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

Grow up! - Enough Already

Posted: Jul 21, 2012

Given the increasing and ongoing trend to blast anyone who doesn't post a miserable comment/response, and thinking about the ADVICE given yesterday (which I obviously am having difficulty adhering to), I just want to tell those of you who persistently hold others accountable for YOUR stuff to just grow up.

If someone posts they are doing well, just grow up. Don't be so dang codependent that you can't have original feelings, that you can't imagine a world that exists beyond the realm of YOU. Stop projecting your situation on every positive poster. We're not responsible for your misery. We're not obliged to BE miserable because you are. We're not responsible if you get hurt feelings or feel slighted or want to blame another MT because you are unhappy.

GROW UP. PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND REALIZE THAT LIFE GOES ON, IT IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOU, AND OWN YOUR OWN STUFF.

Well if that aint the pot calling the kettle black, - I dont know what is...

[ In Reply To ..]
I think it is quite the opposite. Just because your happy and loving your "current" situation does not mean that everyone is sharing that experience. Just because we have a different viewpoint (more scorned and negative after the abuse), does not make it a wrong experience.

Maybe you should take some of your own juvenile advise and "PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES" and allow yourself (like a real adult does) to see the OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN and that ITS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOU!!!

You cant be a teacher if you cant be taught!

you got this one wrong - Enough Already

[ In Reply To ..]
I see the other side. I get the other side. How could we not?

But if I see someone start a post that says they are struggling, they can't find a job, they aren't making any money, etc, I don't go onto their threads and say, "well I have a job. I'm making money." I also don't own their misery. It's theirs.

So when someone starts a thread about doing well or finding a great new job or whatever other positive they want to, it's not their job/responsibility to worry that someone else will not be able to accept that there IS another side.

So sorry, I also can't own your projection that I'm doing the same thing. I'm not. I get that people are miserable. I choose not to reply to their threads unless I have something constructive to add. I'm only asking for the same respect.

No, you got it wrong. - And yes you are doing the same thing

[ In Reply To ..]
I am sick to death of everyone telling me to "just leave" or "your lazy" or "grow up" just because I am having a bad day and post a complaint!

Maybe you personally do not answer my post, but there are a lot who do, obviously AND, I never post negatively when someone posts a good thing. So stop gouping all of us into one category!

bickering - LAUGHING

[ In Reply To ..]
OK, I'm gonna lock you all in a tiny bathroom and let you duke it out. I think you all need to get to work.

I posted ADVICE yesterday - and

[ In Reply To ..]
let's try another approach. As evidenced by thousands of archived posts on this forum, I believe this is a place where someone can receive support. If there is anyone having a rough time, please break down your wall and share that with us and we will better understand your situation and support you. At the same time, if you are enjoying yourself and having success, please share that.

I know life has been tough for a lot of folks for way too long now. We all have our own stories and troubles and successes. Mine is during this awful recession my husband and I managed to have 5 children in full-time college at the same time. Talk about making your hair turn gray worrying. Our goal was to not let them worry and all graduate. Thank God, literally, that has happened. We may be broker than broke and have a pile of student loans, but by God they all have graduated and have jobs. It was tough. We're not rich, just regular folks. So, that's my story.

I'm just saying we all come to this forum for a reason whatever that may be, but if you need some support let us know.

I don't believe it is unreasonable to have issues with - why our pay is decreasing, sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I think that if you paid me 9-10 cpl 2 years ago to type this crap and now you want to pay me 7-8 cpl for it, there is an issue. I don't know why VR has changed the pay structure for regular transcription, but it appears that it has. The reason people are up in arms about all this stuff is because the MTSO is making more money off of the MT. Years ago, they were the ones making the 5-6 cpl off their transcriptinist and now they are the ones making the bigger profit while we do the work. I have been fortunate enough to not take a huge cut in pay but have taken a cut and I also do not like it. It is about YOU when you're trying to feed kids and pay bills. Someone keeps trying to swipe my "BIG GIRL PANTIES" and I struggle to keep them on a daily basis. If you're that disgusted with the posts you read, STOP READING THEM!!!

I agree with you... - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
totally agree that MT has a huge pay issue along with other issues and that we are not paid consumerate to our work currently. Where I think we are going wrong is not getting this issue pointed in the right direction, the people that sign our paychecks. We (meaning me too) can bark about it on this forum all day long and the people that sign our checks can read it all day long, but until we direct this DIRECTLY at them nothing is going to happen for us. I imagine they read this forum and laugh at us. It has to start somewhere and complaining on this forum is the start, but we need to pick it up a notch and grap our big girl panties together and bark at the ones that are doing it to us.

