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

Not putting all my eggs in this basket anymore...sm - Tiny

Posted: May 26, 2011

Well, I have been reading a lot and there are definitely many who are unhappy doing this for a living at this point. I think the major downfall was the MTSO.....for many, many reasons. Just like Wal Mart put many mom and pop stores out of business, MTSO's are the Wal Mart of the MT world.

I decided to go back to school about a month ago. I am going to a local Vo-Tech to get a license to be a nail technician. It is totally out of my comfort zone and away from anything I have ever known. I actually signed up for it because a friend of mine owns a salon and needs a nail tech, so I figured I could do it part time. However, after going to a few weeks of classes in the evenings, I love it! I am thinking of doing the entire cosmetology course at this point. The other option would be to go back to school part time on line to do something in the hospital in an office/administrative capacity. Nursing is also an option, I've been accepted into a LPN program, but the program is full time days for a year...would be hard financially, but not completely out of reach. The on-line college I am looking at is Exclesior because they have degrees with a focus on business/healthcare combined.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is this, we have to start looking at other options, think of it as a safety net. I was so scared to go to my first night of class that I didn't even show up. Then went to the second class and I am so glad that I did.

Also, yes, I have kids, 2 of them and one has severe autism and I am 40 years old. He lives with his daddy right now and my daughter lives with me, so I have her full time and I have kids every other weekend. I live alone, pay all my own bills and don't ask my ex for much since he is taking on a huge responsibility with my son. But....there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I just needed to branch out and take a chance. I'm so glad that I FINALLY did it.

I don't know what I'm getting at here. Just a major rambling. But, if all of you have made it this far in MT...you are obviously tough and smart....start looking into things you can do to make it better, even small steps like 1 on line class a semester. I could probably keep doing this if I could also do the nail thing on the side....one of my major problems at this point is loneliness, so I figure I can get out with a part time gig and keep my bread and butter.

Thanks for listening friends.....we are all in this together. I know we have different opinions, which is one of the reasons I love reading this board! Oh....and I started taking yoga a few months ago.....which has helped me in sooooo many ways!!!

Thanks for your post. It is very encouraging - Livewire

[ In Reply To ..]
I wish you the best of luck!! I too am trying to get out of MT. It's been tough. Going to school right now for me is out of the question but I know eventually I'll make it outta here!!! Just gotta keep looking. Thanks again for helping start my day out in a positive way :)

Good luck to both of you - MTing tough

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been doing this for a long time. Since it is now hard to make a living, it is hard to go back to school. When I move back to civilization I plan on working somewhere where I don't have to overwork myself just to pay the bills. I look forward to the days when I can spend time with friends and doing some fun things, even having a glass of wine with them would be a nice change instead of pounding the keyboard all of the time.

Good luck!

MTing tough......sm - Tiny

[ In Reply To ..]
Have that glass of wine this weekend....you have earned it! Make your relaxation and time off happen.

To eggs in one basket - check out some things

[ In Reply To ..]
I have worked for 4 different hospitals. There are always big budget cuts. At one hospital they laid off 1200 people, at another a few hundred as well. There is a lot of back stabbing and office politics at the hospitals. Check out people that work at the local hospitals. You may want to check out small clinics and surgical centers.

Good luck.

To eggs.....sm - Tiny

[ In Reply To ..]
I currently work for a hospital. I have great benefits, hourly pay plus incentive, a fantastic boss and great co-workers........ but the higher ups are always looking to outsource to an MTSO. I just feel it might be a matter of time before it happens, so I have to be prepared. I refuse to work for an MTSO....been there, done that...not doing it again, at least not full time. I could maybe consider part time...but even then I can't see being happy with the crappy pay and huge time demands....sitting without work....don't even get me started!!!!

LOL - Been there

[ In Reply To ..]
xx

Tiny - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
If I may do so respectfully, I would like to offer a differing opinion. I have been both an MTSO and an MT. I currently work for a wonderful MTSO, without whom I would not have had insurance or the nearly one-month paid vacation I get each year. (I have been with the company a long time.) After working for a horrific national, I was recruited by a mid-size MTSO, where I am very happy. While we all have personal issues whether they be a special needs child, an on the side business, or whatever (I myself paint) we need to remember that the MTSO does not exist to provide us with child care, time for our nail salons, time for our painting studios, etc. Our jobs exist so that we can serve the patient--albeit from far away. As to loneliness, that is not the MTSOs problem. I, too, am lonely (empty nest) and one of the ways I am conqueting this is to enroll in an Italian class. I plan to spend some time in Rome after my retirement and in the class I can meet like-minded people. Other MTs belong to various other groups, interests, etc. As for me, I do not think all MTSOs are ogres (although some are) just as I do not think all MTs are mindless twits pounding a keyboard (although some are). It takes all kinds to make a world, and there are as many kinds of MTSOs as there are kinds of MTs. I always say that I finally got into a good company after spending a decade wrapped in the tentacles of one of the most vicious nationals around. I truly hope you can find what you are looking for.

