Wow, Okay, first off. I am sorry for being gone so long :) Rob has been on me every day about my blogging and honestly, I just was in a funk and didn't know what to write about... So, I am here again and just going to see what my fingers want to talk about today :)
So, what has been happening? First, Christmas has passed so a belated Merry Christmas to everyone! I got wonderful gifts this year of family pictures in frames. There has never been a more perfect Christmas gift for me! I also got some new Imak gloves for typing, a butterfly windchime to hang above my desk, the book Elvis and Me, and the movie Sweet Dreams. Santa also left me lots of goodies in my stocking. Energy drinks, candy, butterfly stickers, belly rings :) Santa knows what I like ;) haha.
The changes at work are happening, but happening slowly. The girls who run the show are working hard to make sure this transition is a smooth one for us. So far, we have only downloaded the software and prepared it to connect. It should be an exciting change for us all. As I understand it, this will make our jobs a lot faster and easier. I say easier because the way we upload our files to our doctors is going to be instant pretty much instead of us having to sign into an FTP site upload the files, sign out. It doesn't sound like much but it is about a 5 minute process 4-5 times a day, so it can get time consuming. The new system will omit this FTP login stuff :)
During this slow holiday work season I have been given 4 new doctors. I have only worked on 3 of the 4 at this point but LOVE those 3. I feel so lucky to have great doctors to type for. Honestly, I want to call them one day and just say "thank you" I truly appreciate the way they dictate. I was also FINALLY taken off of full review! This made me happy but nervous at the same time! This means that my work goes straight to the doctors! Yea, just a bit scary for me.
Mostly over my blogging hiatus, I have been just relaxing. I crocheted my first sock, finished up a shawl that I gave to my mother-in-law as a Christmas gift, played a few games on the computer (I love seek and find games), spent too much time on Facebook, and just really got lazy about the blog. For that, I apologize :) Blame it on bloggers block! haha.
Today is New Years Eve. Not much work to be found so I am painting my nails, playing games, and now blogging. Tonight I am going to one of my oldest friend's New Year's party until about 9:00 and then coming home to Rob to ring in the New Year. Rob just is not the social type so I am going alone. It should be a fun time :)
So, that pretty much catches you up on my life... Work is still great. My kids are amazing. I am married to the most wonderful man in my world. Basically, Life happens, and it happens to be good for me. I am just so beyond my wildest dreams happy. I see a very very happy New Year in my future :)
So, to all of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Live happy, laugh often, and smile daily.
Sharon ♥
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
As technology and compliance rules change...so does the MT
Finally, a morning with a little of a break so I can come here! I promised to discuss changes in my company and so, here you go. This will be a good post because it will make the upcoming MT understand that your job can possibly change with the drop of a hat, or the changing of HIPPA rules!
So, Friday we all get an email, a 5 page email, stating that our WHOLE routine is changing. No more downloading our files that we think we can finish through the day and working on them throughout the day, no more FTP file transfers, no more holding work to finish the next morning. We are now moving to a platform in which we log on and a file will come in, we finish that one, another file will come in....one at a time. If we do not finish in a timely manner, the file will be returned and we will lose all work we did thus far...Ouch! Harsh! But...for MTs like me, the easily distracted, this is a great thing. This is going to force me to sit in my chair and work. No more checking Facebook "just for a second" (a.k.a an hour). This is a good change for me, but scary at the same time.
For instance, right now, I know I can do 2 hours of dictation a day easily, so I would download enough files to keep me busy all day and I am guaranteed my workload for the day. This can't happen anymore. If I am not as fast as the other MTs in my pool, then they will get more work than me because of their speed. I guess I am worried that my income is going to take a hit. For example, I have Dr. Runon, who dictates 40 minutes at a time. These files take a long time to do, more than the 3:1 ratio (3 minutes to type 1 minute of dictation) because in that 40 min file I don't know how many actual patients there are so I have to listen through once setting up my templates, then again to fill in the body of the report and the patient information. So, if I get Dr. Runon then I am put behind for the day because that file takes so long.
But, it is not all bad!
We no longer have to type job numbers, name files, or copy and paste templates! It is all going to be done automatically! If I am understanding correctly, we will no longer have the need for a separate folder on our computers with all of our sample reports, templates, patient lists, etc. We will also no longer be doing our own billing...WOOHOOO... I am excited about this!
In fact we are not allowed to store these items anymore...This is where HIPPA compliance comes into play.
What if my computer got stolen and all my patient/doctor information got stolen? I am in trouble! Even though all of that is password protected on my computer, passwords don't always hold tight. As an MT you are bound to the HIPPA patient confidentiality regulations just as a doctor or nurse or other in office medical field employee would be. You can be sued and you can lose a lot of money and credibility.
This is one of those things that have always scared me!
I heard of a fellow CS grad who was fired for cc:-ing a medical report to the wrong doctor. This was a breach of that company's patient confidentiality policy and she lost her job. Compliance is a serious issue!
So, I for one am excited and relieved that I will no longer be storing this information on my computer!
All in all, these changes are going to be great. It is a needed change because doctors are no longer impressed with our "24-hour turn-around time". Doctors and hospitals are busy and they want fast results, therefore we will now be turning around work a lot faster so that we can compete with all the big companies with the 1-hour turn-around times.
So basically, the point of this rant/vent is this. If you are like me and have issues with change, you have to be ready to accept it when it comes! In the medical field (and yes, as an MT you ARE part of the medical field) you have to take change as it comes, and as technology changes so do we.
So, no longer will a report sit and wait for me while I go help a child with homework or take the dog outside. I have to sit and finish a file from beginning to end or risk that file being returned. Again, this is good because I have always had an issue sitting and working like I need to.
As I understand it, this big change happens next week, we will all begin training. Guess who gets to go through this change with me? YOU! :) I will try to post as the change happens so that you can all get a first hand view of how it affects work in general.
I am excited about it. Scared, nervous, worried, but excited. :)
Sharon ♥
So, Friday we all get an email, a 5 page email, stating that our WHOLE routine is changing. No more downloading our files that we think we can finish through the day and working on them throughout the day, no more FTP file transfers, no more holding work to finish the next morning. We are now moving to a platform in which we log on and a file will come in, we finish that one, another file will come in....one at a time. If we do not finish in a timely manner, the file will be returned and we will lose all work we did thus far...Ouch! Harsh! But...for MTs like me, the easily distracted, this is a great thing. This is going to force me to sit in my chair and work. No more checking Facebook "just for a second" (a.k.a an hour). This is a good change for me, but scary at the same time.
For instance, right now, I know I can do 2 hours of dictation a day easily, so I would download enough files to keep me busy all day and I am guaranteed my workload for the day. This can't happen anymore. If I am not as fast as the other MTs in my pool, then they will get more work than me because of their speed. I guess I am worried that my income is going to take a hit. For example, I have Dr. Runon, who dictates 40 minutes at a time. These files take a long time to do, more than the 3:1 ratio (3 minutes to type 1 minute of dictation) because in that 40 min file I don't know how many actual patients there are so I have to listen through once setting up my templates, then again to fill in the body of the report and the patient information. So, if I get Dr. Runon then I am put behind for the day because that file takes so long.
But, it is not all bad!
We no longer have to type job numbers, name files, or copy and paste templates! It is all going to be done automatically! If I am understanding correctly, we will no longer have the need for a separate folder on our computers with all of our sample reports, templates, patient lists, etc. We will also no longer be doing our own billing...WOOHOOO... I am excited about this!
In fact we are not allowed to store these items anymore...This is where HIPPA compliance comes into play.
What if my computer got stolen and all my patient/doctor information got stolen? I am in trouble! Even though all of that is password protected on my computer, passwords don't always hold tight. As an MT you are bound to the HIPPA patient confidentiality regulations just as a doctor or nurse or other in office medical field employee would be. You can be sued and you can lose a lot of money and credibility.
This is one of those things that have always scared me!
I heard of a fellow CS grad who was fired for cc:-ing a medical report to the wrong doctor. This was a breach of that company's patient confidentiality policy and she lost her job. Compliance is a serious issue!