I also agree - On site MT

[ In Reply To ..]
When I had an issue with my employer in regard to pay, benefits, schedule, etc., I took it to my employer. If they weren't willing to listen or accommodate my needs, I changed jobs. Why is it different now?

Life isn't sunshine and roses and there are legit complaints expressed. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
The OPs "advice" has been heard. However, some of us see things differently.

A good attitude is necessary to get through life, and congrats to OP on your success. Getting your kids through college is fantastic.

The thing is though, there are other opinions out there that are not necessarily the same as OP.

All voices and opinions should be heard. Not just the one's you approve of. If you do not care for someone's opinion or post, the OP certainly seems to feel free to post derogatory comments to them.

Live and let live.

stop reading them - how can you

[ In Reply To ..]
I appreciate your struggle. Start a thread and have at it and complain or seek support or do whatever it is that will HELP you and your situation. But if someone starts a thread asking about how to increase production or praising their company, leave it alone. YOUR situation has nothing to do with theirs.

Info - just me

[ In Reply To ..]
Clients are paying a lot less these days. Also, those platforms you are transcribing on cost at least 2 cpl if not more per line (unless you are a big enough company to develop your own software. Add on costs for QA, and the MTSOs are not making what you think they are. I know I personally quit accepting new accounts because it costs me too much money and time instead of profiting from new accounts. Most physicians do not want to pay even 10 cpl, so do the math: 2 cpl for the platform, 2 cpl for QA or more, and the transcriptionist wants 8 cpl. Then add dictation system costs, phone lines, advertisement, hiring and training costs, account setup and management as well as having to review the files yourself to edit behind everybody, and that puts the smaller MTSOs well into the red. I can only take on what I can transcribe myself, and when I do need help, I lose money on those reports.

Please help me understand - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
your comment "clients are paying a lot less these days." Why?

I think I can answer that. - Des

[ In Reply To ..]
When Medicare reduced it reimbursement, the Medicaids and the private insurances followed suit. This resulted in about a 20% paycut for hospitals and private practices. Medicare was already paying about 30 cents on the dollar, and Medicaids were paying even less.

Hospitals are having to treat more and more uninsured/underinsured patients, which adds to the hospitals' costs and reduces their income. That percentage is steadily going up with all of the job eliminating that's going on right now. Hospitals, in order to keep their doors open and maintain the ability to pay for patient care providers including nurses, aides, phlebotomists, pharmacy techs, pharmacists, distribution, unit clerks, housekeeping, human resources, billing/coding, medical records, maintenance, equipment, etc., they have to actively look for ways to cut expenses. Unfortunately, with the advent of VR and Indian MTs, the in-house MT was on the chopping block; and with EMR, the clinic in-house MT has also been eliminated.

We're not the only ones, though. Hospital payroll, billing, housekeeping, and medical records release of information, which I've personally witnessed, are also being outsourced and offshored.

I'm in no way whatsoever defending the hospitals' decisions. It's just not possible to increase hospital reimbursement by putting more people out of work, thus creating more uninsured patients.

To: "please help me understand" - Des

[ In Reply To ..]
I think I got off topic a little bit. Sorry about that.

Bottom line is, hospitals are paying MTSOs and other service providers less and less in order to cut costs due to reduced reimbursement and increased number of no-pay/no-insurance patients.

CHECK THIS OUT--Hospitalist salary survey - 30% increase during 2009

[ In Reply To ..]

http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2010/09/hospitalist-salary-compensation-survey.html

"Hospitalist Salary Compensation Survey 2012, 2011, 2010 (SHM +MGMA): The Rapid Rise Continues"

"This year's hospitalist salary compensation survey contained the self reported results from 4,211 hospitalists in 443 hospitalist groups, a 30% increase from the bi annual SHM 2007-2008 hospital salary survey. In 2009, Today's Hospitalist gave us their 2009 hospitalist salary survey results, indicating a continued rise in hospitalist salary compensation during the depths of the greatest recession in 50 years."

"UPDATE: The SHM/MGMA hospitalist salary data for 2012 has now officially been reported as of July 18th, 2012. This information is based on 2011 data. Compared with the prior year, hospitalist salaries have increased by 6%. The median hospitalist compensation is now $233,855 per year. This increase occurred with stagnant work RVU. While income raised 6%, median work RVU production actually decreased by 0.17% to 4,159 wRVU per year.

In an environment where hospital payments are being pressured like never before, one has to ask themselves why hospitals continue to subsidize the care provided by hospitalists. And I have just one answer. Because we are worth it."

Very interesting read. - Des

[ In Reply To ..]
Just like nurses who've had a steady rise in their income and bonuses, hospitalists will continue to do well because the hospital pays them first, then the employees and the bills.

