Does anyone else feel the stress mounting?
Posted By: So tired on 2009-05-11
In Reply to:
I don't know if it's just me, a bad year so far, or what, but it just seems as though this job is becoming too stressful for me. I've been doing this for almost 18 years and I have never felt as stressed as I do now. I can't even begin how many companies I've switched after a 2-4 year period because they keep changing the terms of employment that were originally agreed upon. It just seems that they expect more and more and more and give less and less. At the job I work now I have a primary account and 4 backup accounts, yet I have to sit and wait for work on all of them.
They changed platforms that doesn't pay for what was agreed upon when I took the jobs. Used to pay for everything, including spaces. Now, it doesn't pay for patient information, which I have no objection to if the information is automatically entered, but it seems like we have to enter more and more information all the time. It doesn't pay for headings in a report any more.
Every new secondary account that they give me is more time intensive than the last one. I normally work on acute care accounts, but as a secondary they gave me a clinic. I thought to myself, at least now maybe I can get some better lines because it is clinic. On this account, we have to look at an email they send every week that lists all patients seen that week. We have to search for the physician dictating, find the patient he is referring to, take all the data from the email, and then enter it into the patient information fields (none of which is paid for) and it can't be copied and pasted because it is all in different fields.
I've been so afraid to look for another job because I'm being paid a good line rate, until we go to VR rate (within the next 2 weeks) at more than 65% less than my current line rate on accounts that haven't even been trained on the system. This is just getting so frustrating. I've sent my resume out and get replies offering me 8 cpl employee or 9 cpl IC.
I'm really sorry this is so long. I just needed to vent and try to network here. If anyone knows of a good company that will appreciate having an MT with skill and experience, and will pay a fair line rate for it, can you please email me? I promise I'll keep it confidential. Thanks for letting me vent!
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Totally. Stress of less and less money. Stress
My health is starting to slip because I never have time for exercise anymore. I can't afford healthy, fresh foods (they spoil too fast), and I can only go to the market once every 2 weeks. I'm depressed. I'm over-snacking. I have headaches. MT work makes me feel completely hopeless. I work for this invisible, omnipotent being that affects my life so adversely, and I can't even confront them in person, because the MTSO's all exist in that netherworld of the internet. They're nothing but evil electronic impulses that chain us to our computers and ruin our lives.
Stressed? Oh, yea - you better believe it. And an entire nation of people feeling exactly like I do? That's pretty da***d scary.
Lost accounts are mounting up
I was convinced is not going to get better so picked up FT elsewhere. Hopefully they won't cut off my benefits until I can get past the eligibility period at new place as I hate there to be a gap in my kids' health insurance! I cannot depend on them any longer to take care of me and my kids. Look everywhere you can. Take care of yourself, especially if your benefits are with the Web. I am on site now and loving it. And it isn't hard to work 2 full time jobs when one has no work!
You don't need that stress..
or stick with the radiology. Who needs that? You must feel so degraded! What a poor ethic that company has... I feel sorry for their clients!
Does this job stress you out?
I do love so many things about being an MT, but does it stress anyone else out knowing that you HAVE to type a certain amount to get the bills paid? I try to explain that to my husband. I seem overly stresseed a lot because like I tell him, if you have a NORMAL job and one day you just aren't feeling that great, you can still get your paycheck because you are clocked in. A foggy head or drained feeling doesn't affect your work. Being an MT, you are pushed to type or you don't get a check. You have a slow day and your paycheck is affected. It's staring to REALLY stress me out!!!
Stress at Amphion!
I left Amphion for TT, too, and I can sure relate to the stress there. Sheesh. I was on the big university account, which I really liked, but I stressed over the QA reveiws every single month, and I absolutely hated the mandatory overtime. Granted, Amphion is the ONLY MT company I know of that pays true overtime for working over 40 hours--and doesn't quibble about it--real overtime as in time and a half per hour over 40--plus your lines, which is why I will not work over 40 hours for anyone else, not as an employee, unless I get true OT. I also miss the no major holidays on that university account and I HATE the 2 weekend days per month at TT--because on those 2 weekend days all I get is crap, BUT my stress level is a lot lower now--that's a good thing. If I were on a better account, I would have absolutely nothing to complain about. HAHA.
Fortunately, we have insurance through my husband's work and it is great. I don't get these exorbitant MTSO insurance prices either. My husband's company has about 200 employees and they have BCBS and the family rate, including dental is $250, a month!
