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Questions like the one quoted SHOULD make people angry.

Posted By: Deb on 2008-09-08
In Reply to: You seem really angry???? - see inside

There's a difference between needing help with something difficult, and asking a question that NOBODY who is working as an MT should have to ask. If you can't figure that word out or find the answer yourself, you shouldn't be working as an MT. Period.


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Yeah, the IQ's are as ridiculously high as the make-believe yearly pay we often get quoted on her
If you believe any of this crap you really need to get out more.
I would rather not respond to your questions, as your tone seems a little angry
x
Cherry pickers really make me angry! SM

I work at-home for a fairly small community hospital.  We have maybe four ESLs on staff at this hospital.  We all have the capability of looking up what reports are on the system and we are allowed to self assign provided we do not abuse it.  The powers that be decided to allow us to have this capability because on second shift and weekends there may be occasion where a report is needed stat and there is no one in the department to assign it and so the person needing the report can simply check to see what MT's are on the system typing and email one of us and we can self assign and do the report.


I usually work first shift, but this week I am filling in for another girl and working second shift.  It is me and one other MT on second.  I plugging along and I get rather lengthy consult by an ESL doctor we all kind of dislike doing because A) He is an ESL dictator and B) All his reports are looooooooong!  So, I get an 8 min consult and I type it, takes me about 20 minutes.  Then, a couple of reports later I get another consult, same dictator, 10 minutes long.  Now, I'm thinking okay what's the other girl doing.  So check on her and she is sitting on the same report she was on when I got the first 8 minute consult.  Her report is a 4 minute H&P by a very American, very good dictator.  So I type the second, 10 minute consult, with just a little irritation nagging me.  A few reports later I get yet another 15 minute consult by the same ESL dictator.  Now I'm steamed.  I look at the job list again and find that she is STILL on the same 4 minute report she has been on for the last hour and a half!  Presumably she has been waiting for me to clear out all the offending dictations so she doesn't get stuck with one!


So now I'm considering letting the supervisor know because it just burns me up when someone treats their co-workers so unfairly.  If she's doing it do me, she's done it to everyone.  But I'm afraid if I gripe about her to management, they will simply take away our self-assign capability and take away our ability to see what is on the system and I hate to penalize everyone because of one person's self-serving and unfair attitude.


What would you all do?


Angry? Maybe make your own life better and you'll be surprised
Losers blame other people.

Successful people take responsibility for their own lives.
Yep, sour grapes is right. Typical attitude of people who are angry with life.
x
so many people was wishy-washy nowadays...love to see people make
a stand for what they believe in...

it is kind of wierd those statements have to be made in the first place but guess we are an ever-transitioning country and are still young. so many different beliefs yet not much tolerance.

I found your post respectful, and right on as to how you feel. it does not seem that difficult to sift through to read and respond to messages someone might not care for...
Questions for QA/Editor people
What would you say is an average hourly rate for an Editor who is not a certified MT? Do you also do transcription? If so, do you do this during your shift that you are acting as QA or after?

If you do transcription during your shift, how many lines of QA do you average per hour? Also, if there is no work to QA, are you still paid (IC status). I would appreciate any insight that any of you can provide. I just got my first QA position and am trying to get an understanding of how things go. Please don't tell me to ask the company. I want to hear from you guys, if you don't mind.

Thanks
I have 2 questions for people who own their own company

I started a company up and have a few clients; however, 2 of them insist on using my SS# instead of my EIN.  Will I still be able to claim this as income for the business?  Also, I have someone working for me and I am wondering if when I pay taxes on my business do I do it on the money before or after I pay her?  I'm not sure if you have to pay taxes on EVERYTHING you make or if you can count a salary off and just pay taxes on what is left.


Most MTs are very busy people. I have answered your questions OP sm
You didn't get my number, I am definitely too busy to talk to ANYONE, except my boss, when I am trying to work. I work more than one IC contract and I am working 15 and 16 hour days. I don't talk to my family or my friends...let alone you or any other MT who wants questions over the phone.

I have to say, since I have seen these questions...I rolled my eyes when I saw what was being asked, frequently the same question over and over again. I couldn't be bothered to render an opinion or tell you where to stick your commas.

As others have posted, you need training. If you can't tell where to put a comma, that training is probably high school English. Asking the opinions of several MTs is phishing for a phight. I cannot see what you hope to gain by it, but I won't be enticed to waste my time.

If you are a newbie MT and you have just completed training, go ask your teacher(s) or go to your QA manager. If you feel your QA manager is wrong, go to her boss, but you had better have your facts straight and an AAMT BOS in your hand when you do and it would be a good idea if you could quote the "errors" out of the BOS. Then again, if you had the newest AAMT BOS and if you knew how research things you would not need these silly questions answered.

