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

The Future of MTs - Is there one? - Student101

Posted: Jan 18, 2014

I am a former MT who is going to school for Health Informatics. I worked as a transcriptionist for over 20 years. Two and a half years ago our team was told the organization we worked for was going to voice recognition and our jobs were being phased out which is when I chose to go back to school. I am writing my final paper on “The Future of Medical Transcription – Is There One?”

I would like to get information from other transcriptionists on this subject as most of the articles I have come across have been written on the pros and cons of VR from a physician perspective but never anything on VR effects on MTs. If anyone has time to answer some questions, I would very much appreciate your input!

Years as a transcriptionist
Has your pay increased over the last 10 years, stayed the same or decreased (if you can share amts it will provide better statistics for me)
What is the difference in pay between editing and transcribing from scratch
Are you certified and what is your certification if you are
Why did you choose this occupation and what keeps you in this career

I have been reading on the posts that one transcription company has a required line count set at 110 lines/hour … when I worked for an outsourcing company it was 150 … any comments on this?

Anything else you would like to share

Thanks!

Here you go - Just the facts

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been an MT 25+ years.

May pay has steadily decreased over the last 3 years, $47,000, $38,000, $33,000, and probably about $27,000 next year.

I am paid 9 cpl to transcribe and 5 cpl to edit.

I am not certified.

I got into MT by being transitioned from in-house to service. That service was bought. That service went out of business after off-shoring everything. The next service was great, highest paying, but they sold out to MM. With that move, and the lack of consistent work they provide, my income has gone south.

I wanted to be an MT because I loved the work and I was good at it. The money was also good back then. I am still an MT because I am over 55 years old. MM does not get employment references, only verification. The 3 previous services I worked for no longer exist, so there are really no "recent references" available. Additionally, while age discrimination is supposed to be against the law, it happens every day. No one wants to hire a 55+ year old with no references. The "golden handcuff" situation. Believe me, us older MTs do not have a lot of choices unless we start looking at McDonald's or Walmart.

Future - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Forgot to say. This profession has become something for retirees or those only needing to work PT with no benefits. As well, there will soon be no more MTs who specialize, like cardiology or orthopedics only. You have to be proficient in all specialties and all surgeries. You have to be willing to work nights, weekends, and holidays. You will have to not need much money from this, as the work is very unpredictable. This will weed out most MTs. In the future, a person will not be able to do this as a sole source of income.

Companies only want ICs now. They do not want the responsibility of providing consistent work, paid time off, or benefits. Therefore, they overload accounts with too many MTs. An MT who used to make $40,000 or more will no longer be able to do so. Schedules? LOL. You will have to get on and work when and if there is work there.

We used to be assigned primary accounts with a bank of work to draw from daily. You were used to the same dictators day in and day out. This increased your production and the quality of work. No more. Account specifications have become absolutely ridiculous. Not only are they different for different accounts, that would be okay, no.... now they cater to each doctor on the account who wants something done differently.

I work on one account where it takes longer to do the demographics, which we do not get paid for, than it does to actually process the report. Very short reports, whether because of VR or EMR, reduces our pay significantly.

Some will hang in there, most will not. There simply is not going to be enough work to go around because facilities and services have invested a lot of money in devising ways to cut us out completely, or certainly cut our pay as much as possible.

You described my MT life perfectly. - no message

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x

Ditto (nm) - Rose

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The Future of MTs - Is there one? - Student101

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Thank you very much for your reply. I appreciate your response and already see things I will incorporate into my paper. Can I ask you one more thing? Why does my first post have so few responses and "dislikes?"

Why the dislikes - MissouriMT

[ In Reply To ..]
All I did was answer your questions and already there is a dislike. What does that mean????? They are only answers to questions. What is there to dislike?

Probably because people get sick of seeing this tired old topic - beaten to death over and over again. SM

[ In Reply To ..]
That's why. The schools must be sending their new graduates over here to ask and I have no idea in the world why they would do so.

It's been beaten in the ground over and over again that MT has no future, yet the noobs are sent here time and time again after the school has their money.

For the life of me, I do not understand why anyone even bothers answering this question anymore, taking the time to even type out the same answers over and over again when the next batch of noobs comes out.