So, I for one am excited and relieved that I will no longer be storing this information on my computer!
All in all, these changes are going to be great. It is a needed change because doctors are no longer impressed with our "24-hour turn-around time". Doctors and hospitals are busy and they want fast results, therefore we will now be turning around work a lot faster so that we can compete with all the big companies with the 1-hour turn-around times.
So basically, the point of this rant/vent is this. If you are like me and have issues with change, you have to be ready to accept it when it comes! In the medical field (and yes, as an MT you ARE part of the medical field) you have to take change as it comes, and as technology changes so do we.
So, no longer will a report sit and wait for me while I go help a child with homework or take the dog outside. I have to sit and finish a file from beginning to end or risk that file being returned. Again, this is good because I have always had an issue sitting and working like I need to.
As I understand it, this big change happens next week, we will all begin training. Guess who gets to go through this change with me? YOU! :) I will try to post as the change happens so that you can all get a first hand view of how it affects work in general.
I am excited about it. Scared, nervous, worried, but excited. :)
Sharon ♥
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
I promise, I haven't forgotten you!
OK, so work this week is running me ragged! I am sorry for not blogging. I am seriously working from the time I get up until I go to bed. I think all the doctors are trying to cram their patients into this week so they can take Christmas week off! haha.
I am actually running to bed at the moment but wanted to pop in and let everyone know I have not forgotten about my blog!
I hope everyone is having a great week!
Sharon ♥
I am actually running to bed at the moment but wanted to pop in and let everyone know I have not forgotten about my blog!
I hope everyone is having a great week!
Sharon ♥
Monday, December 13, 2010
Job Searching and Interviewing in the Medical Transcription World.
Hey Guys! :) Here is last nights' blog I had planned, only I am doing it this morning because we had some good ole family time last night watching a movie and having dinner (homemade Chicken Soup). So, here ya go. My job search blog. I will blog about the changes coming to my company if I have time later today.
August 24, 2009, I received my email saying I was officially a graduate of Career Step, and I graduated with High Honors! The highest graduate level possible. Excited doesn't begin to express my feelings. At the time of my graduation, this was a rare feat, High Honors on the first testing attempt, they have made great changes to the program since my time in it and now High Honors on the first attempt is not rare at all.
Needless to say, I was proud, ecstatic, excited, relieved, just every good emotion there can possibly be. I just KNEW that with my High Honors scores that the employers would be drooling over my resume.
Hahahaha. Yea. Didn't happen. It took me 102 companies contacted and 60 days to get my job. I had Standard graduate and Honor graduate friends who all got hired before me! Was it because I didn't do something right? Nope, it is all about timing! Here are my stats as I have them on my spreadsheet.
Companies contacted: 102.
Date started: August 25, 2009.
No Hires: 36
No New Grads: 2
Waiting list: 1
Tested: 7
Interviews: 2
Keeping my name on file: 6 (2 have since contacted me for an interview but I declined)
Companies I applied with but have not yet heard from: 53 (seriously, I counted twice)
So, looking at those stats, you see that the job search is NOT an easy task! My last followups are made on 10/13/09. My interview with my current company was on 10/15/09. I was hired a week later and have been there since. As I said, two of those that were keeping my name on file have since contacted me. They wanted an interview but I let them know I was happy where I was. Those numbers up there do not add up to a perfect 102 (companies contacted) because some of them I tested with and wasn't contacted, one I was interviewed by and was not hired (hours were wrong for me). So they do not add up but I assure you, those are the statistics for my 60 day job search.
How did I tackle the job search?
~1.) I made it a full time job. From the time my kids left for school until the time they got home (7:30-3:30) I was at my computer researching companies, applying, typing cover letters, sending resumes, testing, searching, etc. I did whatever I could to find companies and apply to companies.
~2.) I made a spreadsheet. I had these columns set up: Company Name, Contact information, Email Address, Part time or full time, IC or employee, Status, Original Contacted Date, Last Contact Date, Type of Contact, Notes. I kept up with this spreadsheet diligently. It was my lifeline and my sanity because I sent 23 resumes in ONE day at one point! If I hadn't kept track of all of this I would have gone crazy.
~3.) I researched these companies until I found everything out I needed to know, I then sent them my resume and cover letter. For the companies I REALLY wanted, I typed a personal cover letter, not just the generic one I had written originally. I did my homework. I found out everything possible about these companies and had it in a notebook, I even had the year founded/established written down! I wanted to be ready for the interview if I ever got one. This also made me decide if I really wanted to work for this company or not. Funny thing is, the company I work for, doesn't even have a website! I only knew of them because of a person who worked there who had contacted me on the school forum because she lives close to me. She sounded so happy with her job that they automatically went to the top of my wish list.
~4.) FOLLOWUP! Religiously! You MUST followup EVERY 2 weeks! Write followup cover letters individually. That way when they finally find your emails then they will see that you are willing to put work into the job search. Do not think that just because the company has not contacted you, they are not interested. That is not always true! Some companies simply do not have the manpower to contact every single applicant, but they do keep the resumes that they like on file. I know one MT who had her application in and had sent 7 followups! SEVEN! She was about to send her 8th one and the company contacted her. Her diligence proved to them that she wanted that position. They knew that if she worked that hard to get noticed, then she would be a hard worker for their company.
~5.) Patience. You have to remember that these companies get hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes and emails a day. Imagine having to go through all of those! You just have to trust that they will find your email. Make it as eye catching as possible! That subject line for me was Sharon Bradley: High Honors Career Step graduate. You have to make them want to open your email.
~6.) Find some tips online about interviews. Just because you are dressed in your PJs (as I was) and at home doesn't mean that it is a nonprofessional interview! It is a job interview! YOU have to treat it as such. Find other people who work for the company you are getting an interview with. I discovered that my company was laid back and wanted friendliness along with professionalism. So, they call me for my interview and I am in the middle of cooking. They ask if I am available (they were a bit late on the call) and I say "oh yea, I was just cooking Chili, my fiance can take care of that. I am all yours." I then kissed Rob, he whispered good luck (which they heard), and went to our bedroom (where I now work). We had a few laughs during our interview and I had a notebook ready for my questions and answers to the most common interview questions.
There you have it, my job search and interview technique. Other tips are helpful also.
Make absolute sure that there are NO typos on your resume. No typos, no misspelled words, use good grammar, etc. Basically, show them that you know your stuff and that you will be an asset to their company!
NEVER send your resume or cover letter as an attachment! In a world filled with viruses, a lot of companies automatically delete any emails with attachments. So, unless you are instructed to do so, never send attachments. Use your cover letter as the body of the email and put your resume below it.
Understand that the job search is tough and that a high graduation score is not always going to automatically open doors for you. Find a support group online if you need to. The job search had me in tears numerous times (6 of my "no hires" came in on the same day).
Finding companies is as easy as typing them into Google or the Swagbucks search bar. I actually wanted to work for a smaller company so what I did is pick a state and searched for all medical transcription companies in that state. This way, I am looking into the smaller companies, the little known companies. Yes, you will have to put a little faith in these companies and trust them because they may not have a lot of feedback out there but this just comes with this field. If I had trusted only online feedback for my company, I wouldn't have applied because there is not much out there about them.
Okay, I think this blog is now a book and you guys are busy people! Get out there and live your life, I am going to sit and prepare the blog for later today since I don't have any work. I will pre-write it so that I can just Copy and Paste it later tonight or tomorrow morning. I would do it immediately after this one, but you are already giving me enough of your time for this morning! :) Again, I appreciate the time you take to read my blog!
Have a great day everyone!!
Sharon ♥
August 24, 2009, I received my email saying I was officially a graduate of Career Step, and I graduated with High Honors! The highest graduate level possible. Excited doesn't begin to express my feelings. At the time of my graduation, this was a rare feat, High Honors on the first testing attempt, they have made great changes to the program since my time in it and now High Honors on the first attempt is not rare at all.
Needless to say, I was proud, ecstatic, excited, relieved, just every good emotion there can possibly be. I just KNEW that with my High Honors scores that the employers would be drooling over my resume.