I don't think Tiny was trying to say the MTSO needs to offer these things - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
She is just saying, as we all keep on saying, that the pay has gotten so horrible that we have to make this our life if we want to be able to live. Some of us really need to work from home, such as in her case. I also have an autistic son, along with four other children. Daycare is out of the question. I work evenings so my husband can help with the kids. As I have said before on other posts, just because we work from home does not mean we are worth less. Our skill is the same whether at home or in an office.

As for our job existing to serve the patient, I agree with your wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, I do not think the MTSOs feel that way. All they care about is their bottom line. With the terrible VR software and the poor line rate, I know there are MTs out there that don't pay attention as they should to detail (I am not one of them, but I've seen others post on here that they will not put much effort into it because they are trying to make a living). If the MTSOs cared about the patient, they would pay us a bit better and make sure the programs they use are good. The MTSOs line their pockets off our backs, and hope that we care enough about the patient and the quality of our work that we will still put out a good product.

Unfortunately, because good MTs are taking such huge paycuts, they will eventually find something else to do out of necessity. The MTs that know nothing except how to spell will be the ones to take over. All we can hope is that the doctors and nurses see any mistakes and correct them so that the patient doesn't suffer.

Suffering patient care - a1typist

[ In Reply To ..]
Knowing what I know, I always go to my provider and get a copy of my record, so that any correction can be made at the point of origin. I carry that copy with me everywhere I go! I do not trust any hospital or doctor's office to guard the accuracy of my medical record. Things are not what they used to be.

That's a good idea - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm going to have to start doing that. Wonder why that never occurred to me before. :)

It is a very good idea. But, really, things never were - "the way they used to be." The past is

[ In Reply To ..]
getting its traditional glossing over, wiping out even the outlines apparently of, for instance, MTs highly valued for their ability to get large amounts of overdue slop on paper.

Old Pro......sm - Tiny

[ In Reply To ..]
I am happy to hear that you work for a company that you are happy with. I wish I read this more often. Why the MTSO exists isn't the purpose of my post....but to show that if you are not happy...there are options. If you feel isolated, there are ways to alleviate that. Furthering education is not out of reach to anyone, even with major obstacles. Thank you for sharing your input and lots of luck with the painting and the trip....it sounds absolutely divine!

Tiny - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I think you and I are on basically the same page. I do agree that there are some horrible MTSOs out there. When I became an MTSO, I vowed to run my business by the Golden Rule, and I did. I am really sad when I see so many MTs thinking there is not a way out, if out is where they really want to go! I just wish that some way, somehow, we could inject more kindness into our profession. I think that the large nationals (think squid) set the tone for this slash and burn mentality and other service owners, seeing dollar signs in their eyes, stepped right up to the plate! I really and truly wish all service owners would stop and take a minute and realize who keeps them in business--the MTs!

I agree - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
It's unfortunate that if a person wanted to start and MTSO and treat the MTs the way they should be treated, paid them what they deserve to be paid, they wouldn't be able to compete with the other out there. :(

MT - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Sure, the decent and honest MTSOs can compete. I work for a company that is honest, fair, and treats its MTs decently. Not only is my company competing, it is growing! There are some princes among the frogs!

Tiny, that was a wonderful post! - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Well said, and congratulations and good luck with your classes. :) Really, a positive note and brightened my day, thank you!

What to do... - OutofPatience

[ In Reply To ..]
What is most frustrating to me is I still have student loans to pay back from MT training and I can't seem to find an MTSO that will afford me the income to do so. I understand that in this field there will be periods of NJA, or whatever acronym the company uses, but recently worked for a company where I experienced this during my first 6 months of employment and, along with accepting a slight cut in CPL and VR, this drastically reduced my income and caused serious financial hardship. I type 100-plus WPM and maintain 99% QA but still can't grasp the concept of not succeeding in this field. I do actually love doing medical transcription, the experience I've attained and the medical knowledge I've gained daily from this line of work. I just wish I could get some consistency in income, benefits, and workload to make this a profitable career. I am a mother to 2 adults (1 just recently diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, disabled), 1 five-year-old, and grandmother to my disabled daughter's 2 toddlers, so I have a lot on my plate, but the most overwhelming aspect of my life is trying to maintain steady employment and a steady income. I don't know what we all can do to get the MTSO's, or Government for that matter, to listen, but we need to do something. Anyone see "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" where Reese Witherspoon took her issues with animal testing to the White House. Maybe we need to organize a MT March and take a trip to Washington, or we could organize a letter writing campaign...something. We can express our frustration til day's end on these forums, but nothing will change unless WE take a stand. Any suggestions?