This person is not studying MT - nm

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nm

For the life of me, I do not understand - why you would object

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to anyone answering this question. If you don't want to answer, don't - simple as that. If there are people still willing to answer, what's it to you??

Management and/or pot-stirrers, - nothing more. NM - Former Slave

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Wow - Student101

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Wow - I am not in management, nor am I a "pot-stirrer." I am not a graduate of a MT program I am going for my Bachelors degree in my 50s because 2-1/2 years ago I didn't see any future for me as a medical transcriptionist and was tired of being treated as a second-class employee, a "typist" who was told we wouldn't be kept on as editors because we weren't qualified - but I can't write a paper on just my opinions...and where I worked SR wasn't accepted by the physicians...I am employed there again as a business associate making less money with no benefits...I saw this forum as a way to be able to give a transcriptionist's point of view in my paper other than my own. If I had seen the answers to my questions in other posts I would have used them. I can find paper after paper written by physicians and/or companies on the benefits of SR but I haven't found a single one on what this movement is doing to the transcriptionists. I have not found any literature to support my belief that wages have decreased...which I why I asked.

I'm sorry I have offended some people but I want to thank the ones who took the time to respond to my questions.

It is possible they meant the dislikes to your post were from - Mgmt or pot-stirrers-nm

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NM

That is certainly what was meant - but

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the take-offense-at-everything crowd never lets logic or common sense interfere with an opportunity to take offense where none is offered or intended.

Do not know what kind of research - you have really done

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because in fact physicians do not like the EMR/EHR. It takes up too much of their time. I read an article the other day (that was posted at this forum) that had a video link, where the author actually said "as medical transcriptionists have disappeared..." There was no way to respond to this journalist. We have not disappeared; we are being ignored and dismissed and disrespected. There is no reason other than greed that our salaries have disappeared, and why would the people who were planning on stealing it include us in their conversation. We are allowing this behavior towards us to continue. We should stop work en masse to get a point across. This would let the doctors see what VR and SR really produces, what the Indians are capable of, and see how they like spending even more time in front of a computer.

We have also be left out of the medical scribe conversation. We do not exist as viable candidates for scribes because those jobs are going to pre-med and pre-nursing and family members of the doctors.

you are so right - nm

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nm

Do not know what kind of research - you have really done - Student101

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From personal conversations with physicians I agree...they don't seem to like it. The physicians where I worked are doing SR for procedures and if there are any variations to their templates they dictate. That's why I want to include the "voices" of transcriptionists in my paper...it won't go anywhere but to my graders but I'll get satisfaction over knowing that I included our side of the story.

Don't short yourself -- if there is a story - Val

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and THERE IS, start sending it out. Look at how to write magazine articles, pitches, proposals, etc. Go to your library -- see the wide variety of publications there, submit to a blog, start a blog. Just off the top of my head, I read Kevin Pho's medical blog and physicians have written about how impersonal it is to be parked behind a computer, ignoring the patient. They also write about the ridiculous management pressures that had reduced medicine to drop-down menus.

Z-magazine is a great source regarding labor issues. MT was mentioned in there -- in the last 6 months or so? Don't remember exactly.

And -- this is off subject, but it's kind of pertinent -- every time I hear about driverless cars, I cringe. Because that technology is amusing for car drivers, but I guarantee it will destroy the livelihoods of all the truck drivers. More displaced humans...

Val, you could write a story yourself - That would be my suggestion

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If you feel so passionately about this, nothing is stopping you from researching and writing your own article.

Ignore the "Negatoids" (sm) - Rose

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Student101; First of all, thank you for spreading the word about what is happening to MTs by using our situation for your paper.

When you have time, I would LOVE to hear about the articles you have read from a doctor's perspective, so I hope you can share!

Their is a group of Negatoids who don't have a good reason hit "Dislike", they just enjoy picking on others. If they are sick to death of a topic, they can simply not read it!

Good luck to you in achieving your BS.

You can find the articles easily enough - Not the OP

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If you google, you can find the same articles and more.

Why the dislikes? - Some of them are ...

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A few of the dislikes are just people who dislike everything, no matter what it is.

Some others dislike you and what you are doing more than the post. There are a number of people here who dislike anyone who shows initiative in getting out of MT and into another field.

