Another point to ponder........
Posted By: MY2SENSE on 2008-06-02
In Reply to: ALSO--------- - Paula
A large percentage of MTs work at home. We are not anywhere near the company's office to be aware of what is going on, what polices are being introduced or abandoned, etc. Sometimes we tend to be caught up in our own space and just assume that the company is taking care of business and looking out for us. (I really think these big corporations have used this to their advantage.) From what I have seen over the years, this is NOT the case. Maybe it's time for us to get involved again. Feedback welcome.
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Question to ponder.....
I am an instructor at a local community college teaching transcription as well as medical records and coding....my question is this. This new stimulus package that Obama is proposing talks about funding $20 billion to computerize medical records and make them more efficient.....how do you see this affecting our jobs as MT, or any part of the medical records portion. I would love to discuss this with my students and would appreciate any feedback all of ya'll out there might have.
Thanks in advance
Some other factors to ponder Maggie...sm
I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.
I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I. I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.
Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals. The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.
It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.
To all my fellow MDI'ers: Things to ponder...
Hi all
I have been with MDI for over a year now (part time) and really like it! Most times my accounts have work. I am going through some changes at home and am really trying to make some serious life changing decisions so would like to get a few opinions:
My husband and I separated in April. I have been home for 6 years with my youngest child, and he is in first grade this year and absolutely love being home for him. Summers of course are the most difficult, I do not send him to day care and we do more things together in the summer, love it! However, as of last year I have been trying to get into a local LPN nursing school here and have succeeded and am scheduled to begin September 8, but here is my dilemna, I am having second thoughts! I now don't know if this is something I really want to do and why I am having these thoughts. I do like being a medical transcriptonist, but feel a little burned out at times. Plus, I am not sure if I can afford to go to school, my first loan installment (cost of living) will not come until November. I have a little money set aside, but it is going quickly. I am trying to determine if I can support me and my son on just an income from MDI or if I should really change gears and go to school. I love the flexibility of working at home and am sure I will miss this, but nursing school is very demanding and the job itself once I am out there. Like I said, I love being a mom and able to have the freedom of doing this from home. So, how many of you support yourselves or your families on the income from MDI and is this something I can reasonably expect to be able to do? I have been doing this for 15+ years so I am definitely experienced. Plus, I do not like the idea of worrying about taxes, but if I go to work as an employee I will lose more of my freedom. I like being an IC. I did work for Medquist for almost 7 years and left them to come here and there is a world of difference between the 2 companies.
What would all of you do? Stay with MDI or go to school? And if I do go to school, I would keep MDI very part time at least until I was through with school. But, do you think with all the changes going on in the transcription world we will eventually have no jobs or our jobs will change drastically? How can I decide what is best for me and my son?
Please any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!
A couple of things to ponder and solicit opinions
This is not the only odd thing occurring at MDI-MD. Let me give you my opinion of what's happening with YOUR situation, and perhaps you can venture an explanation to my oddity.
First of all, I often read the threads on the MQ board and from what I gather, once an account is shuttled over to VR, the only dictators left for straight transcription are either new dictators or the ones who are so horrible that VR can't translate them.
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say you are being left with the dregs that cannot be converted to VR. It might very well be this is an example of what you will be stuck with from here on out.
Oddly, on my MDI account, there was no work on one of my clinics for 2 days. I found it strange but thought perhaps the clinic had not been seeing patients for a couple of days.
Imagine my shock when reports dictated on SEPTEMBER 4th did not show up to be transcribed until SEPTEMBER 8th.
Where where those reports for 4 days? Perhaps over in India and the ILPs fell out of TAT and so MDI begrudgingly had to bring them back for the American MTs to catch up? I have worked on this particular account for over a year, and NEVER have reports not been in the cue ready to type immediately after they are dictated.
This same scenario occurred again 3 days later; dictation that was 2 days old suddenly appeared (a different specialty within the same clinic).
Yep, strange things are definitely going down at MDI-MD and I expect it's going to become even stranger the closer to January we get.