Good for you!!! - sucker punch

[ In Reply To ..]
You made a wise choice to pursue another career path. It's scary to move out of your comfort zone, but sounds like you have the courage to make it work. Wish you all the best in your schooling and your new career!!!

going back to school - Latergator

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't mean to be the fly in the ointment but the cost of going back to school and the payback of a better job is not happening for many if not most. Even if you do manage to get through it, getting a good job in this market is next to impossible. They want experience. Even those with experience are not happy with their pay just like most experienced MTs now.

Similar Messages:

Nov 01, 2011

I am getting screwed by yet another company. I have nothing to fall back on so I am seriously considering working two jobs again. I did it before a long time ago and it sucked the life out of me. I barely had a life working one job with all the long hours. Is it possible to hold down two jobs long term and still have a family life? I just can't afford to sit here with nothing to do day after day. Just had to vent... ...

Mar 27, 2014

Too funny not to share: Physician was reading the results of a chest x-ray and VR inserted: Big heart with a side of eggs and beef. Also, the other day physician was talking about another physician discharging a patient and VR inserted: The dog discharged the patient. Those are 2 out of thousands of VR corrections I make every day. These physicians would flip their lids if these reports went on the chart as is. Also, my VR has made two hom ...

Sep 08, 2011

Does anyone else find it odd that there is a job posting and the email is for some gift basket designer or whatever. Just when I think things can't get any worse..... So is this a company that designs gift baskets for patients and then transcribes the reports after delivery? Times are tough, so I guess everyone needs 2 jobs. Yikes! ...

Sep 11, 2012

I am wondering if Andrews is still a good choice for a school. I was also thinking of calling Linda Andrews and seeing how these changes affect her course. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. ...

Jan 13, 2014

I was hired at MM by acquisition. My prior company is gone. The 2 companies before that are gone, out of business. Therefore, I have no "recent" references. On a job application, what info do you put down for MM address and phone number? What about when they ask for your direct supervisor's name and phone number? I am afraid this is going to keep me from getting another job. ...

Apr 01, 2014

deleted. Tried to delete the header, but it won't let me delete the whole post ...

Dec 06, 2014

It's just over a couple months that I got off the Nuance bus, and started a new job. My months at Nuance had a profound impact on both my husband and me. Not only is our bank account now on the road to recovery, his happiness has rebounded, as I am no longer so miserable and insecure. Having a good job pays benefits well beyond the paycheck. I cannot forget what you still chained to this miserable company are enduring. Of course, I haven't read the d ...

Sep 03, 2010

Has anyone thought about putting a video on YouTube.com concerning our problems with low wages and sweat shop environment? ...

Jul 01, 2011

I was taught to always put a comma after the date when it is typed in a text, even in the middle of a sentence. QA said that is wrong. Which is correct? ...

Oct 30, 2013

have been noticing over the last 3 or 4 weeks that the sytem is not consistently putting 2 spaces after periods. Used to not have to worry about this, but just one more thing to have to watch. Also having to now watch auto expansions and change them back to the accepted short form. Anyone else? Or have I just been here wayyyyyy to long? Make it a great day everyone! A lot of times y'all make mine! ...

Oct 22, 2014

Or is it just me this happens to? ...

Aug 16, 2010

picketed and millions of emails from MTs like ourselves should be sent to them complaining, just as others are doing. This is an absolute disgrace, comedy or no comedy!!!! The show is called Outsourced. If you do not want to click the link below then Google NBC - Outsourced, as I did, and read about the show and also read the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are writing NBC and complaining! Such poor taste! http://www.nbc.com/news/2010/05/07/nbc-picks-up-three-n ...

Mar 04, 2012

They arent gonna help us with ASR problems,..least we can do is stop making problems for ourselves ...

Nov 12, 2012

I am applying to a company that would like me to give names and phone numbers of current and previous employers for verification. I have really only had one "employer" in the last six years. All the rest are companies I do IC work for, including the one I am working for now. Do I put the company names and phone numbers down? It feels somehow wrong, like I am breaking confidentiality or putting their names and numbers down in some sort of behind-their-back way. Any t ...

Nov 25, 2013

Whenever I type a word and hit the space bar, it either does not expand and when it does, it puts an extra letter in front of the expanded word, such as: bl = bbilateral cons = cconsultation It is also slower to expand and looks like it is deleting a letter quickly after I hit the spacebar before expanding. I looked in the expander and nothing has changed with the actual expander commands. The only thing different I have done lately is unstalled McAfee and installed Microsoft Secu ...

Aug 23, 2014

nm ...

