Conversation with my lead. sm
Posted By: KS MT on 2007-07-13
In Reply to: Keystrokes Questions - sparky
I had a long conversation with my lead a few days ago and then talked to her again this morning. She told me that Keystrokes is concentrating on employee relations above all else and that is why the benefits have been changing/improving, why there has been so much positive feedback, etc. I have never had a problem in the 2 years that I have been there, but she says that they are working to make things even better.
I know that they have a lot of new accounts coming on and a lot of people that will need to be hired. They are working on the health insurance changes and increasing some of the other benefits in order to get some of the MTs that are disgusted with other companies.
They want to be the best out there, and they have my vote!
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As a shift lead I made $15 an hour, but did QA plus lead duties...
I also worked terrible hours with no differential for them. I think it just matters on the company.
? for any lead at Keystrokes. What does a lead do?
Do they do QA, mentor, or ....?
You can e-mail me privately if you like.
Some of us choose neither to lead, nor be lead!
I guess I just don't have that 'pack mentality'.
Yes..between this conversation and
I just don't know what to do at this point. I've been happy with OSi, but I don't know whether to start worrying now. Maybe I should just stay off the board for awhile.
This conversation was just had
As in the last string posted...the OSi situation is definitely a dead horse that we are all tired of beating. Please look back a page or so to get your question answered.
I think we had this same conversation
months ago, and you were talking about a completely different Landmark. I was on the right thread, the Landmark located in the Northeast, and they do not pay for spaces, NOT ONE TINY SPACE. I am sure that is the one being discussed in this thread, as I know several MTs who work there. Its not a big deal. They freely tell you up front that they do not pay for spaces. But there is often no work, more common than not, so spaces or not, I couldn't stick around. The last time we had this go around, you actually apologized for messing up Landmarks. There is more than one, and I am not a disgruntled anything! Sorry to burst your bubble.
That is basically the same conversation i had with them...
Said they would send me info..i got 2 wacked out samples and i asked about acct specifics and they are confused as to what exactly i want. Seems pretty disorganized to me as well!! Thanks for letting me know...much appreciated
I had a very long conversation . . .
with my lead who is very aware of what happened last week, so I think you misunderstand. I was also not spoken to very respectfully on the phone when I was told not to work on the account.
This whole conversation is a crock
set up by disgruntled exemployees no doubt. TT does something good to lower insurance prices and you have to counteract that good move with this rumor. If you work for TT it says in the employee handbook NO RUMORS. Get that? Now the truth from where I see it: TT went to this company to get better insurance at a lower price, which is what you were wanting months ago when you started other rumors instead of waiting. This company is stricter when they act as umbrella for little companies in that they happen to do background checks. Big deal. You have something to hide? I don't care. I have worked for another company which did the exact same thing, and I had to fill out paperwork there. They did it for the same reason, because struggling medium sized companies need to get under an umbrella of many companies to get their employees good rates. So, go ahead, quit. More work for me. And go ahead, don't apply and listen to these rumors. If you would rather hear rumors on a board from strangers, rather than actually calling the company and asking them, then you need to think about your career. I am not an MTSO or management. I have been in the biz a long time. And the packets BTW were not finalized sent out in the mail yet, they were an e mail, and will be corrected ASAP. Maybe there were time constraints on the clerk at the new company so they could get you in quickly for the lower rate. Brother. This board is pathetic. It feeds on rumors rather than encouraging good practices like doublechecking details or using common sense. What a crock this whole conversation is IMHO.
I believe that this conversation is going on just a few posts
below here. I feel like I want to string them together. Well said Fed Up! You are not alone. And Blackswan, I have a feeling that although you feel that your client is wonderful (won't name name here), I believe they are just as guilty as the rest, from what I gather from posts below and people who have posted about that place before.
With the holidays coming, I just hope everyone keeps their chins up. Keep up the faith. Just hang on and this too shall soon pass.
Did you just walk into the end of this conversation? You really
nm
and YES did have personal conversation with Liz
I was part of a package that Transcend purchased.
I recievied all kinds of welcoming emails etc. It was unfortunate I did not receive emails infroming me my team lead had left, who to contact with problems etc.
