Are you paid by the hour? and what about documentation

[Bonosgrrl]

I have a part time per diem job I am paid by the hour, but I am not paid for charting. for instance, if my last patient comes in for a 15 min appt 11:45 til 12, and then I am done for the day, and I have to finish my charting for this patient and any others, I am not paid for that time. the owner of the practice says she doesnt get paid and she is in the office several hours after the last patient doing her charting.

I had no idea of this policy before I took the job. came up after.

good news is its only a temporary position, so it has an end date. but just wondering how everyone else is paid.

[Hi2Jenn]

I would check with an employment lawyer. The owner of the practice is correct that this is not something she gets paid for. However, you are not salaried, you are hourly. An hourly employee is expected to be paid for every minute of time worked. There was a big case in Florida many years ago. The hospital told RNs not to clock in. If they were scheduled for 12 hours they would be paid for twelve hours. They lost that one. The floor nurses were not salaried and were legally supposed to be paid.

[Bonosgrrl]

What complicates this further is the practice owner is a good friend. She asked me for my help until another doctor joins her. I dont want the job permanently but was willing to do it temporarily. I was floored when her office manager told me about not being paid, and i verified this with my friemd/boss. So my patient comes in at 11:45 for a 15 min appt. i am done with him at 12 , i still have to document, but they say i am off the clock. It is electronic and if i only have that one to do, it really is only a couple minutes. But what if its busy, and i cant chart as i go and i have 3-4 pts to still chart on. That 2 minutes can turn to 30.

[Deltaflaze]

If you are hourly; it should be on-time. Any errors you make during this off-the-clock-time would all of a sudden become entirely your problem instead of related to the place of employment. The facility could entirely abandon you saying it was off time.

I agree; check with a lawyer. But in several settings I have worked; we were repeatedly told that we must be clocked in while doing work or legal issues could arise putting our licenses at danger and the place of employment would not be liable.

[Deltaflaze]

I should add; if they still stand by this policy...I would request it in writing.

[allennp]

Practice I was in before now was hourly and paid for time charting. It was a busy UC in support of a hospital and large private practice primary/speciality group. Busy with complex workups at times. They would rather have us spend time doing good documentation and explaining our medical decision ratherv than hurried brief charting, plus they liked if we could keep the pt flow going when busy. I found it hard to chart on 20 pts after shift so I usually at least did my hpi so i could remember the pt.

nice practice, good group.

Templates and dragon dictation helped to.

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