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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Our local hospital group has a few people in

Posted By: not many on 2007-02-26
In Reply to: are there no more in-house hospital jobs left? - Jason Frenette

radiology and pathology, but the rest has been outsourced for about 25 years.  Hospitals are looking to cut costs where they can.  There are still MTs who work for the hospital, just not in-house.  


If you need a job you do what you have to do.  If the US MTs don't take the jobs guess where they will go.   I make more working at home per line than what any hospital pays that I have seen.  I don't have insurance (because it is outragenously priced), but I do have some benefits.   Also working at home you have fewer expenses, so it pretty much equals out. 


 




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Have you tried your local hospital or physicians?

I work for my local hospital and my supervisor hired "newbies" all the time.  However, some clinics or hospitals require you to do a little onsite time before going home, at least mine did.  I had to meet a certain productivity rate and QA rate before I was "turned loose". 


I'm not sure if you are wanting to work for a national company or not from home.  Since I have no experience with that someone else may be able to guide you in that direction.  I just know around here, having tons of experience isn't really needed to be hired locally. 


The "affilation" with the local hospital may or may not....sm
...hurt you for future employment with other companies. Make sure you check out whether this school is reputable with other employers. I do not think the price is too high, if you consider it as an investment toward future income. Good luck! :)

I had to start out in the office of a local hospital sm

for a year, then went home.  I didn't want to go home to be honest, too many distractions and my twins were babies at the time, but they were sending everyone home.  I really don't know what to tell anyone when I see these posts.  There are lots of companies out there needing help and you'd think that if they are willing to send their work overseas to people that don't even speak English as a first language, then they would be willing to hire a new graduate.  I would be a little more pushy, offer to do 30 days at a lower cent per line then have a review, something like that.  Keep pushing, someone will see potential and take a chance on you.  Honestly, these companies that don't hire new graduates I just don't get it.  I work for a small local company that is always behind on their work and I always suggest they hire some new graduates from the two local schools, but they never do it, they just sit and wait for people to apply.  Good luck! 


local hospital versus national
Hi,
I was with a national company and, like you, only did about 1200 lines per day at 7.5 cpl with 18 months in. I felt like I was never going to make the big bucks!

In May, I resigned from the national co. and went to work locally. After a short 1-month in-house training, I am working from home again. This hospital has some great normals to use and yesterday, I did 2200 lines!!!!!

Finding a good fit is the hardest part. Thankfully, I think I have found mine!!!!! Just keep in mind that there are other options out there. GOOD LUCK!!!!
Local hospital pays hourly + production incentive

I was lucky enough to find a job that gives me the best of both worlds.  A decent hourly base and then incentive pay on top of that.


GOOD LUCK!!!


support group!
Misery loves company! How long have you been looking? Where did you train? I've been searching for months, but cant seem to get my foot in the door anywhere. Incredibly frustrating for me - I have a graduate level education, so i am no idiot, but still can't seem to land a job as a newbie MT. Grrrrr!
"point" is that there's always ONE in the group... sm
who defies the odds and succeeds in spite of the *rules* and in fact I do think that's exactly what YOU'RE saying but in a different way. :-))
Don't forget your local papers and local Temp. Agency or Manpower office. nm
s
Why not try local MTSO's or local doctors' offices
That's how I started out when I first became an MT. I found a very small local MTSO who gave me a chance and now I work for a local company and have been there for two years. It might be worth it to take a look. I basically trained at the MTSO's office for about a month so there was no testing involved at all. Just learning along the way. Good luck whatever you decide.
If you want to work local, take local course. Otherwise, online is the way to go.
Most msjor national MT companies will not be familiar with what kind of training you get locally, but they are familiar with Andrews and M-Tec training, and will waive the 2-year experience requirement for grads of those schools. A local hospital or doctor's office would be more familiar with a local MT training program than they would with national online MT schools.

The "expensive" online options really aren't all that expensive in the long run when you realize what an excellent education you get, not to mention help finding a job afterwards.
hospital pay
I inquired in my area (Southwest Michigan) and one of the hospitals told me they pay $11 - $17/hour.
I want a job in a hospital sm

Do they usually post their help wanted on their websites, or do you need to know someone to get in??  I see ads all the time for work at home positions, but what about office positions?


 


Starting pay in hospital
Any ideas of the pay for in the hospitals?
RE: Starting pay in hospital
Depends on what part of the United States you are inquiring?
hospital transcription

Ok I have looked at hospital MT jobs in AZ and all of them want experience and almost none of them pay well or even list pay in the ad, your best bet is to look on monster.com or try the specific hospital site. for example a big hospital group in AZ is Banner Health, they have their own website and job listings, so try that direction.


