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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Program worked well for me, but not the most economical of plans. sm

Posted By: LTMT on 2006-08-11
In Reply to: Jenny Craig - mt47

They do make it easy for you -- meals and snacks all ready, but when I did it 10 years ago, it averaged $80-100 per week, PLUS you still have to buy your milk and fresh fruits and veggies.  Still, it was a good plan for me.  I walked every day too, and managed to lose 50 pounds.  One of the things they taught me is true, though:  Your decision to quit exercising is your decision to gain back the weight.  Sure enough ... gradually, the exercise dwindled ... the eating habits slipped .. and the weight started creeping back. 


The other poster who mentioned Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine dinners is right -- you can supplement with them for a lot less $$. 


Good luck with whatever you choose! 




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I have worked on this program
It is just a program from which you retrieve your wave files.  The line count is not determined by the Doc Shuttle, just a means for retrieving wave files.  The line count is up to your ability to transcribe the files. 
Laser jet not ink jet printer - more economical
I have a laser jet printer and though the ink is expensive at 100 a cartridge, it lasts me for six to eight  months and I do printing for all of my five accounts.    My printer was top of the line over ten years ago and I just got a new HP color laser jet for $899 but they end up paying for themselves by not going through as much ink as a ink jet.   For one of my accounts I do the letterhead on the paper.  Have done that many times for many accounts.   I incorporate it into the price.   I supply paper, sticky paper also.  Two accounts supply their letterhead and I provide second sheets.   My friend has an inj jet and constanly complains about the amount of ink she goes through.  It is all a cost of business.  But if this is something new, she should put on a $10 charge per month depending on how many letters she is doing.  I probably print off 400 sheets per week.  
Plans for THIS weekend?
Summer has gone by WAY too fast.  What are your plans for this weekend?  Anyone have a big weekend last weekend?  I am not sure what we are going to do.  Husband is playing in a golf tournament and I will probably take the kids swimming, maybe work a little.  Would be nice.
CHANGE OF PLANS
Check with your old job and see if you can stay (unless you REALLY hate it). At least that is what I would do.
Got any weekend plans?

It's so hot, I may just work instead. 


My dinner plans
I am so sorry that your doggy had diarrhea all over your face. OH GEEZ, I didn't realize that is really what you look like - again sorry.
I have never found a program shorthand does not work with, it works outside the program (I think tha
nm
Did your husband know that the plans the mayor of NO used

were the same plans that were specified by the Department of Homeland Security when they did a simulation of this disaster in the 4 years prior?  When FEMA was absorbed by the DHS, they did simulations of events like hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.  In their simulation called Hurricane Pam, which was only simulated as a category 3, they said that the only place available as a shelter in this type of storm was the Superdome.  They studied this for years.  The mayor followed their recommendations.


As far as buses being available, the mayor made the public transportation system available for free but that was only inside the city of N.O.  He can't make private sector transportation services provide free transportation OUT of the city and then, again, he could have used the public transportation and the school bus system to transport them out of the city, but to where?  These people had no money - where were they going to go?  The only option the mayor had was to use the recommendations of the DHS and house them in the Superdome.  What other city was available in Louisiana that would have housed hundreds of thousands of people in shelters designed to withstand a category 4 (possibly 5) storm?  There was none. 


There was an article published yesterday in which many administration officials described how FEMA would work since it was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security and what the responsibilities would be if the president declared any disaster an incident of national significance.  It was an excellent article and very eye-opening.   FEMA isn't the FEMA we knew from years ago that could act independently and at a quicker pace.


Long Distance Plans

Can anyone suggest a long distance carrier that provides unlimited long distance at a reasonable rate for transcription purposes?  I have been told that I have to have a business plan because it is against government regulations to use your home phone line to surf the internet, etc.  I have to dial into a long distance number to get my work through a Lanier.  I have statellite internet so I do not think I can have Vonage or anything like that where it goes through your PC.  I currently pay over $100 a month with taxes and surcharges to have unlimited long distance on one phone line.  Is there anything better out there? 


Had to cancel my plans again today to do MT (sm)

Although these doctors pay pretty well they are a pain in the neck.  I am about ready to give this up altogether.


