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You are an exception to the rule. After 20 years, I'd like to be making

Posted By: an easy 50G yearly on 2006-01-26
In Reply to: Can't say I make a great living, but... - passing through

dd


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you two are the exception to the mommy rule(sm)
Most MT mommies got into this business solely for the purpose of staying at home and making a little extra cash on the side.  They try to juggle the kids and MT and the diaper changes always come before that STAT report.  And, yeah, I know what I'm talking about because I used to work in the hospital and that was always the way with the at-home mommy MTs.  There was always an excuse as to why they couldn't do this or couldn't do that.
You are the exception, not the rule, when it comes to kids w/o fathers.
x
I have been an MT for 33 years and the rule has always been...sm
to use mg when preceeded by a number.
Are you making less than you did 3 years ago? sm
Unfortunately, I was making a LOT more.  Went from $900 a week to an occasional $900 a week and so many dead slow weeks it's about time to quit.  I will not be able to afford another computer and pay the overhead with so many slow weeks.  Of course, the alternative is to work for a very low line rate and I have found it is not worth it to work for pennies.
After being an MT for 2 years, how much should I be making? sm

I feel like I can't get out of this rut of making enough money to just pay my bills and nothing left over.  What would you say the average annual salary should be after 2 years of acute care work?


Thanks


After five years I was making $14.50/hr

We got one hour of PTO (paid time off) for every 10 hours worked, so that's just a little less than 3 weeks a year. We had a 401K that was pretty decent, good health insurance, life insurance equal to two years' pay, and they offered AFLAC and disability insurance as well.


Oklahoma's cost of living is among the lowest in the nation....I don't know how people living in California can make it on $8-$12/hr.


Me 2, 15-20 years ago I was making about $70,000 a year

Now it seems, I'm just scraping by, juggling the utility bills and paying whichever one has sent me the 24-hour disconnect notice this month; it's become a grim miserable job compared to what it was.  I'm nearing retirement age, but I doubt retirement is going to be in my future for a very long time.


The single worst thing that ever happened to us was going from the gross line count to the character count, and not adjusting the line rate upward to parity -- not to mention the adjustments that should have been made to accommodate all the extra time spent struggling to make sense of huge increase in ESL dictations that has occurred over the last 15 years, and of course there should have been COLAs as well, which we all know has not happened.


In the 1980s, with the advent of powerful and affordable PCs, free lance transcription became much more common.  So if you were experienced, disciplined and organized, you could be much better off economically by working for yourself -- although there were definitely advantages to working in-hospital.  There were great benefits and the salary was indeed enough to support a small family (albeit very modestly.) 


For a number of years during that time, many of us worked part time in the hospital for benefits, but made our real money at home.


But in my case, the time came when it just made no economic sense to work in-housel, I was better buying off buying private insurance for major medical care, tax-deferred annuities, and self-insuring the little stuff. 


I would just pick up tapes from the hospital every morning, and drop off the work (which I printed out) from the day before.


I usually had 24 hours to transcribe tapes which I did during school hours, when things were peaceful and quiet. 


I transcribed a couple thousand GROSS lines day.  Every single character line counted, so by taking advantage of headers/footers, creative macros, word expansions, etc., I really boosted my productivity far beyond to what I could do in-house on the self-correcting Selectric, Wang or Mag Card, or whatever 10-years behind technology was currently being used, plus all the office distractions and politics, and I definitely did not to have to work 24/7 to earn a good living. (Oh how I loved WP5.1!)


In fact, 2000 gross lines a day, 5 days a week at 10 cents a line (courier 10-pitch font, one-inch margins) was very very do-able for an experienced productive acute-care MT, provided she had good equipment, good reference books, and stayed focused.  It would take about 5-6 hours a day to get that amount of work done.  So figure the math out for yourselves, that's just a tad under $50,000 a year, certainly not a high standard of living in those days but adequate when it meant you could stay home and be actually be a full time parent when your children were home from school, and very comfortable, if you were married with a working spouse, or had rerliable child support, or social security for your children (if you were widowed.)


If you chose to work some weekends and evenings, it was not that all that difficult to hit that $75,000 a year mark, which I did for a couple of years so I was able to pay the tuition at a good boarding school -- and cruelly thwarted my teen-aged son's only ambition in life, which was to become a high school drop-out.


Things have gotten bad, no doubt about that, and the worst part of it is, is that most of the big MTSOs are still charging the hospitals as much as we used to earn, and sometimes even more, but the MT is no longer earning it, and often can't get enough work to meet the line counts required by the MTSOs for benefits (although the cost of those benefits are reflected in the cost charged to the hospital.) 