What's that linen from All About Eve? 'Fasten your seatbelts, folks...It's going to be a bumpy night!'
Excellent point, and point in case
look at the charlatan christian in the
Whitehouse who uses religion to push his agenda...
Christian IS as Christian DOES...
I understand your point, my point is why can't MTs and QA work together..
being QA doesn't mean you are above everyone else, you are just an extra set of ears...and why do so many MTs take offense to QA??? That is my point...you made have had bad experiences in the past with QA but not all QA are bad...
Actually, I can see your point AND the opposing point
.
I do see your point. sm
I just don't know how bringing up old news affects the here and now. The article did say that Linda only referred to this time period as the "black hole."
From what I can tell from the article, a lot of court, attorney and ESI quotes were quoted, but no real fresh news, i.e., something present. If this article was never published, I would have never known.
I also understand and recognize your personal feelings. How do you think that this is going to impact you and/or the MT community? It could go both ways of gaining clients or very wary practice managers.
My point exactly, and....
Respectfully, if this story had not been published, you would not have known. You would have not been fully informed of the business history of fraud. What if, for example, instead of selling your business to her, you entered a partnership with her ?? And then found out this history in the newspaper? If it were me, I know I would feel pretty ticked off and deceived. That negative association could possibly last a business lifetime for you.
Execuscribe (Linda) had awards locally, and has been in several news clippings and featured in Inc. magazine. She is definitely in the public eye. She has to take the praise along with the truthful reporting of fraud in her business. She owns both. Would you vote for a political candidate with this history??? Would you want your son/daughter to marry somebody with this history??
Her clients may jump ship -- I know of 2 MTSOs locally who have already received inquiries to change providers. They may change, they may not. Are they wary? YOU BETCHA! But, why is that? Not for anything they have done, but because they may be lumped into the "Execuscribe" category simply by association of being MT. Don't ya think that's a bit unfair? From what I've been told about questions asked to these MTSOs, they have to go in with their defenses lined up about how they DON'T do business, before they can even present how they DO business.
There was no "slant" to RBJ reporting. Simply the facts taken from court records. It's fresh news if it has not been disclosed previously. I, for one, will be watching them closely.
you do have a point! nm
That's my point
The "not saying more" poster said "Don't believe everything you hear about Transcend. The GOOD MTs like this company" and made it sound like if you didn't like Transcend, you weren't a GOOD transcriptionist. Those that left were there for years. They must have been doing something GOOD with the strict QA to last there for years. If they were that bad, why would Transcend expect them to sign a waiver not to sue when they leave? Transcend could always say that the MTs sucked, they were unreliable, their QA was terrible, etc. Instead they want to clear themselves from future lawsuits. That alone says a mouthful. So "not saying more" is just plain wrong in assuming that it's the MTs at fault.
You have a point.
That would be the only drawback for me was the pay. I make 9 cpl now and at Amphion I would probably only make 7.5 to 8 cpl maybe. But I love the fact that I wouldn't have to work, weekends, evenings or holidays and I can spend that time with my family. I also am trying to consider the fact that if I get a good tax return this year I will pay my SUV off and that would save $300 a month. My baby is due any day now. The hospital I am working at has me working Labor Day (if I am not in labor), and Christmas. I worked Christmas last year and that was bad enough but this year will be my baby's first Christmas and mommy will be pounding away at the computer while dh, MIL and my other dd have the big family gathering.
OK I am not bitter.....lol. Probably just PG hormones.