My mother was hospitalized shortly after the acquisition. When I called to inform me TL I was told you are expected to produce every day.
At that time in the northeast we were unable to travel due to ice etc. (which incidentally was where my accounts were, which meant VERY little work), so I bought a laptop and camped out in the ICU.
At no point was I ever allowed to take family leave. I was expected to look for work 24 hours a day in case there was a job...........no easy task when dealing with a mother with cancer, a broken hip, Coumadin allergy, aspiration pneumonia, blood loss etc.
My mother went to heaven and I did take some time off for the funeral etc.
When I returned I was told I had made some mistakes (??? no wonder......I did not want to work in an ICU) and it was not a good fit.
And yes, ******** was aware of this.
how about listening to an entire conversation -
either on the telephone or to someone else in the room, you have to listen to make sure he doesn't remember to start back on his note. I even heard a conversation about myself when I was in a hospital setting. They haven't a clue what is recording.
I heard the most interesting conversation just the other day
It sounded like two young guy doctors..they were talking for a while about a girl/guy couple they knew (maybe other doctors they knew?) and some very intimate embarrasing things that this couple did together and somehow got out. Then he must have realized and began to dictate. It was pretty juicy and I wanted to hear more. lol! :P
Did you hear the phone conversation?
You have no idea what each MT is doing, so until the time that you are x-ray vision or we have cam on our computers, don't accuse of ANYTHING. If not management, who are YOU to point a finger?
I usually would not get involved in this type of conversation, BUT...lm
Your reference to the Mexicans doing work the US citizens do not want to do is WAY off the mark. If the wages were as they used to be before US employers found that the Mexicans would work for lesser wages and be happy, US citizens WOULD do the work. The same applies to the MT work - were it not sent off shore at a ridiculously acceptable and low wage, MTs in the US would be much happier. With such an attitude, I fully predict that the poor class in the US will rise to meet that of other third-world countries - and your attitude about oh well, that's just the way things are now is exactly one of the reasons this type of working condition is being allowed to happen here on our own soil! Working for a foreign employer is a choice that few US MTs with good work habits and skills is willing to make - and that, in my opinion, should speak volumes! Just because you are willing doesn't make it wrong for others who do not. Just my opinion!!
Conversation with AHDI, or War is Peace
This is a conversation I had with Karen Fox of AHDI via e-mail back in September of 2007, back when I still (naively) thought that AAMT/AHDI was on my side. (I didn't know they were giving special discounts to Indian CMT test-takers!) This is verbatim other than to reverse the order, so you don't have to read it from the bottom up, & the elimination of a couple of names in order to protect my employer.
****
ME: I'm looking for a position statement on offshoring somewhere on the site & not seeing it. Can you direct me? What is AHDI doing to protect MTs from this?
***
KF: Hi. Where are you from? Do you have a phone number where you can be reached? I have class today so I must focus on transcribing right now but I would be happy to discuss the international transcription topic at a time that is convenient for you.
***
ME: I live in California. Offshoring is such a huge issue, one that is affecting every MT & has recently affected me directly. I'm not seeing how AAMT is intervening in any way. Is there something AAMT, or I guess it's AHDI now, has published that will tell me how the dues that are paid in are going toward remedying this? It's funny. When I first started investigating becoming an MT I thought VR would the biggest threat to continuing a career as a transcriptionist. I thought I was way ahead of the game by knowing about this trend & decided that if I thought it was threatening me in any way I would sign on with a company that used it & become an editor. Once I saw how reluctant doctors are to make any sort of change (evidenced by the number still using cassette tapes) I figured I would be out of danger for the time I expected to be working as an MT. But now there's an even bigger threat, one that I did not see or know about until I was already working as an MT: offshore MTs lined up around the world willing to do my job for 2 or 3 cents a line. I can't compete with that & am working my way out of transcription altogether. I work for an MTSO and am paid relatively well by MT standards, but recently the account I work on decided they wanted to have the work done more cheaply & so gave over a huge chunk of the work to ..... who offshores to India. In order to keep her share of the work my boss, the MTSO owner, had to try to underbid them. She has managed to keep her staff by basically eating the difference, but it's only a matter of time before she can't do this & will have to pass the pay cut on to us, & I don't want to be around when that happens.
