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Wow, what a thread. Ridiculous to suggest no vacation..sm

Posted By: Another IC on 2007-05-08
In Reply to: Thanks! - Burned out!

Everyone needs time off to regroup. To suggest she either takes a vacation or quits is unbelievable. This office has apparently lost sight of what an IC truly is, and if they want to call the shots, they need to start paying her taxes. Plain and simple. And Burned Out, you need to remind them of that constantly, lest they do forget. Make sure the doctors are in on the discussion and not just an OM, too, so you can get their feelings on the matter (often differing from an OM's POV).

What I don't get is they have other ICs working for them right now, so it's not like this is solely YOUR account. If your service alone had the account and supplied the other ICs, then yes, I would advise you to provide coverage. I always do, mainly because I don't want someone swooping in and taking my account while I'm on vacation. If I supply an SC, I still have an account when I get back.

However, I don't see why they don't just ask the other ICs provide coverage, period. Whether the other ICs can handle the extra work or not should not be your concern in this situation, IMO. If the other ICs don't want the extra work, they can turn it down, because they are INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.

I think your biggest problem is that your client needs a quick reminder what the IRS thinks of businesses that try to dictate hours, methods, etc., to ICs whose taxes they don't pay.

Be sure to ask that person next time if THEY ever take vacation (the one that made the smirky comment about other ICs never taking time off). If not, then it's only a matter of time before they all go down in flames. Personally, I wouldn't want fried workers, because they are more error prone, but that's just me.

I do try to schedule my vacation when I know at least one doctor will be out of the office at my largest practice. Even though I do provide SC coverage, it cuts down on the phone calls and headaches while I'm away. And yes, you will still get phone calls, emails, etc. When you run a business, it comes with the territory, so you may have to deal with some aspects of the business even while on vacation. Just plan your vacation at an opportune time, and this won't be so bad, and there won't be a huge backlog when you return. Good luck!


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Oh golly, take the kids on a vacation later. They need this vacation alone Sm

and there is not one thing on earth wrong about their taking it.


 


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Goldbird
OKAY! I need a vacation. Frank and fans of Frank/MQ who won the Hawaiian vacation?
Does anyone know? 
That is ridiculous
Sometimes people are not where they want to be but where they HAVE to be.  If I didn't have to be sitting here listening to these idiot dictators, believe me I wouldn't be.
ridiculous? no ....
I don't think my complaint was 'ridiculous'. What is ridiculous is receiving pages of scribbles in the mail on a daily basis - half of which I can't even read. THe other MT's in the company warned me already about this QA dude - he's a bit of a nut case.
No, I never claimed to know everything; and I'm open to hearing specs of individual facilities; of course!. My gripe was the pettiness of it all ... but I thought that was obvious in my post, MS Busy MT'ing. Maybe you're the one that doesn't know it all !
That's just ridiculous. nm
nm
This is getting ridiculous.
Now there's a job on the job seekers board looking for an IC MT to do acute care with ops for 7.5 cpl.  IC!!!  With ops!!!!  Give me a break.  That's equivalent to about 6.3 cpl after paying self-employment taxes, not to mention overhead.  Their website says "HIPPA" instead of HIPAA, too.
That's ridiculous!

BUT!  We are supposed to transcribe his work with a smile on our faces....GRRRR.......  I swear they just don't THINK!!!  Good luck with that one. 


That is ridiculous. Don't come WHY?
Looks like at the very least he enjoys his peace and quiet away from family but then maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.
That's ridiculous

I also have a 4-year-old and the whole point of preschool at this age is the social interaction, then the academics come in to play.  She still has another year of preschool before Kindergarten, doesn't she?  Maybe you should consider looking into another preschool.  Sounds like the teacher is the problem. 


Oh please, how ridiculous!
It was her sister for crying out loud! And I can't even believe the OP was questioning this. Extremely odd! ;0
Ridiculous
That is really time consuming.  But that is my opinon.  What you could do is to by sylcount and save each patient as a file and then count them and they would list each file out by the patient name.  You could do an extension or by their name do cn for chart note, lt for letter, etc.  Then on your invoice if you do totals by doctor, Dr. Smith total lines, Dr. Jones total lines, etc. and attach the print out from Sylcount that would show each file by the patient's name and the line count.  I thought it was bad when I was subcontracting and I had to break out chart notes from letters/consults/x-rays by date and doctor.  This again makes me thank my accounts as I just keep an Excel monthly line count by doctor, highlight the docs, attach to an invoice that has total line counts done in Quick Books and hand it in and they pay.  Some accounts don't even want the daily break down by doctor just each doctor and a total line count.  Have never been questioned once over my line counts.   If this is a sudden change then I would tell them that there would be an hourly rate to figure this out and keep track of the time it takes.  But again, one of the simplest programs that would do this for you would be Sylcount.   Good luck. 
Really ridiculous especially when...

typing into the hospital system because all they have to do is type in a few things and get this information. 


