Now For Some Good News ... I'm Officially "Pineapple Proud" 🍍🥰

So after our sheltie, Brookie, passed one month ago, then our horse, Factor, on Thursday - both of whom Mark had longer than he's had me - Mark and I were looking up at the sky waiting for something to fall on me or something 😂 (Just kidding.)

We really, really needed some good news.

Then yesterday, my trainer and boss informed me that I passed my training!

I literally teared up (but then it was super easy already for me to cry yesterday anyway, due to Factor's passing), but especially when she said that I'd exceeded expectations on both my actual work and  my attitude!

And I have to say they have exceeded mine, too!

I already knew when I saw employee reviews as a 4.5/5 on Glassdoor, Indeed, and Linked In that it was a good place to work, as that's the highest score I've ever seen - but their encouragement and kindness towards both new people and each other, I haven't seen since my early days in transcription!

Thus, I am officially "Pineapple Proud" 🍍🍍🍍 - as a (home-based) medical transcriptionist for Baptist Health South Florida - specifically for the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute! 

(If "someone" wants to contact them to smear me - again - good luck with that!  Most people have become wise to how creepy that is, plus they know me pretty well already - certainly better than you ever did!)

So we are #2 in South Florida for Cardiac Care - a close second, behind only the Cleveland Clinic -Miami!

(Well, it IS the Cleveland Clinic - with Mayo and Cleveland Clinic being the best in the nation, and ranked internationally as well, for just about everything, but cardiac care in particular.)

Now, when we say South Florida, we mean from Palm Beach County to Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) to Miami-Dade County, with the heaviest presence in the Miami metropolitan area. 

Though we have many hospitals in South Florida, with their largest and anchor hospital being in South Miami, they originally started out in Kendall (suburban Miami), which is where their Children's Hospital is, which I personally think is their prettiest location!

Though I work from home, this is my particular facility, MCVI (Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute). 

We transcribe outpatient interventional radiology procedures done at this facility as well, such as ultrasound or CT-guided biopsies and administration of complex chemotherapy and immunology combination agents as well. 

Though I've been a medical transcriptionist for 27 years, It's been a rough the last 15 years or so in medical transcription - initially replaced by offshore outsourcing, then EHR/EMR "check-the-box" systems, and now voice-recognition/AI. 

In fact, it became cutthroat-competitive, considering the amount of jobs that were left, for low pay/no benefits, with much power-abuse/bullying going on, because jobs in this field are scarce. 

I was lucky enough to have a contract for 5 years transcribing for an independent pharmaceutical marketing firm, with a GREAT boss (who I still pick up work for, on occasion) -  but even that work began to dry up in the summer of 2023.

Fortunately for me, the doctors at MCVI especially care that their healthcare documentation is accurate, and they realize that medical transcription is not just a basic secretary - it's a skilled position.  

Because to be a really good MT - and believe me, I'm not the best there is, but I do okay - you're not just typing and correcting spelling and grammar, nor is it even just medical terminology.

You'd better have aced your anatomy and physiology courses in college to be able to understand where they are in the body and what they are doing to it -  how they're treating it!

(You also have to have good hearing and a great memory.)

And they'd already tried the cheap routes - offshore outsourcing, "check-the-box" EHR/EMR stuff, and the voice-recognition/AI stuff - and realized that although these things are cheap upfront, inaccurate healthcare documentation will cost them more in the long run.

Though we do use EHR/EMR systems (electronic health/medical record), as well as voice recognition as a tool, no more "checking the box" here - our work gets directly uploaded into EHR/EMR. 

And believe me when I say voice that voice rec/AI still gets things wrong that need human correction and intuition (because this is human communication) because it can affect patient care AND their billing.

For instance, this particular voice-recognition system likes to mishear the doctors say  "left ventricular ascending artery" and "poster descending artery" with some dictators, you need to understand that makes no sense and those cardiac arteries do not exist, and that you should correct it to "left anterior descending artery" and "posterior descending artery."

And they DO test you to make sure you understand all of that!