No matter where you go it is always something.
You got it!! Not to mention that the stress of
have to use our PTO for sickness rather than fun. I also never got anything of substance approved as far as days off, so my PTO time was useless, just part of the games of no work and getting sick over no work. I feel so sorry for those who stay in that situation, thinking they are going to lose out on PTO by starting over. Its your LIFE at stake, right? We are so worth more than PTO at MQ. 
Still Stress-Free...
Some of us still enjoy stress-free living w/o a care in the world.
We never had kids! (LOL)
More money + more peace and quiet = Stress-free living forever!
Does it stress me, nope but tell you what I would do if it did
I would not sit here complaining about the lack of work, no decent salary, not enough to pay bills on and so forth. I am sure most on here lot younger than me and I can almost assure you this profession is not getting better, in fact seems to be headed the other way. Why wait on some job that stresses you, not enough money to live, cannot make it, why not find something else to do? Is it that important just to stay home and not be able to live on this pay now? There are jobs out in the world. Why not train for something that maybe would not be outsourced and make a decent living. Lots here sound like the passengers on the Titanic. Someone fill me in on just why everyone is stressing just waiting around.
Not worth the stress...move on...I did.sm
I went with a co. started on 10/25 and turned out the platform really sucked..too much stress. I quit..got hired two days later..move on. Your home is your life..you don't need to be stressed out over your work when your work is at home.
Not enough for the stress they're putting me through . See msg
From what I've read in the past, and my experience, they pay anywhere from 7 cpl to 10 CPL (I personally make 8 CPL with 10 years experience, no raises since I started there despite numerous requests for one). THIS IS FOR STRAIGHT TRANSCRIPTION. Most of us work on ASR now (voice recognition) which pays 70% of your pay (example, I make 0.56 CPL for ASR). I have lost a LOT of money since ASR began. I average around 150 lines per hour for ASR. I averaged around 250 lines per hour with straight transcription. In other words, I made around $20/hr before ASR, now I make $8.40/hr, just above minimum wage in my state.
I only work flex-part time now for MQ and work full time somewhere else that pays fairly with NO ASR and NO outsourcing outside of the U.S.
It is my strong belief, after 10 years of working for MQ, that we will all lose our jobs soon now that the board of directors is Indian based. Believe it or not, they can pay Indian workers even less than they pay us.
Yes, they pay shift differential, 0.5 CPL more for evening shift, 1 CPL more for night shift.
A slew of workers have left since the news so it is my belief that's why they're hiring now. If you're interested in a short-term job, fine. Good luck though.
THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY.
Don't stress. Tell her you are nervous, and she will be very nice about it. sm
You can't ask for a nicer group of people. They worked with me through my husband's long illness, house problems due to his illness, followed by a few health problems of my own that I still think are the after-shock of dealing with his illness. He is fine now, I am fine now, and I will never again look for another job because Keystrokes treated me like family, not just a number.
I had been at the Q for 17 years in some form (company I worked for was gobbled up by them) and was very nervous but they were very gracious about and put me at ease. That was 3 years ago and I am grateful that I took the plunge.
Did not mean to stress you out! After all we need health insurance
have not met line requirement for insurance and pharmacy... did not mean to stir a kettle, just wanted a reality check... you sure gave it to me!!!
Don't stress over gifts at Christmas -
that is NOT what the holiday is about - haven't been able to afford gifts for MANY years now - and when I can again I will be VERY conservative about it.
We have been brainwashed to think we HAVE to exchange gifts.
The best year was when I cooked a really good meal for all and placed one small gift at each place setting.
Repetitve Neck Stress Injury
 Repetitive Strain Injury Advice: Bad Neck Pain-I have a lumbar support chair but I am still getting repeat shooting pain in my neck. Is there anything I can do to ease this? Better support while I am working etc.? Any advice is appreciated before I run to the doctor.
Good question! How to handle the stress.
Would be a good thing, but what does a person do?
You need to use them for production & to presvent repetative stress injuries. nm
s
I feel the same way...I love working for Keystrokes and feel blessed that I have such a wonderful jo
nm
Left end of July for a company paying more and I set my own hours. Much less stress too. (nm)
x
TYPO -- wow I am upset. It is causing illness due to stress !!! Does TT care? NO n/m
and inability to meet my payments that I have normally had no problem paying. It is so disgusting.
