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

I really need the truth! - Carly

Posted: Apr 10, 2014

Hey Everyone! I'm sure these questions have been asked a thousand times but I'm unsure of how to navigate this forum to find answers. So here's the skinny. I'm a recent graduate of Cometology school and I'm having a very hard time finding employment due to my own poor timing. We are military and my husband is due for orders in about 8 months. So I've been looking into Medical Transcription and Editing with hopes that I would be able to take my work anywhere that we go! The plan is that I can work from home for many reasons. I have found numerous "companies" that offer education for the field but I get the scam alert feeling with all of them! SO here's my questions.

1. Is it really possible to complete training in 4 months?

2. Is it possible to work overseas? Like, Korea, because I think that's where we're going.

3. If I commit 30 hours a week to transcription will it be financially beneficial?

4. Are there any recommended schools?

5. I have only Apple computers. Will I need to invest in a Windows based computer? Is a laptop a reasonable option if I do have to buy a new computer?

6. What equipment will I need to invest in to have a successful setup for transcription and editing?

7. Is the schooling enough to become gainfully employed, or is there anything further I would need to do?

8. Is it resonable to think that I can work from home with Transcription and Editing?

10. What happens after you coomplete the training? If i'm hired by a company will I be assigned jobs or will I need to fight for them on a job board?

9. Am I forgetting anything?

I really appreciate all of the help. I'm really just a sitting duck right now and I'm ready to take flight! I just want want to make sure that I'm doing all of this the right way!

Dont dislike; tell her the truth! - The answer to most of your

[ In Reply To ..]
questions is No. This "career" is circling the drain. What was once an excellent profession has been bled to death by corporate offshoring to India. We're working for pennies. I'd stick with cosmetology. Good luck to you.

I agree. Cosmetology is the better career. - SM - SayItGirl

[ In Reply To ..]
Since it has to be done in person by a live human being, there's more respect and job security being a cosmetologist. Any job that can be done at home on a computer can be outsourced, and as a result, the pay is very very low.

Although it may be easier to find work in a salon, I see no reason why you couldn't build up a reputation for yourself in your new neighborhood in Korea, and work from home. Maybe you could distribute coupons around town and offer free nails or hair styling as a special get-acquainted offer. Then, those that love your work will return as paying clients.

Any job is better than medical transcription, and coding is questionable right now because the same companies that made transcription such a bad job are now getting into coding, too. Also, coding takes longer to learn and can be pretty intensely detailed and tedious, according to the Coding Board. It's not a field I would want to strike off on my own with at home. Like another poster said, there may be HIPAA and security problems with doing those jobs from home overseas. The offshoring done currently is mainly to large companies that have in-house transcriptionists. Employers might consider an MT or Coder working from a home computer in a foreign country to be a security risk, based on their home internet connections.

I would think Korea would be an excellent place to get a foot in the door in cosmetology. Korean fashion is HOT! (The cutest clothes always seem to come from there!) The women are beautiful, and impeccably groomed. I hope it works out well for you, whatever you choose to do! :)

Carly - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I am sorry to have to say this, but I would advise you to give this idea up before you start. This career is tanking/changing so quickly that my personal feeling is that you could make a much better investment of your time and money. I am a retired MTSO with nearly 40 years of experience. Our company was eaten by one of the large ones. I can tell you that for every job opening right now there are 800 applicants. If I had a choice between somebody with no experience and somebody with 30 years of experience who would work for the same low wage (and there are plenty of people like that out there looking for jobs even as we speak), which person do you think I would hire? This is just my view, of course, but I would not advise ANYONE to get into this field right now. As I used to say, "That train has left the station." As to using an Apple for MT... .fuggetaboutit. The industry standard is Windows. Truly, my friend, give it up. Same your money and time; use them for something that will pay off. I wish you the very best and hope you find something that will meet your needs. Good luck to you.