Oct 01, 2013

Hi Friends: My name is Suzanne and I am sending in my paperwork to enroll in the Andrew's School for Medical Coding and I am nervous. I am nervous because I do know I can do it, but what about my age of 57. I am too old for studying for this field? I am a medical transcriptionist and have been for 12 years and I am a fast thinker and learner and I know I can do it, but what about the Affordable Care Act and the jobs being outsourced like medical transcription. Can you ...

May 18, 2015

x ...

Jan 18, 2010

I have had 6 (SIX!) reports come through, all having the same mush-mouthed, fast talking, whispering, ESL doctor. Oh, and the sing-song thing is really about to make me blow my stack. I swear, he is so bad that I can't even understand the patient's name!!!! I am going to pull my hair out. Yep, I feel it coming. It takes me forever just to get through ONE of his reports. He gets so many blanks that I honestly feel sorry for the QA person that end ...

Apr 25, 2011

Working at .075 cpl for ScribeRight I made a whopping 12K in 2009. Wow - let's all run out and take MT classes to jump on that bandwagon. Anyway, I quit my MTSO pimp and went to work for a well-known Italian restaurant chain in 2010. I work in the kitchen 6 hours a day for 5 days a week (Mon-Fri lunch shift with no nighttime or weekend shifts) and make about 15% more than I did as an MT. I am not an IC anymore but rather an employee, so I saved a bunch on my social ...

Feb 27, 2012

My bubble has been burst. I was with eTransPlus when the Q swallowed them up and then I left. Now, I'm with another MTSO and it's awful. I've only been MTing for 5 years. I was an office nurse (LPN) for 13 years before that and I wanted a change. My first job was with a great company and then the huge acct I was on was bought out by an MTSO, so I had the choice of being laid off or going to IC status. I chose to be laid off thinking I could draw ...

Aug 01, 2013

I just cannot do this anymore with MMmodal. I cannot sit here for 14 hours a day for 800 lines. I am completely broke, have no food in the house, and am more depressed than I have ever been in my entire life. I'm in a constant state of panic, have been sending out applications and resumes, but am so far in the hole financially I will never get out. I just don't understand how a company can do this to people and live with what they are doing. I cannot even ...

Aug 29, 2013

Reading these posts, watching women post about how to work the system to keep their piddly minimum wage/unemployment coming in while MM finds yet another way to screw us over. It makes me sick to think of what we have become. The experience we have, the expertise we are still expected to have, and yet we sit here discussing how to keep getting our minimum freakin wage. Do you not all see how WRONG THIS IS? All we do is complain, or let them beat us down until we quit. How is i ...

Mar 03, 2014

The endless berating of my work and the poverty level wages that go with it are more than I can deal with anymore. I'd take a job doing most anything to get out of this drudgery. Unfortunately with years of doing this, it's hard to even get a job at a hamburger joint! ...

May 17, 2014

2 in 1 day: VR: scrotal tenderness s/b: throat tenderness (the patient was female!) VR: no tomatoes s/b: no organomegaly I have to laugh at this job or else I'll cry. Geez! ...

Jun 19, 2015

I sometimes watch the boards and see number of people discontent with Nuance and looking for something else . In the back of my mind is "maybe they leave and I will get more work." Feel bad having this attitude, but ... WHen this grid started out I was making significantly more than I had been. Now of course the OOW situation has put a stop to that. I also think QA has gotten a little more aggressive towards us. We are turning on each other like a pack of wolves. ...

Oct 21, 2009

How do you search anything on here anymore? If I want to check past posts on a particular company, etc.? Did they do away with that? If so I don't think that was a great idea. I like to be able to look up info here by doing searchs of old posts first to see if my questions were already answered. I don't want to waste someones time if they just answered the same question last week, etc. Can I still do a search and if so how? Thanks! ...

May 11, 2010

Lately I have talked to many friends who are all disillusioned with their careers. The state of the economy has made it worse, but I really think the problems existed before that happened. They come from all walks of life and all occupations. Everyone seems to want out of whatever they are doing. The ones I have spoken to include teachers, attorneys, nurses, doctors, police officers and of course MTs. Anyone out there know someone with a great and (as stable a ...

Sep 03, 2010

Just thinking out load, so please bear with me. I took the summer off to evaluate how I feel about restarting back to work into the MT field. I have many bitter-sweet feelings. Over 24 years ago I started in the MT industry and have done this working out of my home. I have raised my kids basically alone working a job that I absolutely thrived and loved doing. Now, it doesn't even pay us minimum wage for our Years of knowlege and skill sets we ha ...

Jun 17, 2011

Low pay, poor benefits, expected to work your fingers to the bone every day for pennies while the supervisors take several days off a month, inconsistent QA. Plus, the fact that I am a very shy, introverted person and need to be around other people at a job outside the house. I will never be able to support myself on an MT salary. I am getting out of this business. It's sucking the life out of me. ...