Don't send me a Happy Friday email. Send me some of your paycheck, mgmt. Nor do I want to hear you guys ROCK! If you mgmt people had no paychecks, you wouldn't be saying that, would you?
Your paychecks come from MT's -- NO ONE ELSE !!! And YOU want to pay us 1/3 or 1/4 of our line rate for your crummy VR dictation. What a disgrace !!!
I feel the same way. I'm irritable because I feel
and that my years of experience overall, and past few years of busting my @$$ for them hasn't been appreciated or noticed in the least.
We're all just cogs in the wheel.
I know. I feel the same way.
Makes no sense to me..
We've got fiery, feisty redheads all over this country, although my brother and his wife got married in Ireland.
I feel for you
I think I once felt the same way as you. Its ashame what's been happening but it has been happening and some of it for good reason.
I feel the same way. SM
Who are the people who say that they are doing well financially with DQS? I see them on boards saying that DQS is the best platform but I can't figure out how unless they were making a lot less before than I was. It is strange for some people to be doing so badly on the platform and others to be incredibly satisfied and vocal about it.
Feel the same way ever since...
St. Louis and Chicago CSC combined into one - meaning one branch manager for both CSCs.
I have to work day and night between multiple accounts because they recently hired a bunch of new MTs. Talk about overstaffed!
So I guess this is how they repay MTs that have been loyal full-timers for them for many years - replace them with entry-level MTs.
I know the only out is to try another transciption company part-time to see if they're better but I just don't know if I have the energy to do that right now.
I often feel the same way...(sm)
Reading enough, one gets a feeling of hopelessness. VR taking over the better work, leaving the garbage for the rest. I sometimes wish MTs would stop to think what they're actually doing when they readily agree to take on VR editing. It reminds me of all of those IT techs who were forced to train E. Indians to do their jobs, knowing those same E.I.'s would be taking their jobs FROM them. This is actually worse, because those IT's didn't get a pay cut while doing it!
Some will say that you can't stop the technology...
Really? Where would that technology be without us?
Know how you feel sm
I screwed up ilial/ileal. I just said, um, um, you know, I goof this one everytime and always have to look it up, truthfully gave it my best shot. I was wrong and got the job anyway.
Yes, lol! Feel the same.
If you think about it, anyone can basically score perfect on that with an open book and looking it all up on Google. I thought maybe it was timed so tried to rush through. Who knew? If they are not following it up with a typing portion, they're in for a rude awakening! Think about it, a nurse may pass that test with flying colors, but can she transcribe??? JMO.
Don't feel bad.
MT for many years for many companies including two top-20 rated medical centers and didn't pass two online tests not long ago. Both were very, very simple. I think some places are slaves to the AAMT BOS and the slightest deviation from that is counted as an error. Unfortunately, I think some others may discriminate based on age, geographical area, sex, race, marital status, etc., and use (phony) test results as a way to get out of hiring somebody who may be well qualified but may not fit into their sociopolitical clique.
Know how you feel
I did the same thing last year and it was a big mistake. Some people enjoy working for them but I just couldn't make any money. I was on 5 different accounts and they would all run out of work. It was just so frustrated and couldn't live off the money I was making from them. Needless to say, I left quickly.
I wish you much luck!!!!
I feel for you,
got into a bad situation myself with my old job, but everyone's advice has been good, there are jobs out there, you just have to look. I have had a good luck with Keystrokes, you might want to try there. If not, there are others out there. I wouldn't quit your current job until you have something else. Good luck.
I feel the same sm
Taken 1 sick day in 10 years. Always work more than I'm asked to. Never complain and where am I? Without enough work to pay my long distance phone bill (which I never had to pay for in the past). Very discouraging. :(
Think how you would feel (sm)
if you gave notice at your old job and expected to start with the new one and couldn't for 2 more weeks. I think they should be compensated, seems only fair. If I was in that position though, I believe I would have kept my mouth shut.
Used to feel that way but no more.