I have tried other services and they only pay about half of what these guys do.  What next?  See items on E-Bay?


Long Distance plans
Depends on where you live. Do a Google search for your area. My employer told me AT&T was cheapest, but not in my area, ALL plans here run about 70+ a month for unlimited, but down south, AT&T was about $25/month. Big difference where you live. Hope this helps.
Family holiday plans (sm)

I just had to post this as it reminds me so much of a lady who posted about her family, saying that they were ungrateful.


I was going to take the Amtrak train to visit my family on Thanksgiving, it's only about an hour on the Amtrak, and about $80.00 for the ticket!  My stepmother says to me that it would be way to much trouble for them to drive the 15 minutes to the station to pick me up, they are having company that day.  My father would spend his whole Thanksgiving day going back and forth to the train station.  But I was welcome to come the day before Thanksgiving and stay until the day after Thanksgiving, that way they could drop me off at the train station when they didn't have company.  Company meaning her children, who have always come first.  So I am supposed to go to their house at an alloted time?  I'll be darned if I'm going to do that.


Now I'll be darned if I am going to pay $80.00 for a train ticket to spend a day with a family with this attitude.  I told them I won't be coming, I haven't had the time to spend 3 days there and have to work, and they said it would be too much trouble to pick me up at the train station on Thanksgiving.  Am I right or wrong in not going on Thanksgiving?  Any opinions?


AT &T and other co offer unlimited plans

We have an unlimited longdistace plan with AT&T for only $35 monthly I know there are a few other companies that also offer these type of plans. I would definitlly check into them if I had to pay longdistance charges.


I just got a letter too...please post what plans are available to us...TIA

What are your vacation plans this summer? sm
I'm getting married in 11 days so my week vacation afterwards will be spent honeymooning in Helen, GA, which is where we're getting married. 
VoIP plans are the only ones without restrictions
x
They do offer individual plans, but they are SM
similar to my insurance at Spheris. A very high deductible, many out of pocket expenses, no prescription drug coverage. Basically, will cover hospital expenses. However, the most out of pocket with them was $5000.00 per year; with Spheris it is $10,000 per year. I believe it cost $250.00 a month.

You could look into it.
long distance plans
I live in NW Ohio and having a difficult time finding a LD carrier that allows for medical transcription.  Anyone have any ideas?
A parrot may outlive you, so make sure you have plans

for where it will live after you pass.  I thought about getting a parrot, but I decided that it was too much of a responsibility considering how long they live and how much attention they need.  If they don't get attention, they WILL have a tantrum like a 2 year old, so make absolutely sure this is what you really want.  Also, parrots are LOUD, really LOUD.


I ended up getting female zebra finches and love them dearly.  They are not loud and because I have a cage with the seed catch, they aren't too messy.  Note: Boy zebra finches are loud, so avoid them if you can't handle the noise.  Girls warble, boys squawk.


They don't want to look for their own jobs or figure out their own business plans. They want all
:+
Just 1 in 1 year. No plans to change in the near future.

I have what is perhaps a dumb question about 401k plans. Can you have 2? sm

I am starting a part-time job in addition to my full-time job, and they both have 401k plans with matching, so if I could have both, I could get a little extra on both sides.  Somehow, though, I am thinking that probably is not allowed. 


Thanks for your input.


Affordable health insurance plans?
Do these exist? Any leads on where to find affordable coverage for employee and 1 dependent?
You purchase the plans which allow so much data to be transferred.
I paid for the $59.99 monthly package, which is a lot of data usuage and have used programs such as Dictaphone ExText and Escription on the road. It seems like someone told me you'd have to pretty much be on it nonstop to use up all the data allowance but you can check it out here..http://b2b.vzw.com/broadband/bbapccard.html
PRD is a DOS program. I don't think it work with Word, a Window's program.
x
It will count everything if you go in the settings and program it to. Good program!
Sylcount is an awesome and accurate counting program also. That will count everything if you "tell it to".
Cingular and T-Mobile advertise prepaid plans.
nm
Business plans don't work either...been there done that with SBC & ATT...MTSOs/hospitals need to.

