Passage

With advocates like these. . .

Here I am in my self-imposed spring break, trying to just be for a change, with a view toward hitting the books again this weekend. I'm finding that as always, the more you try not to think about something--anything--the harder it is to do. There's such a growing din of discontent in MTville it's rendering me incapable of harmlessly random thoughts. It's like I've caught an Andy Rooney virus and simply need to stew about something.

Case in point: The latest print issue of Advance, in which Peter Preziosi speaks for the Airheads--AKA The "Professional" Organization Formerly Known as AAMT, which should take a cue from Prince and just pick a symbol because their new acronym is just impossible to remember--once again pimps the party line by telling us that the sure-fire way to benefit the field of MT is to bust your hump and get your CMT certification because, golly gee, that alphabet soup and a better wardrobe is what will get you the respect of your employer, your dictators, and your coworkers. Heck, maybe it'd even make your sister-in-law think twice before dropping in for coffee during your shift. But wait--since Peter and his cohorts at MTIA have steered this ship to benefit the speech recognition vendors and AAMT dropped the "American Medical Transcriptionists" from the acronym, they've already declared that they now instead operate as advocates for the medical record and not the transcriptionist. It's all about EMR and SR now, baby. Except MT week is looming and this apparently calls for a flip-flop to claim they're advocating for us after all. So which is it? I guess they're hoping Lenin was right when he said, "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." As an MT, AAMT's claims of advocacy sound hollow indeed. I have a good feeling this is simply a matter of not wanting to give up the potential cash cow that certification offers. They've not succeeded in selling us the idea of the vanity title, though some of our Indian counterparts seem to think it will garner them acceptance. The organization is driven by the idea of selling us on their credential and their BOS, if not a membership. Without everyone on board for individual certification, how will they sell companies on the idea they should also be certified? Nothing else they've done seems to have hit the jackpot. Even that drive a couple years ago to lure in student members has not resulted in many of them staying on as full members, once they discovered how little that membership gets them (i.e. a very expensive lapel pin) and the realities that the organization simply does not want to deal with new ideas. Not that the old way of thinking is getting them too far. These people are the crew of their very own Titanic and as the water rises over all our ankles, they're busy congratulating themselves for jettisoning a few bothersome lifeboats because it gives them room to pack in another game of charades as the orchestra continues to play. To quote Peter: "So if you want to help advocate for your profession, to bring it more visibility and respect, become credentialed. . . The profession could really use your help." Is it just me, or is there a huge disconnect in the concepts of who's advocating for whom and what that really entails? Maybe the medical document isn't the great partner they thought it would be.

As the industry moves increasingly to SR and MTs are told they are now "editors," we find ourselves training the very technology that is replacing us, and at a cut in pay for the privilege. Veteran MTs are not valued when there are sloppily educated greenhorns happy to start at poverty wages. Even the clients are getting used to the idea that crappy transcription is all they'll get--but it's okay because it's cheap! It is fast becoming the norm that MTs with 20-30 years' experience are being hired at the same wages as those newbies and told they must "work their way up the ladder." Only--oops!--they're not talking raises, they mean that you work more difficult accounts with the dictators so awful that SR doesn't work with them, and the main option for increasing your pay is simply to work harder and faster. I know too many who are afraid to leave the nationals because they are at a rate of pay they will never see again and are already struggling to survive, at that. They have simultaneously put the production screws to us whilst redefining our wages with an eye toward 2-4 cpl as soon as they can get away with it. Honestly, is there another field where this kind of thing flies? What did MTs do to deserve an "advocate" like this?

I'm not sure why I'm harping on an organization I truly feel is history. Before I sprout Andy's gigantic eyebrows and launch into another silly rant, will mosey instead to my happy spot: My week has involved a revelation regarding my back misery, in which I suddenly realized the last time my bed didn't make me ache was back before the ex forced me to jettison the beloved waterbed and let him pick out an erroneously named "Beautyrest," which has been akin to camping on asphalt. A little tenacious sleuthing and I sing the praises of Craig's List, wherein I located a very retro full-motion waterbed for a mere $25 and should be floating blissfully by Friday night. The last bad vestige of a worse marriage will soon find a new home with some masochist or desperate cheapskate as I finally relish real lumbar support.

Add in the bonus that my daughter and I finally succeeded in getting far enough into the attic to fix the A/C as the FL summer hits and I am rarin' to get back into school with a clear head and fresh enthusiasm. I've finally received all the textbooks for my next AHIMA module. First impressions are that the computer course will be painfully simplistic and outdated. Since technology advances so fast that any new computer is outdated before you even break it in, I'm not sure how anyone can teach this as more than the basics. It appears that HIPAA is glaringly omitted, at least in the textbook. Hopefully, this class will be a breeze, as I'm still rather bruised from the anatomy & physiology course. Medical terminology looks to be fairly easy, though there's an extra text about pathophysiology that is kind of giving me palpitations because it appears to be an evil cousin to the A&P text. Pharmacology looks to be another fairly straightforward text and involves a lot of things I already deal with, so perhaps three out of four makes for pretty good odds on getting through intact. In light of the increasing grumbling amongst my peers and the knowledge that I need to race to get ahead of our "advocates," am feeling pretty motivated to dive in.