Do not believe that article about Spheris. You'll be disappointed.
Posted By: Tenny (as in Tennessee) on 2007-07-17
In Reply to: Anyone have input on Spheris? - suthernlady
nm
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what article?.....and why would I be disappointed?
nm
Article in local paper about Spheris and outsourcing to India
Franklin-based Spheris Near Top of Medical Transcription Business
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD
In today’s world of Palm Pilots and voice-recognition software, you might think the need for medical transcriptionists is waning. You would be wrong. Franklin-based Spheris employs more than 5,000 medical transcriptionists worldwide and is looking to hire more as its service to more than 200,000 physicians at health systems, hospitals and doctor groups continues to grow.
The world is changing because the demand for electronic medical records … is very high. Certainly there are some technologies being tried and adopted, such as speech-recognition technology or systems where the physician is required to key in his or her own information. Those are still in their infancy and hold some promise in the distant future. But for right now the work-flow habits of physicians and hospitals and the need to see many more patients and process them more efficiently is driving the demand for what we do to its highest levels, explains Harry Shaw, Spheris investor relations.
In July, Spheris was named No. 7 among the nation’s fastest-growing healthcare information technology companies. The designation was by the publication Healthcare Informatics, which also ranked Spheris 28th for total revenue. The company is the second largest in the medical transcription industry.
Spheris’ growth is in no small measure due to its December 2004 acquisition of HealthScribe (also known briefly as Avicis), which was No. 3 in the field. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Spheris gained a workforce of more than 1,800 transcriptionists. About 1,500 of those employees work at a centralized facility in Bangalore, India. Thus, says Shaw, the transaction gave Spheris a much-needed global perspective.
To service this increased demand that’s out there, having enough medical transcriptionists to do the work is a real challenge to the industry in general. One way to tackle that increased demand is to tap the resources that are available globally, he says. One of the neat things about having an operation based in India is that a lot of dictation is done at the end of the day after hours. So we get a lot of volume that comes in late in the evening, and if you follow the sun, that’s the morning time for India. They’re just starting their business day, so we can route a lot of volume that we get late in the day to India when transcriptionists are just coming to work.
Shaw says the fact that Spheris owns its international facility and employs its workers rather than subcontracting differentiates the company from similar businesses. In addition, all Spheris’ medical transcriptionists in the United States are either full-time or part-time employees of the company.
With more than 3,500 employees and additional sites in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Sterling, Va., Spheris depends on high-tech global systems to quickly turnaround client transcription. Here’s how the technology works: Spheris provides clients with a server and whatever voice-capture system the client prefers. That might be a hand-held device or it might be a phone number the client calls. Shaw says fulfillment shops ensure that the client — as well as transcriptionists — have the hardware and software necessary to do the job. Following a patient encounter, physicians and other healthcare providers dictate details such as patient history, diagnosis and medications prescribed. The voice files are sent to a data center in either Franklin, St. Petersburg or Sterling, then passed out to transcriptionists.
The technology play is critical for a company of our size, and it’s one of the advantages that we offer in terms of cost savings, he says. He acknowledges, however, the continued existence of sneaker net, with some physicians continuing to speak into a tape recorder; then tapes are picked up at the office for delivery to Spheris.
Most of Spheris’ U.S. transcriptionists work out of their homes, where they usually receive digitized voice files over the Internet. Spheris offers the client a variety of templates, or the client may have its own format. Turnaround time is 12 to 24 hours, Shaw says, although stat service is available.
As it is known today, Spheris is the result of a small Franklin company called Total eMed, which purchased the much larger EDiX from IDX Systems in June 2003. The resulting company was branded as Spheris. In November 2004, the company completed a recapitalization in which two private equity investors, Warburg Pincus and Soros Private Equity (now known as TowerBrook Capital Partners), acquired ownership. The management team, led by President and CEO Steven E. Simpson, also invested and continues to lead company operations.
Asked if an IPO is in Spheris’ future, Shaw says the company will take a cautious approach to that. We want to make sure that we stay disciplined around the acquisition of HealthScribe, making sure that we’re fully integrating all aspects of that. … We do have a growth strategy in mind, and that certainly is an option down the road.
I'll have to check into Spheris
I looked at them before and at the time they were starting training that you had to pay for and then they would hire you after graduation but if they are straight hiring I'll have to try them again. I'd rather have 3 job offers than none!
If you read the archieves you'll see Spheris
is NOT a good company.
disappointed
It didn't take me long to see through the smoke and mirrors. I do believe their managers sincerely care but their hands are tied in many respects.