In your case, your program is in informatics, which is EHRs, which theay feel is driving them out of their jobs. They see you as a traitor who is undermining them, and they want nothing to do with you or your project, particularly since it is going to help you achieve your goals. It is particularly galling because the salary you will receive is so high. Also because you stand a good chance of becoming a "suit."

My story...SM - Old Anon

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I graduated in 1969 with an A.S., medical secretarial major (no MT schools back then). I am not ADHD certified. Jobs in order: hospital pathology; visiting nurse clinical notes; H&Ps, PT, OT, orthotics, psychiatry for a state developmental facility; more PT; hospital clinics in various specialties (at this point I was making $16 hourly, then MTSO was sold to Medquist in the late 1990s and I left); had a few of my own clients and worked as a security guard until I got an in-house hospital job (took a pay cut down to $12 hourly). I did radiology for 6 months, then acute care. I was with the hospital for 9 years and was making $18.35 hourly when they closed the department and laid us all off. So between the mid 80s through late 2011, my pay averaged about $15 hourly. It might not sound like a lot by today's standards, but my health insurance cost was zero at my last job. Since the layoff in late 2011, I could only find at-home jobs doing mostly editing, and my average hourly pay is around $9-10. I'm an employee and have reasonably priced health insurance. So all in all, I'm making a little better than half what I was making 2 years ago and paying for my health insurance. Luckily I have a couple of other sources of income or I would not be abe to meet my expenses, and luckily I managed to hold onto a well-paying in-house job as long as I did. ASR in my opinion has been the main reason why pay has plummeted. It did not live up to the hype of us being able to produce twice as much work. On my best days, I can produce about 1-1/2 times and maintain top quality. I do work for a MTSO that gives us 1 primary and 1 secondary, so that helps a great deal also.

My story continued...SM - Old Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I forgot to answer a couple of your questions. I sort of fell into transcription because I did not really care for secretarial work and dealing with the public. Transcription was a more solitary endeavor which suited my personality.

As far as the small number of responses, this type of question generally does not. I think partly because some people don't want to take the time, as a good response does require a bit of thought and time.

The future of MTs - MissouriMT

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1.Years as a transcriptionist - 34 Years

2.Has your pay increased over the last 10 years, stayed the same or decreased Salary Increased from $14.20 to 23.27/hour

3.What is the difference in pay between editing and transcribing from scratch - I work in a medical center and transcribe from scratch. Never had to edit, no VR in our department

4.Are you certified and what is your certification if you are - Not certified

5.Why did you choose this occupation and what keeps you in this career - chose this career by accident. Hade recently been honorable discharged from U.S. Army. Went to interview at the VA Medical Center. Had several positions to chose from. Selected MT in Pathology because Pathology/Laboratory Science was very interesting.

Answers to your post - Frustrated MT

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1. 29 total - 6 years office MT, 15 years in-house hospital, 8 years MTSO.
2. Top pay in-house $50,000, last year MTSO $26,000
3. Straight typing almost nonexistent but 9 cpl; ASR 5.5 cpl.
4. Not certified. Too expensive to test and stay certified and not worth it.
5. Started as medical assistant and had very good typing skills. Worked for several doctors where English was their third language and could understand them. Used to call myself the physician interpreter for patients who could not understand them. Hospital supervisor hired me and trained me in-house for that reason. Made excellent salary and thought I would retire before speech recognition took away my job. Watched coworkers go to school for nursing, coding, and bachelor's degrees in other areas while transcribing and wish I had done the same. Now over 60 and have applied for many jobs, but I know it isn't going to happen, so I am stuck until forced out. I am fortunate that I have other retirement income and my husband is employed.

Good luck with your paper.

Responses - Former Slave

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I think you got all the "dislikes" from:
a- A couple MTs who are still in denial that the field is breathing its last gasps, and

b- the rest are likely from the too-many management spooks that choose to haunt these boards.

That said, here are my answers:

1) Years as a transcriptionist: 35+

2) Has your pay increased over the last 10 years, stayed the same or decreased: It has steadily decreased. From roughly $23/hr at an on-site job, to 9.5 cents per line at a service. (One of the good services that was left). It got taken over by a larger, bad service, which almost immediately began implementing speech recognition, and cut our pay to 8.5 cpl for typed, and 5 cpl for SR editing. Then, just for good measure, they decided to cut our pay again, for no other reason than they could get away with it. So it went down to 7 cpl for typing (what little was left), and 3-3.5 cpl for SR editing. During the past 10 years, my yearly income went from $45,000 at the inhouse job, to just $12,500 last year working for the service.

