Work is way, way harder...

Bluesky has it exactly right. You can blame Obama if it makes you feel better, but EMRs have been in the works for a lot longer than he's been president. Technology is costing us (MTs) right now. I've been doing this for 20+ years.

Fortunately, I'm with a system right now that looks like most of us will be able to hang on for quite a while. There have been huge changes at this place in the last couple years, and more are coming. While we ARE required to do more for a bit less pay than just a few short years ago, we are fortunate enough to have management that has turned us into a "for profit" dept - although I work for a specific system, we are now taking on physician offices and other types of work very similar to a service. We outsource almost nothing to India anymore.

Voice recognition is hitting hard. Our whole rad section is going to PowerScribe within the next year, which will eventually reduce MT manpower by about 80% in that section; however they are trying to take on enough work from other sources so that not many (if any) will be out. Radiologists are notoriously impatient - I'm curious to see how much self editing they'll really want to do. Our med recs went to VR last year, we lost no one (yet, at least) due to cuts as they've taken on enough work to keep us busy and the dept actually making money for the system. If they continue to do this, most of us will be okay. Our "sister" dept in Columbus has actually grown MT staff by about triple in the last 3 years - I'm hoping that eventually we'll all fall under their umbrella, because those ladies KNOW what they are doing, and doing it well. I'm only 47, so have a long time before retirement (if ever!), and things are changing at warp speed. If you're willing to learn, bend with the changes, and yes, worker harder for less, you can still (at this point) make a decent wage at this job.

In 2006, the system I worked for outsourced our whole dept - I was there for 18 years - but many MTs there were not willing to change and adapt and eventually I think they just got tired of dealing with it - and there was nobody there to turn us into a money-maker.

It's tough times, indeed. Very scary.