I don't know what the answer is, as the electronic immigrant is such a huge threat.


It's pretty darn awful, and I feel very very bad for those of you starting out in this field, and I do hope things change for you (and that someday soon I can retire.)


And the point that the person made is that that she was worth $75,000 a year, not necessarily that she was getting it or could get it, and I absolutely agree with her.  This is a hard tough job if it's done right -- it's mentally tiring, it's hard on your back, your hands, your neck (and your behind.)


It requires a lot of time -- it requires focus, you must stay alert, and must give 100% of your attention to what you are doing 100% of the time, it takes education and brains -- and now a word of truth which my 35+ years experience gives me the right to say aloud -- it's not fulfilling, wonderful, lovable and enjoyable, it's often as repetitious and tedious as an assembly line but infinitely more frustrating.


PS: I recall one of my colleagues from those early years of my career, now gone from this earth, telling me that the 1960s were really the "fat" years, that things actually began to decline salary-wise, in real dollars, in the 1970s. 


You're okay making LESS than you made 10-20 years ago?
I'm not. No, every "job" doesn't work itself DOWN the ladder of success. I'm working to earn a living, I'm working to have goals, to better myself and my way of life. I would never settle for a job that keeps paying less and less. Sorry, but I disagree with you but to each his own.
Yes! My kids (above, age 22 and 24) started out making more than I make after 30 years of MT!
.
I was making 6.5 cpl in 1975 at a service -- 30 years later most jobs
Talk about PITIFUL.
10 years here, too, and making 8.4....same as i was 5 years ago. nm
f
my friend just finished her BSN 2 years ago, working 32 hr/week making $60K with benefits nm
x
Haven't heard in years. Supposedly making it harder to get money
xx
I have 13 years experience and just started a hospital job working from home making $16 an hour

and with a really good incentive plan.  I live in the Kansas City area.  $10 seems like a low starting point even with only two years experience which is the usual benchmark for hospital MT jobs. 


It's been my experience that the low end of the pay scale for hospital employed MTs was around $12 an hour.  Also, it's been my experience that the pay offered is usually based on years of experience and how well you perform on the transcription test.


I would say if their pay is that low, they should at least be making it up with incentive and it doesn't sound like they are.


JMO


Obviously, you are the exception

The original poster was right, obviously LOTS of people here don't make that kind of money for their talents.


exception
I agree with above, but I have seen the situation (my husband), where he was pulled over and did not have his license on him.  He just gave his name and date of birth and the police can bring up that info.  It could be that the sister did something similar to this (can't believe a sister would do this - that's awful). Might be hard to prove, but hopefully there is record of when the license number was looked up when the ticket was given.     
Is there is an exception to this?
I thought there was a hyphen when it is 0-Vicryl suture (used as a modifier instead of a noun). Am I mistaken?
Good for you, but what about others? You perhaps are the exception.
/
With the exception fo #6, which we have been told
never to do (doesn't make sense to type when you are expanding it anyway), but the rest is correct.   Most of us thought that there was 2 spaces after a period, but it has always been 1, we just learned it wrong.  I personally would not be too concerned about it, but if the account is concerned about the #1 of lines only have 1 space would add up over a period of time.    If you are not doing the above you have been doing it incorrectly.  If you don't have a BOS you might want to invest in one. 
An exception to MTSOs
I see that my post has been removed.  Perhaps it was too inflammatory.  .  In all my "trying out" of companies across the board, I can say that there are a couple of exceptions to my  post about MTSO's.  One of them is the owner of Keystrokes.  I do appreciate this company for being above-board, line count appears to be accurate and  pay  is always correct and on time.  There are still a few good ones out there. 
Possibly, but they are the exception,
x
exception error
That is not strictly an Extext error. It may actually be something to do with your Word software. If you are using any add-ins/macros with Word, they can cause this error also.
There is always an exception, but the going rate is
is 9.5 to 10 cpl, maybe as high as 11 as an IC. 
Yep, good guy but this situation is exception &
x
Me again and taking exception to your statement
I have done the same VR system now for about 5 years. This platform I am on actually does the ESLs and noticed with clear as a bell English speakers it seems to miss more. Go figure.
sure i was. i'm making fun of the people who are making a case for background checks, etc
to do medical transcription at home as if they may do something AWFUL with the info they receive. So if you want an invasion of privacy let's REALLY invade it and make sure fat chicks don't transcribe because they are so busy eating they can't get the work done, they mess up the keyboard with food and if they are provided health insurance they will raise the rates for the company sky high because their health risks are higher than others. Then there are the psychological issues overweight people bring to the table. After we eliminate fat people, we can go on to eliminate diabetic people who may have low blood sugar while typing and go into a spell and type the wrong thing. I could go on and on through the process of elimination. How about prescribed medications that may cloud your thinking? So you take Ambien to sleep but you have an Ambien groggy hangover when you are transcribing? Should they transcribe. How about your teens are on your last nerves and you take a Xanax? Should you be allowed to transcribe?
Most software works with a USB pedal with the exception of a very few.
x
Withholding is the same as an employee status with the exception of state tax.
xx
I prefer short reports. With the exception of a couple of
the most wonderful dictators (who really should give lessons on dictating) I find that long reports make me sleepy and looking for any excuse to get up.  I type in batches and don't have to save each report individually so having a bunch of reports doesn't add a lot of time.  I have found too that most of the short reports (I do Ops/procedures) are things that I have lots of normals/macros for so it goes really fast.
You realize by doing that they're making more money & you're making less? You should reconsid

