The easy answer, taking all the easy work and
Posted By: passing by all the hard stuff. nm on 2005-12-21
In Reply to: what is CHERRY PICKING ? - luv2type
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Taking the easy way!
You bet I'm taking the easy way! If the end result is the same; i.e., I am more productive, isn't it better to get there with the least effort possible? Why on earth would I do a bunch of hard work I don't have to do, when someone else has been willing to do it for me at no charge?? I'd way rather spend my effort on learning about a new surgical technique than on the relative drudgery of building an abbreviation library.
I downloaded Mary Morken's list years ago. I use it with ShortHand and did NOT have to input it one at a time. Who has time to add 13,000 terms? I imported the entire thing into ShortHand all at once. The thing about her system is that it's a predictable one & once you learn it, you can anticipate what an abbreviation will be, so you find yourself using abbreviations you've never used before, & they are there without your having to memorize anything. Anything you don't like, you can change. Anything that's not there, you can add. Over time I have made changes and added to the list, so now I have something like 20,000 entries. No idea how long it would have taken to do that on my own. Morken's list has worked very well for me.
Easy answer - no - they should help
earn the money to pay for it, and also pay for the insurance. I know things are different today than when my boys were in high school, but still. They both got part time jobs and paid for their own cars. I helped them with the insurance cause it was too much for them, but they paid what they could. I'm sure the parking lots are full of new cars. Makes it hard for the ones who want to teach their kids the value of a dollar. I sympathize.
I don't know if there's an easy answer...
but after my DH was separated from us, the computer and that game, he came to his senses and HE decided to take the game off his computer.
Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with him having fun playing a game from time to time or having a hobby that's healthy; but the game was totally comsuming his every waking hour. I tried to be understanding and thought that he would just get tired of it eventually, but NO! The more he played it, the more consumed he became and then he was simply impossible to live with. I would enter the room to tell him dinner was ready and he'd curse me out. What was I thinking? I DARE breathe when he's trying to play a game -- A GAME!!! NOPE, I cannot live that way.
I think the break from me and the family (as well as that game) woke him up because he was able to see what a jerk he had become and realized that the game HAD TO GO. Thank goodness!
There is no easy answer....
You just have to be flexible. I have jumped up and down and all around for years and years and still make money. It's not a hobby, but there's no easy way to say "I'll work such and such hours." When you're at home, there will be interruptions. I remember another post where a WAHM told her daughter it was time for her bath, and the daughter was playing typing like Mom and replied "As soon as I'm finished with this report." Obviously, the child had heard that somewhere before, and I believe you have to set limits. Balance? What's that? It's just called "life happens". Of course, this is all my own opinion.
I don't think that there's one easy answer to this ...
Different MT's have different strengths and weaknesses that depend on their natural ability, their background, training, work experience, the level of difficulty of that particular worktype and its dictators ... There's just so many different variables, even more that I haven't mentioned here. I would suggest that if you're asking this question to help you decide on what worktype(s) you want to focus that you gain as broad a base of experience as possible with as many different worktypes as you can and then see where you individual strength emerges.
Hope this helps!
No easy answer
I find that even 8 years into this career, each day is a challenge. I rarely go a day without learning something new.
I have made an excellent income from the beginning, and it has been comparatiely the same income this whole time, BUT... I make now in 4 hours a day what it took me 12-15 hours a day to make back then. You can make a great living at this right out of school IF you want to devote the work to it. If you only have 4 hours a day to devote to the job, you will starve.
I suggest you set your goal for a certain dollar amount per week, and you work until you reach it; if it takes 10 hours a day, then it does. There are pluses to that...the more you work, the quicker you become accustomed to the work, and the more efficient you become.
