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

Transcription industry going downhill fast! - JM

Posted: Feb 04, 2013

I currently work at a clinic, but the clinic was bought out by a hospital in 2011. I left for about a year and they called me back. Now, it's Feb 2013 and the hospital just got bought out by a big organization. Boss says they have to go EMR by the fall or they get penalized from Medicare. They will no longer use me or the other girls once they do this.

I've been looking at what's out there and who can survive on 3-4 cents/line editing? There's no much straight typing out there anymore. I just don't know what to do because I homeschool my boys and I HAVE to be home with them. We're also a 2 income family, so I have to work.

This industry is sinking big time. I know of some area hospitals that are going Epic too which might do away with transcriptionits, UGH!! So frustrating!!

I just wanted to vent this. I'm sure everyone knows this industry is sinking!

Going, going, gone - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
In my opinion, it already made its way down the hill and now it's in the swamp and continuing to sink. Run for your life!

IMO, it's already dropped into a sink hole... - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
blurp blurp blurp sending up a few air bubbles...that's it...

Don't give up (yet) - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I would suggest checking with the HR department at the old and new organization. They may still need people to QA some of the transcription work. Also, there might be some EMR related jobs that you could do from home. Good luck.

good idea, but - Snow Bunny (the original)

[ In Reply To ..]
I think it's just wishful thinking.

I believe that medical records, if they have not already done so, are becoming less about what's written in the Hospital Course (very wordy) and more about what's written in the Discharge Medications (a numbered list of just the facts). You don't need the MT to "edit" a straight list.

IOW, the record doesn't need "When the patient takes codeine they break out in a rash all over their body." All you need is: ALLERGIES: Codeine (rash). Same information, cheaper, more efficent 'cause "it's just the facts, maam."

Consider studying medical coding. There are a lot of telecommuting positions available for that ... as an employee. With your extensive knowledge you already have 1 foot up, so to speak.

My experience-not wishful thinking - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I shared that because after my MT job ended and our work was outsourced/offshored I was asked to do QA on the reports that were returned from the service. I don't work at home, but I am working in another area of medical records/health care documentation, my employer helped those of us who were laid off find jobs within our facility...as employees. We use Epic and Dragon and while there are no MT jobs, it is opening up other opportunities. I also studied coding. It is not wishful thinking but a person will not know unless they try.

Feel Lost - JM

[ In Reply To ..]
I know how these little clinics work once they do go EMR. My supervisor has told me that they will not utilize the transcriptionists anymore. I don't know what the hospital that owns us does with their transcription or if they're Epic. I don't really know who to ask. I do know that they have remote coders, but never see any jobs posted. There won't be any QA stuff that needs to be done at the clinic and the supervisor made sure she told me when she brought me back on that it was temporary and I'm only PRN, so they could just say they don't need me anymore if they wanted. Right now they need me 8 hours a day and I make good money for those 8 hours. I just feel lost because I don't want to look for another job and after reading all the posts on this board about all the outsourcing companies, it's just discouraging to see what is out there. I would love to take a coding class, but I also did my research on that field as well and working from home. Most of these companies that hire remote coders, want someone who has 1-2 years in-house experience. I homeschool my boys and I can't work a dayshift job. I think I'm screwed!!!

future - Max

[ In Reply To ..]
In emergency rooms, at least, Medical Scribes are becoming quite popular. They save the need for dictated notes, in most situations, so that everything is typed/transcribed on the spot during each physician's shift. Sorry to kick you folks out of good jobs, but the scribe community is welcoming!

Source: I'm a scribe.

Don't you make barely over minimum wage? - (Yeah, still more than many MEs)

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Future - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
The OP stated she needed to be at home with her children, so I don't know if being a scribe would work. No one uses scribes where I live; the CNAs and MAs or the physicians do the documentation. You didn't kick anyone out of a job, VR, EMR and off shoring did that. You too can be replaced.