I also see the point, however, sm
I meant no harm, just trying to offer help and/or encouragement to the original poster. Most probably I could have done with just saying QA lest someone be offended. I expect anyone who has ever been in the position of having that type of QA person would call that type of person the same, or worse, than I did. Matter-of-fact, in real life I swore viciously at my monitor over that type QA person and called her everything but a good milk cow. 'Course no one saw or heard me and my email to the super was quite professional and simply referred to her by name. LOL
My point, exactly. Thanks. nm
:)
Yes I am, to the point I am looking for another job. nm
x
This is my point
MTSOs have to be willing to walk away. Yes, the facility can find someone to do it cheaper and more than likely, the quality will reflect this. A company I used to work for had a large hospital account with all overseas MTs on it. I did QA for this account. The MTSO was dumb enough to release several of these MTs from QA which allowed them to upload directly to the hospital. I'm laughing as I type this. Two weeks later, the hospital had bailed. Account gone...POOF!
I can only imagine what those reports looked like that the offshore MTs were uploading. QA is like life support for the offshore MTs. They will always need it 24/7. What company in their right mind would allow these people who understand nothing about the english language and proper grammar - to come off of QA? Unbelievable!
and your point is?
That's not the point...sm
Word Expanders have NOTHING to do with being paid for spaces.
That was my point :)
.
Yes they do... but I think the point is that it is not always right.
NM
And your point is.....
LOL.... Having postings proves nothing. And you cannot follow directions obviously.
the point is . .
I've been in this field almost 25 yrs. and even back when things were so much better, there were the catty, whiny people who chose to be unhappy no matter what. At least here we don't have to click on their posts, now do we? I hope as I get older, I won't have one of those permanent frowns I see people like that acquire. Such unpleasantness is such a turnoff. This is the first time I've come to this site in 3 mos. because I got so fed up with the petty nastiness. Sorry to see nothing's changed. :0)
And your point is what? I said
it had been at least that long, so if you are correct that there has only been 1 male supervisor, guess that's who we're talking about.
Exactly my point...
As long as this is the way we look at things, it is the way it will be. Once again, you have a couple of people who have had a bad experience, therefore ALL employers are bad.
With this kind of attitude, it's no wonder that many employers think of MTs as a group of whiners. We make that bed for ourselves.
Just want to point out...
This is NOT about ethniticity or race or anything like that. I was a marketing executive before I opted to do this and stay home with my daughter and worked with many, many foreign countries and people. The work is just as good and some cases better. HOWEVER, this whole situation is not good for anyone involved us as US-based transcription and the transcriptionists in India. They aren't being paid fairly and the AAMT has made things sound quite a bit better to them than it ever will be as many of us know from experience. As far as the horror being turned out by US MTs, in your particular situation or not, there are, in every profession, the bad apples. While unfortunate, I know that most of us care about our work quality and strive every day to put in 100% to make sure each and every sentence, word, note, dosage and spelling are perfect and correct. I have also found that those companies that treat there transcriptionists as people and with a lot of respect and awesome, noninsulting QA tend to be those high-rated professionals who are confident, hardworking and 110% more dedicated, in my particular situation.
At what point
did we resign ourselves to just being paid on time being enough from a company? There are good companies out there that pay on time but are fair and honest. Focus just ain't one of 'em. If anyone has worked for Focus full-time for any length of time and still think they are a good company, I got some ocean front property in Arizona and a couple bridges for sale.
Can't do that at this point. SM
I'm still in the honeymoon phase and wouldn't feel comfortable singing the praises of another company until I have at least given them 90 days.
Point well taken - but here's what I did
Due to being very poor working as an MT (LOL) I have had to stop buying the better grades for a time. As soon as I heard the recall, that was the day I started making my dogs food (anyone with recipes for cats?)
My reseach - and the dogs reaction!! shows the following to be safe and nutrious. Don't know if it contains everything needed in the right quantities, but you can Google recipes for dogs and choose/design your own... I baked bunch of baking potatoes till very done. Roughly chop in bowl. Add broccoli, carrots, some cheese, and your choice of meat (doesn't have to be a lot). They (3 large dogs) STAND AT THE GATE waiting to be fed and NEVER leave anything in their bowl.
Moral of the story? We don't have to make FOR PROFIT corporations richer at the expense of our beloved animals. It literally takes just a few minutes to make their food - and I don't freak out that I am unintentionally poisoning them.