You RULE!
What a win-win situation!

I wish the animal shelters took better care of our pets (since they are a part of the government and all). I don't know why those shelters smell so bad; the shelter in my county stinks so bad that you are constantly aware of it. Taking care of displaced or hurt animals should be a big part of their job, and they could take measures to ensure the animals don't get sick. I understand all about their being overworked, but then someone should report to the higher ups what is needed, and then there should be no problem meeting those needs.

In a neighboring county where I live, the public went toe-to-toe with the director over the animal division; demanding answers about the operations and procedures. (That director said he needed a new building, but the public thought the changes should be made in their operations and procedures.

When I want a dog, I always adopt (so far over the years I've adopted 2 beagles).

Nice post!
First rule of being an MT

That's what I was taught.  Everyone is in the same boat and has to take the bad with the good.  Refusing to do the hard stuff makes it worse for the other MTs on that account, and they will not appreciate it.  Until the problem doctors go poof and disappear, nobody has the right to say they can shove all the bad jobs onto the next MT because THEY are here to make money (everyone is, and someone has to type it).  And there is such a thing as Karma - one day you might log on to find ALL the work is the dictator you dread, because all the MTs that came on before you felt entitled to leave the crap work for YOU.  You really won't make any money on that shift, as opposed to doing a few bad jobs each shift.  So type them as you get them, like the rest of us. 


If everyone got together and went to management about the problem guy, that's one thing (and yes, we all feel this way about at least one doctor).  Deciding you don't have to do it because you don't want to is quite another, and often grounds for disciplinary action.  Work is often just that, hard work, and with time and practice it becomes easier.  Nobody promised you a rose garden, challenges are what this job entails.


MY first rule, before being MT. is I have to
x
The first rule of being self-employed is that

you set your own line rate.  However, we all know that NONE of the MTSOs hiring IC MTs allow us to set our own rate.  They "offer" a rate, and we accept if it's OK.


I worked for a real cheapo doctor when I first started out.  He paid hourly and kept riding my backside to type faster because he only wanted to pay for the actual time dictated instead of the time it took to transcribe.  More than once I told him that it takes an average of 3:1 typing to talking ratio to get it done.  It worked out to be $.03 per line.  I dropped him like a bad habit.  He bounced through a few other transcriptionists who all quit on him before he wound up having to pay to outsource to a service.


as a general rule...

I use an "f" after any abbreviation that I want to expand.  I just use the standard abbreviation plus f, so I do not forget what they are.  My ShortHand is full of things like this.


ex: cbcf  tcpf  tshf


Works for me!


 


