A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

and so it starts - cj

Posted: Jun 29, 2014

I have a bad feeling about this one. Some of you may "know" me, i am here once in a while, have been for a few years. I am coder at a very large facility in midwest and have been for years. Last year our hospital installed Computer Assisted Coding and we are implementing it in stages. First we used the annotated fields just to help identifying things that may/may not need to be coded. Then we started getting suggested codes to go with the annotated information. Then we began implementing SVC (simple visit coding) which is the computer does the coding and it goes straight through, no coder ever sees the visits. This is going to go the way of speech recognition did for MT. We are being told our roles will change - we will become code editors. Like I said, I have a bad feeling about this one. Speech rec destroyed MT for me and now CAC looks like it may do the same for coding. 2101 days until I can retire!

where there is smoke... - n/m

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xx

All jobs change ... - sm

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All jobs change. ALL of them. If you cannot learn and adapt with them, you will be left behind.

If you are "a coder" stuck in code-lookup mode, refusing to look beyond your immediate job function, you have a problem.

In the 30s, accountants tallied reams of numbers by hand. In the 60s, they used mechanical calculators. In the 80s, they used electronic calculators. Now they use spreadsheets. Tallying numbers by hand is no longer necessary. The job of accounting no longer needs roomfuls of hand-tallyers. Accountants now do other things. There are fewer of them, but what they do is more important.

Yes, we do recognize you, cj.

thank god you are retiring. If you cannot roll with the times - you wont last long

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sounds like all it is doing is giving you suggestions?!? with all due respect, what is the big deal?

geez all she said was - she had a bad feeling

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can you blame her?

i find your responses ironic - cj

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I find these responses somewhat ironic. It isn't giving us suggestions. As I said, they are starting SVC which means the computer is doing the coding instead of the human beings. Right now it is about 20% of our accts that are being coded by a compuer and not a coder. That number will, undoubtedly, only grow. From a group of MTs who consistently express displeasure with voice rec and what it has done to the MT field, I would think you would recognize the danger in this for the coding profession. In the AHIMA Journal there are companies advertising their CAC products saying they can reduce the coding workforce by 33% to 50% by using these products. and that does give me a bad feeling.

no kidding - we rolled with it

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as MTs we rolled with it. Our jobs "changed" and we tried to change with them. And what it meant was poverty level wages. I hear you.

Look what "rolling with it" got us the first time: - NOTHING! - SM

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I for one refuse to be "rolled" a second time!

who is us? if you are an MT why are you on this board? - this is a coding board

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just curious.

She is ON THIS board because she has a RIGHT to! - Just Like You

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It is obvious that all jobs change. As an MT who is maybe researching other options (such as coding), perhaps she is doing her due deligence and research.

If it sounded like she was doing research that - Would be most welcome

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However, a transcriptionist doing research about a career has no credibility to decide its viability or not. That is best left to a person doing the job.

Sure, she has a right to. I suppose I could post - on an engineering board

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but I would not be surprised when no one thought my predictions had any credibility. The coders have a right to totally blow her off, too.

Sheesh. Don't pop a blood vessel or anything. - And BTW -

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No, I do not code. But I'm very much interested in the field. Not because I want to do it, because I don't. It's just not for me.

But I'm extremely interested in how things play out for the coding field in the next few years, and its parallels (or lack thereof) to MT, because it will also mean that there will be other potential careers that will be in future jeopardy.

You really have to scrutinize ANY career choice these days, because the few decent ones that are left are dropping like flies. Meanwhile, you can pout, rant, kick and stomp your feet all you like, but coder or not, I still intend to follow this board, and the field in general.

Have a nice day (if that's even possible for you.)

I love how you all try to stir up trouble and then - Tell people to chill out

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If you want to start an argument, don't be upset when someone else finished it. Take responsibility for yourself.

It looks like that's what you're doing - trying - to tell everyone what to do.

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So, in your extensive research, what other - careers follow this pattern

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and what has your research caused you to differently? I can only assume you don't do MT any longer, correct? Because that would just be totally hypocritical to give job advice to others when your situation is even worse. No one intelligent would ever hire a financial planner who had filed bankruptcy.

