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

Just heard - demoralized

Posted: Jul 02, 2014

from a doc I have been typing for for a little over a year. He is saying I am getting some things wrong like MD names and DOB both of which I depend on him to have correct when I am typing and apparently then I am supposed to double check these things in the database every time. Now I am already paid so little by him as to be making under min wage for everything he wants me to do. This is so demoralizing. I need a few words of encouragement to help me feel less like a terrible MT.

If you are not being paid enough - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
There is no reason to feel like a terrible MT. However, if you are not being paid enough to cover these extra chores, explain that to the doctor and raise your rate enough to cover it. If he is not interested in paying, find another job.

You are not a worm-person. You do not have to be at the mercy of people who wish to treat you as one.

You should also be making more than minimum wage. Minimum wage is for unskilled labor. You are not unskilled labor.

demoralized - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
You are certainly not being paid what you're worth. You may want to think about changing to an hourly rate for this doctor. I have one client who expects me to be ready and waiting 24/7 as well as make updates, changes and corrections to his reports. I decided to charge him by the hour ... now I'm not resentful when I have to do a bunch of extra stuff for him. He's paying for my time.

Are you an employee? - MEMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Because if you are NOT an employee, remember YOU hold the reins. Let him know that your current pricing includes him providing accurate information. If he wants to add research services onto the transcription services you provide, that will be an additional 3 cpl. Yes, he might take his business elsewhere but you get to respect yourself while you job hunt.

i would not talk to a client about pricing when - jbt

[ In Reply To ..]
you are making mistakes i would wait until a more appropriate time to discuss that

they arent mistakes - MEMT

[ In Reply To ..]
She said he is supposed to be supplying accurate information. He's not. Onus is on him, not her. Being meek and getting your teeth kicked in are hallmarks of why people aren't making it in the MT business anymore.

He's paying (obviously not a whole lot if she's barely making minimum wage) now for transcription services. If he wants research services to, that comes with a price.

If you donâ��t stand up for yourself, no one else is going to do it.

things like - OP

[ In Reply To ..]
DOB and spelling of other MDs names in the report. He says all that info is available in the data base which is true, but should I be constantly double checking the info he is dictating for accuracy? He pays by the audio hour at a rate he established, which has not changed the entire time I have typed for him. At this point with all he expects it works out to be less than 7/hr for all the time it takes. The work does not come regularly and I never know when or if I am going to get work or how much it will be.

I have been looking for additional (replacement) clients and believe I have found the perfect one for about double the pay and fewer clerical type duties. Now I just need to know how to write a letter releasing him as a client. I have never done that to a client before having always worked for small MTSOs. Suggestions?

fact checking - Cindy

[ In Reply To ..]
I always double check birth dates and doctors' addresses when I type for doctors. I also proofread the letters after typing them. I charge them about 22 cents a line, which makes it worth my while. I use two monitors and keep the database on one monitor and my document on the other. Some docs are happy to pay more for this service and some aren't.

Your rates - OP

[ In Reply To ..]
sound great. I'm sure they work out to be more than <7.00/hr. I doubt he would pay that. Too often in this industry we are told what they are paying just like in this case. He told me what he pays and it has not changed in a year and a half. What he wants me to do is not worth my while and I fight apathy. I am proud of my work. My next paycheck will be about 180 for two weeks. Fortunately I have two other clients, one I just landed, both of whom pay about double+ what he was offering. So I'm done.

hope you dont burn a bridge because you - bm

[ In Reply To ..]
do not know if the new job will work out

Letter to Client - Be Professional

[ In Reply To ..]
Your letter does not need to be long or involved, but it should be highly professional. Regardless of your feelings about him, you do not want to alienate him unnecessarily.

It only needs to address the manager or the doctor, and state that you regret having to discontinue providing medical transcription services to his office effective such-and-such a date.

You do need to get your last payment, however. A 30-day notice would be most appropriate, but if you suspect that he just won't pay you for the last days, I would simply request your last check from the office manager and deliver your letter to him or to the OM.

If your contract required a certain length of notice, you would have to follow that, of course.

If they ask you why, simply tell them that the amount of fact checking, copying, etc., that is involved takes longer than was agreed upon at the rate he was paying, and that this now exceeds your overhead expenses.

Note how long it took to do the last batch, count the lines in the last batch, and determine how much in cents per line you would have to get to make $20 per hour. If they ask what they would have to pay you to keep doing the account, tell them that you will have to charge them by the line at whatever that line rate was. Or, just use 22 cents per 65-character line.

Remember that you have to cover your overhead BEFORE you figure how much YOU pay yourself to do that work. All of your business expenses (computer, car, gas, phone, notepads, paper, ink, pocket calculator, software, anti-virus, references, education, everything)needs to be paid. It is not "free" because you work at home. That needs to be covered AND THEN you need to make $20 an hour. [This is where most at-home MTs screw themselves.]

Exactly - MEMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Perfect advice for independent MT. You're selling a service and that's more than just the characters you put on the page.

It sounds like he's trying to somehow fabricate - a reason to start paying less.

[ In Reply To ..]

Pricing - Outside looking in

[ In Reply To ..]
When was providing accurate information contingent on a higher line rate? If they pay you less, does that mean you get to screw things up? I'm sorry but that sounds so arrogant - you depend on him to provide accurate information? I think there's something wrong with that picture.

My opinion - Outside looking in

[ In Reply To ..]
This is not going to make me popular but MD names and birth dates are your responsibility to confirm, not the doctor. Yes, you are supposed to double check. Demographic errors are considered critical errors. Sorry I can't give you any words of encouragement. There is no need to feel like a terrible MT, but his time is probably a lot more valuable than yours. If you want to continue working for him, grow up and do your job.

I agree and perhaps she and he need to agree on an hourly rate. - Takes care of all problems. Especially with

[ In Reply To ..]
that large a percentage of clerical work per patient. It's only fair. If he argues that, well then you know what he's made of...rethink the job at that point. You need to crunch some numbers, study it out, get it on paper and 'splain it to him, Lucy. Think business, not MT.

hourly rate - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Great advice .. think like you're a business and not an MT. I had to do that with one of my clients as I spent so much time doing clerical and editing work for him. He had no problem paying the hourly rate I quoted him. This doctor is getting a bargain at $25 an hour.
Wishing you the best with your decision.

gotta love - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
the disparity between the ones who think we should just "grow up and do your job" (no matter how little we are being paid and just plain demoralized) and the ones who think we are worth more and need to respect ourselves more. No wonder some of this board think we, to some extent, allowed this industry to treat us and pay us poorly.

Thank you - Op

[ In Reply To ..]
for all the replies and advice. I wrote a very professional letter cancelling our IC agreement (I never was asked to sign a contract) and attached my last invoice. Never heard back, which I'm grateful for although it would have been nice to be able to explain the why to them. I had been looking to replace that client for months and the call actually spurred me to double check on one and I got that acct. It pays twice as much with zero clerical work. So thanks again.

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