either offer 1-800 numbers or internet transcription if they want to keep hiring us all over the US....that's it!!  Maybe we could all share the cost of a 1-800 number or something, and for goodness sake, with all the technology out there, everything needs to go to digital dictation anyway.  Bottom line is MT is NOT allowed for ULD.  I even asked about some sort of special ULD transcription package through SBC & ATT and they wouldn't even consider it.  So, MTSOs, please listen up...the ULD is going to be a thing of the past real soon.  It's a wonderful option to you and it broadens the MT's working capabilities, but without ULD, nobody can rake out that kind of money!  We should all put our heads together (MTSOs and MTs) and try to get something going here.  We can no longer overlook this situation. 


Good luck everyone...I will be holding my breath for us all!


Agree w/the Tessier's, but I don't think plans are in the works for an updated one. :( nm
s
Sorry to hear it,, Lyndia. Sickness messes up all plans. SM
That you're nevertheless still able to put money aside is pretty amazing in itself. Feel better soon. :)
Yes but what you dont understand is MQ plans to bring out a new pay plan which probably will reduce
the base line rate for everyone and then their it on production and that will make a huge difference in what people get paid.
Any unlimited long distance plans for high-volume
I use 7000+ minutes a month but I know that most LD companies now will dump your unlimited plan if they find you using more than 5000 or if they find you are using it for transcription.  Has anyone had one of these plans for a while now without problems with high-volume calling?  Which one?
I'm doomed with dialup, too. It's simply AWFUL!!! Bright House plans on sm

servicing my area soon, after March sometime.   My suggestion would be to bug whichever companies supply DSL or broadband in your area.  Be relentless.  This is 2006.  There is no reason to settle for dialup!! 


I feel your pain. 


 


 


 


You can use Shorthand in ANY program, it works outside your program
I have never found a platform it did not work with and I have worked on several different versions of Meditech. Just start using it.
Any plans for Mother's Day? Hubby is taking me on a wine & dinner train ride.
t
Every company is different -- I worked FT for one as an employee but worked a split shift - sm
So I never took breaks. I would work 5 hours, break for about 4 hours then do another 3. Another company I worked for did not care what hours you worked (IC) but wanted a min. amount of work each day, 500 for PT and 1000 for FT-- BUT they paid you by how many lines an hour you put out, the higher the lph the higher up the scale you made per line in pay; they have since changed everyone to a flat rate with incentive. But bottom line, if you are an IC it does not matter what hours you work, though many ask for a schedule and ask you to stick to it, they just want you to meet line requirements daily, i.e. 1000 per day, 1200 per day, whatever it is.
I got up early, worked during naps, and worked when DH got home.

You have to be disciplined to make yourself work when baby is napping instead of maybe watching TV or doing housework, etc.   


I might also go the route of having a teen come into your home, or either trying a mother's morning out program at a local church/daycare.   I've been home since my youngest was born and he has never been in all-day daycare, but I did have him in a mother's morning out program 15 hours a week at a local church.   It didn't help a lot with my work schedule because I had an older son in school and was a room mom and tutored other kids, but that might be an option.  The only problem with the mother's morning out program is they are around other kids and tend to pick up every germ.  I finally took my DS out of the program because he stayed sick.  You were supposed to keep them off if they had green nasal discharge and I did, but no one else did.  Every time I got him well after 2 to 3 days back he would be sick again.  Other than that it was very good for him because he would not have had a chance to be around kids his age otherwise. 


M-TEC has a Basic program (12 month) and a Premier program (18 month). To WAH, you should take the P
:)
Shorthand works with every program, it works outside the program you use, does not interfere.
nm
I worked on that system when I worked there...
The thing that chapped my hide about that TWS was that they designed it so that all the headers of each section of the report were canned and thus you were not paid for them, even though you had to take your hand off the keyboard and mouse down a list of paragraph headers to chose the one you needed.  Just racking up more profits for themselves.  Ticks me off.
that is what is being worked out, and has been worked on for the last few years already...only
why are we just hearing this now? I know voice recog has been around, but this is entirely different. This will also make coding and billing obsolete.

