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

Went to talk to a lawyer today.... - .....to discuss what has....

Posted: Nov 20, 2014

.....been going on with my job as a medical transcriptionist for the last several years to see if I had any legal recourse (I don't). Anyway, while we were talking I found out that he did not have a secretary/receptionst. I told him if he was ever looking for one that I would be interested. Then we got to talking about becoming a paralegal, and he said "you really don't want to do that". He basically said lawyers can be jerks to work with, and when you are a paralegal you get blamed for everything that goes wrong. Gee....hmmmm. After surviving working with doctors for 30+ years, at least I would be prepared!

Having worked as a paralegal before MT - MT in NM

[ In Reply To ..]
what he said is partially true. I consider doctors and lawyers to be about the same as far as character (which is in no way complimentary). However, since MTs get blamed for everything and we're pretty much a starving lot, I would encourage you to pursue the paralegal avenue if you have an interest in it. Not all paralegals have to work with the idiots. More than 20 years ago, I interviewed for a paralegal position for medical malpractice defense, and the starting pay for that job was nearly $40,000 -- more than 20 years ago. I will give you the same information that I have posted on these boards previously. Like everything else, when you are new in the field you have to put your time in working for the slobs. If you are up to the challenge, there are usually a lot of plaintiff personal injury paralegal and legal secretary jobs -- where in a few years you can learn enough to become highly proficient. Then you set about looking for a better firm to work for, preferably the defense firms whose clientele pay substantial retainers. Plaintiff work is arduous, the hours are long, the pay is not as good (but probably double the average of what MTs are making these days). The attorneys very often have you doing the work they should be doing, but that is where you can learn the most. I drafted a lot of the documents and not just from templates. I was the one in my firm that all the attorneys consulted regarding who to put on notice for any tort claims and kept a copy of the tort claims statute on my desk. I learned much more than I needed to and crafted myself into a valuable asset. I would go back to legal in heartbeat if given half the chance, the pay is good. I also had the privilege of working with a couple of attorneys who had great character... not the norm, but indeed do exist.

I would strongly encourage you if that is your desire to pursue the legal field.

I Know Someone who Quit Paralegal - Because...

[ In Reply To ..]
I know someone who was a paralegal making darn good money, but she quit because she was asked to do some shady things. Not really illegal things, but unethical, immoral. Her conscience couldn't take it anymore, so she left that field completely.

Just something for you to consider.

It is much - easier

[ In Reply To ..]
to work for an A-hole, whether lawyer, executive or rock star, when you know you are getting paid regularly and paid well. I've done legal temp work and found that lawyers were much less stingy than doctors, providing things like meals and car service when they had projects that had to be done, as well as good pay.

Hope you did not have to pay lawyer for asking - question like you did

[ In Reply To ..]
If I were the lawyer probably would be having a good chuckle about your visit. You chose this profession. It would be like you getting married and then thought nope, can I have recourse on what I did myself. Get a divorce, just like you can from this job. I am laughing at you even if the lawyer isn't.

consulting a lawyer - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
The OP said she consulted a lawyer about things going on with her job. You don't know what specifically her complaints are. She may have thought she had legitimate legal recourse to something her company was doing. I have called the state labor board to ask many questions as I wanted to know if specific changes my company made were legit. She doesn't say she just decided she didn't like being "married to MTing anymore.

Have never spent my time calling some legal - board, going to lawyer because

[ In Reply To ..]
I have other things to do with my time, more productive. You said you asked many questions from the state labor board regarding your company changes if they were legit. If I felt any way like that I would be gone, like yesterday. Why would you stay around, constantly feel in an uproar thinking you are being taken advantage of. I have literally walked out on 2 jobs before, had kids and had no clue where my next meal would be coming from but I did. I don't allow myself to become a rug for others.

What are you talking - about

[ In Reply To ..]
She said she had "questions as I wanted to know if specific changes my company made were legit."