Secondly, you might want to reel in your dramatic nature just a bit. You obviously can't know anyone's response but there was no pouting, stomping or ruptured aneurysms. I am astounded by your lack of professionalism.

Captioning already went that way, court - reporting is not too long for -

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this world, and even some digital x-rays are being read by software instead of live radiologists. It isn't just in the medical field, or in the field of words and language. It's spreading throughout the country.

You can bet those radiologists have already - moved on.

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I don't know any who are standing around wringing their hands over it. Instead, they are occupying themselves reviewing those readings and developing other skills, like interventional radiology, MRIs, etc.

They, like coders, have somewhere else to go within their career field.

You had somewhere to go, too. You could have moved into any HIMS jobs and several others. I know because that is what WE did. The coders here did not sit around wringing their hands until it was too late--they got training and moved on.

The problem is not that things change. It is that some people refuse to change.

This board is like a parody of that where-is-the-cheese book. You scripted yourself into the role of the mouse who keeps looking for the cheese every day at the same old place, starving and talking constantly about doom. We scripted ourselves into the mice who looked around to find cheese at the new location, then left that maze entirely for the one with better meals. We jumped the wall. We are no longer dependant upon cheese deliveries.

You won't get the point. I did not write this for you, but so others here can see why your arguments are so wrong.

The radiologists I knew personally took an - early retirement, instead.

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Hard to believe ... if they took early retirement - for THAT ...

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I am very familiar with that technology and radiology, and find it difficult to believe that any radiologists took early retirement because of THAT, simply because that technology cannot read everything and there still needs to be professional review.

We have more than 50 of them, in spite of anything that reads it for them, and we aren't paying them any less.

While I do not doubt that you know radiologists who took early retirement, I think you may not completely understand the real reason behind it.

Call me a liar if you like, but it's the truth. - Granted, these werent 35-year-olds.... nm

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nm

We had one take an early retirement because he - did not want to learn the

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new technology, and he could have retired years ago. They hired another to take his place. Their jobs were changed, not eliminated.

If he could have retired years ago, - how is this now "early" retirement?

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Declining to change to new methods is not the same thing as being pushed out by technology.

Because it was far earlier than he had planned. - Most of our docs worked well - sm

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past they age of 65, and we were better off for it. They had far more experience and patience than their fresh-out-of-school replacements.

Great, but it has nothing to do - with the discussion.

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Regardless of how noble they were, they chose to retire so that they would not have to learn new technology. I am sure that loads of radiologists retired rather than learn to read digital films on computer screens instead of old-style films jammed into light boxes.

That does not mean they were replaced by technology or by software. They quit because they were unwilling to change and adapt.

I am sure they could afford to retire at that point, too, so they had little reason to change or improve.

I think you also need to consider that it was not all that simple a situation. There have been massive changes in radiology that require retraining and even certifications.

Sure as heck does, it has EVERYTHING to do - with the discussion. nm

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X

Only if you are one of those MTs who - refuses to learn anything new.

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In 1989, I knew an MT who refused to move from an IBM Selectric to a computer. "It's just WRONG! It just isn't the SAME! It just isn't as GOOD! It doesn't look hand-typed! MY work looks like quality!"

There she sat, smugly pounding away, with her stack of carbons, typing everything two or three times, smudgy error erasures in everything. Without exaggeration, she refused to stop using CARBON FORMS even though they were thrown away. She corrected the errors on them anyway, one after the other. Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape.

Every time they tried to get her to learn how to use the computer, she refused. She insisted it wasn't going to work. She said it wasn't going to catch on. She said she just didn't understand it. She said she guessed she was too old.

She even said it wasn't biblical. It was evil.

They finally offered to fire her, and away she went, feeling highly put out by the technology that she felt "replaced her."

I have seen coders do the same thing ... refusing to switch from coding on a piece of paper to coding using an encoder. I have seen them retire rather than learn to use a computer. I have seen them retire rather than switch from text-based email to Outlook.