Unless you get a lot of the same MDs with macros? Seems in these modern times and if you work for a national you never get the same MD twice. And then all the new instruments and unfamilar terms that you have to look up. Now, it's more like give me more H&Ps where I don't have to look much up, anytime! :)
Well thanks ...Now, I feel better. NOT....LOL
Must have been your time. Congratulations and I hope they have an awesome offer for you...
anyone else at DRC feel like
something is wrong. I mean one of our largest accounts is now all of a sudden empty? I work in this account and I find it extremely odd. This place is a huge facility and never having much to any work really should not be an issue. I am already cross trained on something else, but I am getting a bad feeling.
I feel the same way (sm)
I learned a long time ago to enjoy the slow times because it never lasts.
I know how you feel.
I too am in the same boat. The only thing different is I work for another company. From what I can see it sounds like transcription is heading in the direction or VR. They want us to do twice the work for half the money. Most days I struggle to make 12.00 an hour. It is to the point where after transcribing for over 20 years that I will be going back to school and getting as far away from transcription as possible. Between the cut in pay and wondering if I am going to have enough work I am finding that it is not worth staying in this profession. 
I feel
the same way. It's frustrating. I've only been in transcription for 6 years and am ready to get out. I worked in an office for years. I was treated much better in my office job than doing transcription. My family also refers to this as a sweat shop job. I feel stuck right now, but am trying very hard to get my ducks in a row so I can get out of this nonsense. These nationals should be ashamed of themselves. JMHO
Don't Feel the Same
Sorry, but I don't agree with you. Accounts are only hard to the people without the skills to provide a quality product in a timely manner.
All I can say is that at my new job I feel
valued and respected, am well treated, and the pay is more!!!!!
Don't feel bad.....
I'm the same way.....I should have left the Q long ago, but can't get up the nerve......ho hum.....some day! I keep watching the posts for KS, though!
Thanks to both of you! I do feel better right now.....sm
I guess I am just very worried, as many of us are, of NOT getting paid at all, or something being wrong....I guess we are all used to a bi-weekly or weekly check where we can actually see that we are getting paid correctly and on time.....I guess I have to trust that until March 31st, they seem to be a great company, I guess I have just been burned a few times before! Thanks so much for your encouragement and support!
Still feel the same
It is now a year later, are you still happy with Ascend?
Don't feel bad s/m
Just starting your second year I would say you're doing fine. I would expect that you can reasonably expect to see what you made last year come close to being double that in your second year. 
Don't feel bad..........
I have 14 yrs. experience and I've been beating myself up all day wondering how I could have failed their test! Glad we are both currently employed!
Hugs to you Cheri!!!
I feel better now
LOL. I feel so much better now that I've read your post. I've taken a couple of online tests after having been out of this field for about 10 years. I am able to pass the written portions, but haven't done so well with the transcription portions, unless they are really, really clear. I thought it was just me.
Okay, now I feel MUCH better
Yes, I flunked an online MT test where they said I left out a complete SENTENCE, which I would never do. EVER. A whole word, maybe. It got to me. I even went back over the dictation since I had downloaded it to my computer, and there was NO sentence missing. I found ONE word I had missed for which I left a blank. Something is fishy in the way some companies grade the tests for sure, or they are having the computer grade the tests, and there is something wrong with the computer programs. Don't let it get you down. I am glad you posted this, so that I have further verification that this happens.
thanks, I feel a bit better now
did you notice how he talks over you on the phone? Maybe it was just me.....
I feel sorry for you!
MGR, you appear to be a very sad, depressed and hateful person. Your attitude towards foreigners is tainted and not what I believe this country is all about. We have the ability and opportunity to obtain gainful employment here, something other countries don't have. This is the home of the FREE and the brave. You are free to choose employment that suits you best. Obviously Transcend is not for you, I wish you would utilize that freedom and find someplace else to work.
I pray that you do not have children who are being raised in such an atmosphere of contempt, distrust and hatred. Perhaps you should try visiting third-world countries where people stand in line for the opportunity to work in places such as underground mines (and are grateful for the job) so you may begin to appreciate what you have right here and now!
You need an attitude adjustment, MGR. Try counting your blessings once in a while, it would be refreshing for all of us who visit this post.
I feel sorry for the 10% that ... SM
are surely made up of 1 or more of us who unknowingly works for someone of your caliber. So sad. What goes around, comes around. I'm glad it's not me, that's for sure.
feel the same
I hate it when someone posts and doesn't state the company. I appreciate it when someone does give the name, that way we know what is good/bad about a company, then we can make our own judgment on whether or not to look into working for them or not. Thanks for bringing this up!
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