3) What is the difference in pay between editing and transcribing from scratch: Currently straight typing (from "scratch") is +/- 6.5 to 7.5 cpl. Very little straight typing still exists, except for the worst ESL dictators.

4) Are you certified, and what is your certification if you are: No, I'm not. "Certification" was just a money-making scheme for AHDI, and most of us saw through that con game and didn't play along. It was fake.

5) Why did you choose this occupation and what keeps you in this career: I fell into it. I was bouncing from job to job, not finding a good fit for my skills. When a friend suggested MT, I looked into it. Took a 1-semester transcription course in night school, and landed a job before I'd even finished. Most of my training was on-the-job. I stayed in it a long time because the pay was decent; you could support yourself comfortably on it. It suited my skills and my temperament, and for a long time it was recession-proof. Once I was trapped in the at-home transcription service job, I almost immediately began to hunt for something new. After several years I found something - one of the last inhouse jobs left in my area, but that, too has recently all been offshored to India, and the MTs all let go.

I am now job hunting again, but will not waste my time nor energy on another MT job, whether it be at-home or inhouse, because for all intents and purposes, this field is already dead.

Those that are still left doing MT are for the most part trying desperately to get out; they're job hunting, or in school, or taking early retirement. With the changes in healthcare this year, many companies will be eliminating all the medical office type jobs they can by moving to SR, outsourcing, offshoring, or simply giving the extra work to existing medical employees. This is why you see some physician assistants, nurses or MD students acting as medical "scribes": A low-paying MT-like job where the worker spends most of their time standing, carrying a laptop or tablet in one hand, typing with the other, and following the doctor around all day. Some MTs have jumped into coding, and many still believe it can't be eliminated. But that, too, is already happening, as some large MTSOs are getting into the "outsourced coding" business, as likely the need for onshore transcription will dry up almost entirely in 2014.

future of MT - answers

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I have been an MT for 33 years. At the peak of the profession I earned 50K, which would be more like 75K today, but this year I made 35K. I get 10 cents a line for transcription (rare) and 6 for VR. I've never been certified and never felt the need.

I got into this job (I wont call it a profession) because I had a knack for it. In MT school the teacher would still be handing out the medical terminology tests and I'd already be done with it. I stay with it now only because I don't have the energy to learn anything else.

Here you go - Soon to be ex-MT

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1. 25+
2. Cut in half - down from $60,000+ to less than $30,000 in 2013.
3. I have no idea. I only do straight transcription BUT it is based on production. This means that EVERY TIME I see NJA, I am losing money.
4. Yes BUT only because I receive an extra week of PTO every year.
5. I chose this "occupation" because it turns out I am really good at it and, at the time, I did extremely well as an MT. Fast forward to 2014 - not so much. There is absolutely nothing keeping me in this "career" - just finished school and planning my exit.

My information - Long-Time MT

[ In Reply To ..]
33 years as MT.
Pay decreased from $60,000/year to $35,000.
Editing-6 cents/65 characters
Transcribe - 9 cents/65 characters
No longer certified - not worth it. They never supported us, basically ruined our profession.
Worked as a temp in hospital, which led me into this line of work. Too old now to make a change. Still love the work but grossly underpaid. All the old timers will be gone one day, and medical transcription jobs will most likely end up back in the hospital setting, where they should have stayed years ago and this would never have happened to us!

My answers - still an MT

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I have been an MT for almost 10 years (July will be 10 years)

I was making 6 cents at MQ when I started for straight typing, left when I couldn't get tier 3 pay for doing the work. Started at over 8 cents when I changed companies doing straight typing. I think when I started doing VR, it was for 5 cents or something like that. Got my CMT which gave me a small bump in line rate. Then all the good accounts left and just left the dregs, which dragged my pay down drastically along with a whole new way of how line rates were calculated so by the time I finally got fed up and left I was making less than when I started. Huh?
But, I'm now paid hourly, so I am making a lot more than I was 10 years ago, but I think that is unusual from what I read on here.

I chose this career because I love the medical field, but I don't think I could ever be a hands on kind of person as far as nursing or MA.