If you are like them, well, then your radiologist situation fits.

Feel free to believe whatever you wish. - Oy...

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nm

What you are not getting about MT - Anonymous

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I (big I for emphasis) knew that my MT job was ending. I could have moved on but chose to stay until the very last hurrah because I made good money and what is a big factor in the equation is that I LOVE the work, that is why many people stay. I (again big I for emphasis) did move into HIM but miss MT every day, not to mentioned the amount of stress that is now involved in my job. I found new cheese but it is not nearly as satisfying as the old cheese. I know several radiologists who took early retirement when things were converted to front end SR. The providers who remained fought it tooth and nail. This may not have been their main reason for leaving but it may have been the final deciding factor. I also know physicians involved in direct patient care who left early, not because they couldn't embrace the new technology but because they recognized the problems it created and did not like the time they were required to spend with Dragon transcription related tasks when they could be spending time with their patients. YOU are not the only ones who found new cheese. Some of my MT co-workers are now nurses and some are working as schedulers and receptionists, some, like myself are in HIM; they all stayed until the end as well, even though they knew they had other choices. I bet if you polled those people, they would all tell you the same thing: They miss being an MT. I'm posting this after the fact, but just happened to go back and read this thread from the bottom up and couldn't help replying to your comments.

I'm the where there is smoke commenter... - s/m

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You are smart enough to see what is heading your way like a speeding locomotive. I understand you and think you are wise enough to recognize it for what it is. Pay no attention to some of these hateful posters. They only care when their neck is on the chopping block.

Perhaps the lack of sympathy you are - receiving

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from the MTs is because it has been suggested here many times that coding is going to go the way of MT and the coders claimed that none of us bitter MTs understood what coding was and how complex it was and that it could never EVER go the way of MT.

We've been trying to tell you all to watch your backs and you've refused to listen.

You'll get no sympathy from me but I will give you a big fat I Told You So!

No one ever responded that way. - You are twisting things, again.

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And here YOU are again, twisting reality to fit your own view of what has transpired here.

Why on earth does anyone who is outside a field think they can speak about it with such authority.

What we told you was that coding is part of a larger field that, unlike MT, offers many higher-level and lateral jobs. Front line coders are free to move into them, with or without additional training, and many already do move into them. We even told you what the jobs were.

The truth is that a lot of what we code does NOT require a coder and never did. Lab and radiology come to mind. A huge part of outpatient office encounters do not require a coder, never did, and never have been coded by a coder. Please! Take it!

I have no interest in brain-numbing "coding" like that.

I would rather move on and do something more interesting, and I have ... I am one of the people who "codes" by programming systems like that for my healthcare system, among other related-to-coding things.

Your purpose in shouting that the sky is falling is a dysfunctional, bitter attempt to deter others from their goal of finding and enjoying meaningful work. Those chunks landing on everyone aren't pieces of sky; they are the rocks you are throwing.

Chill out. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. No need to get so condescending. - nm

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nm

That same poster is ALWAYS condescending. - anon

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They also always have the same old knee-jerk reaction to accuse and exaggerate posters who are realistic as declaring "the sky is falling". Most of us here are used to this, hit the dislike button, and ignore.

That's fine, just so you understand that that is - all it is

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YOUR OPINION. Just because you believe something does not make it fact. So quit getting upset that people are not taking your uneducated opinion as gospel.

I don't see anyone looking for sympathy??? - Why are you here

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Why are you here, transcriptionist? Just to say "I told you so?" Does that make you feel good about yourself? No one here is asking for sympathy. Coding is still a good field to go into. Believe it, or not, as is your prerogative. However, if I was coming onto a board to comment about a career I didn't even do with so much vitriolic rhetoric, I'd be more concerned about my own anger issues than I would be with the state of coding.

cj gets my sympathy because she became - Keypounder - sm

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a coder quite a while ago, obviously. Many of the newer coders are still chasing down jobs, and want to believe with all their hearts that these jobs will last.