With reduced reimbursement and fewer paying patients, in order to afford those expensive hospitalists and nurses, they have cut back somewhere. Those of us not in direct patient care are easy targets.

We're not seen every day, so we're easily forgotten.

Why MTs are offered low rates - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Do you realize what an important part of the financial end of business the medical record is?

1. The patient is seen.
2. The provider has to make sure the correct content is provided in the medical record so the coder can generate the maximum reimbursement.
3. The medical record is generated.
4. The coders code the encounter for billing.
5. The billers submit for payment.

Providers have salaried contracts but part of their income comes from incentives/bonuses. Some of these are based on the number of patients seen and the amount billed and the amount collected from their encounters.

I assure you every single medical facility administrator, accountant, and provider knows that the collection of revenue starts the minute a completed medical record is born. After the provider has signed off on the medical record, it goes to a coder who generates the necessary information that the biller needs. The billers batch and submit the claims for payment. Insurance companies have deadlines for receiving claims, so it is important that the whole process be done in a timely manner because not all submitted claims are accepted, yet the deadline time clock keeps ticking. When claims are rejected they are given a code and then they have to be reworked and resubmitted for payment before the deadline. Finally, the submitted claims are paid.

The most important part of any business is cash flow. Money in, money out, money in, money out. Money doesn't go out until money comes in.

Where does the money in start? With the medical record and it's required turnaround time. Medical record transcription turnaround times are not completely about that medical record being available for providers to use as soon as possible. It is very much about being able to start the billing process.

Medical facilities make money because their providers see patients and they bill for services. The more they see the more they potentially collect. That's why providers don't want to spend time doing tasks that take away from seeing a patient that generates a billable encounter.

If you have continued to read to this point, I assume you will agree that the properly worded, timely returned medical record is the foundation for the process of generating cash flow.

The quickest way to bring a business to it's knees: LACK OF CASH FLOW. So where do you think the first place a business administrator turns to when they need money and need money fast? The medical record department, the coder, the billers, the accountants, and the providers and tell them to step it up!

Also, I'd like to mention that when a medical business is not able to collect for services, it is considered an uncollectable or bad debt. Carrying bad debt on your books is not always a bad thing if you are a for profit business, so that theory we hear about not being able to collect from uninsured or underinsured patients surely isn't the answer to it all. A huge write off on the income tax of a for profit medical business can certainly lower income tax liability.

So how did MTs get to the bottom of the pay chain if medical records are so important? First, let me say that I am not saying that MTs should be paid an outrageous wage because of the importance of the medical record in the revenue process, but rather a fair wage commensurate to our abilities, because we do provide a timely and necessary product for the financial and medical aspects of the business.

MTs got to the bottom of the wage chain by believing the story that MTSOs tell that the medical facilities won't pay much for this very important service we provide that just happens to be the foundation of cash flow.

We've been sold out by the middleman.

Something to think about: It is easy to understand that we can lose insight as we sit and listen to providers dictate patient information all day and feel involved in the medical aspect, but trust me, medical is a BIG BUSINESS. We need to stay tuned to the business aspect as well.

Submitted by a current MT and retired medical for profit and nonprofit accountant for 37 years.

THIS IS GOING TO STOP - MODERATOR

[ In Reply To ..]
I think we have heard enough of this. Postive people are going to post and negative people are going to post. BOTH ARE ENTITLED TO POST, AND BOTH ARE GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO POST! If you do not like what is being said, then do not answer and go about your day. I am not going to have this 4-year-old banter going on every single day on these boards.

Then do something about it! - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
If you don't want this banter going on every day, then do something about it! Create a board for the different MT groups. People get blasted on here for being positive and people get blasted for being negative. Create boards in which pertain to each demographic! The miserable MTs don't want to hear about the MTs who are thriving and the thriving MTs don't want to hear the negativity and name calling. If someone posts on the wrong board, you move it just like you do the other boards. I don't know how hard it could possibly be to provide a new board!

Segregating the board is not the answer. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
You can CHOOSE not to read their posts, just like they can CHOOSE not to read yours.

We all have a right to ride this bus. We've all paid our dues and we all deserve a voice.

It's the moderator's job to maintain relative civility on this board by banning abusive posters. If you feel you're being abused by another poster, just flag their post and the moderator will take care of it. No big deal.

A decision has been made, case closed. But the ability - to sit where you choose at a party is freedom.

[ In Reply To ..]
Bad behavior would have been excluded from a courteous forum, not people.

What?! - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If you're responding to the "segregation" post, it sounds like you may have missed the point.

Or just delete the rude comments. - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
Which will never happen here. Why they stay I will never understand!

Censorship goes both ways. - (no message)

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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