I'd like to know, though, what AHDI thinks about all this & what kind of lobbying they are doing, especially with the UCSF debacle a few years back having made HIPAA something of a household word. I'm looking at the AHDI website & any reference to any of this is glaringly absent, unless I'm just missing something obvious or am not looking in the right place. If you could send me the link to a position statement I'd be happy to read it.
I do see:
- Patient safety and continuity of care through documentation standards designed to ensure and protect the integrity of patient health data.
- Consistent, secure and confidential capture of, management of, and access to patient health data
- Workforce development in allied health that will ensure resource longevity in healthcare documentation
- Establishment of a national health technology infrastructure to address patient safety, continuity of care, and healthcare delivery costs.
*...address healthcare delivery costs???????????* The entire focus of these 4 bullets seems to be protection of the medical documents, protection of the public, protection of the doctors. I'm not really seeing how the MT is being protected in all this, & it leaves me wondering whose side AHDI is actually on.
******
KF: You make some very valid observations and echo what other transcriptionists around the country have experienced. Right now, the real numbers are showing that international transcription is absorbing no more than 5% of the total dictation volume generated by the US healthcare system.
******
ME: How do you arrive at this?
******
KF: The position that AHDI has taken is to endorse that international transcriptionists must meet the same high expectations of transcription accuracy and standards as we expect and get from a vast portion of our domestic workforce.
****
ME: This is ridiculous. All it says is that doctors will now get Pakistani transcription equal in quality to that of a US Transcriptionist and still pay 3 cents a line. If the yearly cost of living for someone in a 3rd-world country is something around what I make in a month, there is no way I am going to be able to compete, & if all you do is raise their standards, you still have not raised their cost of living. They still have an incredible margin with which to outbid American companies.
*****
KF: Another reality is that international transcription has created a huge market for transcription editors and higher QA expectations much like speech recognition has. We have also discussed international transcription in our legislative interactions as many of our state and national policy makers have no clue we have international transcriptionists. I have attached a joint statement made back in 2004 when the UCSF transcription issue made headlines. At that time, Senator Figeroa wanted to close down the California border and not allow any transcription to be performed outside of the state. This was not a practical response. The fact is – we are a global economy. Add to that, if you want to limit international transcription so must you limit outsourcing transcription,...
*****
ME: why? Why is it necessary to limit outsourcing within the US as well? I'm not seeing the connection.
*****
KF: ...outsourcing being a primary source of transcription employment for a huge portion of our members, either as a home-based employees or as independent contractors, some using subcontractors.
*****
ME: I don't see how these are related. Outsourcing within the US should be fine for anyone. Outsourcing outside the US should not be. You seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
*****
KF: What we can ask for is full disclosure of where the transcription is being performed – we have those rules in place; they just need to be enforced. What we can ask for is for our domestic MTs to raise the bar and become credentialed to meet the work force need.
*****
ME: I became a CMT but did not renew, for quite a few reasons. My MS in physiology means more to my employer than a CMT. I can teach most of the courses required to renew, & I am so busy living from paycheck to paycheck, I don't have time to write down the literally hundreds of pages of surgical technique on equipment manufacturers' websites that I have read cover to cover, or the e-Medicine account I maintain to read in-depth accounts on every medical condition I come across, or even the MS Word users' websites I frequent in order to become ultra-skilled at MS word. Besides which, at this point I don't really want to support AAMT. I really do feel that your position is completely lukewarm and not representative of your actual constituency, the MTs.
*****
KF: We may not be able to compete on price or on Turn Around Time but we can compete in the arenas of skill and knowledge and show how that skill and knowledge can actually save companies money in the long run.
A bigger threat to our industry and most importantly patient care (after all, that is the business we are in is to provide the highest quality documentation that affords excellent patient safety and care and lower risk management issues) ...
*****
ME: That's the business I am in, definitely. And as an MT it's the business you are in. But as an AAMT representative, it's not the business you are in...