 


k


I don't live where the hospital is looking - sm
I actually have two hospitals to recruit for - one in NY and one in Maryland. I will have another soon in Minnesota after I fly up there on Wednesday to find out their needs and look at the surrounding area. These would be for people wanting to relocate. Relocation would be paid.
depends on the hospital
There is hospital near me who will take on beginning MT's who have typing and medical terminology skills. They work with you for up to a year before you go on your own. They pay about $11.75 an hour to start. But, then there is another hospital that requires years of experience. You need to check with you local hospitals to see what their requirements are.
No, it's not your job - when I worked in a hospital (sm)
I was paid hourly with bonus for production.  Therefore, we could occasionally do other work (like the charting) if the clerk was off, answering phone, etc.; but being strictly on production, I would say, no it is not your job.
working in a hospital
I work for a hospital and have for 20 years. I am an at-home MT.. I am a full-time employee just like anyone who has to physical go there everday. The pay is much better and benefits too.. There are some still out there.
VA Hospital transcription

Does anyone know any MTSO who has VA hospital accounts?  I ran across a great ad looking for MTs last year, but did not have enough MT work experience yet to be considered and was told to reapply when I had more experience.  I don't recall who this company was, but was intriged by the ad for MTs and would like to follow up and at least apply.  I saved the ad, but can't find it at present.  One of the things that interested me most was that the company sounded like it really valued its MT workforce.  I am looking for a company to move to and stay with for the long term.


I would appreciate any information anyone can give me.  My experience thus far has primarily been with hospital accounts and I am currently doing ER editing and standard.  Thanks.


 


If work @ hospital is low SM
and they have their own transcriptionists, they are probably saving the work for their own people.  In the priority list is making sure the hospital transcriptionists have work first, then the service.  Probably if you are fairly new and their are other MTs working on your account at the service, they may have priority over you as far as work distribution goes.
working in a hospital

If you have the opportunity to work alongside another MT in a hospital, TAKE that opportunity.  It will be much easier to learn with someone available to help you right when you need it instead of waiting on e-mails with corrections or using IM. 


in-hospital positions
You may have already, but also check out indeed.com. They have sometimes in-house positions also.
So I'm still not sure ... but the MT is a hospital employee, sometimes they will "weight" m
dictators so you get a little extra credit for unusually bad dictators. But that may not be a common practice everywhere.

If you are an IC, or at least once you are experienced, you might be able to negotiate a better rate for a particular MD if nobody else can or will do his dictation.

But have faith - some dictators who sound just horrible the first few times will suddenly be a breeze once you "crack the code." You will probably do that much more quickly if you have an experienced MT helping you out, listening to the difficult spots.


Only if this hospital will employ you when you're done. That
s
It's hospital work. The basic four.
because the larger companies can handle the larger hospital accounts.  Acute care just means hospital work as opposed to clinic, which would be physician offices, i.e., family practice, cardiology, nephrology, etc.
To clarify, the dictation is likely recorded at a hospital...
and all the C-phone or Lanier does is access that system. Any hospital that uses a Dictaphone system can be accessed by a c-phone. Seems to me there are some electronic units on the market that can be either Lanier-compatible or C-phone compatible though you would have to ask around about that. Yes, their only purpose is to access dictation that is stored somewhere else...though you could use the C-phone as a regular phone, if you wanted :>)    So there are two types of data format nowadays, .wav files (or .dss files) which the file can be transferred via internet and dictaphone/Lanier format which the file has to go through a phone line. And perhaps a few microcasettes are still kicking around.  Any other old-timers have anything to add?
are there no more in-house hospital jobs left?
it seems to me that way too many of talented MT's are settling for these low-paying companies. Is that all that's left out there for work?
doesn't anybody work in a hospital anymore?
Try hospital accounts with psych units
The only psych reports I've ever were through hospital accounts that had psychiatric units. Whether the psych report come through the ER, a consult or the unit, I find psych notes are always interesting. Good luck. I hope you find a great psychiatric account.


Try to get a job in a hospital. Don't try to work at home for a few years of doing this full-tim
x
since you already have a little experience, go apply at a hospital. They have benefits, mentoring,
etc.  In a few years time, you'll be on your way to really cleaning up.
Well, all I can say is the Board of Labor Statistics should visit our hospital where

an entire radiology department went to VR with Dictaphone's platform and within 30 DAYS were dictating their own stuff without ANY MT EDITING. Including the high-speed dictator, the Pakistani dictator who doesn't even WANT to do it, and the lazy slurring dictator. I think in light of my own experience, the Labor Board is behind the times.  The statement below is no longer true.


"In spite of the advances in this technology, the software has been slow to grasp and analyze the human voice and the English language, and the medical vernacular with all its diversity. As a result, there will continue to be a need for skilled medical transcriptionists to identify and appropriately edit the inevitable errors created by speech recognition systems, and to create a final document."


I think only for those who plan on an in-house job at a hospital. At-home options won't even be
m
Mostly inpatient hospital dictation - H&P, DS, Consults, Ops, some include ER
and progress notes. Acute care is usually inpatient dictation from hospitals.

