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13.5 to 20 cents is a large difference to pay. Naturally MQ would get 20.

Posted By: sm on 2005-07-17
In Reply to: copy and past into address bar. nm - MT Vendor rates for NJ MC. Check it out!

Something told me that they got just as much as they used to and this shows they do. I hope all the smaller MTSOs would stop lowering their rates based on what they **think** are going down. If MQ can get 20, so can they.


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    It is a $2 difference in a day, not $20 (0.02 cents) - sm
    so $20 over 10 days if you worked 10 days straight 100 reports every day that is. (0.02 x 100 is $2.00). I know I don't do 100 reports a day, maybe 100 minutes though. I have worked for one company that did not pay for spaces, that this one counts a line at 55 characters is a point in its favor at least, (where I was it was 65 char.) So while they are still being shorted at least it is not by much (i.e. $40 a month at most....probable more like $20). Of course that does not make it right, just pointing out that it was not as bad as you thought.
    2 cents more per line is a big difference, if you do the same work
    I do not know if you'll make more at Spheris, but they do pay on time, their supes and QA are decent, insurance is not, and they have incentives, and overall are okay except they offshore.
    Some people are naturally more assertive
    Translation: Pushy, demanding.  When another person points that out suddenly they become too sensitive. 
    NO FAIR-WORK SHOULD FLOW NATURALLY - sm
    As bad as things were at the Q, we got 1 job at a time, detmined via automation, to whatever MT was free was the next to get that job - no one to pick the best work for herself and give MTs the garbage.  All this BS about TAT - best work gets taken first, MTs get squat.  And how many people do we have to answer to, anyhow?  You have top supe, account supe, supe of transcription, and leads like Carter's has pills.  No wonder we get all ESLs and garbage - done by those who have the power to dictate who does what work.  In the next life, just make me a Lead -- they can even keep the hourly/weekly salary -- just let me have first grab at the available dictation!
    What is average? 7 cents, 8 cents, 9 cents? 65-character?
    x
    I also work for 8 cents a line. I left a job typing OPs for 10-11 cents sm
    to take a clinic job. I made an average of $17-18 an hour with OPs, now make $16-17 an hour, but the work is easier on me. I do not call that poor pay. I type 200+ lines an hour. True, it isn't the $26-27 an hour I was making 10 years ago at a hospital, but that's gone for good. I have excellent skills, make better than 99% on QA at any company I have worked for, and some of those have been very demanding.

    I'm afraid the people that are expecting to make $20-30 an hour in MT are going to be disappointed. A few can still make that amount, but for the average good transcriptionist, the pay is much more likely to run $15-20. Benefits are pretty much gone. However, I feel that what I'm making is considerably above what I could make in another field, unless I decide to teach, which I will not do. Still, I make more than I would at Walmart or Burger King, or even a secretarial job. It's my choice. Good luck to you.
    The mentoring program does not pay 8-1/2 cents per line. Believe it is like 6 cents.
    n/m
    4 CENTS , SCHMORE CENTS. THAT'S WRONG!
    Whether an MT is new or an editor, 4 cents a line is deeply insulting, and 9 cents per line isn't really too much better. You know, I understand that most of these MT companies want to save money, but most of them don't seem to want to pay what an MT's time and skills are really worth. Why not pay an MT who has been in the field for 7-10 years or more 15 or 20 cents per line? At least I might consider working for one of these companies at home if I were to be paid that much straight off the bat for having 12 years' experience, but I guess that would be too much like right...
    Do they still pay you 5 cents a line and 2 cents if you send anything to QA?
    xx
    I have a problem with 7 cents and 8 cents a line because
    ...when I started 15 years ago, my very first MT job started me out at 8 cents a gross line, then went to 9 cents a gross line after only a year. I was SOOO happy and proud of myself for choosing a profession that paid so well - I imagined myself making a lot of $$ once I had 10 or 15 years experience behind me...

    Well that never happened; in fact, it all went backwards, pay wise. The company I worked for back then sold out to a national, and of course the pay was cut, and 9 cents a gross line was never to be had again, at least not that I could find. I am considered living in poverty now. I started out great but have ended up very badly.