The ones I have less sympathy for are the ones who cover their eyes and ears, and continue to look into coding as a career, or worse - fork out a big wad of cash for coding classes, regardless of the fact that they refuse to heed the warnings and obvious red-flag similarities between MT & coding as a profession.

Still I do have some sympathy for them, as well. Just not as much.

Why would you post such a snotty, arrogant - post

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You have NO IDEA why someone would stay in a position. Mind your own business. (Wait a minute, that sounds vaguely familiar).

Because it's the only thing snotty, arrogant - coders understand: Snottiness.

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Sometimes you gotta speak their language.

Childish - I can see why you have

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not moved on to another career. Employers won't hire that attitude.

Nor will they relish yours. - Its arrogant and self-important.

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nm

Except that I'm happily employed in a great job - I only hope you can say

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the same. Good luck.

How very special. - #Who.cares.org

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Aren't you happy for me? - You evidently care a lot

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as evidenced by your need to come to the coding board and warn us away from our jobs. Since you care so much, aren't you glad I'm happy?

If you're happy, then hey - more power to ya. - *

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abc

I agree. How can anyone not see what's coming? - Its sad & unfair, but its definitely coming.

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NMSG

Well, THAT was sure a head-in-the-sand remark - Part of being a good coder is - SM

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the ability to see patterns in things, and she obviously sees one here! Anyone who can't see the parallel patterns between how the MT field changed for the worse, and how the coding field will similarly do the same thing, is only kidding themselves.

There sure is a problem, and it's not her. - At least she will have - SM

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retirement income to fall back on, and maybe she'll be able to hang onto her job until then. But for those who have a long way to go until retirement kicks in, and don't see the impending trend for what it is - another good job down the tubes due to corporate greed - then I guess their impending job loss will likely come as a big surprise.

I so agree - Some MTs are still

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thriving with VR, outsourcing, etc. Why? Because they refuse yo just throw their hands up and cry that it is too hard. They have a good work ethic. They didn't focus on other people's situation. They focused on their own. Hats off to them. Some people in here could take some pointers.

That worked outstandingly for me! :) - sm

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Until hospital went to point and click EMR. No amount of skill or work ethic saves you once that comes on board. :(

"We will become code editors" - wheres_my_job

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I will translate that, it's code for "You better start looking for another FIELD sooner rather than later." Most likely before the layoffs start - the pay will go down 50%!

'CAUSE: Now you will be able to code 50% faster!

Am I right or am I right?

You are neither a coder nor working - as an MT

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Your posts present yourself as a mostly unemployed, often-fired, discontented, oppositional artiste. Not surprising that you feel compelled to leap in here with unfounded opinions.

As a former MT, I remember being told back - in 2003 by a very smart, - sm

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well-informed and forward-thinking doctor I transcribed for, and that I had a great deal of respect for, that transcription was likely going to start disappearing in 5 years or less. He told me this as a favor, and as a warning to get out sooner rather than later, as a response to a question I asked him about what was going to happen to our MT jobs in the future. I had told him that my supervisor at the hospital had told us, "Your jobs will change in the next few years, and you will become medical VR editors instead of transcriptionists." Not believing that VR had a snowball's chance in h*** of ever becoming widespread, I asked that doctor because I knew he wouldn't pull any punches or lie to me. So he told me the truth.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not fully believing him. Although I believed it might happen at our hospital, since all the newer middle management personnel seemed to be automation-oriented, I still didn't see it happening with MTSOs because of the sheer variety of work they saw. In those days, people who were test-driving VR had to spend vast amounts of time "training" it, and each doctor had to have their own system, or else it wouldn't "learn" correctly.

So, when life circumstances a few years later forced me to quit my inhouse MT job and go to an MTSO, I did so believing that speech editing would only be, at most, 50% of our workload, and I was willing to live with that.

