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#104694 - 07/23/08 04:53 PM
Need to get something off my chest
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missp
Member
Registered: 09/11/99
Posts: 772
Loc: Tied to my desk typing (where ...
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As some of you may know, I work in-house at a small hospital. We are having quite a problem in transcription right now.
I keep getting a ton of work dumped on me because the day people can't work together, and I'm getting tired of it! There is a hospital rule that x-rays HAVE to be typed the day they are dictated if there is a transcriptionist there that day. If the day people don't get them all done (which is usual -- x-rays are at least a two-person job), they pass them on to me. I have no problem with that. However, working evenings, and with no night transcriptionist, if they aren't done by the end of my shift, I have to stay until they are finished. Sometimes this is the radiologist's fault, but sometimes it is just like I said, the day people don't work well together. Also, since I am usually the only one in Medical Records in the evening, I also get called upon to pull charts for the ER and the floors, sometimes I am up and down all night.
We have one lady who seems to be a good transcriptionist, but she is not very fast at typing x-rays. I have been typing them for a long time, and I would have been more than willing to share some efficiency tips with her, but was not sure that was my place. Anyway, I went to the boss and told her what was going on, and she said she would get our transcriptionist who works out of her home to help out when it is this lady's turn to type x-rays (she only has certain days she does them). This causes a problem because we have certain paperwork that we have to have to do x-rays, and a transcriptionist here has to take time away from her job to fax the paperwork to her, and this girl being slow already, well..... I am not sure why the boss didn't get an in-house person to help, but what do I know????? Maybe she has her reasons (can't fathom any, though)
So anyway, the slow transcriptionist is mad at me now because the boss told her I complained about having to type too many x-rays. She now gives me the cold shoulder, etc. She is also not working well with other transcriptionists. She will be civil to me and professional in work matters, but totally ignores me when I say hi.
BIG MISTAKE - I just went into my boss's office to talk about something else and ended up telling her I was stressed and why. The boss pretty much said that "you can't make everybody happy", and the only way I am not going to get dumped on is if I went to days (don't want to do that, ESPECIALLY in an atmosphere like we have here). She also said that this was actually a pretty good time for transcription; our workload is actually down, and we are not doing all the overtime we were doing. I said "but I AM still doing overtime sometimes". Just felt MORE frustrated after I talked to her.
I should mention that one of our in-house transcriptionists went to the boss some time ago and requested that she be given a break from x-rays (she used to type them every day). She now is only assigned to type them two days a week (but she does have to fill in when it is someone else's turn and they aren't here). Seems like she completely washes her hands of them on days when it's not "her day" to type them, or so it seems to me.
As I have told people here time and time again,I do not mind typing x-rays (in fact, I can really get in a groove with them). What I DO mind is having someone pass something to me just because they don't want to do them, and having so much of it shoved at me.
Thanks for letting me vent.
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#104699 - 07/23/08 05:30 PM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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Badfinger
Member
Registered: 11/07/07
Posts: 507
Loc: Grand Prairie, TX
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If someone kept passing the buck to me after I explained my frustration more than once to my boss, I would give an ultimatum, that you either get the help you need or you will be forced to find work elsewhere. That's what happened to me. I wasn't working in-house but was working for a company that I had been with for 15 years. They started restructuring everything to where instead of just doing 1, 2, or 3 accounts, we were getting up to 10 different accounts, all with different formats. If they were all streamlined, that would have been one thing, but to just throw 10 different hospitals, 10 different formats, etc., was just not fair. I explained my frustration to every supervisor that came my way (I had gone through about 4 in the span of 3 months because they kept quitting). I was told that I was important to the company and that they would what they could to keep me happy. Well, they failed to do that and in October 2007, I gave them the boot and am now working for a company who actually treats me like a person and not a transcription puppet. There are better places out there. Just gotta take a deep breath and take the plunge.
_________________________
I've got something to say . . . . it's better to burn out than fade away.
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#104701 - 07/23/08 05:47 PM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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FarAwayDeb
Member
Registered: 03/15/02
Posts: 2916
Loc: just south of Rochester, NY
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The boss pretty much said that "you can't make everybody happy", and the only way I am not going to get dumped on is if I went to days ...
I probably would have asked her if that would mean I only had to do x-rays two days a week, and could leave on time every day regardless of whether they were all done.
I probably would have also told her that from now on I am not working late, I will do what I can get done before it's time for me to leave, but if those "day girls" can't get their fair share done, it's not my fault, and she might need to get additional help.
I probably would also have been fired. Sorry, I know that's not much help, but other than you finding (or threatening to find) another job, I don't really see much changing there. No matter how much you complain about it, if you continue to do it, they will continue to let you, it's the cheapest and easiest way for them. At least you have a place to vent where we understand. 
_________________________
Good grammar ain't easy.
