Good question! How to handle the stress.
Posted By: If there's lots of work at once. on 2008-12-11
In Reply to: How? - Alice
Would be a good thing, but what does a person do?
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
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.
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.
Does anyone else feel the stress mounting?
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!
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.
Here's how I handle it....sm
1. First off, if you don't stand up for yourself, others will continue to rely on you.
2. When someone knocks on the door to visit you have to tell them that it's your work time and they need to come after ___ o'clock. Some people think that if you work at home you have lots of flexible hours and if you don't set the rules then they don't know. You may also want to consider posting a note by your front door that says my work hours are 9a-5p - please do not interrupt during this time or something like that.
3. When people call wanting you to take someone to the doctor, get horses rounded up, etc. remind them that you have a job to do and that they need to take care of their own problems. If you were driving into a hospital or doctors office to work they wouldn't pull this stuff on you so why take it now?
4. Use caller ID and if you end up answering the phone politely tell the other person that you're working and they need to call back after such and such a time.
5. If you will stand up for yourself and do the above things you'll find yourself not being as stressed out and having actual free time again. You will also gain respect from family/friends that currently call on you once they realize that you're serious about not being the bail out person anymore.
Good luck!
How would you handle this?
As I said, I do like the company, like the work, and have been with them now for 6 years (do I look dumb yet). I don't like being taken advantage of, but am not sure how to approach it. The software we have to rent is their work platform, just like all companies have. I don't want to make anyone angry, but also don't know what to say. All the MTs have to do this at the company, not just me. How would you approach this? Any suggestions?
omg..that is just too much for me to handle...
thanks much for that info!
It's the same old act, different handle
I think I can remember three different incarnations of this person...I think in one of them she claimed to be Eastern European royalty or something. She sticks a finger into the wind to determine which way the wind is blowing and then intentionally goes against it or whichever will put her in what she perceives is the best light. Then, of course, in the postings where opinion is split roughly down the middle, she's flipping faster than the grill boy at McDonald's at lunch hour.
Sadly, if she pops up and agrees with anything I wrote, I feel chastised and develop the sudden urge to go back and disavow whatever it was I had written.
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.
If you can't handle it, don't apply for it.
If you can't handle the daily volume of work then don't apply for the job. You risk getting the job, having more than you can handle and doing either a poor job just to get it all done or not meeting your deadline. In either case, you risk damage to your reputation when the doctor is unimpressed with your work.
Is there another Transcriptionist you can share the workload with?
If the problem is more a lack of experience with transcription as opposed to too high a volume of work then my suggestion is to try to get transcription experience before venturing out on your own.
Of course you can't. You Can't Handle the Truth!
zx
How about you just don't handle it and ignore it.
sometimes, less is best!
How to handle nonpayers
Contact the attorney general of your state and the attorney general of the state where the company is located. If there is a department of business regulation in either state, copy them as well. Then inform the nonpayers that you will proceed on to small claims court. Then do it.
How do most companies handle this?
I recently started with a new company, so all of my work is going through QA right now. So, last night I typed a note for a doctor that was 250 lines and at the VERY end, he said I'm sorry, just delete this dictation, I have changed my mind. Well, I didn't delete it, I had been typing a while with all of those lines. QA picked it up and she deleted it and sent me a note telling me that the dictator requested it to be deleted and please make sure I pay attention to that next time and I no longer have those 250 lines!!! So, is this how all companies work, because I am not sure I remember having that situation before, but it seems quite unfair that I would type that many lines and then be told nevermind ???
How do most companies handle this?
I recently started with a new company, so all of my work is going through QA right now. So, last night I typed a note for a doctor that was 250 lines and at the VERY end, he said I'm sorry, just delete this dictation, I have changed my mind. Well, I didn't delete it, I had been typing a while with all of those lines. QA picked it up and she deleted it and sent me a note telling me that the dictator requested it to be deleted and please make sure I pay attention to that next time and I no longer have those 250 lines!!! So, is this how all companies work, because I am not sure I remember having that situation before, but it seems quite unfair that I would type that many lines and then be told nevermind ???
You need to use them for production & to presvent repetative stress injuries. nm
s
can you handle a 12-hour window?
Our company is offering a bonus right now, as they are taking on a couple of new accounts. It depends on so much, because where I find them great to work for, others have not.