If I had known coding even existed 7 or 8 years ago, I probably would've tried to get into that in order to get out of MT. Unfortunately, by the time I learned of this career, the warning signs were also starting to appear, so I held back on making a decision. That, too was a mistake, because at the very least, I might have had a few more good earning years under my belt. But it is what it is. I just wish there was a way you all could take your jobs back NOW - while you still have them. If you do, then Big Business and Big Government don't win this round. So even though I'm not a coder, I'm very interested in what happens to this field, because whatever that outcome turns out to be, I think will open the door for more jobs of this type to either still exist, or be eliminated.

The difference being ... - sm

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You are looking at coding with MT-colored glasses.

In MT, at least to you it seems, there is only one job ... transcribing. There is nothing else to move into. People became MTs and stayed MTs doing MT. For the last 20 years, MT has even been taught as a stand-alone skill. It has not been taught as part of a larger degree program, so that most MTs don't have anything else to move into. Most of them do not know that there IS anything to move into.

If you look at coding expecting it to be like MT, you think it is one job that you do forever. You think "Oh, this is just like MT all over again." You think that technology is going to displace coders and they won't have anywhere to go.

That is inaccurate because coding is not a one-job-is-all affair. There are many different types of jobs and functions at many levels requiring coding skills.

When you see people here who say they are coders, you think they are front line workers who assign codes, because that is your concept of what coding is. However, there are people here who do not perform THAT coding job. There are coders who do compliance, auditing, informatics, software development, data analysis, chargemaster development, and education. THOSE jobs are still necessary even if code-assignment is automated.

Coders are mostly trained in HIM degree programs, or at least work in HIM areas, so they have skills in other areas or know where to get them. Moving on from front-line coding has been something coders have done since the beginning.

Your fears aren't unfounded, but your understanding of the impact of automation on coding is lacking. You will never be able to see that because you don't know what you don't know.

Your need to continue with closed-minded harping on this non-issue isÃ�Â destructive. You seek to discourage others from pursuing a career field. It is a form of self-validation -- it makes you feel better about your own situation to deny that here is any way out.

There is one good reason for not going into coding and HIM. It is that you don't like it. The other reasons presented above, from it being in healthcare on, are just silly. If you want to get out of MT, then do it. If you do not, then keep the destructive untruths to yourself and leave others to their own choices.

You know, you can harp all you want about - there being "no similarity" between

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coding and MT, and although the actual acts of doing the work itself are entirely different, there's no mistaking the fact that the DIRECTION these two healthcare jobs have taken in the past, are taking now, and will be taking in the future, are on an uncomfortably PARALLEL TRACK.

It takes no "glasses" at all, MT or coder, to see the writing on the wall. If you really think this is a great job, and you want to KEEP IT, you should become active in protecting it NOW. Because if you wait too long and pretend that everything is hunky-dory, you could very well find yourself back in the unhappy position of low, production-based pay for all your hard work.

I would love to hear your suggestions, since you - are obviously so

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knowledgeable about coding. Tell me, how did you become active in MT to protect your job? Please, enlighten us all with your wisdom?

It's easy. Patterns. Look for the patterns in - what is happening. A no-brainer, really.

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No. I asked you how you preserved your MT - job

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If it's so easy, how did you keep your MT job intact, without it being outsourced or having your wages cut? With so many unhappy MTs, how did you manage to make it through unscathed?

Where did you get the impression that my - MT job was preserved? s/m

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It was not. It was first outsourced, then offshored, then VR'ed, then point and click EMR'ed, and then eliminated.

Wages were cut drastically along the way.

What I'm saying is, if coding goes from being mostly in-house to mostly outsourced, it could likely take a similar path.

The only chance you all have of saving it is to do what we MTs DIDN'T do: Speak up, speak out publicly, and unionize. Even that may not work, but the idea is to try to nip it in the bud, since you have the advantage that we MTs did not - you have seen a precedent in what happened to MT.

I just assumed you would not come here trying - to advise coders on how

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to fix their (currently excellent) job situation, if your own was in shambles. That would be incredibly hypocritical. You surely can see how unreasonable that is. Go out and improve your job outlook and then come back and tell us all how to get out of our situations. You would not take financial advice from someone who was bankrupt.