I won't lie - It is a huge amount of work in the beginning, frustrating, and a big challenge. Never look at your per hour wage until you are more experienced.
no easy answer to some of your questions
I was lucky enough to get my first account in response to a letter I sent - one of 100+ letters sent out. I've never been successful with advertising since then. The rest of my accounts I got through word of mouth - one office likes my work, the OM is asked who she uses as far as transcription by another OM, etc. So make sure you do your very best no matter how "small" the account is - you never know. As for what to charge, that depends on your area of the country, what will that market bear? That's a hard one - need to do some snooping as far as what the "average" is. Don't want to undercut but don't want to price yourself out of the marketplace either (personal experience - I've done both while learning). As far as questions re dictations, I try to dope it out myself - I purchase a reference book for that particular specialty if I don't already have one, ask on message boards, research the reputable web sites, stand on my head and howl at the moon - anything before I resort to asking either the doctor or the OM. As a last resort, I will leave a blank and flag it with a note that I couldn't understand what was said, or whatever the problem was. I used to pick up and deliver, but ALL of my work now is via digital dictation, so I don't pick up or deliver anything - everything transferred via secure ftp. Hope that helps some.
The easy answer is to go to a local hospital and get experience.
The other answer is to ask anyone and everyone out there to give you a test, prove yourself, put your best foot forward.
Be very careful tough, because in your post you even used a wrong word "there" for "their" and I just wanted to bring this to your attention not to give you a kick but to caution you that you really need to "know your stuff" to get into this business. What you put out there tells about you, so make sure it's your best.
Well, Word is easy to buy and easy to install. Word 97 works great. Cheap. SM
I still would not work anywhere I could not use a spell checker with grammar checker and a Steadman's Medical Spell Checker.
IF they want people to TRANSCRIBE MEDICAL REPORTS, then I guess they better get the programs they need.
It's like probably 110% easier to buy and install Word 97 than to try to program their own programming. And, yes, I do mean Microsoft Word 97. Why? Because you can install it unlimited times, in case you need to install the operating system again. And it has a few features that Microsoft, in its un-wisdom, took away in Word 2000 and 20003 and 2007. So, yes, I'd go with Word 97 for its cheapness and it works better than the later versions. Just my opinion, with 20 years experience being an MT. So what if they "don't have it" on their computer? It's easy to get.
Not easy work at all.
It would be interesting to go to India and see how they are set up. I bet they have a great support staff. I have read that physicians are actually transcribing or acting as information resource as they are paid well in this field comparatively speaking. This "take 'em out" attitude by some QA staff is something I have a feeling is not happening.
Well, I just know that I once felt passionate about this job and I do not anymore.
Easy work,
Can you tell me who you work for, I would love to get started, want to work from home, instead of having to go out to work, especially in this snow!! Am from Canada
Any info much appreciated, how do I know who is good, who isnt, ever heard of Medline Inc.., got email from them, what do u think....
Yes! Thank you. $28 a day is fine with me. Easy work.
***Hello***
Easy work, more like clinic, very low pay.
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the work must be super easy (sm)
I've been doing this for a long time and that sounds high to me.
I use it where I work (not Iridium), very easy to use - sm
and what we do is type our report on MS word then paste in it, that way you can use whatever word Expander you want. I would not type in it because you cannot tab by using the tab, automatic lists won't work and do paste well in so I just do the list w/o numbers and format it in IKM as they have a function for that. If you do tab, you can sometimes by accident tab to save and it will save the report before you realize what happened and the report is gone, which is not good. Then you have to go into the chart and type it from there where you can only use your mouse to start and stop the player in the chart. I don't have to input any patient data, just open up the file, sound file loads, you use their player (need 9-pin foot pedal or a converter for USB to 9-pin). The only downside is you cannot change speed of the speaker which stinks, and it only rewinds or FF in 2 second increments and you have to hit the foot pedal each time, no holding it down to get it to do more than 2 seconds. --- lines come out about 1 more than they would if you take the character count and divide by 65, so that is good. We have a true 24 hour TAT, it shows in the work window the date and time it was dictated which makes juggling your work load a lot easier. I don't work in a pool, I have 3 doctors assigned to me so I only do their work. I can do 30 minutes of work in one hour of edit work and about 15-20 mins of straight typing if I don't goof off, have no interuptions and concentrate. I have used three other platforms and I like this one the best.
Easy to work with. You can look up old reports. Your own word expander will work
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They put the complainers/cherrypickers on the easy work, the
8-9 cpl for Gross lines, easy work ....
Where? Where?