Hahahaha. Yea. Didn't happen. It took me 102 companies contacted and 60 days to get my job. I had Standard graduate and Honor graduate friends who all got hired before me! Was it because I didn't do something right? Nope, it is all about timing! Here are my stats as I have them on my spreadsheet.
Companies contacted: 102.
Date started: August 25, 2009.
No Hires: 36
No New Grads: 2
Waiting list: 1
Tested: 7
Interviews: 2
Keeping my name on file: 6 (2 have since contacted me for an interview but I declined)
Companies I applied with but have not yet heard from: 53 (seriously, I counted twice)
So, looking at those stats, you see that the job search is NOT an easy task! My last followups are made on 10/13/09. My interview with my current company was on 10/15/09. I was hired a week later and have been there since. As I said, two of those that were keeping my name on file have since contacted me. They wanted an interview but I let them know I was happy where I was. Those numbers up there do not add up to a perfect 102 (companies contacted) because some of them I tested with and wasn't contacted, one I was interviewed by and was not hired (hours were wrong for me). So they do not add up but I assure you, those are the statistics for my 60 day job search.
How did I tackle the job search?
~1.) I made it a full time job. From the time my kids left for school until the time they got home (7:30-3:30) I was at my computer researching companies, applying, typing cover letters, sending resumes, testing, searching, etc. I did whatever I could to find companies and apply to companies.
~2.) I made a spreadsheet. I had these columns set up: Company Name, Contact information, Email Address, Part time or full time, IC or employee, Status, Original Contacted Date, Last Contact Date, Type of Contact, Notes. I kept up with this spreadsheet diligently. It was my lifeline and my sanity because I sent 23 resumes in ONE day at one point! If I hadn't kept track of all of this I would have gone crazy.
~3.) I researched these companies until I found everything out I needed to know, I then sent them my resume and cover letter. For the companies I REALLY wanted, I typed a personal cover letter, not just the generic one I had written originally. I did my homework. I found out everything possible about these companies and had it in a notebook, I even had the year founded/established written down! I wanted to be ready for the interview if I ever got one. This also made me decide if I really wanted to work for this company or not. Funny thing is, the company I work for, doesn't even have a website! I only knew of them because of a person who worked there who had contacted me on the school forum because she lives close to me. She sounded so happy with her job that they automatically went to the top of my wish list.
~4.) FOLLOWUP! Religiously! You MUST followup EVERY 2 weeks! Write followup cover letters individually. That way when they finally find your emails then they will see that you are willing to put work into the job search. Do not think that just because the company has not contacted you, they are not interested. That is not always true! Some companies simply do not have the manpower to contact every single applicant, but they do keep the resumes that they like on file. I know one MT who had her application in and had sent 7 followups! SEVEN! She was about to send her 8th one and the company contacted her. Her diligence proved to them that she wanted that position. They knew that if she worked that hard to get noticed, then she would be a hard worker for their company.
~5.) Patience. You have to remember that these companies get hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes and emails a day. Imagine having to go through all of those! You just have to trust that they will find your email. Make it as eye catching as possible! That subject line for me was Sharon Bradley: High Honors Career Step graduate. You have to make them want to open your email.
~6.) Find some tips online about interviews. Just because you are dressed in your PJs (as I was) and at home doesn't mean that it is a nonprofessional interview! It is a job interview! YOU have to treat it as such. Find other people who work for the company you are getting an interview with. I discovered that my company was laid back and wanted friendliness along with professionalism. So, they call me for my interview and I am in the middle of cooking. They ask if I am available (they were a bit late on the call) and I say "oh yea, I was just cooking Chili, my fiance can take care of that. I am all yours." I then kissed Rob, he whispered good luck (which they heard), and went to our bedroom (where I now work). We had a few laughs during our interview and I had a notebook ready for my questions and answers to the most common interview questions.
There you have it, my job search and interview technique. Other tips are helpful also.
Make absolute sure that there are NO typos on your resume. No typos, no misspelled words, use good grammar, etc. Basically, show them that you know your stuff and that you will be an asset to their company!
NEVER send your resume or cover letter as an attachment! In a world filled with viruses, a lot of companies automatically delete any emails with attachments. So, unless you are instructed to do so, never send attachments. Use your cover letter as the body of the email and put your resume below it.
Understand that the job search is tough and that a high graduation score is not always going to automatically open doors for you. Find a support group online if you need to. The job search had me in tears numerous times (6 of my "no hires" came in on the same day).
Finding companies is as easy as typing them into Google or the Swagbucks search bar. I actually wanted to work for a smaller company so what I did is pick a state and searched for all medical transcription companies in that state. This way, I am looking into the smaller companies, the little known companies. Yes, you will have to put a little faith in these companies and trust them because they may not have a lot of feedback out there but this just comes with this field. If I had trusted only online feedback for my company, I wouldn't have applied because there is not much out there about them.
Okay, I think this blog is now a book and you guys are busy people! Get out there and live your life, I am going to sit and prepare the blog for later today since I don't have any work. I will pre-write it so that I can just Copy and Paste it later tonight or tomorrow morning. I would do it immediately after this one, but you are already giving me enough of your time for this morning! :) Again, I appreciate the time you take to read my blog!
Have a great day everyone!!
Sharon ♥
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Also, a bit of nail art!
So, our house is a very strange house in these days. We don't put our tree up in November! GASP...the horror of it! No, just kidding, it is not a tragedy or anything, we just hate that Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year. This year, they started on October first playing Christmas music and decorating stores. My only problem with this is that by the time Christmas actually comes, we are sick of it! So, our tree doesn't go up until 2 weeks before Christmas.
In honor of our tradition, yesterday we start pulling down all of the Christmas stuff... Ornaments, decorations, stockings, lights, tree.....um...tree?....babe, tree? Yea, no tree in the attic!!!
We threw it away last year because it was starting to tear up pretty badly!! We totally forgot! So, the living room is piled with ornament boxes and we run to Wal-Mart. Trees are horrible (fake and real). So, we get the stuff we need for the girls' cheer parties, we get the stuff for dinner, and we go to Lowe's. YAY...a tree we like. I got my first REAL tree EVER! I am so excited! It is so cool! I am almost 34 years old and have NEVER had this experience! It was fun! On the way home I say "Next year, can we go to a tree farm?"
Here is the conversation that followed.
Jonathan: Tree farm?
Me: Yea, a farm with lots of trees. You walk around and pick which one you want and they cut it down!
Jonathan: Cool.
Me: Yea!
Jonathan: Do they plant the trees themselves.
Rob: No! Little elves go out and plant them and they grow by magic.
Jonathan: Rolls eyes and stays quiet! haha.
I love our family!!!
We get home and get the tree all trimmed up (Rob and Ally did this) and Jonathan put the tree stand together. Rob puts on the lights with Jonathan's help and then Rob and I leave the room. Then, our kids plus 2 (Holland and Ally both had sleepover pals) decorated it themselves while blasting out some music. Sometimes, the best memories for kids are the ones where the parents just let them have full control. That is what we did and they love it!
Now you know why I didn't blog yesterday! I will be blogging about MT stuff tonight (I promise)! So keep an eye out for that but for now I just wanted to share our family day.
I warned you that if I ever did some nail art that I was proud of that I would post pics, so here you go! Winterized nails!!! (These were taken via my LG ALLY phone, so sorry for the less than perfect quality)
I started liking nail art when I found "The Daily Nail" blog. That link takes you to the beginning of her blog, September of 2009, there is no other way to start with her except at the beginning! The woman who does this blog is AMAZING! She did a new nail design EVERY day for one year! She is finished with her year-long project but still posts nails every few days! I check her blog every single morning. I did this nail art myself, no stencils or Konad products were used. It was all freehand. It is not perfect at all, but I am a beginner :) I just really enjoy doing this! So, there ya go. That was my Saturday. Now I have to get to work for about an hour or so and then later tonight, once the kids are in bed, I will blog about the changes coming to my company and about my job search as promised :)
Thank you to all my followers and readers. I appreciate the time you take to read my babbling-like typing.