Yup I am being harsh.
They did answer the questions. Then got swore at and had people

Yeah, suddenly there is a barrage of people asking questions
Do you think we're that stupid or what?
I've had people tell me that I would need to wait to have my questions answered until I worked...

for them.  What???  How would I know if I want to work for them if they don't answer my questions.


Go figure.


I worked for one that quoted

9 cents per line.  When it came payday, they said it was actually 8 cents per line and 9 cents was the weekend rate.  I should have quit on the spot, but needed the money at the time.  Good luck.


You should be paid on the day they quoted you
when you signed your contract.  If they are late, then I would stop typing and let them know they will get absolutely no more work out of me until I receive my paycheck.  And I would immediately start looking for another job and if and when the time comes for you to give your notice and move on, I would be brutally honest and tell them how completely unprofessional they were.  I would also post the company name here because word of mouth especially in the MT industry can have devastating effects on a company.  Of all the crap these MTSOs try to pull, not paying on time is the least forgivable and the one most MTs will consider before accepting a job.
Be surprised then b/c the TC quoted $15/pedal + $50 computer. Also had to have programs

Also as SE we should be compensated at contractor rate, not as if we are one whiff above


employee since we must make up work and eat the down time etc.


Also, when the work is low the work is GIVEN to employees with no warning and NO WAY to make up the work because there is no work there.


 


i don't know why people make fun of mq and ceo(s) of mq. they are trying so hard

it takes TIME to award these prizes and to figure out pay increases.  They have priorities you know.  They are fighting lawsuits, figuring out bonuses for management and trying to save their own jobs or at least accumulate some cash in an offshore bank before going to jail or getting fired for running a scam operation bilking the shareholders, clients and MTs. 


Just be patient.  In a year or so Frank will come through (or at least his replacement) as to who won the Hawaii trip.


 


I'm with you ... people can make their own choices. nm
x
No need to laugh. Many people make that and much more. I do. nm
x
Some of us are IT people who make more money
doing MT. I've found that I know more about computers than the so-called IT people working for MT services. However, I would never recommend PC Doctor. AVG Free is the best free antivirus software out there. And you're not an id-iot. It's also tough to know which programs will cause a software conflict until you actually try them. Hope things go better for you.
I am not worried about what other people make... sm
What bothers me is that people post about how there wages are so low, their income is low, and it discourages the new people in the field before they get a chance to see for themselves what they can or cannot do.  I just really do not see how people can not type more than 75-100 lines an hour if they are really working their job.  I consistently type 350-400 lines an hour for 6 hours a day.  That averages me to $35-40 an hour - which is way over minimum wage.
I have seen editors/QA people act put-upon because we make mistakes.
That's their JOB to correct mistakes.  And while we are working on production and a QA/Editor has time to listen to something over and over, they act like we should have gotten this and why was it sent to QA blah, blah.  Editors forget the sole purpose of their job is to fix the report and move on.  Some of them have to lord it over you with comments that are totally unnecessary.  Just give me the answer and I certainly don't need a speech or reprimand with the answer.  You do your job and I'll do mine.  I don't lecture you, don't lecture me.
Just make a "mean people" forum nm
nm
KD, are you on crack - very few people make $50,000/year - sm
I make about $58,000, but I work my butt off doing it, have 18 years experience. You sound like a Sally Struthers ad when you make a comment like that! Next thing you know, you will be telling this woman that she can breastfeed her child while she is transcribing and have another one sitting on her lap!!

I do love this job, but I tell people to expect to make at least $25,000-$30,000/year.
Geez, you people make it sound like
"my family" has a bunch of incestuous perverts running around.  Give it a break!  My kids never even started it, the other kids at school did.  ALL boys think it's funny to overexaggerate when they get hit in the privates.  It's not like they're walking around playing doctor or anything.  It's the rolling around on the ground, Oh! my privates! that they think is funny.  As if your sons, brothers, or whoever is going to tell you about it anyway.  You're overthinking it and turning it into something it's not.  I did say I do not tolerate it or find it funny.  I am a darn good parent and I don't trash talk my kids' teachers either.  I've never pulled them out of classes or switched schools.  So please, spare ME the lectures and get out of your little glass houses.
You people make me laugh.Half say they sm
betrayed their families by making pretend they weren't gay, but they were MADE to have families becuase you condem them for being together. So let me see if I get this straight-don't pretend you are straight and don't be gay. What is that called? Oh yeah, SICK. If people left each other alone to be what they were born to be we wouldn't have families betrayed to begin with. Get it????? Think hard.
some people need to make themselves sound important
Obviously this person who considers MT a "profession" is in denial and has low, if any, expectations for herself.
You can't make people up this late in the game!
LOL
Power can make people crazy.
She sounds like a manager who caused me to leave my last job. She also was terrible at details too, but what a mess she turned out to be, starting all the rumors. Ridiculous.
Defensive people make the most errors
I bet... if you are good you would be quiet, if you are a bad MT you will blast poor QA lady all day.
what do the middle people make per line?
I may be negotiating a contract directly with a radiology business, but I"ve only done independent contractor work up until now.  I'd like to enter into negotiations seeming like I know my way around the block:  what do companies (who hire transcriptionists) tend to make per line?  How would I find that out?
Who ARE these people who make this stuff up every year charge $ for it??
I could make one up every year myself.  Why do they think they are an authority.  I have never understood this, and will never buy another one.  I bought one in my life for $75.  What a waste of money to read someone's "made up rules for this year."
But really. To make this work, don't you have to intrude upon people's lives and SM