Here's the truth...do not be an MT - real scoop

[ In Reply To ..]
Just read the MModal and Nuance tabs and you will see how bad it is. I work for another MTSO not under the big 2 and it's a "better" one but still has it's qualms. Just look for the post on the Gab Board that says "reason why I hate my job." That's my post! It speaks for itself. If I can save just 1 person from this misery it's worth it. You're better off in any other career, even if it's just in a coffee shop where you're stationed. Seriously.

I left MT after 15 years in it - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
Back in the day, I would have taken each one of your questions and answered them one by one. However, I am not going to waste your time.

Honestly, your time would be better spent doing something else. With your cosmetology background, heck, you could cut hair and do nails in your neighborhood wherever you are stationed. Military wives like to look pretty, too! Your cosmetology training is as portable as MT is.

Anyway, I left MT after 15 years in acute care. I was doing the hardest of the hardest stuff, so my work hadn't been offshored to India yet, but I saw the writing on the wall. I also saw my paycheck dwindle to barely minimum wage, after having made $42,000 per year in prior years---yes, working from home.

The amount of time it would take you to get proper training through a good school (no, 4 months won't cut it!) and into the MT job market would be a waste of time, even if you could get into the job market.

A lot of people are trying to get creative in what they can do from home to make money. You have a talent for cosmetology, so you can run with that. Think of what other talents you have, and take it from there. Your talents are portable!

Carly, please do not - xx

[ In Reply To ..]
let the $42,000 mentioned here crowd out all of the excellent information in the rest of this post. Just ignore that and read and absorb the rest of the comments.

You won't get marketable skills in a few months.

Take a look at the jobs ads in the Job Seekers board to the left of the screen. Almost all (if not all) want at least 1 year of experience, usually more. (My employer requires 5 years of experience.) Then look at posts on the Jobs Wanted board just below that. Those are all trained MTs with many years of experience looking for work. That's just a small fraction of your competition. Every month there are more and more experienced MTs chasing fewer and fewer jobs.

You've already spent money to acquire a skill. You would be much better off to find a way to use that skill than to spend more money to acquire a skill that is not likely to lead to a job of any kind.

Good luck to you.

xx - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
You are absolutely right. I wanted to support what you say. We required a MINIMUM of 5 years of experience in acute care, not clinical care, before we would even accept a resume.

Salary (sm) - Rose

[ In Reply To ..]
When I had my own accounts in the 90's I charged .14 cents per gross line (anything on a line counts as a line). I made enough to support myself but not much more. Today very little transcription is left, we mostly do editing which cannot be done in half the time as transcription, yet it is half the pay. It takes 75% as much time to edit, yet the pay is only from .02 to .04 cents per line. You would do MUCH better as a cosmetologist and it would take you less time to find cosmetology work than MT work. I have almost 30 years experience yet have been unemployed now for over 2 months. The reduction in line rate (one fourth what it was 30 years ago) is not the only factor. This has become a sweatshop where as independent contractors we are not protected by labor boards or federal wage laws. We are forced to do many duties with no pay whatsoever, cleaning up dictator demographic errors, research, etc. The treatment is horrendous, not something you would expect to find in any other job.

I do commend you for asking the right questions. I also see why you would like something you can do in many different locations, but you really would be better off working at McDonalds than trying to get into MT work.

Good luck to you!

Thank You Everyone - Carly

[ In Reply To ..]
I think I have clear understanding of what you a ll are saying and definitely appreciate your honesty with being harsh and hurtful! I am backing out of Transcription and Editing. How does everyone feel about Billing and Coding?

Carly - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I do not feel qualified to speak to the billing and coding issue as I am a retired MT/MTSO, who is not a coder. I hope some coder will come on and share with you. My sense is you want to work from home. Please be very, very careful. There are a lot of scam "work at home" schemes out there. I do hope you can find an honest job with people who will treat you well. Best of luck!

I have had a different experience than what - what the others have posted here

[ In Reply To ..]
and I count myself very blessed; however, I have never done editing. I have been doing this for 20 years and have only done straight typing. I supplement my husband's income and always have. I raised 4 children at home and homeschooled most of the time while typing. I kind of fell into this profession but it was because of my kids why I stayed, now I'm stuck, but nonetheless, it has proven to provide what we needed the job for.