Is it possible that, not being a coder, you aren't seeing the big picture? Do you realize that coders need certification, and certification isn't easy? The failure rate is high, the tests are expensive, the codes are always changing? Do you understand the constant (I mean CONSTANT) education we have to do? Do you understand that coding is not the only thing we have learned? Oh, go ahead and say our heads are buried in the sand. Wallow in your own unhappy situation. It's so much easier to point fingers at others instead of changing yourself. Enjoy reaping the fruits of your choices.

Why should you even care? You'll only hear - what you want to believe, anyway.

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+

I have been asking the very same thing about - you

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Why should you care? You aren't even a coder.

Your choice was poor, but your advice - is no better.

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You stayed stuck in your job, not doing anything to help yourself. That was a poor decision.

Now, your advice to coders is to stop this sort of thing by speaking out and unionizing? That is another poor plan coming from the same motivation as the first ... inertia and unwillingness to change or progress.

You cannot stop technological progress. It will occur with or without you. You can only recognize its value and move on with it.

Aside from that, you are assuming that everyone should be just like you ... focused on inertia and on RESISTING CHANGE. Not everyone is like that, nor should they be.

People will probably be saying the same - about you, someday. Whatever.

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Enjoy all the upcoming "exciting" changes.

You are so far out of your area of expertise that - at this point you are not

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even making any sense. Peh???? What does that even add to the discussion? Nothing. Now it has been explained how unionizing would not work and would not benefit us. You've been told about how coding certification works and how it isn't easy to get. And yet you argue on. Is it any wonder no one takes you seriously?

LOL - ;D

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Your posts have only one purpose ... - to annoy and disrupt.

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You take pleasure in being an unpleasant gadfly on this board, posting what you undoubtedly know to be false. You do it in order to aggravate others, divert discussions to yourself, and deny use of the board to others.

You will never stop because it pleasures you to bully and harass others. It makes you feel powerful and important to do this to people who can't reach out and confront you. You have to hide behind the curtain of the internet to jeer and taunt.

I fully expect the moderator to remove my post and ban me for what I am going to say, but I don't care because you have so ruined this board for everyone else that there is little point in continuing. I have asked repeatedly for you to be banned from this board and I think you have been, yet you keep reappearing. You appear to have a personality disorder or to be mentally ill. You are unpleasant to be near here, as you probably are in person. This is undoubtedly why you cannot find and keep a job. The views you express here are bizarre and disturbed. The way you interact here is bizarre and disturbed. Absolutely nothing any of us say can change your illogical and distorted opinions or your belief that you need to force them on others. Your need to pleasure yourself by irritating and harming others is too important to you.

The moderator needs to ban you permanently from this board and take steps to keep you from returning. You are a detriment.

You need to get professional help.

Agreed and thank you - As a transcriptionist of

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20 years, I'm embarrassed and appalled by this person. Her agenda of hate focused towards coders, her inability to form a cohesive argument or even to speak like an adult make us all look bad. Most transcriptionists are very smart and articulate -- this person does not represent the norm.

keep looking - kt16

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I am the "negative" one who thought coding would/might be outsourced; I don't want it to happen, but I can see it coming. My only advice is to keep your options open. Learn, learn and make contacts in other fields. Or upgrade your credentials so you can be at the top of your field and hopefully last one out.

Good advice. Too bad most are likely too - stubbornly optimistic to heed it.

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Too bad you only know how to post in one liners - It makes it obvious that

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you have nothing real to contribute and only want to pot stir.

Why write more lines than necessary? - It keeps the dialogue moving, not stagnant.

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No, it actually contributes nothing and makes - threads harder to read

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If you don't have anything valuable or meaningful to add to the conversation, you probably shouldn't post anything.

Funny, I was going to make the same - suggestion to you.