Don't know why, but it just bothers me that one of our 'own' is the one pushing this...and she is also connected with AAMT. Do they support this, and if so, what is their advice I wonder to the MT?

Perhaps that is one question for their website (I do not subscribe to their mag or credentials...)

Thanks, for the input!
Their unlimited plans aren't really unlimited, which is

the problem.  Their limit is 5000 minutes and if you work full-time you'll need approximately 10,000 minutes. 


There have been several people who have received enormous bills from AT&T because they deemed their use as inappropriate. 


C-phone and phone plans....
I have a company that I have recently hired on with that uses c-phones.  At home I have an unlimited long distance plan, but I'm wondering if while traveling there is a plan that you can get in order to use a c-phone in a motel, relative's homes, etc.  I like to be able to still work while traveling and I feel this is going to limit me.  Any suggestions or ideas?
PRD is a DOS program, so you just
copy the entire folder to a floppy or CD.  It does not need to be installed like windows programs. 
What program are you using?
nm
Value of SUM program...What would you pay???>>>

I asked this on the equipment board, but I think maybe I'll get a better response here, so I hope its okay to post it here, too.


Does anyone know what the SUM CDs are worth?  There are some on ebay.  The beginning one is 2005, and usually they are the older ones on ebay.  I looked on the HPI website, but they come with books and are VERY expensive.


Anyway, does anyone have an idea of what they are worth without any extra books?  I want to bid on them, but don't know how much.  They are at $9.99 each now.  There is a beginning one, an advanced one and a surgery one.  Shoot.  I want them, but don't want to pay too much, you know? 



Thanks for any input. 


SUM Program
First, realize if you are able to study independently. The SUM cd's that are on ebay now are the new 2005 editions. You will be able to find the additional books you need on eBay over a few weeks. My advice to you is 1) go to the HPI/SUM website and print out the Student Syllabus and assignments for beginning and surgical (this will give you all of your assignments and a list of what supplies you will need, 2) email the eBay seller and make sure she is including the password codes to "unlock" the cds (Without these, they are useless to you.), then bid what they are worth to you. I have seen them go from $10 to well over $100. I sold a one myself (and not the new edition) for $125. Since I now have everything I need, I will pass on a little hint for buying cheap on eBay. Look for the packages, purchase them, take out what you need, then relist the rest. I now have a second computer (used but fine), desk (nice and new), all the reference books needed for the SUM Program, every Stedman's book that I could ever want (the latest editions), flash cards from Career Step (which come in handy), the extra AAMT cd's that M-Tec uses along with macros and every possible item I could ever want. In the end, not only did it cost me nothing, but I actually came out ahead in the end.

So, if you have the time, this is an excellent way to purchase training materials. Good luck and happy shopping.

DQS program

Hello out there - Starting position who has DQS program.


I find it to be very poor.  (In fact those who know the Meditech program - I prefer Meditech over DQS anyday)     


I have a lot of issues with the program; however, will just ask two questions, please.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.


1.  Does anyone have advice as to the quality of dictation.  I am not referring to the physicians quality, but the inability of the DQS program to have more than 4 selections for speed, which are terrible.


Is it me or is this par for the program?  1-2 speed hash marks are draggy, 3-4 is distorted.  There is not a happy medium for clear dictation but at a rate you can type quickly and accurately.


2.  Also minutes - never measured my work in minutes how many minutes a day approximately to produce 1500 lines a day ??


35+ years transcription experience - this is the worst program ever.  Hey that is just my opinion, I could be wrong (5000 lb gorilla).


 


 


DQS program
Thank you so much for your information. You have hit the nail right on the head.

I too did the same as you. It seems almost impossible to get more than 700 lines. I am so confused as I usually average 200+ lines/hour on all other typing plateforms I have ever used. (Even Meditech)

Your reponse has really helped realize the program frustration is not completely my fault.

THANK YOU - God Bless
What program are you using?
nm
program
Top gray keys - press left key (program), press again and it will say keys, choose which black button you want for the headset and press it, type #*11, hit the select (X) key, hit the black button you chose again and the hit the top right gray key (no). If you hit the black button you chose, it should light up, indicating the headset is working.