*****
KF: ...besides international transcription is the input from point-and-click technologies, clinician data input with no editing prior to finals being signed, speech recognition reports with no editing before finals, the merged electronic health record that may exponentially repeat a medical error that is now currently housed in one institution in one paper document, an EHR that contains no narrative that affects clinical decision making – these things are a focus of our association and its leaders as far as how to secure a place for the knowledge-based transcriptionist in the healthcare documentation domain.
*****
ME: AAMT's business was, or so I thought, to represent MTs. Liability-wise, it's the doctor's responsibility to ensure the quality of the document in terms of whether s/he chooses to use a point-and-click technology. If they have made an informed decision as to the limitations, there's nothing you or I or anyone else should be able to do about it. If you mean helping them to make an informed decision, then great, but again, it sounds like you have jumped some sort of fence. You are trying to satisfy too many factions & in the end will satisfy no one. I know many, many MTs who have nothing but negative things to say about AAMT specifically because of the lukewarm stances it takes on the issues MTs are most concerned with.
*a focus of our association and its leaders.* What does this mean? That you think about it a lot? I'm not sure how these ideas are translating into action. Do you lobby the AMA? What is the action associated with these ideas?
*****
KF: You mention a focus on the profession versus a focus on the MT needs. This is intentional and while it may feel unfair to the working MT,...
*****
ME: It does indeed. It feels like a form of bait & switch, & it's the reason I & so many others don't really want to be associated with AAMT anymore. Did you ever read Orwell's Animal Farm? AAMT reminds me of the pig. (I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm talking about the actual character.) The pig started out representing the masses & got enough power to rise above & became part of the very thing the masses needed help overcoming. This feels exactly like what has happened to the original organization.
*****
KF: ...another vision includes the broader picture of where MTs fall in the stream of the healthcare client (institutions and the patient) and providing patient care; ensuring we have a place at the table of decision makers and a hook to hang our industry hat on and continue performing our craft. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) – Capturing America's Healthcare Story is committed to development of a professional association poised to impact heath data technology and patient safety and risk management and ensure our industry is a part of the transition into the next age of healthcare and health information exchange.
All of those things may not solve your individual circumstance and I understand that is very frustrating. I truly believe there will be a pendulum swing in the advent of international transcription when companies start really looking at how many times the report must be touched in order for it to be a final product and I think the cost factors will eventually blur. We are going to see a continued increase in documentation and an even higher demand from the client/consumer for accurate and complete records – hopefully with a human interface. We are already seeing some backlash from some the technology in place, point and click and doctor-input narratives, as the physicians are reading the final reports 3 months later upon patient followup and realizing the mistakes and gross medical errors that are contained within that any transcriptionist worth their salt would have caught and changed. We have made MDs look good for a long, long period of time. The pendulum may need to swing around a bit before it comes back to our court but I think in many instances, this is already happening.
I empathize with the plight of your account and the company you work through. You are not alone in losing accounts to international or just larger MTSOs or technology such as speech recognition or electronic input mechanisms. Hopefully you will continue to see value in what the association does on your behalf.
*****
ME: Continue is not the right word to use here, Karen. I really have not seen what the association does on my behalf for some time, & although I really appreciate the time you have taken to lay all this out, I'm not seeing it now.
*****
KF: While it may not be the blatant denouncement of internal transcription you were hoping for, perhaps I have given you some other ideas to consider and you will support me and your California and AHDI leaders in the cause.
*****
ME: Actually, no. What I think, (& I'm saying this in the most fervent, democratic, question-authority voice possible) is that I'm hearing a lot of political double-talk, the likes of which would make anyone in Washington proud, & I don't mean that in a good way.
*****
KF: In California my primary goal is to build an apprenticeship program in this state so that we can provide a real answer to our workforce need; providing qualified domestic MTs to include those in our military spouse program via the community colleges in California. As Legislative Issues Group chair, another primary purpose I try to achieve is to educate our members nationally so they can tell their unique stories, such as the one you have shared with me, with their elected officials so that ultimately we can have educational programs that invest in this viable career option in allied health much like the international countries are doing and so much more.