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nmg

I'm so sorry to hear you're experiencing this. - I mainly didnt get into coding because - sm

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I just don't think I'm cut out for that type of work... I'm not a detail-oriented enough person to be good at However, I had a bad feeling about it long ago because it was:
a - healthcare work
b - well-paid, mostly inhouse work
c - done on a computer

Then M*Modal announces it's getting into coding. Since whatever M*Modal does is the bellwether for almost every bad thing that happens in the transcription industry, it started to point out to me that middlemen were going to take over that field too, that it would be offshored as much as possible, and that eventually hospitals would simply go with a VR-assisted mechanized system.

Almost all aspects of the healthcare industry seem to have become a sham, a scam, and a bottomless pit in recent years. I hope you're able to make it to retirement! I didn't quite - still have another 1.5 years to go, and my T job was automated and we all got canned.

coding, transcription, taxes and death - kt16

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Been there, top transcriptionist.. went to coding. I am not chicken little nor am I an ostrich. Medical Care is big business and coding is on its way to follow transcription. I can roll with the changes and I am not being negative. To be forewarned and be forearmed is to anticipate the next step and prepare. Anything on line can be outsourced...

Big generalization - Another top MT

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"Anything on line can be outsourced," not completely true. Most big facilities employ IT departments and analysts, none of their work is outsourced, someone has to keep things running. I went from MT to QA, my job is not going to be outsourced because I correct outsourced work. Medical records and compliance, at least where I work, are not outsourced, we have new employees in medical records. We have a very large coding department, there are no plans to outsource that work; that staff is growing as well. Have their jobs changed? Yes, they have but that does not mean they are being eliminated. Coding may become more automated but it could take years. By that time, just as with MT, those people will have retired anyway. One person comes forward and shares their experience, and you all panic and assume that it's doomsday. What is true for one person may not be true for all. Never discourage anyone from pursuing something they want. Guess I'll sit at home, do nothing and worry about outsourcing instead of going out and getting a job, or maybe I'll just quit because my job might go away sometime; there is a lot of wasted energy here fretting about what might happen.

I agree - AND

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I worked in transcription for 20 years, then switched to coding. Because I wanted to. We did not outsource our transcriptionists and I don't anticipate we will outsource our coders. Your experience is not mine. Not with transcription and not with coding. I've raised a baby and paid off a house with transcription. If you think transcription is such a horrible job, switch to something else. It's that simple. But it doesn't make any sense to try to drag down happy employees just because you are unhappy.

exactly. Complaining without proposing a solution is - whining

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not here, please. we are all happy coders here.

QuÃ© sera, sera. - nm

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Sorry, but I'm a coder and I'm not happy - sm

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Went from making a great hourly wage to being outsourced to a company getting paid per chart. Sorry, but I'm NOT going down this road again.

Thank you for your candid post. Too many - sm

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coders, when faced with even the mere thought that their career could go the way of MT someday, choose to simply stuff their fingers into their ears and say, "La-la-la-la-la, I can't hear you!"

Then find another job - No one is forcing you to work there

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NM

Read my post. Said I'm NOT doing this again - sm

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I'm getting out of healthcare altogether and I am starting a new job in 3 weeks at my local parks and rec department and I cannot wait. I am not dealing with this cra* all over again.

You're the only one here with any sense. - nm

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nm

Then why do you continue to come here and - interact with senseless

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people? Seems a colossal waste of your time, and ours.

Everyone here has a right to post, and you - have a right not to read any of them,

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or pick and choose the ones you want to read. It's your choice. Please don't, however, try to force your own choices on anyone else.

Of course everyone has a right to post - But if you truly think

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we are all senseless imbeciles, why would you want to? None of us are as smart as you.

No one is trying to force anyone to do anything. - You can choose not to

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read my posts as well. I was just pointing out that if you find us all senseless, having a conversation with us is probably just a waste of your time.

Peh.... - MM

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Peh? Spitting? Very mature. - nm

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NM

Peh doesn't mean spitting. - NM

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No one's telling you to quit, or to not get into - LOL

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a career. I think the message here is to start FIGHTING FOR YOUR CAREER. NOW.

Another group that is also in jeopardy are court reporters. They jumped in and fought early, and fought HARD, and have won, at least for now. They've bought themselves some time. If they hadn't, all court proceedings would likely be currently videotaped and VR'ed.