Durn I wish I knew how easy it could have been..I never would have taken this work hard next to
IF by PT you mean Physical Therapy -- it's EASY! I love PT, don't get it where I work now tho
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Yes - reputable company. Easy to work for. Pay on time always. nm
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Actually, it is quite easy to skip jobs, and I work for a national. sm
Depending upon the account, just press the appropriate number on the C-phone, and *poof* you're at the next job. In my case, I have no "proof" per se, but when jobs skip from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. then to 1 p.m., etc., and then it gets back to "normal" when you get to the non-ESL docs where I guess they stopped working. it's not too hard to figure out that someone took what they wanted and left the rest. It doesn't matter to me. As has been stated, the MT who cherrypicks cheats himself/herself out of the chance to master everything and assure himself/herself of a larger pool of work. That goes also for those who limit themselves to only certain work types. Sure, we all have our preferences (I prefer admit notes and consults), but if you can do everything, then you're more likely not to be one of the ones coming here complaining of no work.
Just my opinion, and you know we all have one. Happy Friday the 13th! I have the weekend off for once, and it is actually beautiful weather here. Yippee! 
Easy easy money they are!
I don't mind seeing those puppies filter in at all. Same for H&Ps. They are always different though, so can't really pop in the same pre-formatted autotext, but it's usually WHAMMO 2-3 pages at a time. Give them a shot...you may just be pleasantly surprised!
I think I smell either VR on the easy stuff, or offshoring of the easy stuff.
d
7 cpl gross and counts blank lines, IC status-- make a ton of money because it's easy work...nm
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Thank you for taking time to answer nm
thanks
it's all easy to say when it's not you
If the mom wasn't in Aruba throwing a fit and crying on TV, we would all speculate about why she wasn't there and why she doesn't care. Either way, whatever she did, there would be someone there complaining about how she was doing it.
I would say until it is your daughter or son, maybe we should just keep our mouths shut and not pass judgment on them.
Also, I don't care what kind of bad decision or how drunk the young girl was, wrong though it may be, that doesn't mean she deserves to be murdered or raped. It makes me sick that we are always so eager to jump on the victim and the family at times like this.
We are doing it now - it's not so easy for my DH
He began the process of buying a new business in April. It was supposed to be completed by July 15, but there have been so many delays and things getting dragged out, it still isn't done. At first he was very excited about spending the some time home with the kids this summer, but I can definitely see for the last month or so he's gotten very depressed, sleeping more, not getting motivated, doesn't want to do anything with the kids anymore. I think men in general need to be productive (at least the good ones do), and unfortunately, raising kids doesn't offer a lot of immediate gratification. It's fun for a little while, but they eventually need more. I can't want for him to be gone so I can be "mom" again.
That's easy enough to do when you get the
same dicators on a routine basis. I type for a very large hospital with many outside facilities and rarely do I get the same dictators on a regular basis. Therefore, my paycheck is considerably less than cherry-pickers. What these people do is listen to a few minutes of the report and, if they don't like what they hear, they send it back. Also, of note, these are not necessarily the mumblers, ESL, or speed talkers. Many of these are reports that have a problem, i.e., wrong MR# so I have to enter all of the demo info (not paid for), wrong report type so I have to change it and make a note to send to the hospital, no date of service given with again a note to the hospital, etc. All time-consuming, frustrating, and cutting into my paycheck.
very easy. I have my 2 as well as
my parents next door networked, a total of 4. make sure to have your network password protected.
that's an easy one
Worked for an owner-operated MT company and the owner was an alcoholic. She expected no less than 18 hour days 7 days a week and if you asked for even ONE day off per week, she would start cursing and carrying on and saying she would give the accounts away. Then when she got really drunk, she'd start messaging all this personal stuff about her husband and former husbands and their sex life and all that. She was this astrology nut who hired on the basis of the "signs" of the transcriptionists and if she would call to curse you out about something (even if it didn't pertain to you) she would say it was the person's "aura" that was bad for the company. Yup there are real nuts out there.