I WAS thinking of leaving until I landed the job I have now. I kept my CMT even though while my manager was impressed I had it, there is no additional compensation for it. I spent a lot of time and money on it. I know a lot of people don't think it is worth anything, I'm proud that I have it.

Answers - GAMT

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1. 11 Years.

2. DECREASED....In the beginning was well over $60,000 per year and last year was just $9,000 (I found a REAL job and left after that).

3. Editing is usually half of the transcribing rate and my experience has been that it takes me just as long, sometimes longer, to edit. The editing programs are just not what they are cracked up to be.

4. No certification.

5. I worked as a nurse for a local doctor and his MT who would pick up tapes, transcribe, and bring them back, she quit. I offered to help out until he found someone and realized I was making twice as much transcribing as I was making working as his nurse. I was pregnant at the time and once I had my daughter I decided to quit as his nurse and transcribe full-time for him. This lasted until he left town and then I ended up with the national companies from there.

Response to questions (sm) - Rose

[ In Reply To ..]

1. Years as a transcriptionist: 28.
2. Has your pay increased over the last 10 years, stayed the same or decreased: Dramatically decreased. Making 1/3rd what I made 28 years ago.
3. What is the difference in pay between editing and transcribing from scratch: Transcrition line rate paid by MTSO is .05 cents less than the standard line rate 30 years ago. (Reduced .12 CPL to .07 CPL. Editing is only half the rate of transcribing, generally .04 CPL. Generally editing takes me 75% of the time it would to transcribe. Many dictators take just as long to edit as transcribe. We are only paid for visible characters but required to perform numerous other duties for no pay at all.
4. Are you certified and what is your certification if you are: Never certified. When I started in 80's it required having someone cover your job while traveling to another city to test. Have worked for hundreds of doctors and not one said that certification mattered to them.
5. Why did you choose this occupation and what keeps you in this career. I didn't choose it, it ended up doing it. Continue in this field due to disability from my former field.

Answers - CB

[ In Reply To ..]
1.Years as a transcriptionist

6 years in September.

2.Has your pay increased over the last 10 years, stayed the same or decreased (if you can share amts it will provide better statistics for me)

Still a "newbie" in this biz and only with my 2nd MTSO so I have nothing to compare it to. My pay was way less with my 1st MTSO but my pay is slowly decreasing by $1000-$2000 a year.

3.What is the difference in pay between editing and transcribing from scratch

9 CPL ST and 4.5 CPL VR

4.Are you certified and what is your certification if you are

NO - never needed to be, don't want to be, not worth it.

5.Why did you choose this occupation and what keeps you in this career

I chose MT because I started out typing daily SOAP notes in a clinic and wanted to pursue transcription because I thought it would be "easy" (NOT) and wanted to have a FT career and stay home with my kids. Well I never had kids and I'm only staying in MT because I live in WI and it's nice not driving in the winter weather plus I have health insurance which I desperately need as I am the only insurance carrier for my household.

But I do not plan on staying in this "career" any longer due to the changes and the unstable pay. The older I get the harder it is to find a new job. Been actively trying to get out of MT since 2011 and have not had ONE interview since 2010. I've put in job applications EVERYWHERE and do not ever get a call back. I definitely would NOT suggest being an MT to anyone. I so wish I had this opportunity to ask these same questions when I was in school in 2006.

Good luck with your homework :-)

future of mts - jane

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not much of one.

1. 20
2. it went up and down, most recently down.
3. don't know the answer to this one.
4. not certified.
5. i chose this because of being interested in medicine. stayed in it 20 years, now have been replaced by a machine. this was a surprise as i had been on sick leave and when i was ready to come back, this bomb dropped. at age 73 it may be time to hang it up anyway.

my answers - Seasoned MT

[ In Reply To ..]
1. 32 years
2. Decreased from 15 cpl with spaces (own accounts) to 9.8 cpl without spaces.
3. Editing pays about half of straight transcription.
4. Not certified.
5. Fell into it. Was always good at spelling and loved medicine, so I was a natural. I'm on my way out. Working on RHIA.

In my experience, the required lines per hour, at least in a hospital setting, has usually been around 110 to 125.