For some bizarre reason, you turned that into an accusation of "constantly feeling in an uproar thinking you are being taken advantage of" and LOL being a "rug". Crazy.

good for you! - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
If you wish to not call a lawyer and walk where you may have case, good for you. Do what you want.

I have called the labor board. Do you know off the top of your head if you were hired for part time whether you can be pressured into more hours than you signed up for? What about being put on mandatory overtime indefinitely? How about whether or not you can be made to work weekends when you signed up for M-F? As it happens, these are all at your employers discretion. I called on all of these issues while raising young children because I wanted to know what my rights were in refusing these requests. As the only part-timer in the group, I wanted to know 100% if these demands applied to me.

As it happens, this was a job I had had for 15 years at a hospital when I was making 30+ dollars/hour back in the days you could make that in MT. If you would have walked, good riddance.

Also, I would rather spend 10-15 minutes asking a few questions than ditching an otherwise good job if I had kids and did not know where our next meal would come from. I would have happily become a rug for at least the time it took me to find something else to keep my kids fed. But I guess you made your choice.

I made an excllent move when I left that job - went into what considered gold mine

[ In Reply To ..]
I accepted a job thinking I was going to be working on computer, that was what I was told. Hired on, had to rent my correcting Selectric (yep, back in those days) and one day across the room the boss decided to put me down in front of others. I walked out, went to work inhouse at a hospital and wound up making over $60,000.00 a year. At the hospital also had computer and also for the first time allowed to telecommunicate. This was like I said, back in the days before we had the work at home deals like today. As far as my rights I now work parttime and I work the hours I signed on to work and do not work more than what I want. Mandatory overtime? What is that? If told overtime is needed I work if I want TO and usually that is not the case. I have no demands on me, none. Not at work and not at home.

Not the OP - But...

[ In Reply To ..]
...many of us went into this field when it was good. Anyone who went in after 2005-2006, did not make a good decision.

Back when I was first starting MT (1998), the Internet was not what it is today. Yes, we had it, but we didn't have the benefits of this type of forum to explore our field. We do now, so there's no excuse for getting int MT then complaining. I see numerous new people here going into the field despite what we try to tell them.

MT poor decision? - Natali

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think it is necessarily a bad decision. As long as the MTSO's are going to keep a US workforce, this job would work for those who want a supplemental, interesting, at home job.

It is a terrible decision - Informaticist

[ In Reply To ..]
Where do you get the idea that this hinges on whether MTSOs are "going to keep a US workforce"?

That idea flew out the window about 10 years ago, when ASR became feasible. The window slammed shut when EHRs became feasible and the two of them linked up.

There isn't going to be any MT workforce located anywhere. The remaining MTs will be few and far between, and I don't think it is a good idea to count on being one of them.

That is why so many MTSOs are selling out to MM and Nuance.

future of MT - lifestkr

[ In Reply To ..]
I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

Until ASR/VRBecomesPerfect - ThereWillBeMTs/MEs

[ In Reply To ..]
It will be a long time before the VR software programs are flawless and without the need for editors. They will always need experienced editors to sort it all out. It may not be a very lucrative field but it is a skill set that cannot be learned overnight. We need to value what we know because we do make a difference.

Sorry, there are systems now that - DO NOT HAVE MTs AT ALL

[ In Reply To ..]
You still aren't getting that front-end SR never leaves the facility. It never leaves the doctor. Goes straight from his mouth to the EHR. NOBODY NEEDS TO SORT IT OUT. There are no MTs.

Sure, there may be an MT left standing in 5 years, but I would not count on being one of them.

I am not saying your knowledge isn't valuable ... just that you need to find another application for it. Make your difference doing something that is going to support you.

You pop up with those noble, yet useless, sentiments so often that I think you are someone from Nuance or M*Modal management who is trying to keep your workers from finding out the truth and abandoning ship before you are ready to can them.

If you are an MT, please realize that you are the only ones who think spelling and punctuation "make a difference" in patient care. You think that because AHDI fed you a can of beans. Health care doesn't agree, and for good reason.