That's easy. sm
I have been a fry cook, nurse's aid, farm worker, receptionist, clerk in a U-Totem. I kind of enjoyed all of them. My worst job was waiting tables. It's grueling work, for little pay and you have to rely on your tips to get you through. It's more demanding physically than most people can imagine and you never get to sit down. Plus, you deal with attitudes all day long. Never again.
That's an easy one...
Congratulations!! You are now qualified to do most every job in medical records, except for the supervisory roles. We, MTs, would make awesome coders!! We are also qualified to do positions in medical offices, receptionist, coder, referrals, etc. Start putting out your resume!! You'll see!! And, by the way, when the Transcriptionist is on vacation, you are the automatic fill-in. More money!!!
Not easy, but this is what we do. . sm
Four kids. Birthdays are 2 in mid September, 1 end of October and 1 two weeks before Christmas! We now have a new grandson who is just a month old, so we can just add on to the pre-Christmas insanity for next year as I'm sure he won't expect much this Christmas. :)
My poor hubby's birthday is 2 weeks after Christmas. We usually just make him a card or something. :) Nothing until my birthday in May, but I get the homemade cards too. Must make mental note to buy construction paper. :)
I never bought BIG for my kids at Christmas. I spend about $500 total. I make a lot of stuff too. My parents are gone. His parents just want school pics of the kids.
I guess I'm lucky. Our whole family from grandparents right down to my youngest don't see Christmas as "I want, I want." They know that Christmas is about giving and that presents should come from the heart. I still have every badly glued Christmas ornament that my kids ever made me hanging on the tree every year.
Every year, no matter how much or how little money we have, we always pick a name off from one of the local "giving trees" to buy a gift for a child from a needy family. Usually these requests are for socks or boots or something, but we always include an age appropriate toy or book or game.
We donate food items to the Christmas food drive and would never even dream of walking by a Salvation Army Christmas donation kettle without putting in at least a dollar or two. 
These furniture ads that scream, "WOULDN'T DAD LOVE A NEW FLAT SCREEN TV FOR CHRISTMAS?" make me ill.
Re: Not easy...
<<we always pick a name off from one of the local "giving trees" to buy a gift for a child from a needy family. Usually these requests are for socks or boots or something, but we always include an age appropriate toy or book or game.>>
I'd like to share my story about those 'giving trees.' Last year, I was going through a divorce. My ex decided to stop paying child support, dump all our bills on me and leave the state. I was also sick and racked up several thousand dollars in medical bills. The school counselor put my kid's names on the giving tree at Wal-Mart. My kids got really, really nice gifts, and it was wonderful. Those gifts meant the world to my kids. It really made them feel great that a stranger cared to give them something when we were going through so much. This year I've pretty much gotten back on my feet financially and things are much better. We were at Wal-Mart last week, and my kids saw the giving tree. They both decided to spend their birthday money that they have been saving on a child from the giving tree. They each spent $40. My daughter, who is 10, said that she thinks the most important present she is going to give every year is to the giving tree. It was really hard going through my divorce and the financial difficulties, but I think it taught my kids a really important lesson that they couldn't have learned any other way.
Not easy 50K
I can't say it was an easy 58.5K this year but I did it. It was 50K for me as I paid 8.5 to my subs who work 5 to 6 hours per week for me. That is all they want to work. But I did it and hoping to go above 60 next year, we will see.
UR very welcome - nobody said it was easy biz.NM
xx
something easy!
I just can't get into heavy duty cooking. I think it will be chicken fajita salads, have the chicken thawing that is already southwestern spiced! Hubby will eat about anything, lucky for me!
It is easy enough
 At first it was a little difficult but once you get a routine established it is okay. My daugter is 3 months and we have it so I nurse her more in the morning before I start to type and she sleeps for a food 4-5 hour stretch. It will just take a little time. Be patient, it will all work out.
Too easy...
You do control K, then control B, and type in Physical Exam how you want it to be, and then controk K again and unbold. I had this problem not long ago, and someone on here helped me, so will pass it on.
Very easy
to use. Microsoft word based. I loved it when I worked with it.