*****
ME: It actually feels like not only are you not denouncing international transcription, it seems like the organization now sees itself as some kind of Peace Corps of transcription. I'm not getting where you think an *answer to a workforce need* is any kind of issue. The MT schools are pouring out newbies. Supply is not the problem; in fact, it's quite the opposite, which is the exact reason it's so hard for MTs to make a living. It's because the supply is so abundant that companies can bid each other down to 4, 5, 6 cents a line & still get resumes.
*****
KF: I hope some day to meet you. I live in San Diego but I travel extensively throughout California so maybe we can visit face to face one day. Please let me know if you have further questions and I will be happy to try and answer them.
*****
ME: I think, in truth, that I feel utterly betrayed by AAMT & I'm on my way out of this profession. If you want an earful on what prompted me to write this letter to you in the first place, go to http://forum.mtstars.com/main/v/1/88501.html.
Thanks for your time, Karen.
******
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How did Transtech get involved in this conversation?
nm
Mind letting the rest of us in on the conversation and let us know
at least the initals of the company? It is just maddening to be outside of a conversation. LOL.
Then YAY you! This conversation does NOT pertain to you, aren't you glad!
nm
Had a conversation similar to this at the drug store today
One of the ladies behind the pharmacy counter talking about raising kids. I was telling her what a wonderful life now that the kids are grown and out. I guess you can say this matronly woman is having the time of her life. I have good money coming in, in fact now getting in more than my union husband does each month, travel when I want and those golden years. Now I know where that saying comes from. This is the best years of my life right now. The pharmacy person asked me did I not miss those years with the children. I told her did I miss struggling? Heck no. Did I miss the yah, yah, yah, again heck no. Ladies you just do not know what you are missing if not, as you call it, a matron.
Missed yesterday's conversation here. Could someone email the jist of it? Tx. nm
aaa
Are you a lead or IC? Only getting 8 here!
you are a lead?
I can't believe that.
TO KS MT and KS LEAD - sm
I am not a basher, but I just wonder that EVERYTIME a thread about Keystrokes is started, one or both of you come on here and JUMP down the throat of ANY poster, calling them bashers. What do you call your attitudes and responses? Surely, if Keystrokes is the wonderful company you say it is, it shouldn't need to be defended the way you both do it (which sounds suspiciously like management talking), and would stand on their reputation? I have to say, I don't work there, never have, so don't accuse me of lying or not cutting it, but both your attitudes leave a bad taste about how things really are behind the scenes. You seem to be doing more harm than good for Keystrokes by the tone of your posts. Makes an outsider wonder what you both are protesting so much about?
I am a KS lead
I do not assign the work on my account. The facility routes the work to us. Cannot speak for other accounts that I do not work on. However, as has been said before, I find Keystrokes to be honest and pro-transcriptionists.
Then don't become lead
and you will continue to love it. Leads are the ones who are verbally abused by management at the whim of whatever account they are over.
I don't know but seems she was a lead in name only nm
Maybe it's your lead. sm
Email me, I will help. I have a great relationship with Becky and Karyn and sometimes they don't know if they leads don't tell them. I am a lead, and busy as can be on my accounts, so I could use you if no other accounts. I also know that there are always new accounts, three in my area alone in the last 2 weeks with 4 more going live in April. I will try to help.
KS Lead
Thank you for your response. Do you know anything about the ExText platform? Is it easy to use, fast in performing various functions, with few technical problems? I've seen pro and con on ExText and only know that it uses a different pedal. Do not know how it compares to other platforms.
KS Lead
Sorry - just to clarify, did you mean ExText was compatible with Shorthand, or only the ones you mentioned for radiology?
To KS Lead...(sm)
I was just wondering why KS does not pay any bonuses - such as quarterly bonus, if you do more lines than required, or anything besides base pay for lines typed. I know they don't pay overtime, but have they ever considered any incentives for doing more than required lines? They seem like such a great company to work for, and the incentives really do work, was just curious. Appreciate your input.
Who is your Lead?
Shift lead
MTs were required to transcribe during our shift, and the shift lead part will now be handled by the team leader. I have a good line rate and am happy to be typing, no problems here. They are still a good company to work for.