This is the whole point of MT...
All of the below goes with the job. Where they mess up grammatically or terminology wise, we are educated to be the one to catch it. They are educated to be the ones to save lives and are owed that due respect. Be thankful we have these physicians for our families and children regardless of their annoyances and that you have a good job instead of complaining about it. Complaining = foolishness
On-point mts?
Anyone know anything about this company?
On-Point
I don't know anything about them, I asked the same last week and no one replied. I received an e-mail from them last week. She sent me four op notes to transcribe. I told her I didn't have experience with op notes. She sent me an e-mail back and said she had a clinic account also and it looked like I had enough experience and didn't need to test and if I was interested to let her know. I e-mailed back and asked about turn around time, cpl and I never heard back from her again.
On-point
It could be a totally different person, for all I know, but the QA/trainer for Alphamed last year had the same first name as this one for On-point. As I recall, she was very disorganized. She sent me corrected reports that were transcribed by someone else. She forgot that I had answered questions and would ask the same question over and over. Again, it could be a totally different person, but how many people are there with that first name? Also, that position was as a subcontractor for a subcontractor, which of course means that you get less cents per line than if you worked for the main company directly. So, if you think about it, ask her where the work comes from and if she is contracting with another national company.
On-Point
My thought is, if you want to do the work from Focus Infomatics, you might want to apply directly to Focus instead of getting it through a middle person like On-Point.
On-Point MTS
Any info on On-Point MTs out of Wisconsin?
If it is On -Point
Stay far away from it. On-Point does not pay their MTs and many are now considering law suits against the company.
My point was not about $$$...
you are not a slave to your company...you make it sound like companies keep us chained 24/7 to our computers. It is YOUR choice who you work for. If there is downtime and no work/no pay, ASK for another account, or find another company to work for where downtime is not going to happen..good luck! Our companies are not REQURIED to keep us in work...there is such a thing as TAT and you have to expect some days of no work/downtime.
Point taken but you don't see any...
I love OSi on here now. You would really have to know what goes on inside OSI to learn why there are so many derogatory comments on here which usually means all the whole posts will be deleted. Amazing how no I love OSI troopers are here now. Not paying for holidays when you are actually working on the holidays is the final slap in the face and the old OSI defenders are leaving along with the rest of us. The holiday thing is not the only reason- it is just the final reason.
Thank you, my point exactly...sm
Transcription is sometimes feast or famine...either ask for a back up acct, find another company or a different line of work. If one can't go a couple of hours without work then it is time to reconsider your job choice.
You have a point that the MT...sm
has no idea what the person running that company might have on their plate but you also stated that I wish people who post at this board would put themselves in other people's shoes. Maybe sometimes the MTSO should also think about the MT sometimes and put themselves in the MTs shoes. They have feelings also. Granted she did not get the job and she is obviously moving on but she is just stating her feelings and looking for a little support. That is what this board is for.
Exactly my point. Everyone is getting mad at me for saying this.
I can email my superviser or Lead and get a response.
Plus, you dont know if the same goes for every account and it could be different for whoever answers the questions here.
It is best to ask who you work for rather than use this board.
I am about at that point too. Seems like after I hit 40 and went sm
through menopause, everything on my body just fell apart. I am a bit nervous about operating on my eyes too, but if it comes down to it, with or without insurance, I will find a way to do it. I suppose that is the same for all things in life -- if we need it (or even want it) enough, we find a way to do it.
I hope you are seeing well now. 
My point exactly. You have been doing this 2-1/2 yrs.
You make the same amount of money that people with 20+ years of experience make. It is not fair to those of us who have spent years and years perfecting our craft. You should be happy. I would be too if I made that kind of money just starting out. The fact is that I should be making at least twice that and if I had stayed in my previous profession I would be. This Internet MTSO profession has gone to pot. You can have it.
What's your point?
That you go through life with a red pencil in your hand?
Get A LIfe!!
And your point is.