I wish you the best in your tough decision. Luckily for me it was not a difficult one.
Very disappointed
Had hoped of all the Nationals, this one had the integrity they purport to even know the definition thereof. Bait and switch for sure. Horribe QA, horrible communication, lack of integrity ... course, that seems to be the deal with most of these companies ... so whatever works for one may not work for another. Where are reputable, honest, decent companies? P.S. Everyone I started with @ Transolutions left, including those with over 20 yrs experience. Was very disappointed in their lack of professionalism and lack of organization.
very disappointed
I agree with everything you said and then some. The only thing holding me is I need insurance and most places make you wait 90 days. I've been an Editor for years and years and I've never seen the cluster that is the set up with these people.
I am just disappointed
.
Disappointed
Well I work for Transcend and I am very disappointed in the number of Indian transcriptionists. I'm near retirement age, love the account I work on and make halfway decent money so I won't be going anywhere at least for now but this sure changes my opinion of the company. How sad.
No I am not disappointed at all
I work for MDI and I get acknowledged every two weeks. It is called a paycheck. I am a professional and do not expect any kind of special weeks, rewards, or other things. In fact, I think MT Week is juvenile and silly. I really think (and no, I am not an MTSO) we should be thankful in this economy that we have jobs and not always have our hands out for gimme, gimme, gimme.
No, not disappointed
This is the sum total of what anyone knows about the poster who touched off all these comments. She wrote:
''Just when I get my creditors settled into dates I pay my bills, I will have to revert back to having to go to the payday loan for money. Twice a month is too long between paydays.''
Some of us have pointed out that with four months to get ready for this change in payroll method, a reasonably mature and disciplined individual ought to be able to prepare for and adjust to this change. Others have suggested that we cannot possibly know what horrible circumstances (caring for a terminally ill relative was one possibility) getting paid every other week solves that being paid twice a month will not.
The writer will have to ''revert'' to getting high-interest, short-term loans from payday lenders. She has apparently gone this route before and then failed to take measures to see that she does not need to ever again. And if she feels she must borrow money this way, it has to be the fault of somebody else (MDI/Transcend.) Nope, nobody has convinced me yet that this is not an immature and blame-shifting person with poor money management skills.
Next?
Disappointed, but don't know what the deal is
I had an interview set up today by Amphion at 9:00 a.m. - no call. Very strange - she called me Monday morning and asked for my schedule this week to set up an interview - I told her anytime, any day except Friday - she said Wednesday at 9:00 EST. OK, now it's 9:56 and still no call. I'm so disappointed - she said my testing was awesome, etc. - maybe I'll give them a call later and see what happened? Don't know.
I am very disappointed. I was going to apply there
I was going to apply there, but I will only work for companies that only use United States employees.
Thank you for the information.
Sad, but true. Definitely disappointed in Transcend. n/m
nm
thumbs up for WMX here too...not disappointed (no message)
xx
I left MQ and went to Keystrokes...so far I am not disappointed..(sm)
I haven't run out of work and I love the account I'm on. I think if my account did slow down there are plenty of others that are coming on board that I could be cross trained on. So far..so good!
Good Luck. You won't be disappointed! (nm)
x
I am with you. Left a while back. Very disappointed.
nm
Oracle...nothing. Kinda disappointed.
I thought they liked us?
Yes, I would have loved the job with Axolotl. I was very disappointed that I did not pass it.
I am never one to make excuses, but I honestly feel that the sound quality on my end must not have been very good as I did not hear some of the things that were in the report. I did feel it was easy also. So, it's definitely my fault for whatever went wrong.
I am disappointed too, but then again, the new operations manager used to work sm
at Medquist, so obviously outsourcing would not be something unfamiliar to him. I have worked with them for over a year, and I truly believed the family thing that was pushed, but it does not have that feeling anymore. I need to talk to Tonya, but my gut feeling is to walk away, just scrape it off like something bad on my shoe and move on.
I'm sure you can find something else. The great thing about this industry is you can always find another job. It may not be ideal and exactly what you want at the time, but something to get by until the right one comes along.
Good luck! 
If you'll read through past posts you'll find lots of
recent info. Why do you need menitoring if you already work as an MT. Unless you do clinic work most companies will require you to work at least one weekend day, at least initially.
If you'll read the archives you'll find out everything
you want to know, none of it good.
article
Rochester Business Journal - August or Sept 2005. And it wasn't all 15 years ago.... charges still pending in 1999 -- but read the article for accurate information on the convictions and judge for yourself.