Sharon ♥
In honor of our tradition, yesterday we start pulling down all of the Christmas stuff... Ornaments, decorations, stockings, lights, tree.....um...tree?....babe, tree? Yea, no tree in the attic!!!
We threw it away last year because it was starting to tear up pretty badly!! We totally forgot! So, the living room is piled with ornament boxes and we run to Wal-Mart. Trees are horrible (fake and real). So, we get the stuff we need for the girls' cheer parties, we get the stuff for dinner, and we go to Lowe's. YAY...a tree we like. I got my first REAL tree EVER! I am so excited! It is so cool! I am almost 34 years old and have NEVER had this experience! It was fun! On the way home I say "Next year, can we go to a tree farm?"
Here is the conversation that followed.
Jonathan: Tree farm?
Me: Yea, a farm with lots of trees. You walk around and pick which one you want and they cut it down!
Jonathan: Cool.
Me: Yea!
Jonathan: Do they plant the trees themselves.
Rob: No! Little elves go out and plant them and they grow by magic.
Jonathan: Rolls eyes and stays quiet! haha.
I love our family!!!
We get home and get the tree all trimmed up (Rob and Ally did this) and Jonathan put the tree stand together. Rob puts on the lights with Jonathan's help and then Rob and I leave the room. Then, our kids plus 2 (Holland and Ally both had sleepover pals) decorated it themselves while blasting out some music. Sometimes, the best memories for kids are the ones where the parents just let them have full control. That is what we did and they love it!
Now you know why I didn't blog yesterday! I will be blogging about MT stuff tonight (I promise)! So keep an eye out for that but for now I just wanted to share our family day.
I warned you that if I ever did some nail art that I was proud of that I would post pics, so here you go! Winterized nails!!! (These were taken via my LG ALLY phone, so sorry for the less than perfect quality)
 |
| FROSTY! (right hand) |
 |
| And his friends! (right hand) |
 |
| Snowy nails (left hand) |
I started liking nail art when I found "The Daily Nail" blog. That link takes you to the beginning of her blog, September of 2009, there is no other way to start with her except at the beginning! The woman who does this blog is AMAZING! She did a new nail design EVERY day for one year! She is finished with her year-long project but still posts nails every few days! I check her blog every single morning. I did this nail art myself, no stencils or Konad products were used. It was all freehand. It is not perfect at all, but I am a beginner :) I just really enjoy doing this! So, there ya go. That was my Saturday. Now I have to get to work for about an hour or so and then later tonight, once the kids are in bed, I will blog about the changes coming to my company and about my job search as promised :)
Thank you to all my followers and readers. I appreciate the time you take to read my babbling-like typing.
Sharon ♥
Friday, December 10, 2010
It's 3 o'clock, do you know where your doctor is?
I know where one of mine was yesterday at that time! In the mall, dictating. How do I know? I hear Christmas music, a crowd, and Santa! haha. I just typed this file and turned it in and had to share that little bit of funniness.
I found myself smiling in spite of this being one of my least favorites.
So, a small post for you this bright Friday morning.
Where have Sharon's doctor's dictated from before?????
Well, I can only guess from the sounds around me...err them...but here is a list of educated guesses.
~The bathroom - from door shutting to hand washing...uuugh...
~Office - yea, a big "duh" one here right? Squeaky chairs are the worst!!
~The cafeteria - while eating something crunchy I might add.
~The mall - this mornings fun :)
~At home - cats meowing at me, I hear purring, a huge (at least it sounded huge) dog barking (at which time I cringed from the volume of it), door bell, football games, movies (Scarface anyone? This doctor likes it!), packing for vaca (Paris, I might add), children playing (and squealing, ouch!). My favorite at home sound...Room add-ons/construction!! (hammers, saws, banging...you get the picture)..Heck yea, I wanna decipher what the patient has been diagnosed with while being deafened by those sounds! My dream dictation...(note EXTREME sarcasm).
~Outside - love these files! The doctor sounds so relaxed, I hear birds ( just totally almost spelled that b-u-r-d-s....*blush and giggle*), water flowing, crickets chirping....love it!
~Elevator - The patient-t-t-t-t comes in today-y-y-y....Yeap...echos like crazy!!
~Treadmill/exercising - these can be tough depending on the level of exercise being done! I have had both sides of the spectrum.
~Nurses station - background anyone?? How bout a loud speaker in the middle of the whispering doctor, that'll wake you up!
~Driving! - Yes, driving while dictating and shuffling papers. At one point the doctor ran off the road and onto the rumble strips. Scary....
~Driving! - Yes, driving while dictating and shuffling papers. At one point the doctor ran off the road and onto the rumble strips. Scary....
~Hospital room....with a vomiting patient, PAUSE PLEASE DOCTOR! YUCK
Ready for my worst yet???
A hospital room, with the heart monitor flatlining and audio stopping...yea, not a fun one. I had to take a break after this file. This is the good versus evil of being an MT. You sometimes get fun stuff and sometimes stuff that makes your heart break.
Okay. I have more work to do. I hope you are having a wonderful Friday! Enjoy the weekend!!...
P.S. I am still in my pajamas! I have worn Jeans ONE time this week!! I ♥ being an MT!!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Templates: A Medical Transcriptionist's best friend!
So, today I had a rough one. I had 15 files of the new doctor this morning and then some auditors dropped in on me while Rob was at school taking his final. So, guess who got to stop working so that I could follow them around answering their questions? Yeap, Me. That put me about an hour behind! Not to mention, it was the new doctor and I am not as quick with him because of my lack of shorthand entries! (I fixed this tonight with 100 new entries Yay me!)
Anyway, get all that done and what comes in??? A 30 minute file from our old friend Dr. Runon! Followed by 10 more glorious files by Dr. New-guy-who-hardly-ever-breathes (seriously, he just talks and talks and talks!). These aren't due until noon tomorrow so I stopped and we had dinner, leftover beans and cornbread, YUMMM, and we watched Shrek: The Final Chapter (LOVE LOVED THIS! It was adorable). Then once the kiddos were doing their chores I came back to the bedroom to work some more. I didn't actually type the reports, I just copied and pasted templates and filled in and verified patient names and doctor names for cc: reports. All in all, 30 minutes work, copy and pasting mostly, made me a quick $16. Tomorrow morning, all I have to do is fill in the juicy parts of the report!
It is now about 11:15 here and soon I am going to bed. I love this job but I find it hard to believe how exhausting it is. I will tell you, and this is the 100% truth. I look forward to every morning. I love the work I do and I can't see me doing anything else with my life. This job is perfect for me.
Goodnight all. I will be blogging this weekend about the GOOD stuff about medical transcription and also I might just tell you a bit more about my family.
Until later....Enjoy your Friday!!
The Medical Transcritionist' Version of The Night Before Christmas
I wanted to share this real quick. Not a whole lot of time to Blog for the past couple of days! I promise to post as soon as possible! All credits go to the named individuals, I did not write or give the ideas for this. I only found it on the below mentioned site! Enjoy the MT's complicated version of the old story.
The Medical Transcritionist' Version of The Night Before Christmas
The Medical Transcritionist' Version of The Night Before Christmas
Found on MTDaily: Submitted By Sue McKean, SKMckn@aol.com
I, Sharon, found this on http://networkedblogs.com/bDSuv.
‘Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus. Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the wood burning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St. Nicholas.
The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof.
Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself – thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer, piloted by a minuscule, aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power traveling at what may possibly have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen – “Now Dasher, now Dancer…” et al. – guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities.
As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved – with utmost celerity and via a downward leap – entry by way of the smoke passage. He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebony residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle.
His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of his malar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion’s floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen water.
Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose grey fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was, in short, neither more nor less than an obese, jocund, multigenarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me visibly frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head slightly to one side, he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.
Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the aforementioned appended hosiery with various of the aforementioned articles of merchandise extracted from his aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about-face, placed a single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed-bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his parting exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility: “Ecstatic Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self same assemblage, my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn.”
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
What is this MT's worst nightmare?