    I think my own personal problem is that it's hard for me to let go the fact that I made good money just starting out and how everything I had ever learned about jobs, careers and pay was that the more experience and education you have in a particular field, the more your pay goes up as each year passes. Well my pay has been consistently taking a nosedive for at least a decade now. I actually have to work MORE to make at least as much as I did years ago, and it's killing me health-wise as far as my wrists, my legs, my neck, my back....

    It also kills me that I'm going to have to accept 7 or 8 cents a 65-character line when I made so much more than that 15 years ago.

    I suppose to someone who's just starting out, 7 or 8 cents would seem pretty good, though. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to land any jobs with my resume. They may not want me with my years of experience, probably want a newbie who will be more grateful about such low pay. I dunno.

    I could just kick myself for wasting money on MT school those years ago when I could've spent it on a career that would actually LAST and where I'd be making great money after being in the same field for 15 years. There's just no reward to this business. None at all, IMO.

    I would NOT recommend this field to anyone just getting started. To me, it's a dead field.

    I'd have more freedom working at McDonalds (for a number of reasons), and, believe me, I've been considering taking a local job around my home for minimum wage. At least I'd have a consistent paycheck and would know exactly what I'm getting every 2 weeks, then build from there as far as another job or two.

    Well anyway that's all. I really need a job. I'm going down, going under, and it's a shame because I do very good work and have all this experience but no one seems to want me, even the low-paying companies. Oh well.
    Few cents here, few cents there stolen from you by
    x
    I'll add my 5 cents to your 2 for 7 cents sm
    I AGREE WITH YOU!

    I know an MT who sits on her laurels and whines about no work and only getting 9 cpl after 5 whole years of experience. She can type 3 specialties, won't touch an ESL, goofs off when there is work and whines when there is not. I have tried to help, but it is quite plain to me she doesn't want that help.

    I have about 3 times the experience of the above MT. The only specialty I have not done is pathology. I have literally done everything else. I know the BOS 2 like the back of my hand and I have outstanding accuracy scores (even if I can't type straight here). I work as an employee and make a base rate of 8.5 cpl, which I never get because I always have some of the different incentives offered. I regularly turn that 8.5 cpl into $25 an hour and at my PT job where I get 10 cpl and faster software, I can turn that into $32.50 an hour.

    I have heard, more times than I can count from other MTs that they wish they could have my income. I can tell they why they don't. It is called hang out to complain on a message board like MTStars. It is doing everything, BUT your work on your shift. It is your lack of a willingness to learn new things, even if they slow you down some. This very year, recently in fact, I was put on straight cardiology procedure notes and I didn't worry for a second that I would suffer financially. I AM FLEXIBLE and that, in a nutshell, is why most MTs will not succeed.

    A long time ago I realized that if I want more money, I was going to have to work SMART, not hard. In my 15 years, I now make 5 times what I did my first year and at the same exact line rate I had then! I spend less time working to achieve that these days. So no, I can't agree with your sky is falling routine.

    Most of you...your attitudes suck. If I had to have you on site as my employees, you would not last 15 minutes. The first time I heard you at the water cooler whining about your pay, I'd fire your fanny so fast it would make your head SWIM. I have eyes in the back of my head too, so when you started making that stink face you are making right now, I'd have sacked you for that, on the spot, no warning and no day's pay. The ONLY reason you all get away with this is that you THINK no one who knows you is watching and that your respective contract holders can't figure out who you are.

    By and large, I can't tolerate other MTs as friends. I find them lazy, self-absorbed whiners and complainers with some the worst negative attitudes I have EVER seen! If you hate MT so very much GO GET A JOB DOING SOMETHING ELSE. I can tell you, your bad attitude, your tendency to complain, whine, witch (with a capital B), moan and ALWAYS see the most negative side of everything...THAT crap will follow you to that new career and it won't be any better than this one. You have issues and I really think they are issues for a good therapist. They are called personality disorders and many of you have them in multiples and in spades!

    I think you should be completely and utterly ashamed of yourselves. Too many people are out of work, homeless, and starving this Christmas to be so opinionated and selfish.
    I can't tell you, sorry, but it is a LARGE one.
    ,
    large comp

    I agree.


    They have taken on several new large accounts over
    the past several months.
    been with 2 large nationals; will never do that again.
    Much better with the smaller companies.
    I have 22 employees, which is not large, but had to do the same. sm
    Our state unemployment division did an audit on me and determined that the ICs are actually employees. I had to pay unemployment on everyone who works for me or who did work for me back 5 years to present and make them all employees. I had to pay fines and penalties too.

