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

If I can be so bold - Snow Bunny (the original)

Posted: Apr 04, 2013

If so many are so unhappy in this industry, why do you stay with it? Why not use your skill set and get a job outside of the home? There are many openings in Medical Records, not just transcription. While $12-13/hour might not seem like much, that translates into over $25,000/year ... which has to be a heck of a lot more than you're currently making, feeling totally miserable in the process. HCA is a huge company, and they're always advertising. Companies like CSI and Aerotek are focused on the healthcare industry. Check their websites.

I've been doing this for several weeks now, and there's a demand for skilled workers in the healthcare industry. One area you might need to sink your teeth into is Excel ... I see a lot of positions that want some level of proficiency there. Another big area is EMR ... but if you're using a platform at your job now, that's EMR and you've got the experience with it.

I'll also lay you 10:1 odds that with the Affordable Care Act, there are going to be a LOT of changes in the insurance industry, many who will need people to work on medical reports and what not.

Hoping to change the industry? Ladies (and gents, if there are any) ... let it go; it's not going to happen. Get out and move on. It's not worth the grief anymore.

Easier - said

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than done. All those jobs that are out there, you need to be able to get an interview to get. After a zillion applications and no interviews, what would you suggest. There are so many people looking for work that if you don't have a Bachelors or a Masters, and if you are over 50, you can't even get an interview. I have excellent office skills among many other skills and can't even get an interview. Many people aren't here by choice, but just because they can't get anything else, and not for the lack of skills or trying.

my response - Snow Bunny (the original)

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I don't a college degree, I'm 59, and I'm ready for 2 interviews this month.

I'm posting a link that'll help you with your resume. Every job you apply to needs to have a "custom-made" resume, and this will help you out. Believe it or not, you could have excellent skills, but if your resume is lacking the keywords you won't even make it to the desk of the interviewer.

Aerotek has a LOT of negative postings on doing a search. NM - NYMT

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.

I've seen ads for Aerotek - no experience required

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They want "fast typists" to do MT and no MT experience is required. Every time I see that I just shake my head.

I just love these people - who seem to think they know

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everybody's situation in life and start telling them what to do and how to do it! Everybody's lives are different and their situations are different. You can't just TELL them to get up, get out, and move on. It just doesn't work that way. I agree with the above poster who said that at age 50, even with a superior skill set, getting an interview is almost nil. If you are not over 40, keep your opinions to yourself, because you have no idea what it is like trying to secure a job these days! Get off you soap box. Silence is golden....duct tape is silver.

I vote duct tape - nm

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nm

These people usually don't have lives of their own. - Living vicariously through us, I guess. (nm)

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X

Another know-it-all - Senior

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I found an MR position relatively easily. I am 55. The only degree required was HS.

She's just trying to help... - jeez. nm

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nm

I don't - find

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it helpful for somebody to tell me to just pick up and move on. As said above, some like it and want to stay, but I for one want out and can't get a job interview. Not discriminating against age is a big farce. I'm sure the ones at that age and have been looking have not had an easy time. It does not mean we are not smart, talented or lazy, we just can't even get a chance to prove ourselves because people want the young ones. There are some places out there who appreciate we dinosaurs, but unfortunately I have not found one yet, but will keep looking. I shouldn't have to look, I am good at this job, but my employer decided that they like the Indians better, so they are starving me out. It is happening all over the country in different jobs and apparently the government likes the foreigners better too because they won't do anything to stop it. I wonder who is going to be buying all the products they bring in from other countries and paying on that deficit when nobody has work in this country, it certainly won't be we old folks.

I'm 63, and they all assume (without asking) that I'm - going to retire in 2 years. (sm)

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The conversation never gets far enough for me to mention that retirement, EVER, is pretty much out of the question for me, because the retirement funds just won't be there. What little I had, I've been spending to stay afloat because my MT job pays so little. I can walk into one of those RARE interviews I get looking 20 years younger than I really am, and yet as soon as they learn my real age, that's the end of it.

Sometimes I'm tempted to put at the top of my resume: "I CAN NEVER RETIRE. I PLAN TO WORK 'TIL I DROP. LONGEVITY RUNS IN MY FAMILY. I WILL LIKELY LIVE TO THE AGE OF 104... I NEED TO WORK!"

I ran into exactly the same thing about retiring - when I had no plans to

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and still donâ��t. My aunt, especially, seemed to constantly fixate on it. Her son, my cousin, had a heart attack in his 50s and he took early retirement, fine with me but I did not want to retire because, not the fact that I had to work as much and as many jobs as in previous years, but I love to travel and work to me equals being able to do what I love, traveling. My cousin retired to part-time only, got bored with that and now back to full time although just not as strenous as in the past and seems happy. I now work only part time and love the fact I am not having to work as much as in my earlier years.

Boldness - Anonymous

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Have you considered this...maybe there are people who don't WANT to move on? I transitioned into transcription QA in addition to some other medical records functions after my regular MT job ended and I make much more than $13 an hour. I'm nearly 60 and plan to do something MT related part time after I retire. MT is not going away, it is changing. Working at home for an MTSO for pennies on the dollar is not the only option for MTs. I know Excel and I know coding but I still had a hard time finding a job in another field at 58 when I was laid off. CSI and Aerotek do not exist in my part of the country and I don't want to work at home. I certainly don't want to pick up stakes and start over somewhere else at this point in life. Before you start telling people what to do, maybe you should ask them what they want to do. Why haven't YOU moved on?

I think she's got boldness & rudeness confused. - It IS kind of a fine line.....nm

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EMR experience - Anonymous

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Snow Bunny, I also wanted to add that the EMR proficiency you mention requires a lot more than knowing how to use the transcription platform. I work in Epic and you'd be amazed how much there is to learn and how many different data bases there are to navigate. When they ask for EMR experience, they are usually referring to analysts. Thanks for sharing anyway.

I have lost 2 good MT jobs in the last few months due to - me

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to SR and work going offshore. After 26+ years I was burned out and decided that Thais was a good opportunity to pursue other careers. I have submitted over 100 resumes. Despite having a lot of skills I have only gotten one interview. It was for a third shift position and they wanted someone who had experience working third shift so I was not offered the position.

It is easy to say look for another job, but getting a job isn't easy these days. I'm in a state with higher than average unemployment, so I'm competing with probably hundreds of people. I have applied to temp agencies, all the hospitals and physician practices within 25 miles of my home. I even applied to Wal-Mart yesterday.

I had my rÃ©sumÃ© tweaked by a professional. I'm willing to take an entry level position. I'm willing to work any hours. I'm currently volunteering in hopes that it may lead to a job, but due to rising gas prices and no income may not be able to do that much longer.

Snow Bunny - One thing many of us in MT are - discovering in our search for - sm

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employment outside of MT, is that MT has NOT prepared us for the skills needed even for most receptionist, clerk, or general office jobs. No one gives a hoot about our medical language skills. And with the advent of VR editing, many of us will find our keyboarding skills are diminished, as well. Most employers want high proficiency in all aspects of the latest versions of MS Word, as well as some experience with graphics and desktop publishing. After 3 years of fruitless job searches and dismal interviews (when I could even get an interview), I stopped job hunting for now, am simply treading water at my nearly useless MT job, and putting most of my daily time and effort into going back to school to bring my office skills up to date.

So, to answer your question, lots of us are unhappy with MT, but are still in it because as of yet, we haven't found anything else. (YET!)

$25,000 is NOT a heck of a lot more... - It is a lateral move.

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A lot of us are looking for new jobs and haven't found them yet.

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