That's ridiculous.

Is it ridiculous
to list a Brainbench certification for medical transcription on your resume?
Ridiculous
Sometimes I wonder how much nicer this industry would be without all the control fanatics.  I wish they could just be shipped out to some island to battle amongst themselves, play those control games that they enjoy so much, and leave us to complete the work in a rational time period without all these ridiculous rules.
Seems ridiculous
As much "fixing up" we do of what is actually dictated, I think it's pretty crappy if you get points off for simple punctuation.

Just think if we all left everything completely verbatum (especially those dictators who say coma every other word or say to put periods in the middle of a sentence)!
I would suggest
giving them a call.  I would imagine they would hire PT whether they're advertising for PT or not.  I work PT but do as many or more lines than is required for FT.  I know they bend over backwards for me in every respect and I doubt I'm treated any differently than their other MTs.  I think you'll find them to be incredibly nice folks even AFTER you're hired!     And, believe it or not, they do know how to coordinate hiring and work flow so it's unlikely you'd ever run out of work, might be ASKED to work extra but that with more than adequate compensation IMHO.
I can suggest one

AT&T CallVantage. - You can make all LD calls (including with your dictation system) directly through your DSL line. I've never been billed more than $35/month (I think that includes taxes), and I'm on close to 10,000 minutes a month.


So how to you suggest they do it then?
Unfortunately they have to keep track of who is getting these cards and they have to make sure there is no fraud going on, so they have to make some stipulations.

I think it's a great effort regardless!
Can I suggest something?
Two lines of thinking, actually:

1) Please consult a behavior specialist. There is an underlying reason or reasons for his behavior. It's much healthier for him to find out the causes for his behavior and design a treatment plan and work for changes rather than to just cover them up by changing the environment.

2) Please consider going against what seems to be the attitude today: Everything made-to-order. What I mean is that children learn quickly what is acceptable and what isn't. If we constantly are taking our children out of normal social situations and putting them in "specialized", "personalized", "made-to-order" situations they will never learn how to cope and get along with others. They will also be robbed of the joy of learning community-mindedness. Not teaching them how to get along in life is hateful. Not easy skills to learn as a teen, as an adult.

Just my opinion. I faced behavioral problems with mine when they were young. I know how it feels. My best wishes for you.
I would suggest..
going to a psychiatrist. I also suffer from anxiety and depresson. I take a combination of Wellbutrin and Neurontin, and this seems to work very well. I have had a hard time finding any medicine that works for me. I still have episodes sometimes, but they could prescribe you Xanax for those in between momements. I don't take Xanax though, just the Neurontin for the anxiety.
What do you suggest

How much do you guys charge for a late fee when invoices aren't paid in time? 


My terms are invoicing the first of each month and payment due within ten days. 


I've decided to impose a late fee since I'm having a horrible time getting paid.  What do you recommend?  Thanks.


Thanks! What do you suggest then?

I would suggest
investing in the Stedman's Medical Terms and Phrases book. It is kind of spendy, but it sure is a nice comprehensive reference book. Definately worth it..
oh, i was going to suggest
carboplatin and Paclitaxel...?
May I suggest

Shortkeys2?  That's the program I have at my office (I do transcription for a major medical institution) and at home (home transcription on the side).  It works with most programs and platforms.  I've only had one or two programs so far that it wasn't compatible (AOL and GMAIL).


I would suggest
If at all possible, I would suggest you get a job working in-house, so that you can get paid by the hour. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I first started out, I don't know how many lines I typed per hour, but I worked 8 to 2, and I only transcribed about 18 to 25 reports a day.  My speed and comprehension built up slowly and it helped greatly having co-workers to help me.  I feel that the MTSO will take advantage of you in several ways and believe you will probably not make a decent living in the beginning. You have to learn the system you are working on, the physician's style of dictaton, etc.
I'd suggest...(sm)
...using "AA (Photography)" or "AA (Media Arts)" in order to show the relevance of the degree.
May I suggest --sm
Shorthand V10 as an expander? It works just like autotext, which is exactly what I was looking for when I wanted an expander. It works with almost all platforms, and has a free 30 day trial. There is also an option for paying at the end of the 30 days. To receive all upgrades, I chose to pay once a year, at 29.99! It is the best Expander I have ever used and for the price, it's a steal! good luck.
and i would suggest
Your response does not surprise me.  I would suggest you read between the lines in the entire thread that I wrote.  I did not CALL FOR anything.  I was simply making an observation and throwing some thought out there.  As far as my spelling of HIPAA...... I am not an MT, nor a typist, nor grammar specialist.  I am, however, a very very successful consultant in many areas.  My expertise has afforded me very nice wealth.  How about you????? 
the start up $$ is ridiculous

That's what I think is so sinful.  They sucker you in telling


you can be an employee, you can make 12,000 a pay period


easY!