Hope this helps.
Local hospitals
Have you checked with your local hospitals? There is one near me that will hire you with or without a formal training program behind you. They work one on one with you to train you. The pay is good too. It might be something for you to check out. You also might want to send resumes to local doctor offices.
online vs local job

Where I live the local votech school has a very high placement rate and if I wanted to work in house, I would start by taking their MT course. My local school's course is far from complete though, and there is no way a national company would hire me with just that course and no experience. 


I have no idea what the local employers would think about an online program.  We're kind of in the sticks and they really rely on the local tech school to pump out grads that can do the work the local companies need them to do.  Its practically tailored to the needs of the local economy.


I'm going with an online program because I want to be sure I can gain employment, and I want thorough training.


Not sure how much this helps.


I went to a local college here.. and now...
I started off with $19/h plus incentive. Now, I make $22/h plus incentive at a local hospital. Yes it can be done.
Local Clinics
Have you tried applying at local clinics or is there a small MTSO in your area? I got my first job as an IC by applying to all the Transcription companies in my area. Now I work as an employee for a Nephrology Clinic also local. Good luck.
How about seeing what's available thru your local college? Might be able to take
s
You may have to work in a local sm
service, maybe even at their office in order to get work with 6 months of experience.  If you do manage to find an online company to offer you work (that is not a scam), consider yourself extremely lucky.
check with local hospitals
I contacted a local hospital (SW Michigan) and was told that they hire MT students and graduates. But they also said that all you really need is physiology, medical terminology, anatomy and typing skills. Seeing how you have a strong medical background, you might want to check into something like that.
Was your local course a single class or
a curriculum? How long did the training take?
I'm deciding on whether or not to train locally here or online with Career Step.
The advice you've been given sounds really good. I hope it helps you! Hang in there! :)
Check with your local hospitals
Sometimes they offer training if you have the basics. There is a hospital in my area that will work with you for up to a year until they feel you are ready to be on your own. Definitely worth checking out.
Did you find the job in a local ad or on a web site? Thanks! nm
x
I replied to an ad in my local newspaper.

Work for Local Company
I work as an IC for a small local company at the moment.
I went to my local Commuinty College
took all my courses online. Much less expensive than those "other schools" and the program I was in was more intensive than the others. I was hired by a national before I even graduated.
You can always try on-line local paper ads...sm
I see them all the time and not really looking for experience, but for schooling and skill in Word. Call hospitals and listen to their employment listings or even look them up on-line. There are tons of ways to find work, not just with the big companies. I once looked in my yellow pages and found a neighborhood MT needing help. I just called her and asked, and she said yes! Good luck!
Best bet is local college for MT training
Please do not waste your money on those "fast track" schools that promise you training in 6 months to a year. I did one, and then had to go to the local college to get my real training along with a 2-year mentoring program typing OPs. Money used to be good (I was making $90,000 to $100,000) but now I cannot even make enough money to cover expenses (call-in system, phone lines, office rent, reference books, AAMT membership, DSL, voice file equipment, C-phone equipment, transcribers for local clients, stationary, constant software upgrades and reference book upgrades, business license, etc. Get the picture? Oh yeah, the most expensive of all--the medical expenses from 16 surgeries from all my work injuries as a Transcriptionist with 4 more surgeries to go and all the doctors, prescriptions at $1400 a month with insurance, insurance premiums, electric, etc. The list goes on. I truly wish I could get out.
local or online school?
I live in Spokane, WA, and I'm considering studying MT
to become a transcriptionist. I am very much attracted to the idea of studying at home at my own pace. I am deciding
between 3 distance learning schools:

1. Andrews 2. M-Tec 3. Career Step

I have read that Andrews and M-Tec are very good (both
cost under $4,000) and that Career Step doesn't prepare one well for the MT profession (costs under $2,000).

After I spoke to a former student at the Spokane
Community College MT program she advised that she wouldn't spend more than $1,500 on the MT training and strongly recommended Spokane Community College.

Here's my dilemma:

The SCC program takes 4 quarters. If I signed up on January 3, 2008, I would be done at the end of 2008 - the program takes the whole calendar year.

The online options are self-paced, and because I only work part-time, I imagine I would be done a lot sooner, maybe in 6 months.

The former student at the SCC also explained that if I attend a local program = Spokane CC, I will have a much better chance of getting a job locally.

However, at this point in time I don't know if I will be staying in Spokane for the foreseeable future (it depends on my husband's job situation) and might be moving out of Spokane sometime at the second half of 2008.

I have a Master's degree in English. I'm mentioning this because I know a good portion of a MT program is language study.

Would you please give me advice on what to do? Take the Spokane Community College course or one of the expensive online options?

Thank you very much.
maybe a small local company
might be worth a try. My first job was with a company like that. I did not have an MT course or experience. It was relatively boring transcription (mostly insurance exams, worker's comp exams - tons of neck and back sprains) but it was a start. I trained in their office for a week or so and then they let me do it at home. After a year or so I worked for another small company and started doing clinic and hospital work. So if there are any small companies like that still around... check it out.