Similar Messages:

Aug 08, 2010

Wonder why you have a hard time trying to make a living in transcription? Let's do the math to see why that is. In 1995 the average line rate was 8 cents per 65 character line. In 2010 the average line rate is still 8 cents per 65 character line. At 3% cost of living increase per year (generally inflation iis more than 3%), that puts your salary now at 45% BEHIND for Cost of Living adjustments over the last 15 years. In 1995 we were paid for ALL characters typed. ...

Dec 12, 2010

I wanted to ask anyone out there how to go about leaving the transcription industry (11 years in) and going into medical coding. Do any of you know of a bridge over program at any of the institutes? I got my education at a community college that is nationally accredited so I can transfer credits. Just curious before I start really looking. Thanks ...

Apr 29, 2015

Dr. Wyatt, a physician affiliated with The Joint Commission, just released an article recommending that the TJC become involved in helping to create new standards and protocols for the medical transcription industry. His article addressed the vast majority of the issues that negatively impact the dictation/transcription process and the need to fix these problems because of their potential for jeopardizing patient safety. Among the many things mentioned in the article that he feels ne ...

May 15, 2012

Any info on InterPro Transcription based in Arizona - good or bad? Anyone ever worked for them or even heard of them? Need to make decision soon. Had never heard of them. First pay period is paper check which for some reason makes me nervous! Nothing in archives... TIA ...

Mar 22, 2014

I put in an application for a job here a day after it was posted, which was too late because of the good pay they were offering. I just got an email back saying they had overwhelming response from their ad. Another MT on here said she took the test. I know other companies do the same, but there are some that do not bother contacting you at all or allow you to take a test, knowing they already have enough applicants. ...

May 29, 2015

I have worked for this company for 6 months, and I am about to quit. I was reading some posts about Fast Chart Transcription were people said they were getting 7 cents a line with them. I don't know when that was, but she started me at 3 cents a line. Not only that, no matter how carefully I reviewed over and over the reports I did, she nitpicked everything and said my QA score was too low, 92%. I looked at her corrections and it was things like when the doctor dicta ...

Mar 19, 2014

Xx ...

Jun 27, 2015

Has anyone ever complained through Remedy about the sound quality for Fluency? I realize this is probably futile with MM, but it has become so unacceptable. How in the h3!! are we supposed to produce quality documents when MM can't even give us quality sound??? This is so freaking annoying. The past 4 jobs I have done have been deplorable audio and every single one of them I have placed a QA note regarding the state of the sound hoping that one of the dictators will relist ...

Jul 19, 2010

Need benefits fast! Know of co that gives dental ins fast? ...

Dec 10, 2011

Anyone have any current info on Fast Chart, good, bad, ugly? Checked the Archives, not much recent info. Thanks! ...

Mar 07, 2013

Does anyone work for Fast Chart and what can you tell me about them? ...

Jan 18, 2010

Hi, I am a recent graduate of a Med. Transcript program and am unable to find work for someone with less than one year experiance. Any suggestions? ...

Feb 17, 2011

As a group, we need to talk, fax, email our state representatives to explain what is going on in our industry. Give them your personal story. We should all do this 3/1/2010 and the first of every month until something is done. If they get enough complaints/responses, they will help us. They will start and talk to each other and realize how many of us are being abused. We need to have state and federal regulations to protect us from these companies. Due to&n ...

Nov 04, 2012

nm ...

Aug 22, 2013

Here's the problem with MT's who work at home: There's not one out of six of you that have ever grown a pair of cajones. ...

Oct 21, 2009

Do all of your companies that you work for use the BOS as their industry standard? ...

Mar 21, 2010

I'm new to this board, but have been in the business a while. There's obviously a lot of dissatisfaction on the way work is being moved to India and Speech Recognition. Its affected me, too. But, it is what it is. The healthcare facilities are being forced to cut costs, and the MTSOs have to respond to keep the business, which is unfortunate for us. First, there was India. HealthScribe, Focus Informatics, CBay, Heartland and others pushed this ...