A 101 minute file that is actual audio and not just a recorder being left on. My supervisor actually warned me of the upcoming nightmare and covered my work for today and yesterday for this file. This was 1 file full of 26 patients (3 days of appointments). Why? Well, sometimes the doctors' lives get too busy and they can't sit and dictate throughout the day so they will do it all on one day or over the weekend. I understand their need for this, I totally do. It is just so frustrating because this is 1 hour and 41 minutes of listening to ONE doctor. When it is one file like this they cannot distribute it to various MTs, one MT has to do the full file, and this is one of my main accounts so I got it! I was honestly having to get up and walk around every 2 patients because I was nodding off at the computer! It took me half the day yesterday and all day today to do this file because of my breaks! Normally, this would have taken 6 hours at the most to type. How do I know that? I type at a 3:1 ratio. This means that in the good circumstances I am able to type a minute of dictation, including proofreading, in 3 minutes. So every hour takes me 3 hours.
Files like these, the super long ones, (which are rare) take longer because you have to take more breaks. It really is tiring and very monotonous listening to the same voice for so long. It doesn't help that this is the doctor I call "Dr. Run-on-SubjectJumper. He will be talking about the history of present illness and then go into some random fact about the patient or their family. He also speaks in 80% or so run-ons and fragments! So, he is quite a challenge. Luckily all my doctors are English-speaking and are easy to understand. They have their own little challenges though. This job is never easy. There are just different kinds of challenges, be it accents or bad grammar or long files, everyone is challenged in this job.
Tonight, my head hurts. I never realized your brain could actually hurt until I started training to be an MT. It honestly can! This job is so worth it though. As soon as I have the time, and patience, I will write a blog that will concentrate on the GOOD things about MT :) I promise, it is not all as bad as I made it sound in the last blog!
I am finally feeling myself winding down. I have some Reba playing (her newest album, All the Women I Am) and I am typing away. You would think I was tired of typing right?
We watched the Grinch who Stole Christmas tonight and had lasagna (Thanks Rob ♥). This is the first year in a while that I actually feel really excited about Christmas! I am not sure why, maybe it has to do with the fact that 100% of my shopping so far has been done online so I haven't had to deal with the crowded malls and grouchy people who are missing the spirit of the season.
For me, Christmas is a time for happiness. A time to laugh when you want to cry and a time for all adults to be children for a day. Some people concentrate too much on the cost of each present or making sure they outdo everyone else in their decorations. To me, this spoils the season. It is not about any of this, it is simply about happiness and making others happy.
OK, I am out of here tonight.... Thanks for reading more of my mindless chatter. This is more therapeutic than I ever imagined!
Oh, one more thing. My graceful, 9-year-old cheerleading daughter was talking on the phone tonight, was getting all into her conversation, turned around and proceeded to run head-first into a door facing, almost busting her head open....She is totally fine....but a door facing??? I mean c'mon...at least trip over the carpet or something ;) haha. I have to tease her! I totally wouldn't if she was hurt bad though.
When you are out and about tomorrow give a random person a compliment, whether it is their looks or that they have nice hair or a great shirt, just compliment them, watch the person's face light up :) It will make you smile too.
Be happy and remember if you are having a bad day, at least it is another day that you are alive. Be thankful for your life!!
Sharon ♥
Monday, December 6, 2010
Medical Transcription, what is it all about.
Well, I am here waiting for work. Rob and the kids just left for school so of course the house is too quiet. Wei-Wei is here but she is just sleeping and the cats just want my room for the heat ;) haha. So, I come here to type while enjoying my coffee and waiting for files.
While I was researching for Medical Transcription I never found a personal, honest article about what medical transcription is. So, that is today's post. Medical Transcription from the training to the job a year later. My view and my experiences.
When I first thought of being an MT, I thought, type what I hear, piece of cake I can do this. This was my biggest mistake. I joined Career Step not thinking about the number of foreign speaking doctors out there. The first part of the course was so much fun. I loved learning how to spell all these big medical words by simply breaking them down and I loved that I could now watch "House" and understand what Dr. House was actually talking about! There were some rough spots, (Career Step students know the evil Perfecting the Text and Intro to Transcription modules well) but I got through and was so excited to start the actual dictations. What is unique about Career Step is that they use authentic doctor-dictated audio files. They really give you a feel of how it is going to be.
The first files are not that bad and you are thinking, "wow, this is better than I thought". Then you hit the ESLs (English as a second language). This is where it hits you. How many foreign doctors are there out there. It is a scary moment when you realize that there are more ESL doctors than straight English speakers (or at least it seems that way to me). This is the first "panic moment" during training because it really is extremely hard to understand these files. It is not as hard when you are in the room with the person because you can say "I am sorry, can you repeat that" and they can try harder to pronounce the words. Well, in MT you CANNOT speak to the doctor most of the time so you are stuck with whatever they sent you. This is the hardest part about medical transcription, and it is not just ESLs you have to worry about! You have doctors who transcribe with phones ringing incessantly, kids screaming in the background, dogs barking, eating, exercising, and transcribing in a crowd (I have heard of one dictation recorded while at a basketball game). You have to deal with all of this and learn to focus on ONE voice and tone out all the other stuff around you. You can practice this now while you are in a crowd. Focus on one voice and force yourself to only understand that person, make all the other sounds just fade. It takes work but if you can learn to do this, your job as an MT is so much easier. The training I had entailed almost 800 audio files. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but what are you training to do?? You are training to do reports for 8-10 hours a day as your paying job. If you will make your training your job for a while then the transition to work will be so much easier. (I am still working on this even a year later).
For me, the transition has been hard. I went from school where I had a year to complete 800 files to the work world where you are required to finish your allotted files in 24 hours or less. I laughed at myself once when I was going over my old posts in my school forum. I was bragging about doing 10 reports in a day. I am doing upwards of 20-40 reports a day at this point! If I had treated my training as my job and worked for a set number of hours on training instead of just a set number of files, I think the transition would have been easier. I have major issues focusing and saying "This is work time. Stay off Facebook and don't browse the internet" I have actually had Rob block Facebook from my computer so that I could focus on work.
For me, focus is not my only issue. I try to concentrate too much on how many reports I do instead of the quality. This is getting better and I am not a terrible transcriptionist. I work on some of the most challenging doctors in my company (doctors that the QA people don't even want to work on). So, I am good at what I do but I try to get too fast and I drop words. I am still on review after a year because of this. My focus this past 2 months has been on quality and not quantity and I think I am getting better. So, remember this! Focus on your quality. I think this is from me saying "oh, I know what I MEANT to type so I won't count that off" during school. For non-Career Step students, we grade our own reports using a grading worksheet. It is up to us to decide what to deduct. Well, this has faded into my work world in a bad way. My proofreading skills are my trouble spot.
So, the work world...What is it like.
The work world for me is challenging. Here is a list of why, it is easiest to put this in list form so you can read the ones you want and skip the ones you don't want to.
1.) Time Management - I spent 14 years of my adult life as a stay at home wife/mom. I didn't have the responsibility of managing my time. I wasn't one of these super busy moms/wives. I had a husband who believed my place was at home, therefore I didn't drive (no license even) so I had nothing to do all day but clean house and watch TV and play on the computer. I had all the time in the world for all of this. So, I think now that it is okay for me to play around on the computer or whatever because "I have all the time in the world". Not anymore. I no longer have all the time in the world for playtime. I have to force myself to work and still hold out enough time for my kids and my family.
2.) Responsibility - The files you work on as a medical transcriptionist are REAL PEOPLE. It is up to you to make sure that their reports are precise and all information is exact. It is harder than you think! You have to remind yourself constantly that your files are going into this person's chart forever and that if you have anything wrong then it could hurt this patient in the years to come! Your files can also be used in a court of law. Keep that in mind!
