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

Sad, Sad State of Affairs - Sigh

Posted: Dec 02, 2011

All the threads about fighting to get paid minimum wage (you go, girls!) make me incredibly sad. So I started reminiscing about my early days in the profession....

In the good ole days, we were paid a fair, decent rate.

In the good ole days, we got to interact with the docs we transcribed for. If you had a blank, he would tell you what it was!

In the good ole days, we got an extra paycheck and a generous gift for Christmas. (One year I got a small cooler filled with seafood delicacies that probably cost $100.)

In the good ole days, our employer paid our health insurance premiums (totally for a single person).

In the good ole days, we earned cash bonuses/incentives.

In the good ole days, doctors ran hospitals -- not beancounters.

In the good ole days, our employers threw incredible Christmas parties replete with catered food and open bar.

In the good ole days, our work wasn't sent to India, Pakistan or ANYWHERE!

In the good ole days, our biggest complaint was that our office had no window.

Is this what we have fallen to -- having to hire attorneys to fight companies just to pay us minimum freaking wage?

ahhh... - raydonia

[ In Reply To ..]
I was just reminiscing the other day about the ham we used to get from our hospital at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas and the AWESOME Christmas parties. We had 2 hospitals in town and we all went to both parties as somebody's guest. I think interacting with the docs is what I miss most... aside from the pay, of course.

documentation today - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
I took my aunt to the doctor today and the entire time the doctor did the two-finger typing into his EMR. (I remember when they used to dictation in their carry along tape recorders). I sure would have liked to have read the things he was pecking onto the computer. Documentation is a dying art. I remember in the hospital when JCAHO used to scrutinize the documentation to make sure we were doing our jobs. I think they are even laxed about what they see in documentation anymore. With technology it is sad that they really think VR can replace the person. My nephew just landed a high paying job making APs for I PADS and other such tablets and he is making the big bucks. I wonder when he will be replaced by technology. With the position of Medical Transcription, I knew technology would play a part in advancement, I just never thought it would decrease our pay scale. If a doctor gets a new machine to help him diagnose a disease better, he does not charge less for his exams, but more. But we get paid less for doing the same skilled work, I do not get it.

Took my son to the doctor on Thursday - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
and I think the doc spent an extra 15 minutes putting everything into the computer and printing it out. The whole time he was doing this, I was thinking, "I could type that in 1 minute," and "am I actually paying him to TYPE??" This is a specialty office affiliated with a world-renown children's hospital. I bet he didn't work his butt off to become a leader in his field just to end up typing his own records. I can't wait to see my bill...

yeah, when I think about my pay in the 90s, just upsets me. - and I am close to going postal now. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

These days the rich get mega-rich and the middle class slips down to poverty - Looking For The Middle Class

[ In Reply To ..]
It's definitely the good old days for the super-rich. It doesn't matter to them if they are down 20% a year or two because of the economy. They will be able to have food, clothing, lots of shelter, and will be able to afford to have their car(s) repaired or maybe just buy a new one if this one gets a ding on it. These are very strange days that we live in.

state of affairs - ladonna

[ In Reply To ..]
I so agree. I worked in a hospital for 25 yrs. Then the hospital decided to lay us off in 2008. I had all the benefits you mentioned. I miss being around other people. I miss the luncheons and parties we used to have. Most of all I miss the $17 an hour plus incentive pay and benefits I was getting. I will probably not be in this profession much longer as I hate it now. It used to be fun, but not anymor.

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