    The IRS has their list of 20 checklist items but the states can have a few of their own and they have the right to enforce them.

    One from our state (Missouri) states that if you perform the same type of duties as employees at the company, even if you fit the 20 items from the IRS, you are an employee.

    I appealed the decision and lost. It cost me $5000 for a lawyer but still have to pay the $218,000 to them (the total with the fees, penalties, interest and payments that should have been made). It is going to force me to close our doors.


    If it is a large account
    your email may be one of nearly 20+ she gets per day. When you are a lead you are getting many calls and emails daily. Address the issue with the head and go over his/her head if things don't improve.
    these were supposedly large sm
    companies that have been around awhile.  I am hearing a lot of MTs going through the same thing.  Its getting ridiculous!
    It is hard to get a large
    group of doctors at a hospital to ALL do VR and their own editing. Smaller clinics are more likely to completely do away with MTs, as they are more inclined to do their own editing; plus doctors in clinics do not go into as much detail as hospital dictators. Clinics usually stick to a fairly standard normal template, whereas doctors in hospitals dictate all kinds of ways...That is what I have seen..
    I have found that large places
    like hospitals, banks, insurance companies offer the best benefit packages to part-timers. In fact I once worked 10 hours a week at a bank just for the benefits package. PT MT at home with benefits, however, I don't think you will find. It's hard enough finding FT with benefits and the premium isn't $800 a month.
    Yes, 2 large hospitals. Both accounts out. nm
    nm
    When I worked for a large national, they
    had a gal from New York using a steno machine.  She consistently turned out over 20,000 lines every 2 weeks/pay period.  So if you know the steno machine, you can make megabucks in transcription.  She always won awards at this biggest national.
    The accounts are so large you get them some days
    and other days none. I too have had days when that seems like all I get. Sometimes I will go 3 months before I get the same doctor. She should have asked them to route her a variety that day or try another account. There really is a break in period with any new account but Transtech really is the best company out there and they are willing to work with their MTs.
    Um, not exactly - some of the VERY LARGE companies do the same thing!
    Trust me. lol
    I do a large number of ESLs and usually

    don't have issues, but when I worked at SS their ESL dictators on at least 1 account were horrendous.  They were bad dictators on top of the sound quality being the worst I've encountered in my 20 years of MTing.  Management was a joke and you couldn't believe a word the CEO told you.   I worked in QA and the quality of the transcription was very bad.   Someone asked me if the work was done in India and I said it may very well be because it was so bad that it pretty much had to be done over.   I had some suggestions on how to better run things and was offered a management position to implement them, but I declined. 


    The reason there is a lot of work is because they can't keep MTs.   I agree not all companies, not matter how good they are, are a good fit for all MTs, but if a company has constant turnover there has to be a reason for it.  I work because I need the money and I don't see any reason to waste my time going with a company that has the reputation that SS does.  There have been a handful of MTs who despite all the negatives about SS decided to accept positions.  A couple of MTs have come back about a month layer apologizing for not believing us and said everything we said was true.  


    I would not refer my worst enemy to this company. 


    Would anyone work for a large national co, with a

    I use the company provided computer.  They had a change in computers and I was sent a new one.  Since that time, the foot pedal provided has not worked.  I can hear reports, but I cannot backup or move ahead using the pedal.  To hear something again, I have to bang my foot on the pedal. To move ahead forward or go backward for any length, I must go to playback page and manually move the cursor to where I need to be. 


    I have put up with this for five years. Yes, that is right, FIVE YEARS!!!! I have called our so-called Help Desk numerous times and I have been sent two more pedals, neither of which work, or, rather, work the same as the original pedal.  I have asked for help from countless people.  The Help Desk states I am the only one having the problem.  The supervisor says I am the only one having the problem. I know one other person on my team who is also having having the problem, but we are too  ashamed to really raise heck.  I am disgusted. 


    By the way, it is the most commonly used foot pedal. Even their ad states it works with any computer.  I just had to vent. 