Remember that old saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire"? When it comes to just about any job that these, and other similar categories, I smell smoke.

You don't seem to understand that outsourced - work is drying up and going away, too.

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Larger and larger chunks of it are going to in-office, doctor-generated, point-and-click templates that require no MT, no outsourcing, no QA. There I formerly worked, the QA's were shown the door, as well, because they were told that since they're responsible for the input, they are also responsible for its correctness.

You dont seem to understand that this - thread is not about MT

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NM

No, the thread is about how coding is already - beginning to go the way of MT.

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Try starting with reading the OP's post at the top.

No, it is about trying to understand - what motivates

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No, it is about trying to understand why MTs wuo hate their jobs and refuse to do anything about it feel entitled and even obligated to come here to issue ignorant warnings and drive others away from what could be a worthwhile career.

It seems to be a kind of disturbed "prepper" mentality focused on employment instead of politics.

^ Post made no sense, unlike OP's post, which - was an event with a clear warning.

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Actually, it makes perfect sense - Why DO unhappy MTs

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come to the coding board to "warn" coders. Lead by example. Fix your own problems first.

Others have the right to try to warn you, and - you have the right to ignore them.

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So why not exercise that right?

Oh, we are being warned against our will. - I get it

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So this isn't REALLY about warning us at all, because we've repeatedly told you "thanks, but no thanks." This is about your need to try to get people upset. I also have the right to respond to you, which I'm currently exercising. Please quit telling me that I do not.

In other words... - sm

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You couldn't handle the job responsibilities of coding, which you justified by rationalizing that it was healthcare, well-paying, in-house, and involved computers.

Now that you have been canned, you are happy that you made that decision, because it saved you from disaster.

Right.

well if you want to twist them - yes

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but what she was saying was that those three factors made it the perfect target for a company like MModal.

Exactly. And you'd better believe that all the - other MTSOs have coding in their sites, too.

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MTSOs and coding - Outside looking in

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Many of the MTSOs have offered coding services for years. A couple of the big services (Precyse and Amphion) use coding consultants to help facilities with backlogs. Amphion is in the Midwest and sends their coders on site to consult and train. Precyse offers training modules in ICD-10 called Precye University. Many of these places have employed coders for years and it is not necessarily a bad thing, if they want to stay in business, nothing wrong with a little diversification. Contract coders actually are paid very well. CAC is here to stay, unfortunately, but the MTSOs had nothing to do with it. Up above, someone commented that coding was going to be replaced by VR; VR has nothing to do with coding, none of it is voice activated.

Hey, if that skewed view floats your boat, - here are some oars. Happy sailing!

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I think until coders start saying - things like

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things like Run Away! Don't go into coding! Please listen to us! the way we sometimes have to do on the MT board, when someone new comes on asking about the career, then we should still consider coding a good and viable choice. Although I know there are some who have not been able to find jobs after certification, but I guess that's another argument for another thread.

Some people are unemployable - no matter what, too.

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There are "coders" here who can't find jobs. One or two of them have never gotten credentialed at all. They never tested or failed. One took some local course lasting 3 or 4 months AND never got credentialed. One's posts show that she has very minimal knowledge.

On the other hand, I am employed. There are others who are employed. Every one of us got hired the first time without experience. Most have at least one credential, several have more than one, and a few -- like me -- got hired the first time with no credential. We all know loads of employed, credentialed coders.

The truth is that some people couldn't get hired in any field no matter what they did.

For instance - Whatever

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You probably couldn't cut it as an atomic scientist, no matter how hard you tried.

Excellent example of "blocking and countering." - Thanks for providing it!

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We were not talking about jobs in atomic science. Your response is an excellent, and very interesting, example of the verbal abuse tactic "blocking and countering."

So to add a little more smoke.... - Mist

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I just received my CPC-A in coding. Not happy about this news...but a very eye opening experience I had recently...went with hubby to an office visit. All the paperwork was done on a tablet-type device. They had one receptionist in the facility. And how bad can this get???

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