3.) Empathy/Sympathy - Oh boy, this has been tough on me. I am lucky in that I work mostly in podiatry and GI. The patients I work on aren't chronically ill most of the time. But I do get unfortunate patients that make me lay awake at night wondering if they are okay. A little girl with a broken arm who cringes when her mom raises her hand, an overweight man with foot infections because no one will help him with his personal care, a daughter being told she is going to have to put her dad in hospice because his liver is failing, a 40-year-old who is having problems adapting because her husband left her and her kids homeless. The list can go on and on. So, you have to remember that you are going to be working on patients who are sometimes going to stick with you and this is hard. It is not just the patients either. Occasionally you will have a doctor leave a recorder on accidentally. I have heard an argument which made me change my mind about one of my least favorite doctors. I also had my favorite doctor shown in a bad light due to a recorder being left on. These are things you have to deal with.
4.) Solitude - You may think "oh, I will be at home, everyone will be around me." Yes, this is true but you will be in your own world, with your headphones on, and in a separate room. You are not supposed to let anyone see what you are typing. It is HIPPA rules! You are bound by confidentiality just as a doctor or nurse is. My whole family knows that if they come into my room they are not to look at my screen and if I am talking to one of the kids, I will minimize all work windows. So yes, your family is there. You hear the kids laughing as they play a game in the living room. You hear your husband roughhousing with the dog. You hear life going on around you, and you are separate and listening to a doctor across the country talking about bowel movements or foot warts... This is so hard for me.
5.) Weight issues - I touched on this a bit yesterday. In this job you are moving 2 body parts your hands and a foot. That is it. You sit and stare at a screen all day typing. Yes, typing burns calories, but not as much as getting up and playing with the kids, doing housework, or running errands. So, be prepared to work harder to keep your weight in check!
6.) Body aches - Again, you are sitting at a desk for hours on end. Your thighs will ache, your foot pedal ankle will cramp, your foot will sometimes cramp, your wrists will ache and cause pain all the way to your elbow if you don't stretch enough, and your back will ache. This is just another part of this job. You have to teach yourself to get up once an hour and just walk around and stretch your hands and body! Research ergonomics and get your work station as ergo as you possibly can to prevent some of this! I have even heard of chipped tail bones due to the wrong sitting position. It is very important to learn good posture! Educate yourself!
7.) Eyesight - I had perfect vision before my training began. I now have had 2 different prescriptions for lenses in 2 years. I went from perfect vision to glasses just while reading to glasses all the time with instructions for yearly checks. There is nothing you can do for this I don't think. It is just eye strain. Resting your eyes helps, but when you are watching the screen for mistakes and such, your eyes are being given a major workout. This inevitably causes vision changes.
8.) Judgement - this is a tough one. It angers me. I tell people what I do and they say. "Oh, so you don't have a REAL job, you just work from home." I also hear "so, do you have a real job or do you just sit and type". People have no idea of what medical transcription is about. They have no idea that our job is as important as it is. The stigmata around "work at home" jobs is tainted by all the scams out there. I have told people what I do and have them respond with a "you mean that is real?" but I have also had the "oh, so you don't really work, you just have an at-home thing". Also, people think that because you work at home, you can drop whatever you are doing for them. I had one friend who said a friend of hers called and asked her to babysit since all she was doing was typing. "sure, its not like it is a job or anything...we just sit and type mindlessly." You betcha! This is something that angers me to no end. I do have a real job. In some ways it is harder than outside the home jobs. Also, be truthful, how many people are out there that are thankful for their job in the summer because it gets them away from the kids on summer break?? Well...I work with the kids in the house during summer break. I don't get to escape from them.
9.) Work load fluctuations - If you depend on this as your sole income you have to be prepared! The medical industry is a very random thing. You can go from having so much work that you have to ask for help to having so little that you have to ask for files from a different doctor. It is like this in all medical transcription companies. I do manage to make between $1000 and $1600 a month but that is a big fluctuation if you depend on it. Money management is another skill you need to research a bit.
Truthfully, these are the things that bother me the most. No other ones really stick out for me at the moment. I might make this sound like a horrible profession, and at times it is harder than I ever imagined. I have wondered a few times what I got myself into but then I hear my kids say "its okay, she works from home so she is always here" or "yea, my mom works from home" and I know that my kids are proud of me. I know that they are thankful that I am at home with them. It makes it all worth it.
It gets fun too. I have one doctor who will throw in random facts to a report at the most unusual spots. I have a doctor who I have learned gets very moody if Ole Miss loses a football game (so yes, I keep up with Ole Miss football now haha). I have one who I feel so sorry for because she sounds so sleepy. One sounds like Gomer Pyle! I love him. I have one who sounds like an authentic Southern Belle (think Gone with the Wind). I have wanted to call a few of my clinics before and say "thank you" because my doctors, even though I may complain, are really a pleasure to work for. If I worked in the area where these doctors are, I would use them in a heartbeat.
Okay...Work has been downloaded and my hours technically start at 9:00 so I am going to end this now and spend 10 minutes making me another cup of coffee and preparing for the day. So far it is only 10 files but I am sure that won't be all for the day!
While I was researching for Medical Transcription I never found a personal, honest article about what medical transcription is. So, that is today's post. Medical Transcription from the training to the job a year later. My view and my experiences.
When I first thought of being an MT, I thought, type what I hear, piece of cake I can do this. This was my biggest mistake. I joined Career Step not thinking about the number of foreign speaking doctors out there. The first part of the course was so much fun. I loved learning how to spell all these big medical words by simply breaking them down and I loved that I could now watch "House" and understand what Dr. House was actually talking about! There were some rough spots, (Career Step students know the evil Perfecting the Text and Intro to Transcription modules well) but I got through and was so excited to start the actual dictations. What is unique about Career Step is that they use authentic doctor-dictated audio files. They really give you a feel of how it is going to be.
The first files are not that bad and you are thinking, "wow, this is better than I thought". Then you hit the ESLs (English as a second language). This is where it hits you. How many foreign doctors are there out there. It is a scary moment when you realize that there are more ESL doctors than straight English speakers (or at least it seems that way to me). This is the first "panic moment" during training because it really is extremely hard to understand these files. It is not as hard when you are in the room with the person because you can say "I am sorry, can you repeat that" and they can try harder to pronounce the words. Well, in MT you CANNOT speak to the doctor most of the time so you are stuck with whatever they sent you. This is the hardest part about medical transcription, and it is not just ESLs you have to worry about! You have doctors who transcribe with phones ringing incessantly, kids screaming in the background, dogs barking, eating, exercising, and transcribing in a crowd (I have heard of one dictation recorded while at a basketball game). You have to deal with all of this and learn to focus on ONE voice and tone out all the other stuff around you. You can practice this now while you are in a crowd. Focus on one voice and force yourself to only understand that person, make all the other sounds just fade. It takes work but if you can learn to do this, your job as an MT is so much easier. The training I had entailed almost 800 audio files. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but what are you training to do?? You are training to do reports for 8-10 hours a day as your paying job. If you will make your training your job for a while then the transition to work will be so much easier. (I am still working on this even a year later).
For me, the transition has been hard. I went from school where I had a year to complete 800 files to the work world where you are required to finish your allotted files in 24 hours or less. I laughed at myself once when I was going over my old posts in my school forum. I was bragging about doing 10 reports in a day. I am doing upwards of 20-40 reports a day at this point! If I had treated my training as my job and worked for a set number of hours on training instead of just a set number of files, I think the transition would have been easier. I have major issues focusing and saying "This is work time. Stay off Facebook and don't browse the internet" I have actually had Rob block Facebook from my computer so that I could focus on work.
For me, focus is not my only issue. I try to concentrate too much on how many reports I do instead of the quality. This is getting better and I am not a terrible transcriptionist. I work on some of the most challenging doctors in my company (doctors that the QA people don't even want to work on). So, I am good at what I do but I try to get too fast and I drop words. I am still on review after a year because of this. My focus this past 2 months has been on quality and not quantity and I think I am getting better. So, remember this! Focus on your quality. I think this is from me saying "oh, I know what I MEANT to type so I won't count that off" during school. For non-Career Step students, we grade our own reports using a grading worksheet. It is up to us to decide what to deduct. Well, this has faded into my work world in a bad way. My proofreading skills are my trouble spot.
So, the work world...What is it like.
The work world for me is challenging. Here is a list of why, it is easiest to put this in list form so you can read the ones you want and skip the ones you don't want to.