    Large nationals don't like radiology because of TAT
    xx
    I was offered a very large rate of pay, so you
    z
    I know they just got a large hospital account near me.
    xx
    They have recently gotten a very large account. Probably
    xx
    Large deductible and everything out of pocket.
    xx
    A REALLY large system with several hospitals. nm

    Is this a large hospital with MANY Hispanic
    dictators, probably over 75%? I heard they only had 1 account on DQS, a new one they picked up in August. I am working on that account and would love to switch.
    It's a large company, Passing, SM
    offering a variety of opportunities and mixed experiences. Different platforms, different managers, and different accounts all over the country. Transcend kept me happy with lots of good work for a long time before my account went offshore without notice. I was then switched to another very good and interesting account, where the way the lines were counted was adjusted down again without notice (by the same account manager). If that hadn't happened, I'd be there still, and I have no doubt that the many people who say it's a great company are honestly reflecting their own experiences.

    Knowing what I do, if I were you I'd go ahead with the training but, as with any company, be firm up front that as a pro you expect to be assigned to good accounts with lots of work. Then call on them immediately (first 2 days) to correct the situation if they are not, and mean it. I've never been in MT personnel, but I imagine they hire a lot of people who don't pan out, engendering an attitude that adversely affects the way many others are treated before they have a chance to prove themselves. If they allow it. Best wishes.
    Usually MANY battles, both large and small,
    Food for thought.
    All the large companies do the same thing.
    I don't work for WMX. I'm amazed this is the first anyone has heard. I suppose Webber Inc. keeps things quiet.

    Really, don't get upset. Just business as usual.
    And what large hospital did they lose? (nm)
    .
    As someone who has worked for many large companies, sm
    I've seen this many times before. Companies downsize or streamline or whatever they want to call it OFTEN, especially management level positions. I wouldn't blow this out of proportion.
    Anyone currently working for DSG know if they have a large turnover of MTs there and how is it
    to work there at the present time.  Just looking!
    Yes it is, and ANY percentage is too large for my comfort
    ANY percentage is too high. There's no excuse for it except profits for greedy American MTSOs.

    There are literally HUNDREDS of US MTs more than willing to work these odd hours that Transcend and others claim they are 'forced' to offshore because they cannot get sufficient help here.

    I strongly disagree. In fact, I disgree just short to calling it out as being a bald-faced LIE.

    The purpose is nothing more to increase profits for the powers that be, while all of the time hammering down the pay of the American MT.

    I hope I am not alone in my stand on this. I would rather somewhere else for less money who DOES NOT offshore and who respects their MTs. Respect is something MDI-MD obviously chose to cast aside when they began negotiating their moneymaking deal while we starved, lost sleep, wondered how we would pay our bills, and yet STILL tried to be loyal to these yahoos.

    Nope, not happy and checking out before my work goes to India.

    I've worked too hard and am too advanced in my career to be a sitting duck.
    Unless she can provide large volumes of
    eventually the big co's with their guerilla business tactics will stomp on her little business, too.
    Does anyone know of any large billing agencies that are for sale?
    If you are aware of a large ($1million + annual revenue) medical billing/transcription agency/company that is for sale.  Please reply here or email me.
    Is there a large cost associated with the Sten-Tel system? Thanks. nm
    x
    So all MTs that work for a large service are bad MTs compared to those sm
    that work for a smaller company? That could not be further from the truth. Some of the larger companies can attract better MTs with benefits, higher pay, etc than a smaller company ever can.

    I think it depends on the MTs, not the service, as to the quality of the work.

    I work for one of the companies the OP mentioned and the QA standards are MUCH more strict than smaller companies I have worked for in the past.

    Had someone tell me they do a teaching hospital with them, if you like large accts. Might want to
    s
    I make more than that working for large National, which SM
    provides all equipment. I do not have to pay for long distance. I have benefits, paid time off, health insurance and a wonderful supervisor.

    I am really glad you posted. I haven't felt this satisfied with my company for a long time. Now I know why I am still working for them.

    And by the way, if you expect your MTs to paid 8 cpl and pay for their own LD, they must be starving and/or homeless.
    Wow, the poor man. No, bud uses an enlarger program & very large
    s
    All large co's are off-shoring and no one appreciates people with
    xx
    Did you get the note from Debby? New large account (sm)
    coming on in stages.
    Lost job to outsourcing through a large hospital
    Just found out my job is over at the end of August.  Have worked for MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, ND, for 2 years and they decided to outsource everything.  Any great ideas for me?