Lead MT elimination
I hope the lead MTs stuck together and told Medware where to put their offer of transcription and/or reviewing. There are better companies out there who will pay more! And will treat you better.
As a former OSi team lead.....
I will say that the main reason I left the company is because I knew it was not right to ask people to work extra when they could not report it on their time sheets. And, yes, an account coordinator, has definitely recently asked people to work extra but not report it. This has been going on a long time. Time should be recorded as time actually working not what you put on a time sheet. That is ridiculous. The majority of my MT's did work extra but did they get paid overtime? No! This is SO not right!!! ');>
she did it while a team lead too
/
Maybe talk to your lead and ask....
how it works? Don't you see the job numbers and what order they come in if it's in a pool? What kind of account is this for, acute or clinic? I would honestly ask and let her know you're not happy about with this.
Thanks, Jo...I am going to just ask my lead tomorrow (sm)
As I explained to anon2 above, I am on Meditech with a C-Phone so the ER accounts on that platform might be more limited...but I'm going to ask..Thanks again!
I have never posted before! Must be another lead. nm
nm
I'm totally with you, KS Lead
It is absolutely ridiculous and IGNORANT to call someone a moron or any other name just because they stated a fact that you don't like or don't want to believe. I have been with KS for several months, and it is the absolute truth that they have gotten SEVERAL new accounts recently, and more are coming in. A lot of the new accounts are coming from other companies that they are very unsatisfied with or do not want their work being outsourced outside of the US. I know this for a fact because I have one of the newer accounts as a backup, and I was given several new accounts to choose from as my backup! It sounds to me like some people are just plain jealous of people who are happy with their jobs/companies because they are miserable with theirs, so they resort to immature name-calling on this board for no reason at all, other than to show off their immaturity and ignorance. All I have to say is GET A LIFE! If you don't like or don't agree with something that someone posted, then simply ignore the post! This board was meant for people to come on to get information on companies, not calling each other names like we are in the 2nd or 3rd grade! This will be the last time I post on this board as well...ever.
Are you the KS Lead that goes to the higher ups?
If the higher ups are telling you they are getting 20 accounts, they are probably counting each dictator on one account! Would that make sense! I'm being sarcastic. Is it working? LOL Think, people, think!!! LOL - laughing at this whole thread. It is hysterical! I LOVE THIS BOARD!!! 
If Keystrokes was so fantabulous, they wouldn't need to post on here to hire!!!!!!!
Get real. KS LEAD
Get over myself? Sheese, you sound just like the quality-type folks I had to deal with at KS.
Perhaps you were a miserable recruiter, which is why you felt the people you were supposed to be luring to a position with your company were 'the most miserable group of people in the world.' Sweet attitude.
If one is considered 'difficult to work with' because they value their time and ability, then, yeah, I suppose I am 'difficult.' Better that than an unhappy doormat.
Not that it matters, but with my experience, I got seven job offers within 48 hours of sending out my resume. I'd heard such great stuff about KS on this board (and only this board oddly enough) that I took that position.
The so-called trainer they hooked me up with was a complete tool. The platform was a joke and the trainer had no idea how to answer my questions.
Simply enough, I moved on and found a company without the 'tude. (And without the cut in pay.)
Obviously you love KS. Obviously I don't.
Deal with it.
My lead at TTS is a manager at
a different company too. She hasn't been at TTS long but can never be found either.
Yes, these are definitely questions that you need to ask your lead
Not on here. That is why we have leads.
Sorry, there is no lead on this account yet,
otherwise, I would have asked.
Thanks.
Have you talked to your lead? sm
My accounts are busy. They were slow for 2 weeks but picked up, asking for extra help through this week!
My lead was nice...
nm
What exactly is a Team Lead?
//
team lead
You have it all figured out. How can I even respond to such brilliance. Until you understand what my job entails and how much I'm paid, might be smarter just to stay quiet. You know about 1% of what I do for Cardioscribes.
Team Lead Help
So, if you don't mind me asking, to make sure I go the proper route, when you say team lead, are you referring to our STM? I have not been with the company very long and I am not familiar with the position of a team lead. I plan to take your advice. Please email me if you would rather communicate that way. Thank you.
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