Jan 19, 2012

Backpaddeling with MT industry.. In no time, it is going to hit deadend or get crashed ... CONCERNED, IRRITATTED, ANGRY, FRUSTRATED MT. ...

Jun 29, 2012

I don't know why I'm posting, just a last bit of hope left in me. I have devoted my entire adult life to this industry, what I used to consider a career. Over the decades, I became a top-notch professional MT, basically 100% accuracy, never needed QA help, and was a huge producer. Fast forward 20 years, and I climbed up the ladder in our industry, joining QA, being a team lead, then up into management levels, and.... rather than have my salary 'commensurate with ...

Sep 24, 2012

Since the MT industry has suffered in the US with outsourcing to India and speech recognition, I was wondering if the transcription industry in other countries such as Canada, Britain, or others are suffering as well. Does anyone know about the nature of their work? ...

Mar 15, 2010

Is anyone else sick of reading all the complaints on this board day after day about the MT industry? Am I the only one who actually enjoys what I do? If you hate Mting so bad, then quit! Be thankful you have a job. I know I will get lots of nasty replies, but I am so tired of all the negativity. I would never want to go back to working at my previous job which was a call center where you sat all day and listened to ppl curse at you. I do not miss all the gas money wasted because of d ...

May 04, 2010

I spoke with a wonderful company today that offered IC positions and the owner of the company told me that she refuses to offshore because she could not honestly tell her clients that she can be HIPPA compliant when the files leave the US soil and that she refuses to under bid her MTs who contract with her and she tells anybody who wants to do business with her that she will not offshore and she chooses to pay her MTs an honest living wage!!!! Hooray for her. I was really impressed w ...

Jul 31, 2010

After nearly 20 years in this industry, I am happy to say that I am free now! Praise God! ...

Apr 18, 2012

I am fairly new to this. I have always worked as an MT, but always paid hourly. Obviously 4 cents per line is not enough for anyone to survive on unless you are doing it for supplemental income. So my question is when did these companies start paying 4 cents per line and how long has this been going on? I am just curious how so many have survived so long on these wages. Thanks. ...

Jun 26, 2012

Wouldn't that be an eye-opener for some of these MTSOs? ...

Jul 01, 2012

I think as things go forward the people that will stay in this industry are those with their own benefits either through husbands or retirement age or buying their own that dont need to support themselves or anyone else fully and have other income again either through a significant other, husband, etc. or are retired and collecting pensions and SS and what have you. This will help fill in retirement as far as financial, keeping the mind active and help with keeping in the job market. ...

Nov 30, 2009

nm ...

Mar 05, 2010

Instructions and model letter provided here. INSTRUCTIONS: Instructions for Letter Writing 1. Find out who your federal legislators are: a. Find out who your Representative is by using the zip code search at www.house.gov. b. Find out who your two Senators are by using the “Find Your Senators” option at www.senate.gov. 2. Address your letters as follows: a. For Senators: The Honorable (Full Name) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator (Last Name) b. ...

Jun 24, 2011

Or the film industry. Whenever their work is replayed somewhere, they get residual checks. Now that there is an EMR just about everywhere, when someone in the hospital pulls up a report to read, you KNOW that is tracked within the computer system for security/HIPAA purposes. Everything about that report is traceable to the MT who typed it. When the doctor reads our report, and later treats the pt. based on what he/she read, the hospital gets paid for that. When a ...

Jun 22, 2011

I read in my textbooks that an MT should not be heard and that complaining about the way in which doctors and PAs, etc dictate is not relevant in this industry. They don't want to hear it. It has always been my belief that it takes two to tango, especially if you want to produce anything of quality. I was recently pondering if it will do any good to tell this company what I believe I am seeing. This is probably suicide but I don't like to take the blame for something I am n ...