I have never typed acute care and have always found clinic work straight typing this whole time. I average $14.00 to $16.00 an hour, sometimes more. In the recent months/years, I have applied to many jobs to see if I can get in and possibly looking for a change. I have been invited to test, offered jobs etc... so my skill set is still marketable today.

Although I wouldn't discourage you from getting into this field, I think there are very many challenges getting in now and getting hired, but I still think this can happen. I didn't stop until I got what I wanted. It was a long and hard road with days where showering was a luxury and getting out of the house once a week was considered a good week, but again this job has enabled me to achieve what I wanted it for, to raise my kids, be home, and earn some income to help my husband. Even though the kids are all grown, it still proves to be what it was always intended to be.

Everyone is different and everyone's experiences are different. I would probably tell you to see for yourself what works for YOU and only YOU.

I wish you all the best :-)

Different experience - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Just a comment, not trying to argue, just to share a different perspective. You have been at this for 20 years, so you trained and got experience under your belt at a time when it was possible to do so. Those opportunities no longer exist today (thank you AAMT, ADHD or AHDI or whatever you call yourselves these days, and MQ and others of your ilk). From a very realistic POV, I think it is not prudent to encourage someone to study for something when there are so many well-trained MTs out there with whom they will be competing for work--and those MTs are well versed in all areas of acute care; some even have radiology and pathology as well. NOT making you wrong--it sounds like you have done very well for yourself. But you (and I) got our starts at a time when it was still possible. Sorry, but I think the cards are stacked against this lady, and hate to see her or anyone waste precious time and financial resources. Again, NOT making you wrong--just putting my experience out there. (And BTW, I LOVE homeschoolers. I have several friends who homeschool and if I had children today, I would homeschool as well.)

I thinkl your overseas orders would likely be a problem--sm - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Billing and coding are in transition right now, and it is hard to say what the future for it is like, but if you are likely to be stationed overseas, that would likely be another hurdle for you. I would wait until coming back stateside before considering paying for any additional schooling. Right now, you are likely best off trying to gain whatever experience you can with your cosmetology.

I really need the truth - catherine

[ In Reply To ..]
oh geez carly...where do I start? I think maybe just NOOOOOOOO to all questions will cover it.

Go back to school (try Andrewsschool...all one word) for coding and skip transcription. and you are WELCOME!...trust me...skip transcription. Then you might get a job...no guarantee of course...but for sure following the 4 month training path and an apple computer and KOREA....well none of that will work...but I thought Korea was just military and no dependents....Do they allow families now?? I would suspect, although I cannot officially confirm, that working in Korea, even though you are an American citizen...would be not possible for American companies. Please do not sign up for some expensive transcription course because trust me...you will not get a job with 4 months training and you can't use an apple computer. If you insist on following this path...don't buy any equipment until you have a job and then get what they want you to have...but coding is a better option.

Not all duty stations - xx

[ In Reply To ..]
in Korea are unaccompanied.

Coding is a much better option, but ... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't think you are going to be WHAMming coding in your free time between cross-cultural adventures and home-schooling in Korea. You couldn't do it here in the states, either.

Coding is a profession and it is difficult. It is not clerical work. It is not a spare time, work at home "opportunity." You would be hard put to get a job doing it remotely from Kansas without years of experience and credentials that include the CCS and RHIT or RHIA. (I got an email today from a company that wanted a CPC and at least one specialty certification, 5 to 7 years of experience, and both ICD-9 AND 10.)

Coding is great, and I recommend it, but it is not going to be your ticket to pin money here or anywhere.

No to most of your questions. - di

[ In Reply To ..]
There's more and more MTs trying to figure out how to transition out of this field, not because we want to but because we're almost being forced to. My advice to you is don't waste any more time even exploring this idea. You are better off working at Starbucks or something, no investment, less stress and you'll get hourly pay for showing up 30 hours a week. Showing up isn't enough with MT, you have to actually have work to get a paycheck.

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