Please, please, please retrain in something. Quickly.

2005-2006 - Barri

[ In Reply To ..]
Is this when the pay went way down, 2005-2006? I don't remember. It's been a long time. People are still working as MTs here, so it does work for some.

Yes - ASR

[ In Reply To ..]
That's approximately the time they started putting more and more docs on ASR, including hospital, ESL, etc. Then it got really nuts, and they put every doc in the hospital on. They had started out with just "easy" clinic doctors, and it all went to heck from there.

No, he was a gentleman..... - ....about it.....

[ In Reply To ..]
....and did not charge me, even though I told him I was fully prepared to pay an office visit fee for his time. SOME people ARE compassionate and understanding. Sounds like you need to take a lesson from him! And yes....I DID choose this job.....back when I could make a living at it.

Probably been here longer than you and have - never had to ask lawyer if

[ In Reply To ..]
I had recourse about this job. Sounds like you made a poor choice in either starting this profession or in the job you have now. Compassion, understanding. I have both but not for people who continue to so call beat a dead horse when the work dries up, not making enough to buy groceries, pay rent, feed your family, going to the food bank, etc and still people keep on holding on, just asking what can be done because I made (or making) a poor choice in life.

OP here. OK, I am going to make..... - ......one last reply to you......

[ In Reply To ..]
You are making an awful lot of assumptions about me. How do you know whether or not I am trying to get out of MT? You can make further comments if you wish (it's a free country), but I will ignore them, and I hope others wil too! SMH gotta be one who wants to create unnecessary drama in every group, I guess.

I agree. She keeps putting words in - your mouth

[ In Reply To ..]
and thinks no one notices she is making things up. SMH

SMH? nm - badseed

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Not OP - But...

[ In Reply To ..]
What does SMH stand for? I don't do chat rooms, texting and such, so I'm out of the loop except for the usual LOL, BRB, IMHO, LMAO, etc.

Anyway, someone here is assuming the MT went into MT when it was clear MT was going bad. MT was a good decision back in the day. I don't regret one minute of it, but I did have to get the heck out. So I did.

SMH - =

[ In Reply To ..]
"Shaking My Head"

BRB? nm - mobbers

[ In Reply To ..]
.

did you even read her post? - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
She didn't say she went to a lawyer because being an MT had been a poor choice. She went to ask whether she had a case against her employer about something she didn't disclose. Maybe she had a legit complaint she thought a lawyer could help her with. We have no idea, though, what the issue was because it wasn't stated. Your statements are very presumptuous.

I really wish this forum had no mods, so I could say what I really want to - tired of nasty people

[ In Reply To ..]
But the mods like removing my posts so I try not to give them more bait than I need to.

That said, I'm really tired of people making comments like this, just for the sake of being nasty. If you've been an MT as long as you claim, you'd know that there have been several lawsuits against MT companies for their illegal business practices, and many companies could be accused of ethical violations when it comes to how they treat their employees. Some things that happen at work may be solved by quitting, but others may need the consult of an attorney.

Since the OP said nothing about why she went to see the attorney and you know nothing about her or her situation, your comments in multiple posts here are extremely judgemental and ignorant (lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular; discourteous or rude) - ((just clarifying that definition so I don't get in trouble for calling someone stupid)). ;)

The sad truth is, nasty posts like this never get removed by the mods (as they should) and only serve to drive more people away from this board, at a time when we should all be trying to support each other.

What were you doing when your posts removed, - supporting others?

[ In Reply To ..]
Your words: removing your posts- meaning more than one. I don't think moderators take down posts when people are trying to support others, as you state we should do.

There's a facebook page - IMANMT2

[ In Reply To ..]
I was having trouble getting paid (still am and will be until I find another account and quit - but they all seem as bad as another in their own way) and my friend, not an MT, found it and said they all said the same things I've been saying about the set up. :) I wonder if I can post it or will it be struck down?

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