1.) Time Management - I spent 14 years of my adult life as a stay at home wife/mom. I didn't have the responsibility of managing my time. I wasn't one of these super busy moms/wives. I had a husband who believed my place was at home, therefore I didn't drive (no license even) so I had nothing to do all day but clean house and watch TV and play on the computer. I had all the time in the world for all of this. So, I think now that it is okay for me to play around on the computer or whatever because "I have all the time in the world". Not anymore. I no longer have all the time in the world for playtime. I have to force myself to work and still hold out enough time for my kids and my family.
2.) Responsibility - The files you work on as a medical transcriptionist are REAL PEOPLE. It is up to you to make sure that their reports are precise and all information is exact. It is harder than you think! You have to remind yourself constantly that your files are going into this person's chart forever and that if you have anything wrong then it could hurt this patient in the years to come! Your files can also be used in a court of law. Keep that in mind!
3.) Empathy/Sympathy - Oh boy, this has been tough on me. I am lucky in that I work mostly in podiatry and GI. The patients I work on aren't chronically ill most of the time. But I do get unfortunate patients that make me lay awake at night wondering if they are okay. A little girl with a broken arm who cringes when her mom raises her hand, an overweight man with foot infections because no one will help him with his personal care, a daughter being told she is going to have to put her dad in hospice because his liver is failing, a 40-year-old who is having problems adapting because her husband left her and her kids homeless. The list can go on and on. So, you have to remember that you are going to be working on patients who are sometimes going to stick with you and this is hard. It is not just the patients either. Occasionally you will have a doctor leave a recorder on accidentally. I have heard an argument which made me change my mind about one of my least favorite doctors. I also had my favorite doctor shown in a bad light due to a recorder being left on. These are things you have to deal with.
4.) Solitude - You may think "oh, I will be at home, everyone will be around me." Yes, this is true but you will be in your own world, with your headphones on, and in a separate room. You are not supposed to let anyone see what you are typing. It is HIPPA rules! You are bound by confidentiality just as a doctor or nurse is. My whole family knows that if they come into my room they are not to look at my screen and if I am talking to one of the kids, I will minimize all work windows. So yes, your family is there. You hear the kids laughing as they play a game in the living room. You hear your husband roughhousing with the dog. You hear life going on around you, and you are separate and listening to a doctor across the country talking about bowel movements or foot warts... This is so hard for me.
5.) Weight issues - I touched on this a bit yesterday. In this job you are moving 2 body parts your hands and a foot. That is it. You sit and stare at a screen all day typing. Yes, typing burns calories, but not as much as getting up and playing with the kids, doing housework, or running errands. So, be prepared to work harder to keep your weight in check!
6.) Body aches - Again, you are sitting at a desk for hours on end. Your thighs will ache, your foot pedal ankle will cramp, your foot will sometimes cramp, your wrists will ache and cause pain all the way to your elbow if you don't stretch enough, and your back will ache. This is just another part of this job. You have to teach yourself to get up once an hour and just walk around and stretch your hands and body! Research ergonomics and get your work station as ergo as you possibly can to prevent some of this! I have even heard of chipped tail bones due to the wrong sitting position. It is very important to learn good posture! Educate yourself!
7.) Eyesight - I had perfect vision before my training began. I now have had 2 different prescriptions for lenses in 2 years. I went from perfect vision to glasses just while reading to glasses all the time with instructions for yearly checks. There is nothing you can do for this I don't think. It is just eye strain. Resting your eyes helps, but when you are watching the screen for mistakes and such, your eyes are being given a major workout. This inevitably causes vision changes.
8.) Judgement - this is a tough one. It angers me. I tell people what I do and they say. "Oh, so you don't have a REAL job, you just work from home." I also hear "so, do you have a real job or do you just sit and type". People have no idea of what medical transcription is about. They have no idea that our job is as important as it is. The stigmata around "work at home" jobs is tainted by all the scams out there. I have told people what I do and have them respond with a "you mean that is real?" but I have also had the "oh, so you don't really work, you just have an at-home thing". Also, people think that because you work at home, you can drop whatever you are doing for them. I had one friend who said a friend of hers called and asked her to babysit since all she was doing was typing. "sure, its not like it is a job or anything...we just sit and type mindlessly." You betcha! This is something that angers me to no end. I do have a real job. In some ways it is harder than outside the home jobs. Also, be truthful, how many people are out there that are thankful for their job in the summer because it gets them away from the kids on summer break?? Well...I work with the kids in the house during summer break. I don't get to escape from them.
9.) Work load fluctuations - If you depend on this as your sole income you have to be prepared! The medical industry is a very random thing. You can go from having so much work that you have to ask for help to having so little that you have to ask for files from a different doctor. It is like this in all medical transcription companies. I do manage to make between $1000 and $1600 a month but that is a big fluctuation if you depend on it. Money management is another skill you need to research a bit.
Truthfully, these are the things that bother me the most. No other ones really stick out for me at the moment. I might make this sound like a horrible profession, and at times it is harder than I ever imagined. I have wondered a few times what I got myself into but then I hear my kids say "its okay, she works from home so she is always here" or "yea, my mom works from home" and I know that my kids are proud of me. I know that they are thankful that I am at home with them. It makes it all worth it.
It gets fun too. I have one doctor who will throw in random facts to a report at the most unusual spots. I have a doctor who I have learned gets very moody if Ole Miss loses a football game (so yes, I keep up with Ole Miss football now haha). I have one who I feel so sorry for because she sounds so sleepy. One sounds like Gomer Pyle! I love him. I have one who sounds like an authentic Southern Belle (think Gone with the Wind). I have wanted to call a few of my clinics before and say "thank you" because my doctors, even though I may complain, are really a pleasure to work for. If I worked in the area where these doctors are, I would use them in a heartbeat.
Okay...Work has been downloaded and my hours technically start at 9:00 so I am going to end this now and spend 10 minutes making me another cup of coffee and preparing for the day. So far it is only 10 files but I am sure that won't be all for the day!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Busy day in our house today!
Wow, so today Rob got in the cleaning mood, which got us all in the mood to clean. I did the microwave, cabinets, Jonathan and Ally's dresser drawers, fixed lunch, and grocery shopped....I am so tired now!
I ended up with 5 files over the course of the weekend. This happens sometimes if someone puts work back in the system. They see that they cannot finish it, they put it back so someone else can. I just finished up the last of those and am now typing here before moving to the couch for a few minutes of crocheting before bed. I plan on being in bed by 10:30! I see improvement in my work load so I am looking forward to this coming week.
I have one issue...Today I got on the scale and in just under 2 months I have gained 12 pounds. This is for 2 reasons.
1.) I have a weakness for candy, and for the last 2 months my desk hasn't gone a day without some kind of candy to munch on.
2.) I have a job that is 100% sedentary, and it is really taking a toll on me!
So....Tomorrow starts the turn around. I will be going back to measuring the creamer in my coffee, eating more sensibly, tracking my calories, and drinking as much water as my bladder will hold. Being a recovering bulimic makes it very, very important to gain control of my weight NOW before it gains control of me.
If you are considering being an MT or already are in training or ARE an MT, please remember to be nice to your body! Get up at least once an hour and walk around your house. It only takes 2 minutes. I tend to forget this, yet I can stay on facebook for 15-20 minutes longer than I need to during a break...Time for some discipline on this growing MT.
(Fun fact: I can spell hepatosplenomegaly and esophagogastroduodenoscopy and duodenojejunostomy like it is second nature....I have to correct "discipline" every single time I spell it because I spell it wrong...go figure right??)
Okay. I am really tired of typing so this is enough for today. I hope that you all enjoy the beginning of a new week! I know Monday sucks, just make the most of it!
Until tomorrow...Smile! :)
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Did you miss me??
