when they start dictating they sound like one of those auction guys who have had a few drinks?
Favorite dictators

I have one guy, who really seems nice, thank's you each time at the end of the report, apologises if he has to correct something he said, long reports, BUT, he usually dictates at home, while cooking,bathing the kids and NOW, we must have a new dog because we are deciding to train it while dictating .


It's a verbat account so I really should have put in all the "sits, stays, good dog..would  have made a fortune.


BUT (again), if it were'nt for the fact that the ER he works in is over 140 miles away, I'd have been in the ER, requesting him, to treat me for my ruptured ear drum, when he must have forgot the doggie treats and this dog started barking, loud, blew my eardrums out, had to crank the volume wayyyyyyyyy down, could NOT hear him, except for the good dog's and sit, I'll play later


SS dictators and LINES.
I HAD a problem with Softscript period.  Heard their sever is down again.  Look out, line count will be changing again.  Horrible communication.  Horrible dictators.  Never pain on time, NEVER.  Dictators from hexx.
dictators on the phone

I agree--I have mentioned this endless times to my supervisor about dictators being on the cell phone, the worse that I have had was a dr at a baseball game, doing dictation on his cell phone, you could hear the other parents in the background cheering--sounded like a little league game and yes I did tell my supervisor and yes it is MQ and of yes, nothing was done


 


I love the ones that are on their cell phones and then drive thru a tunnel or put the top down


Fast dictators

When are these ******** doctors going to figure out that by dictating 100 miles per hour they are NOT going to get an accurate accounting of their patient encounter????  I feel like I'm being set up to fail.  I don't care how much experience we transcriptionists have, if you're going to dictate a three page report if 1.5 minutes, SOMETHING is going to get missed or screwed up.  I hope that extra three minutes they saved themselves throughout their busy day is worth it when the patient's chart gets the wrong data and somewhere down the line a big mistake is made.  I've had a terrible morning, struggling with Mr. All-Important who dictates vital signs as one long rambling of numbers, never in the same order (one time it will be weight first, then pulse, blood pressure, respirations and the next time it will be blood pressure first, then weight, then respirations, then pulse) -- I've had it!!!!!  I've got so many blanks in this batch of reports that I'm embarrased to turn them in. 


Thanks for letting me vent.  I'm not a bad transcriptionist.


 


I am so sick of ESL dictators!

What a lousy day!  I am sick to death of getting 100 different doctors a day and maybe one of them speak English.  Makes for a very long frustrating day.


If we all would refuse to do bad dictators - what can they do about it?

Let them do them themselves or have their fair-haired Indians do them. 


Let the mush-mouthed doctors get back mush-typed dictation.  It would be fair.


Tonight I had so many questionable lab values it made me sick.  I also got a non-ending stack of bad, foreign, indistinct, unable to speak English doctors --- you know the guys who end up at the bottom on last day of the payperiod.


I have gotten to the point that I want them to say "This isn't right!" and stomp their feet, because I want to go nose-to-nose with these jerks.  Just mess with me suckers!  I'm ready.  I'm premenstrual and I'm ready.