Not easy
I don't blame you. For 20 years as an MT, I thought "boy I'd like to work in administration, that's gotta be easy." Boy oh boy was I wrong!! I had one person I just had to let go who claimed to have been head of QA for a larger company and honest to goodness, my new grad does better work. I simply told her that her work did not match her resume and the proofing time was too extensive for her to continue working for us. After she called me every name in the book, she said it was my fault for not paying her enough! I could have paid her 20 cpl and the work still wouldn't have been good. We hear the moaning about how we don't reply to emails...that's another issue. I put in my ads exactly what I expect to see in the email and what I want in the subject line and maybe 1 out of 20 will follow the instructions. I give out a detailed information package on the accounts and they don't read them. I had one CMT who said she had never followed specifics and wasn't about to now, that she knew what she was doing. I had one hired on Monday and on Wednesday she asked for a week's vacation. I get them who sign up for a specific number of lines then don't bother, a good portion "forget" to send in their work. I had one lady hired who lived only 6 blocks from another MT and she didn't work for 3 days claiming they had severe storm damage and no power. I had one say her father was going to be sick in July so she needed time off. It's really sad because the good people get worked to death while we constantly try to fill in the gaps and keep the accounts going. If we are too easy going, people don't work at all. If we try and toughen up, then I'm a you-know-what. Salaries just aren't going to go much higher, if at all higher, because the work is leaving and it's leaving fast. I get no less than 4 emails when I post an ad, emails from foreign companies offering to do the work for 3-8 cpl. At 3 cpl, it would be cheaper for us to send it out and then have it totally read through, but we are trying like h*** to keep the work here.
They are so easy and you don't get
PAs and NPs dictating them.
Definitely not easy
It is hard enough to *train* our own family to respect the fact that we are WORKING, so of course it is practically impossible to get visitors to understand. I would definitely think about a different location. If that isn't possible then maybe just a different location when the in-laws are visiting. Short term fix for that week or 2 anyway.
Good luck!
Easy
Hi...I use a very simple method with my two accounts. I use Olympus digital recorders. Two of my docs are using the old ones, the DS330, and one is using the newer one, the DS2. Of the two, I prefer the DS2. I provided the recorders for the docs.
Anyway, the recorders come with software that you install on your computer. It is very simple to use. The docs dictate into the recorder just like they would a taper recorder, but there is no tape inside, it's all digital. Then they just connect the recorder to a computer with a USB cable and the work is transferred into the computer via the software program, DSS Player. After the voice file is transferred into their computer, they can then attach the voice file to an email and send it to you to transcribe.
I don't know, maybe others have better methods, but this has worked just fine for me and my docs are happy. I've never had a problem. I used to pick up tapes and deliver work too and this is sooooo much better. I hope I explained it well, because I'm having one of those days where I don't know if I'm coming or going, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck.
No one said it would be easy.
But, you can make the best of it. I have been there, done that, and still doing it! Whether you work on-site, off-site, in your basement, or on your roof, when you are a mother/wife/caregiver, you will have obstacles! Bottom line. Any others agree? I mean my daughter was sick the last two days! Oh my, I still got my work done, gave hugs, kisses, ran to the store for soup, Motrin, etc. She's 6-years-old for goodness sakes. If you have enough fire in ya' to work at home, then know that NOT all of your expectations will be met, and just go with it. No one on this board has the magical answer. I think Minnie is just trying to express that why work at home, and then say you are not meeting your line count and expect someone here to fix that for you. Lower your expectations a little, geez. Thanks for listening! Kimberly will find her way. Maybe she was just feeling like she needed some support. Well, you've got it. There are so many others here doing the exact same thing.
I like it. Very easy to use.
nm
Easy to say when there's always someone
Unless you are pretty sure the account will keep you. You risk losing that account to another MT who will type for cheap. JMO. One other thing, be ready to explain why you need the raise other than the fact that you feel you are underpaid. 
Easy does it -- if you do it right -- Thanks nm
m
here's an easy way to do it
Do control K then hit control B, type your text that needs to be bolded, then do control K again and then control B for unbolding it, that's all folks
it was easy to get used to actually sm
The day I got it, I hooked it up and never missed a beat. The number pad being on the inside is kinda wierd though. That took some adjustment.
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