I hope so because that means you enjoy my blog! :) Where have I been you ask? Well, remember I said I was having a few slow weeks due to the end of the year issues with the medical world? I bit the bullet and asked to be put on another account to go with the 5 or so doctors I already work on. This made all the difference! I have now gone back to making $75-$100 a day! Of course, I am learning a new doctor, clinic, and account specifics so my days have been longer. This part sucks! I think I about have the hang of it though. It honestly doesn't take that long to get used to the new stuff! I think it is more about shaking off the nerves and just concentrating on the work. It is always a bit nerve racking to be on a new account though because all you think about is "what if I mess up and lose this account". This is doctor is a general practitioner-type of account so the work will be more steady than the GI and Podiatry doctors I do at the present time. I hope to stay on this account for a while!
I actually had so much work that I missed TAT (turn around time) by a little bit. I hate when I do this, but it couldn't be avoided. We had a surprise drop in by some house inspectors so that put me behind because they had to do some measurements and such. It's fine though. The company I work for is totally understanding that sometimes life throws us a pop fly and we don't always know where it will land!
Last night we went to our neighboring town's Christmas Parade. Our youngest, Allie, is a Cheerleader and they had a float in the parade. It was FREEZING! It was a good time though. Our 13-year-old had her boyfriend and one of her closest friends with us. It was just a good time. It is amazing how much three teenagers can make you laugh! It is so cute too because Jonathan has a crush on Holland's close friend. She is 15 and he is 9! She calls him her little 5th grade boyfriend. haha.
When we got home last night we took Holland to her friend's house to spend the night and then we got the younger kids fed and in bed and then Rob and I watched Kick Ass. Okay...So that movie actually surprised me and I loved it! It will definitely be one we will watch again! We absolutely love when movies surprise us!
This morning we had to go to Allie's game. I love watching the girls cheer. They enjoy it so much and it shows. I even have a shirt that says "cheerleader mom" on the back :) Today so far we have attended the game, made a menu for next week, got a grocery list together, and Rob is grocery shopping after dropping off Jonathan and Ally at their bio-dad's house. Holland is in the living room with her boyfriend watching Eat, Pray, Love, and I am typing this blog. I have some more work to do but I don't like having my headphones on with the teen and her boyfriend out of my sight. I am trusting, not stupid ;) haha.
So...the plan for today is to just chill and relax. I will finish up my 2 files tonight or tomorrow.
Rob just texted and is on his way home from the grocery store...So, I think I am done boring you with the ins and outs of my day. I have to take Wei-Wei out, check on the teens and figure out something for dinner tonight. I might just make me a Kahlua and Cream too! YUMMM....
I hope that all of you are having a WONDERFUL weekend!! Don't forget to ask me questions if you have any and I will do what I can to answer them!
Oh, and I am doing my nails this afternoon...If I do anything cool you may be cursed with pictures of it ;)
Here is my favorite, all-time, happy song... This song always makes me smile! Enjoy!
I actually had so much work that I missed TAT (turn around time) by a little bit. I hate when I do this, but it couldn't be avoided. We had a surprise drop in by some house inspectors so that put me behind because they had to do some measurements and such. It's fine though. The company I work for is totally understanding that sometimes life throws us a pop fly and we don't always know where it will land!
Last night we went to our neighboring town's Christmas Parade. Our youngest, Allie, is a Cheerleader and they had a float in the parade. It was FREEZING! It was a good time though. Our 13-year-old had her boyfriend and one of her closest friends with us. It was just a good time. It is amazing how much three teenagers can make you laugh! It is so cute too because Jonathan has a crush on Holland's close friend. She is 15 and he is 9! She calls him her little 5th grade boyfriend. haha.
When we got home last night we took Holland to her friend's house to spend the night and then we got the younger kids fed and in bed and then Rob and I watched Kick Ass. Okay...So that movie actually surprised me and I loved it! It will definitely be one we will watch again! We absolutely love when movies surprise us!
This morning we had to go to Allie's game. I love watching the girls cheer. They enjoy it so much and it shows. I even have a shirt that says "cheerleader mom" on the back :) Today so far we have attended the game, made a menu for next week, got a grocery list together, and Rob is grocery shopping after dropping off Jonathan and Ally at their bio-dad's house. Holland is in the living room with her boyfriend watching Eat, Pray, Love, and I am typing this blog. I have some more work to do but I don't like having my headphones on with the teen and her boyfriend out of my sight. I am trusting, not stupid ;) haha.
So...the plan for today is to just chill and relax. I will finish up my 2 files tonight or tomorrow.
Rob just texted and is on his way home from the grocery store...So, I think I am done boring you with the ins and outs of my day. I have to take Wei-Wei out, check on the teens and figure out something for dinner tonight. I might just make me a Kahlua and Cream too! YUMMM....
I hope that all of you are having a WONDERFUL weekend!! Don't forget to ask me questions if you have any and I will do what I can to answer them!
Oh, and I am doing my nails this afternoon...If I do anything cool you may be cursed with pictures of it ;)
Here is my favorite, all-time, happy song... This song always makes me smile! Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
One of those days....
Okay, so I have some days where no matter how much I love my job. I just cannot stay focused!! Today was one of those days! I finished up a bit of work left from last night and turned that in and then Rob and I watched 2012 while eating breakfast. Then it was back to the computer....I had work, but went to Amazon, Facebook, and the CS forum instead...I have all night to do my work, right?
Tammy commented the other day and mentioned that maybe we would get paid more working onsite. Well...I am not sure. I can tell you one thing with 100% certainty...If I worked onsite I would be more focused and disciplined! Rob says often that I need an office job and on days like today...I agree 100%.
So, if I didn't work then what did I do all day??
Christmas shopped! We have just a few more things to buy (and I have order Rob's gift) and we are done! Woo Hoo! I spent all of my Amazon Gift cards though!!! This is so sad since I had $200 worth that I had "bought" with redeemed SwagBucks over this year. What is SwagBucks? Just a search engine that pays you "bucks" for searches occasionally. Not EVERY search wins but I win about 4-5 times a day. This along with code hunting and things like that have helped me buy Amazon Cards. I saved them all up for Christmas Shopping!! Tell me I am not smart!! ;)
I mean, we are still spending money on gifts, but that is $200 we don't have going on the credit cards right?? Want to learn more? Click the banner at the bottom of my blog (possibly will add another to the right side later). This will take you to my referral page. I promise, it is not a scam, and I have made $200 honestly and just by browsing with SwagBucks. You can also Click the word SwagBucks anywhere in this post for my referral page.
Anyway...So yea. Not a lot of work came out of my fingers today... I did have an interesting day yesterday though!
I had a 108 minute dictation by "Dr. Runon-SubjectJumper" and when I have one this long I will listen through and get the templates ready and the patient names and numbers put in and any cc: that are needed. Well after the third patient I started thinking it sounded familiar. I backtracked to another day with this doctor and I was right! I had already typed all of this!
Now...I have 2 choices.
1.) Pretend that I didn't notice, copy and paste and get paid twice, even though I am not doing the work the second time.
2.) Call them and let them know.
I called them :) I just couldn't do the copy and paste thing! So...I resent the files that they were missing and I slept easy last night. My conscience won out. It usually does!
I haven't had a whole lot of work today anyway because this time of year in MT world is just slow as I have said before. I could have probably asked for more but like I said...it is one of those days!! Just a single podiatry file and 8 GI files is all...I still have the 8 GI files to do!
Tonight is Biggest Loser night in our family...Although I got a spoiler earlier and know who goes home :( I hate spoilers!! We love watching this as a family while having dinner. Tonight we are doing spaghetti (extra mushrooms for me! YUM) and garlic bread.
Okay...I guess that is enough babbling for the day...That is basically what I do when I log on to blog..I just type as my mind moves. I think it is the best way to write! I am getting a lot of comments and emails and posts on the school forum about people liking my blogs and I want you guys to know I appreciate it. I am off to actually work now. Going to finish these files and then crochet the rest of the night away.
Tonight...take 5 minutes out of your hectic night, stop, sit down and write your favorite memory as a child. One that really makes you smile. Write it down and stick it on top of the refrigerator. When you are feeling down, take that memory down, read it, and allow yourself to smile and then write a new memory. You will be surprised how much this will help your mood.
☺
Till tomorrow!
Sharon ♥
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)