make a horrible pest of yourself? Honestly? My riding instructor, who is one of the dearest friends I've ever had, gets into these schemes. His latest was Tahitian Noni juice.


He had some remarkable results with it on a horse that was just a juvenile delinquent - she reared in crossties, acted up at shows when she wasn't in the arena, she was just a PMSing witch.


So I was impressed. I went to a meeting with him. Come to find out, they don't actually want you to buy the Noni juice - they want you to recruit other people to recruit other people. Biggest mess of flim-flam I've ever seen.


 


the people who really make BIG BUCKS are business owners
especially when they go into...say- window washing or something right away, instead of into debt. In general, I'm for college - plan to push my kids to get their master's right away as that seems entry level nowadays - but where I made really good money was owning my own service. Make(made) more as an MTSO than I ever will as a nurse-practitioner.
But just because people are not willing to financially help doesn't make them any less helpful th
nm
I really admire people that can make that kind of money
but knowing the hours she must work, and the days she must put in (probably all week plus the weekend), that's just not for me. Money isn't everything and I'd rather make my $40,000 and have my weekends free and work my 8 hours, five days a week and be done. Again, this is just me. Now if I could make that money working normal hours, I'd be happy. (I can dream can't I?)
People are jealous, I think, so they make snide and disparaging comments.
SOMETIMES, tho, you get these same people coming back asking you how to get trained, how to find jobs like this. It's a weird situation.
It's amazing we let people operate on us who cannot put two words together to make a sentence.
:+
don't worry about frantic people who try to make a point by calling names.
They are immediate losers when it comes down to winning any sort of valid logical argument and you can see this person is a LOSER because they did not mention any companies to support their argument and instead lashed out at you. HOW SMART IS THAT?
Yes, write some letters to the Dell people....if you make some noise you will get your refund.
and mail/fax whatever-- get their attention....don't be outright nasty but you can get pissy a little. It will work and you will get your money back.
The people proofing are human. Humans make mistakes daily.
nm
Meditech questions and Cerner questions. Any input is appreciated. SM

I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

 


  1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?

  2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)

  3. How is a line defined in Cerner?

  4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?

  5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).

  6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.


    1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?

    2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?


Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 




if you live among trashy people, low income people, people w/o goals or direction,
content to just get by, you by default become a part of a group. "people" have decided to group trailer people as trash. that is because there are enough people in that group to earn the title and even if you aren't trash, you are categorized by others. did i think i was trash in lower class neighborhood surrounded by people who drank and fought all weekend? no but i knew i wasn't staying and did not try to pretend that all the fools in the neighborhood were just nice folks who ended up where they were because high horse snobs deemed their neighborhood low class. people for the most part live exactly where they belong because they don't want to educate themselves, they don't mind "trash" around them and they don't want to be bothered trying just a bit hard to extract themselves from that world. they justify everything to themselves i guess saying everyone who doesn't like their lifestyle is a snob and the comedians (Jeff Foxworthy/Chris Rock, etc) who make fun of them are just ill-informed.

As for me, I fought hard to get out and don't even want to look back. It amazes me people stay for generations.
I'm very angry but

My mother would not side with me.  I know this for a fact, thats why I keep the responses to myself.  She pretends like she doesnt see it, she is one of those moms in denial about everything.  I'm also afraid she will feel threatened, I don't want that.  Also, the family member I told has a big mouth, and I think some of it may have leaked out because the last time I went over there, I went swimming and I had a towel wrapped around me.  Exact words from my stepfather "Why are you all covered up, do you think there's a pervert here or something?" And he's become very hostile lately.  The whole thing is a mess.  Its sad because my stepfather and I were close in a normal way at one time.  Its like I lost that.   