None of that is true.  And then you are left trying to figure out


how to pay the insurance, pay for the computer you sunk money


into buying and meeting their requirements, reference books,


the whole 9 yards.


And do they have a conscience about leaving a mom and her children


with no food?   I really doubt it.


And NO a new MT is not then ready for the next job because


all over again he/she will have to INVEST in the new stuff that


THAT particular company to meet THEIR peculiarities.


I'm sick of transcription now.  When they sent us home - that relinquised


the responsibility of these nationals from providing equipment and


turned all the $$ over to profit for them and ate $$ out of our income - not to


speak of the extra utilities run while home.  This computer heats up


my house terribly in the summer - it helps in the winter but it still makes


a considerable dent in my bill compared to my neighbors who work during the


day. 


Ridiculous complaint?

Busy, you should really try to be a little kinder.....or read her complaint a little more closely.  I think her complaint was not about CONSTRUCTIVE feedback.  If she gets hard copies she can't read, what good are they?  Just how ridiculous this QA thing can get; one of the editors in a company I worked for corrected my "40-year-old black female" to 40-year-old Black female."  No problem, if that's what they want, that's what they get.  I corrected my Expander to "Black."  Editor #2 comes along and corrects me saying "black or white" is never capitalized.  I fired back a very disgruntled e-mail and said editor #1 had corrected me and that I KNEW black was never capitalized but if they wanted it capitalized, fine with me but somebody needed to get their sh*t together and figure out what they wanted from me.  At least with that company, editor #2 had some sense, she sent back a very nice e-mail saying that to appease editor #1 to go ahead and capitalize it until I was off QA and then do it whichever way I wanted and in the meantime she would not count me off for it.  At least editor #2 had some sense but ridiculous?  YES, indeed. 


Busy, if you're working for both MQ and Spheris, I assume your experience is about the same as mine.  I worked for MQ and for Spheris when they were Edix.  Once I was off full edit (in a very short time), I never heard anything from either company QA again so I assume they were happy and I went right ahead doing my best.


that is a ridiculous comparison!
dogs, birds, cats, etc are all different animals that required different diets and have different needs. You can't even compare 1 dog breed to another b/c every breed has its different needs, so that being the case, how can you possibly compare dogs to birds?? That is just ridiculous.

Ridiculous, it you can't at least make 10 cpl

why not stick to your guns and work in something else for a while?  Who can eat as a newbie at 3 cpl.  If you work at McDonald's you would at least be able to eat!


No wonder the market has gone into the toilet.  It is full of workers who won't stand up for themselves!  If the docs want someone cheap, they get what they pay for.  I am also sick and tired of typing record reviews with mistakes from EMR and dirt cheap workers included.  But they do get the medical words most of the time.  Forget the easy words like seat, it's sit, and that drives me nuts !!


The docs will never get sued like that, so don't count on that one!


No, the whole thing is ridiculous.

I agree he shouldn't have taken the money at all, but it shouldn't have been offered or put him in the situation at all.  Despite whether or not the incident was handled perfectly, it is unfair that he was expected to wait for treatment because of disputes over who pays.  He was unable to reach his employer, everyone was gone, small company.  Reports and money can be figured out later, not when he needs immediate treatment for possibly broken bone or at the very least a nasty effusion that needs drained and could later affect his tendons.


The system is definitely broken.


I'm sorry but I think it is ridiculous for "businesses"
I know I want itemized statements for services. Wouldn't you?

Your own bookkeeping and accounting does NOT give you direct pay, true. It is part of running your business.

Where do charges stop? Do you need to be paid to get out of bed in the morning? To walk to your computer? To turn ON your computer? To load your programs?

Something, ladies, you simply have to do for yourself.

to me, your response is RIDICULOUS!
"American workers are pricing themselves out of the market with both their hourly wage demands......." This is YOUR statement. How else am I supposed to see it?? BTY, I am NOT whining, just stating the FACTS (as I see them). You had your say, and I had mine. Grow up!
Sometimes I think some of these doctors get more and more ridiculous ...

by the day.


I feel for you in this and will be sending positive thoughts your way that you'll get through the rest of the day without becoming too overwhelmed and stressed out.


That pay is ridiculous even for a newbie
If you graduated and did well from a good school (such as M-Tec or Andrews) you will have no trouble finding a decent job for decent pay. Starting pay for newbies should be in the 7-8-cents a line range. No lower than 6.

At 4 cents a line,at 100 lines per hour (typical for a newbie) that's only 4 dollars an hour. At 150 lines per hour it's only 6 dollars an hour.

I think this company is trying to get someone who has NO actual MT experience and may be desperate to work at home--maybe have skid-by skills.


No. Not for PT, not for FT, not ever. That kind of pay is beyond ridiculous.
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