date rule
Thanks. My mind just blanked and I couldn't remember. It seems like it has changed so often over the years!
and there are so many exceptions to all those rule! lol
that's the english language for ya! I really don't know.
My rule for semicolons
is that if the two statements support each other and each statement could be a separate sentence, I use a semicolon. Example: He underwent an ultrasound in March 1999; AT THAT time he was noted to have BPH. The sentence you asked about should be done like 'NM'says: He underwent an ultrasound in March 1999, at which time he was noted to have BPH.
Thought that was already a rule
Hmm...I thought that that was already in effect, that no US Govt transcription contracts could go overseas/be outsourced - at least the V.A. has that standard in place...
I was always told as a general rule
it was double.  Most of the time, however, I think it is slightly over that.
Rule Books and AAMT
AAMT sure brought this profession to the forefront. However, when they started publishing their own Bible (BOS) there are a lot of grammatical errors in there. Also, the styles they use are not accepted in this part of the country and will be considered "errors" by the client, hospital or clinician who do not want their reports set up in this manner. It is wrong to test people on a style that is not accepted in their part of the country. You are only forcing people to learn a "new style" which the facility in your area will consider completely wrong. Then the private company will comply with that particular hospital and change the set-up. Sadly, the person who took the test and did not use the BOS has a lousy score and is not considered for the job although s/he meets the set-up criteria for hospitals in the area where they live. Go figure, spend all that money for the book, or just test and get 100 per cent and then study the style of the facility who is paying for the work and then be 100 per cent right. Don't judge all tests by style, wait and see what the hospital is paying you wants for the style. You are putting the cart before the horse. Been in long enough to know that the BOS is absolutely not the "Bible" and the testing companies should take this into consideration. You could study this book until you're blind and then have to "unlearn" it to comply with the paying $$$ facility who is the ultimate "boss" of how the work will be turned in and accepted. Kabish? If I turn in a discharge summary in my local hospital according to the BOS style, I would be considered a total idiot. If I used the local hospital style for testing nationally, I would probably rate a 65% on what the hospital would consider 100% correct for style and grammar. Can't win.
It's the AAMT new BOS rule on numbers.
x
Well, my husband and I rule the menu here.
We're sure not going to let the kids do it, otherwise it would be pizza, tacos, and hot dogs daily and everyone would keel over from clogged arteries at the age of 30!  Beside, like Kikki said, it's not good to let the kids call the shots.  That's why the good Lord made parents! 
No one said the kids should rule the menu
But if you love your kids then you understand that they are people too, with their own tastebuds. Just because they might have a suggestion doesn't automatically make it JUNK. Just different.

Trust me, my kids know who the boss is. Geez!!!!!
My rule of thumb is a $100 minimum
Of course, closer relatives and friends receive more, but always at least $100 for graduations, wedding gifts, etc. when someone is an acquaintance.
General rule is 3-5% a year. sm
If you currently get 8 cpl, ask for a raise up to 8.25 or 8.5 cpl, that almost covers cost of living and inflation.

Generic numbers here to show the math based on the 8 cpl with the raises:
200 lph at 8.00 cpl = $16 hourly/$33,280 yearly
200 lph at 8.25 cpl = $16.50 hourly/$34,320 yearly
200 lph at 8.50 cpl = $17.00 hourly/$35,360 yearly

When you ask for a raise, provide them with verifiable data to prove you DESERVE a raise. Say you are 99% accurate, remind them. If you type 250 lph or more, remind them. If you work OT on days off, remind them. If you come at them with your homework done and good reason to give you more, they will be more apt to say yes. (I have never been turned down for a raise, once even got more than I actually was looking for because I didn't specify how much of a raise I was wanting.)


Please cite the HIPAA rule. Thanks
x
The HIPAA Privacy Rule...(sm)

...requires a covered entity to make "reasonable efforts to limit use, disclosure of, and requests for PHI to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose."  The only AHA-approved HIPAA training program, HIPAA Academy, specifically states in its training materials that HIPAA intends that personal information be limited to document headers unless absolutely required   I will quote page 4-56:


"In practice, we expect the minimum-necessary requirement to lead to compartmentalization of the medical record so that one portion of the record (the body of the report) may be readily disclosed for one purpose without compromising the privacy of the entire record."


By limiting PHI to headers, reports can easily be redacted of personal information; when the PHI is scattered throughout the reports, this information cannot be redacted.


 


First rule of computers: Whenever anything goes wrong...

....reboot!


That will take care of about 95% of problems.


If you have two identical toolbars, then you may need to go to View, then Toolbars, and then Customize (way down at the bottom of the list). On the Toolbars tab, see what is checked.


If both Standard and Formatting are checked, this is where you may have your duplicate. Try unchecking either one of those and see if that puts your toolbar back the way you want it.


If that doesn't work, come back and we'll try again!


My company has a 2-minute rule
We are supposed to spend around 2 minutes looking for something.  If we can't find anything, we blank it; my boss says that's what they pay their QA for.
I like your company...good rule/sm
Some places make you feel like if you don't search and search then you are inadequate. But I don't get paid to research, I get paid to type. I will research a reasonable amount of time and that is it.