Very Angry MT
If you are new and have a year and under why do these companies not respect that fact and try to teach you and make you better instead they just get rid of you over one report that went bad... Are we just garbage?  Just because you do not have to look at a person in the face does not give them the right to do these things, Now let me say it was the account not the company that fired me...
To Angry
I am sorry this happened to you, but I think there could be many reasons and no, this was not fair the way it happened to you given the history you just gave. However...these things do happen. Let me tell you, a couple of years ago I decided to go back to working inhouse. There was a doctor there no one could understand, even the more experienced struggled. He had a certain MT for many years, but when new management came on board this MT was let go. Anyway this doctor simply would not allow anyone else to do his work without finding something wrong. He wanted his old MT back. They found someone to do the work for him but he was very, very picky. Maybe this is what happened to you. It could be anything. You will bounce back from this and go on to find something else even better. However, I am just wondering why didn't they have a backup account for you.

Best wishes.


To Angry sm

Since I have never seen your work I would not presume to pass judgment on it.  *IF* your work consistently had gross errors and you were never informed, that says enough about the company you worked for.  In fact, as far as I'm concerned, a company that would ask ANYONE to work free for "months" as you said in a previous post is beyond despicable. It might be possible this is how they are making their money, the profit margin for free work would be pretty good but I would expect they wouldn't last long.


On the otherhand, I've had more years experience than I care to say, so let me tell you I KNOW how bad the baddest ESLs can be.  This actually happened to me:  I worked for a company about 10 years ago when tapes were sent to us at home by UPS.  I consistently got this one ESL who was so bad I said that God Himself couldn't understand him.  I called the office more than once saying I hated sending the reports directly to the hospital because they looked exactly like swiss cheese.  I was told to "just do the best you can and don't worry about it."  Well, one day I got a tape of his dictation and the tape itself was bad, so that work looked more like the whole block of swiss cheese with huge chunks where the tape was nothing but a stretching sound, thus, large chunks of blanks.  I called the office and again was told to "do the best I could" and send it on to the hospital.  Well, the next day I got some more of his tapes and the first thing he said was, "ah dunawa **** ado MA tie."  I translated this to mean, "I don't want **** to do my typing."  I immediately called the office and I admit I was pretty distraught, even considering how bad he was.  Know what I was told?  "The hospital knows how bad he is, their MTs refuse to do him which is why they send him to us and you're the only MT we have who can do him.  Don't worry about it, just send the tapes back and we'll tell them we're not going to do him anymore."  WHAT????  Why the heck didn't they tell the hospital that way before I pulled all my hair out??!!  And this was a large national that has since been gobbled up by MQ.


Don't give up.  Ask an experienced MT to review your work and give you some honest, constructive feedback and then do what it takes.  If you have to pay someone to mentor you for awhile it's a small price to pay for the education you'll get.    Hang in there.


You say this as if you are angry
Next time, don't come here to ask such questions. It could have been much worse. YOU are the one who is at fault here.  You are lucky that anybody responded at all.  YOU came to this board TWICE asking for help. There are no doctors here.  Use your brain!
Angry
I think you should see a lawyer. You may have a case for wrongful termination.
angry too, but not as much as
having a doctor dictate to the song mack the knife on every dictation - i guess he either thinks he is bobby darrin or just funny - but it gets annoying
You seem to be very angry
I said I THINK, not know. Having a college degree means what in transcription? Nothing that I have been able to find yet and I have done this over 30 years now. You need to find something else to do apparently. I do not find this a crap job and have made really big bucks in my career but then again I have the speed to go along with the background for doing transcription. These hospitals, companies, offices are in this to make money. They are not there to pat you on the back. You seem to be in over your head. Probably something a little less stressful would be a good thing for you. This is just a job that I do not stress about- after first going through a rigorous training program. Have a good day!
I'm angry!
No, they aren't taking over; they've already taken over. Let me tell you - when my husband became seriously ill, I had to fight for two years and delete our savings in the process to get his SS disability, in spite of four doctors (one being the SS doctor) saying he could never work again. We had to go on food stamps and it was a very humiliating experience. However, I was the dummy who was completely honest about everything, so I put down on the quarterly statement when it asked if ANY family member had received cash that my son received $160 in birthday money. They cut our food stamps by $160 the next month! It was a humilitating experience for our family and it taught me that the system is against you! Now, these illegal aliens come over here and get food stamps with ease and I'm working my tail off to pay for them? Is that supposed to be okay? The food stamp office acted like they were doing me a favor even though my hubby and I had both worked for 20+ years at our jobs and they KNEW we weren't deadbeats. I'm angry! I couldn't even buy toilet paper or bath soap with those food stamps! But, I sure saw a woman buying a wedding cake with them in the bakery of the grocery store not too long ago - and she didn't speak a word of English. I have a problem when I see these people paying with a food stamp card and then pulling out wads of cash to buy alcohol after ringing up their foot purchase.
They're illegal and I shouldn't have to support them. They are getting free government benefits and we're the working Americans who are supporting those benefits. They know how to work the system and America has allowed them to do so, so they have indeed taken over.