Many doctors don't realize how important this is until they either:

A) Don't get paid after insurance denied the claim, either because their medical assistant checked the wrong diagnosis box in the EMR/EHR or because offshore or AI "misheard"  their dictation. 

- OR - 

B) They're called into a deposition after someone isn't happy with the results of their treatment, but their voice-rec/AI program or offshore misheard their dictation, so they lose the lawsuit - NOT because they did anything wrong, but because they couldn't prove they didn't.

Of course, I never say never -  AI is getting very close to human intuition -  but for now - hopefully this setup holds until I retire! 

 

I feel like I've died and gone to heaven!

I think the other reason I teared up was because I haven't seen this kind of encouragement and comradery since my early days of transcription in the early 2000s!

Not so long ago, I got used to mistreatment in both my personal and professional life, such that it became "normal" to me, I even believed I deserved it  - until I realized it wasn't and I didn't.

However, even then, I also knew that I was getting older, this was all I was trained to do, and this is all that was left - so us older gals in the field just put up with it, grateful to still have a job in the field  - and boy, these third-party contract companies knew it, too, took that ball and ran with it!

Verbal and emotional abuse - personally or professionally - is a very effective way of devaluing you so that you end up feeling like you deserve it, like you're lucky they allow you to work there because you're otherwise worthless and nobody else would want you - until one day, they take it too far, and you finally wake up and start to think - "maybe I do deserve better?")

Those 27 years in this field, hanging on by the skin of my teeth, is finally paying off again - we DO still have value!

The pineapple logo for BHSF is the symbol for welcoming - and believe me, they are!

They have an extremely thorough and rigorous hiring screening, and one of the things they're looking for is a welcoming, kind, empathetic attitude - and believe me, even in transcription, that's true!

My trainer and supervisor is so very intelligent and kind - she's my mentor!

(I would say it's a tie between my pharmaceutical contract boss and my BHSF boss for mentorship - hey, I can have two mentors, can't I? 😂 

So bye bye to all the third-party BS - I work directly for a renowned hospital again as an actual employee with benefits!

(We were always capable of taking you seriously without threatening account loss every 5 minutes, you know. Not to mention, that scare tactic loses its effect after a while.)

Bye bye all-cap emails to entire teams, threatening us with account loss if we don't hop on and work on our days off or we don't score 100%, though your current contract productivity pay amounts to around  $9 an hour for even your fastest MT - and no benefits!

Some contract companies now actually doc your already sweatshop-level pay if you make a mistake!

For comparison, I made 50K in the early 2000s, only to watch our line price value drop to essentially 18K a year competing with offshore outsourcing, EMR/EHR "box-check" systems, and AI.)

Bye bye, self-employment tax of $3,000, though you only made that 18K!

Bye bye, inconsistent QA performed by cliquey mean girls with unwarranted arrogance, who bully/power abuse (especially online) just because they can and know you're desperate!

Bye bye, treating skilled MTs like sweatshop labor, paying them less than flipping burgers at McDonald's!

Hello, welcoming new people, kindness, encouragement, and valuing/rewarding skill, hard work, a job well done, and a positive attitude -  rather than cronyism, power abuse/bullying,  and toxic competition - it's nice to see you again, it's been a long time! 

And though there are productivity standards as well as accuracy standards, I can actually take the time to craft a report to perfection, which they prefer, rather than worry about pay based on productivity only!

Ya know, though I haven't really been a Florida kinda gal, I prefer the mountains and forests to beaches - I admit, Miami  is starting to look pretty great to me, right now!

I love the international mix and the friendly, welcoming attitude!

Not sure if everyone in Miami is like that, but they definitely are at BHSF!

Thank you, BHSF "family" - I am SO very grateful ...

... and Pineapple Proud! 🍍

PS - Just an FYI, since I edit and proof all day, every day, for a living - I usually take off my proofing hat for personal communication including my blog. (I usually come back and edit later, though, when/if I have time. 😜)

Text and emails are like post-it notes to me, I scribble them out and go back to work, so don't judge based on what I do in more personal communication I'm not getting paid to do!