I saw that article too
They pay their MTs the equivalent of about $135/month US, which for the year is more than 3 times their national average of about $500/year US. My electric bill is over $135/month.
Here is the article
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/stories/2008/05/25/ga100transcend.html
If they delete this link, email me; I have the article saved.
Very interesting article.
Sadly, the wave of the future, I suppose. I'm glad to see some of the transcriptionists spoke up, but unfortunately, people who don't understand transcription are always the ones making the decisions! Thanks again for sharing.
This was a great article.
Thanks. 
did any other HISers see this article? sm
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060408/BUSINESS03/604080390
I saw the article...AND the CEO's pay. Yowza. nm
x
Interesting article
In 2003, Indian employees, who were working on medical records for Ohio’s Heartland Information Services, threatened to release confidential records unless they received a cash payoff from the company.
http://blj.ucdavis.edu/article/604/#_ftn60
It's a slightly old article -
.
Right. That's what the article said, basically.
That all correct English is the same, wherever the country:
English in India may have a British hangover but by no means is it vastly different from American English or any other correct English for that matter.
She expects Indians working for American countries to have excellent English ... like hers. If only our visitor could write like that, we wouldn't be appalled.
i looked at the article...
and it still does not clear up the line count issue for me at all. : (
Can you link this article?
I am interested in reading this and how they came up with their figures. I QA Indian reports, and maybe 5% of the MTs could pass a quality audit at 98%. I wonder what kind of guidelines they are using to get this 99% figure.
It is definitely going to India....big article
xx
Do you have Link to article? nm
nm
Here is the article - they do offshore
and seem mighty proud about it. LG states that about 15% of the work is outsourced to India (that was in May, 2008 - number more likely 35% by now), but that the clients are in the U.S. That was a strange quote, IMO.
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/stories/2008/05/25/ga100transcend.html
If this link disappears, email me. I saved the article.
Good article.
That's right — the Franchise Tax Board and IRS come after you and, at the very least,
disallow your related business deductions.
Yikes, only one more reason not to work for the companies that treat their ICs like employees.
Link to article
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_12022094
Can't bring up the article - could you cut and paste - sm
it so that we could read it??
Thanks
What is the storyline title to the article?
p
Toledo Blade article....let us know on here
if it gets published..I'm down in Lima and can pick up a copy..would love to see it..I know I can read it online but I would rather see it in the paper down here. Good Luck!
According to the article posted, one of the proposed
Am I googling correctly, that Nuance is affiliated with both Dragon (speech recognition) and Focus Infomatics (Indian??).
So, if Philips sells to Nuance, what are the implications? Does Focus have American MT's?
I know these are scary questions and purely speculative at this point.
If I understand the article correctly,
the records were stolen FROM a Transcriptionist who was subcontracting, not BY a transcriptionist, probably as a result of a computer being stolen or a home break-in, although the article did not say. It seems the only way to prevent this type of records breach would be to keep all transcriptionists in-house. Or am I missing something?
Tried to get article about outsourcing from Transcend
today from the newspaper. I have to call back tomorrow, the department closed today. That might be true what you are saying but what do you think about the statement that not enough MTs in the US to do the work. I find that kind of odd because I see people on here saying they are out of work.
I just read the article. Man, those answers sure don't
Like how little MT's are paid. Like how much they expect them to know, how fast the work is expected to be turned around, and how most MTs don't even have health insurance, and have to work 2-3 jobs just to live. They also didnt mention how much editing is involved with SR and offshore work. And I think their US-vs-India ratio is bogus as well. Most MTSOs these days have more work don in India than in the US.
Deception seems to be everywhere. There was an article about a trucking cm
company that set up a dummy office in another state to license its hundreds of vehicles there to avoid paying taxes here where apparently it is higher. I know it is not MT, just seems like Corporate America (or Corporate India) is packed with liars everywhere.
As far as the MT part goes, I would be tempted to contact the clients and ask if they knew their work was going to India, but then I suppose that could set you up for a bunch of lawsuits. Still, it would not hurt my feelings if they somehow ended up losing their accounts because of all of this deceit.
Probably figure you'll want Way more than they'll offer, whatever it might be. :) nm
s
If you'll read more carefully you'll see
I was referring to AFTER she's missed out on a job, having a friend do sort of an audit to tell her what what was wrong with her test she submitted -- not cheating.
Ab article below that says Proscript lost a lot of their accounts. Can someone tell me about this as
I am interested in this company or at least I was.
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