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I don't know why I'm posting, just a last bit of hope left in me. I have devoted my entire adult life to this industry, what I used to consider a career. Over the decades, I became a top-notch professional MT, basically 100% accuracy, never needed QA help, and was a huge producer. Fast forward 20 years, and I climbed up the ladder in our industry, joining QA, being a team lead, then up into management levels, and.... rather than have my salary 'commensurate with ...

Sep 01, 2012

You know, I just stumbled upon this website a week or so ago. Reading some of your post have really opened my eyes as to how lucky I am to have my position. I am semi-new to the MT world. I work for a wonderful company, but it makes me sad to see everyone has to put up with just insane working conditions from other companies. I hope all of you find companies that realize you are their biggest asset. They cannot make deadlines, or quality goals without the hard work that all of you ...

Oct 15, 2012

So everything is going swimmingly for Mmodal - getting better in every way every day -- except, of course, for MT pay. ...

Feb 05, 2013

Hello, all! I am a new MT searching for my first job in the field. Just about a year ago, this forum was discussing EPIC, EMTs, technology and policies negatively impacting the medical transcriptionist. What has your experience been? Any new thoughts concerning the future of MT? If you have a job, is it being impacted negatively, if at all? I'd love to hear from the job-hunters as well. Thanks. ...

Mar 10, 2013

....that says that Nuance is not doing well. It's stocks are down and they are losing accounts to more advanced speech technology. It also goes to say that there is a possibility that Nuance will be sold. ...

Apr 16, 2013

Wondering what you small MTSO companies have lined up for the future? We have discussed what MTs are possibly switching to in the near future and now I wonder if all of these small MTSO companies that might be making a good living now have a backup plan for when it all dries up? ...

May 07, 2013

I had to take my two kids to the doctor the other day. Thought I was lucky, because there were only 2 people in front of us, but it was TWO HOURS before we were called back. Once I got back there, I saw why. When the nurse came in to ask the pre-visit questions, she asked a MILLION questions and entered them all into her laptop, typing out what we said (typed VERY slow, by the way) and we were just on HER portion for over 45 minutes. Then, the doctor came in and saw the kids and she spen ...

Jul 11, 2013

I am thinking about going back to school to get into another profession. Coding is popular with MTs. I am really afraid that coding will be going down the same road transcription has. I am hearing things now with coding as I heard less than 10 years ago with transcription, i.e. off shoring, technology etc. Does anyone have any helpful info about the coding field and what the future outlook is? I have gone to websites to try to find this info and nothing seems helpfu ...

Mar 31, 2014

Ok, I am just venting some frustration here Wanted: Experienced medical transcriptionist, VR experience. Just for the privilege of doing transcription for us we will only charge you 3 cpl. You may pay us by direct deposit each Friday. The personal satisfaction you will receiving from being a part of making our company succeed and be profitable, along with satisfying the facility you are striving to put out perfect reports for should be enough for you, as we are t ...

May 23, 2014

Does anyone know what is going on there now? Looked like all the work was being forced into MModal and they ended up a couple days behind in their TAT. Now the work looks like it is being fed back into regular typing and SR. Just stringing the MTs along until they find enough newbies for MM maybe? Sure do not trust them. BTW the tone of the emails really changed after some posts here on this board described the beatings and nastigrams they were sending out. ...

Aug 15, 2014

Has anyone used the new FNSR MModal platform? Any thoughts? Reportedly they are transferring the work from the prior MModal platform to one of their own at a rapid pace. They could not be doing this unless someone is using it so curious who is using it and how it compares to the web based EHR program they are also still using for regular speech rec work. ...

Aug 27, 2014

Is anybody using the FNSR platform? They were supposed to be getting away from the Mmodal platform to one of their own but there is no word on how that FNSR platform is going. Go figure. If anyone IS using it, what can you tell the rest of us? ...

Mar 31, 2015

So I am currently an MT with 10+ years under my belt. I decided to go to school for coding and switch careers while I still had the chance. I am currently saving up for school, and my tax refund is going to put me over the top so I can start next month. But now I am reading (on this board) about the possibility that coding is going to start going the way of transcription (i.e., automation, computerized coding, etc.) and that coding jobs are going to start losing value just as MT jobs have lost t ...

Oct 15, 2009

Any info on this company? Pay? Platform? Any work there? Any info appreciated...:) ...