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#104722 - 07/23/08 07:22 PM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: FarAwayDeb]
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missp
Member
Registered: 09/11/99
Posts: 772
Loc: Tied to my desk typing (where ...
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[quote=missp] At least you have a place to vent where we understand.
Quite true. Sometimes there is not much you can do to remedy a situation, but just getting it off your chest with someone who understands helps :). Thanks for the replies
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#105948 - 08/02/08 02:04 PM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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Julie W8
Member
Registered: 01/10/99
Posts: 3526
Loc: Los Angeles, CA USA
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Seems to me it isn't your job to make sure x-rays are done within the specified TAT. You're taking ownership for supervisory shortcomings.
I would just tell the supervisor to work out the problem in whatever way is necessary, but you will no longer stay past your shift to complete the x-rays for the day. That's her job and that's why she's the supervisor and you're the MT. They don't tell the day MTs to stay past shift to get work done, do they? If I'm reading your post right, your complaint is more about staying late than about doing x-rays - so when you talk to the supervisor, talk about that, not about what it is you're transcribing.
She either needs to light a fire under the day people, add more night people, or live with the fact that x-rays aren't always going to be done within the specified TAT. If they get behind on x-rays, it will motivate her to do something about the problem.
I would approach her in a very positive way but tell her because of other obligations (you don't need to detail them), you have to leave when your shift is over and you will not be able to stay later.
IMO, part of the problem is they're having MTs take time away from transcription to do clerical jobs. You should be typing, not pulling charts, filing and faxing.
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#106029 - 08/03/08 05:21 AM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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EnsleysGirl
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1202
Loc: Hancock, Maine
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I agree with Julie. There's no way you can get anything done hopping around pulling charts, etc. I also work for a small hospital, and after the Med. Rec. staff leaves at 4:30, Maintenance is trained to send a guy down to pull charts for the ER. I work Sundays during the day also, and occasionally a new Maintenance guy will hear me typing, come to my room, and ask me for help. I just say, "Sorry - don't know anything about that - I'm an MT," and he either figures it out or finds another Maintenance guy to help him. It's true - I was never told how to file/retrieve charts or anything else about medical records. And I like it that way!
Do you get paid by the line? If so, there's no way you should be pulling charts!
PS - If an x-ray at our hospital is dictated after the radiology MT leaves at 3:30 p.m., it sits until she gets there the next day at 7 a.m. Other providers or staff do have, however, the capacity to call into the radiology dictation voice box and listen to any dictation not yet transcribed.
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#106034 - 08/03/08 08:34 AM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: Julie W8]
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PR216
Junior Member
Registered: 11/14/05
Posts: 61
Loc: Lower Michigan
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I would just tell the supervisor to work out the problem in whatever way is necessary, but you will no longer stay past your shift to complete the x-rays for the day. That's her job and that's why she's the supervisor and you're the MT. They don't tell the day MTs to stay past shift to get work done, do they?
I totally agree. I think so many of us have been brought up to be "pleasers" and forget about ourselves. You should not have to take responsibility for this work getting done.
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#106038 - 08/03/08 11:50 AM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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rainloveslife
Member
Registered: 07/31/06
Posts: 405
Loc: Georgia on my mind
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Missp, I agree with what everyone else has pointed out here. I will also add that it is only when you stand your ground and stop the overtime to get those x-ray reports done that your supervisor will realize her day shift needs to stop their bickering and get their share of the work load done. If you keep staying over to get those x-ray reports done on a regular basis, they will just keep dumping them on you.
In my opinion, you're supervisor needs to stop breaking her neck to keep the day shift happy (probably more because they are in her face every day and you're not) and worry more about the work getting done in a timely fashion, and if that means keeping one of those day shifters over to help with the x-ray backlog, then that is what she needs to do.
_________________________
Aspire to inspire before you expire. Smile, it improves your face value
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#106447 - 08/06/08 07:27 PM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: EnsleysGirl]
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missp
Member
Registered: 09/11/99
Posts: 772
Loc: Tied to my desk typing (where ...
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Do you get paid by the line? If so, there's no way you should be pulling charts!
Answer: No, fortunately I get paid by the hour.
Other providers or staff do have, however, the capacity to call into the radiology dictation voice box and listen to any dictation not yet transcribed.
We have that capability too, but unfortunately the doctors don't like to do that. Also, the nurses say they can't understand the dictations when they try to listen (most of our radiologists are actually among the EASIEST doctors to understand).
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#108272 - 08/21/08 06:48 AM
Re: Need to get something off my chest
[Re: missp]
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purselady
New Member
Registered: 07/26/06
Posts: 24
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How fortunate just to be able to work IN HOUSE and not from home. I loved my in house job and with outsourcing lost it. The benefits, the hourly pay.....nothing can compare. I would go back in a heartbeat! Just remember if you leave an in house job and decide to work from home ... its not as beneficial at least in my opinion its not.
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