You know one thing I have learned in my greater than 24 years in this industry is that you can't please all the people all the time. And, when you have people working remotely within their homes, on their own time, doing their own thing....people oftentimes develop attitudes. They feel like everyone owes them something. I'm not sure why that is, but it is the truth.
I do recruit positions for Synthescribe along with other companies. EVery single person I have hired for this company is still with them, except for THREE people. I find that interesting that there are so many posts here about this company and I have hired over 25 people for them, of which 22 are still there, with the longest position being the day they opened their doors and these MTs are still there 18 months later.
I don't know what to tell you people other than the people I place are for the most part happy. I did have one lady who tried to invoice the company 8-10 hours every day for editing work and on some days never even signed into the system and on other days invoiced 100.00 plus per day and only edited 5 or 6 reports of which neither one of them was over 10 lines long.
I do wish you all good luck in your profession. There are many jobs out there and you have to be very careful who you align yourself with.
I think the point is that
you could thank them for giving you a bonus.
What you do when you post it here is to say, I got a bonus and you didn't Even if you didn't mean to say that, that is how it comes across.
Actually no real need to thank them as I'm sure you know that the bonus comes from ther profits made partially from not paying you as much as they should per line.
You deserve payback for contributing to their profit. Don't thank them. Just enjoy!
Duh? That's not the point
I didn't understand the emails saying don't call unless you have an emergency either. That is just a very unprofessional type of email IMHO. What IS the point of sending out an email like that anyway? Nobody calls the office unless they have to so what IS the point? Huh? Duh???
Yes, that's the point. NM.
nm
Would also like to point out
The LPH tier was based on 2 week's worth of production. Therefore under the new tier, if you take PTO the first week there wiil be no bonus, but you will still get your bonus for the second week. So you're only losing ONE week of bonus, not the whole pay period.
That's exactly my point...
we know many couples who are in debt to the hilt, new everything, bought on credit of course, and more house than they can afford. The wives all dress designer, the kids have more than they need and they have no room for the RV and boat in the same garage! We have many nice things, all paid for, because we don't buy impulsively. Now mind you, I have been known to charge my share of designer goods, but they are paid off the next month in full. It all depends on where you live also. Where we are, our home and acerage could fetch a nice price of over 500,000, with less than 1000 a year in property taxes. In California, forget about it; our income would be lower middle class. We have the added benefit of no children at home anymore and we don't pay for college. We live comfortably, can vacation each year, and don't spend more than we make. We still pay the same price for gas and groceries just like everyone else. Americans do not know how to save money and we live in a wantitis nation; we want it now, damn it, whether we can afford it or not. No wonder so many homes in foreclosure and credit card debt at an all time high.
Exactly my point. sm
I will work 5 days a week, maybe even 7 days a week, but I will not commit to hours. I will commit to production, i.e., a certain number of lines per day. When I do those lines is on my time. Since we are paid on production, the commitment should be to production and not hours. I do not work at home, and have been for 18 years, to sit at my desk 8-10 hours straight at the dictation of a company. The idea here is flexibility. If I wanted that, I would certainly be back in an office or hospital setting.
I don't mind putting in even 12 hours a day if that is what it takes to meet my commitment, but those 12 hours will be around my schedule. That is what IC is all about.
I have to admit, most often, I do work 6 or 7 days a week, but because I want to, not because I am expected to.
I work during the day/night when the accounts are busiest. That is what an IC is supposed to do.
As an IC, I certainly am not going to sit there from 8-4 every day with periods of no work. PLEASE.....
These companies are crazy to expect that from ICs.
That's my point. sm
I have been waiting for jobs to pop in and by June last year it was worse than this. Also, I know that we have lost part of accounts and it seems like it would be pretty easy to lose more if these are not our own accounts. Also the account we have definitely gotten from Medquist most recently is horrible. The sound quality is terrible and there is a huge percentage of ESL dictators. We have no samples for it and it gets added to your work pool pretty much randomly. There is no way to make a reasonable line count on it. That is why it matters.
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