I have been here about six months, and have never had one issue about scheduling; however, I do work the days I have committed to, just that they have a 12-hour window in which to do it. My supervisor has also never bothered me for the occasional flexibility, and one of the administrators even told me to go ahead and work however I want on the weekend, whether it is Saturday or Sunday.
You do punch a timeclock, but after I got used to it, it only has helped me as you actually make a bonus for lines/hour, which if you clock in an out say an hour at a time, you get can that pretty high.
There is a lot of ESL, but plenty of help and information to help you...
Please feel free to E if you need to...
Thanks.
I had been posting as anon. This is my new handle.
nm
Company found way to handle TAT. SM
After 5 pm, they are dumping out whatever reports are in editors ques and sending them out to MTs, but just certain MTs who have high ratings and are not allowed to leave any blanks. Sounds like a great idea, except if one is the MT who gets stuck with all the junk, one right after the other.
This isn't VR either. 
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 don't know if this can be asked or not, but how does Keystrokes handle templates? (sm)
Are they prefilled by the platform and if so are they paid to the MT as having been typed by the MT or does the system subtract for the template?
I have no problem not being paid for template characters; however, I have found (with a couple of services that I have worked for) that the platform (or client or maybe even the service) will fill in absolutely every heading that MIGHT possibly be dictated by the doctor. We, as the MT, have then had to bounce up and down the template looking for the heading that is being dictated and in some cases, having to modify the template by extracting words to fit how the doctor is dictating that heading. In both cases, the line counter was set up to deduct the characters from the ORIGINAL template (which we were not paid for). If the doctor dictates a shorter heading than was prefilled by the system, we are essentially losing lines. (I hope that wasn't too confusing.)
It's just so much easier to type as the doctor is dictating and use my expansion program rather than jumping up and down a template. I'm wondering how Keystrokes handles their templates. TIA
But the newbies can handle being team leads?
Give me a &%$) break!!!
Does anyone what national company has been hired to handle...
ProHealth Care of Wisconsin hospitals. I heard that they have now changed to a national company to do all of their work for all their facilities.
***
Please do not discuss clients or accounts here. This thread is locked; please take this conversation to email using the Reply by Email option below.
Moderator
Ok. I could handle once as a mistake if explained promptly and fixed. Twice? I would run sm
as fast as I could. Twice in two months? What if you never get paid at all? You would be better going with a national while getting your own so that you have benefits and a steady paycheck. Start your own accounts slowly so that you start right.
That is terrible. You know, those women have no idea how to handle all these big university accounts
that are moving up there. They are very very wrong about some of the things they do and it seems like they really dont know as much as they would like you to think they do. That is absolutely disgusting that they did that. I hope that MT reported them to anyone in New Jersey they could find. I would have taken that as far as I could have if I would have been her to the CEO. That is just horrendous. My goodness, why does MQ continue with them. I believe firmly if you make enough calls you will find someone that is willing to listen and take the info where it needs to go I believe that.
The key is working multiple accounts. Three months is hardly long enough to get a handle sm
on the job. Maybe better to keep a parttime job until you are up to speed on the new job. I haven't run out of work in almost a year (and that was only for a few minutes), but I do multiple accounts. Great company, great people. Nice bennies.
Plain and simple, you have to be able to handle the difficult dictators in this profession if..
you want steady, appreciated work by a national company. There are so many hoppers out there who bounce from company to company, and then come here to complain about it. Trust me, we have all had our share of tough dictation over the years. When I started MT over 20 years ago, I cried daily trying to get through those many mumblers, ESLs, etc. to make mere pennies an hour. The experience and skills that I gained by hanging in there made me a successful Transcriptionist over the years. I started out in-house, and then obtained a few local accounts, and built from there. I ran a small MT service with several subcontractors helping me. I am now with a small national, the name of which I don't want to mention. I make a good line count of .11/65 characters with spaces and have absolutley no overhead. If you are an experienced and skilled transcriptionist, there are companies out there who will pay you what you are worth. Don't settle for less. However, if you are new and inexperienced in this profession, do not expect to make a good living until you have built the skills necessary to succeed. If all that was involved in MT was getting the easy dictators or accounts, it would not take much to be good in this profession. A company needs to see that you can tackle whatever comes your way. No one ever said it was going to be easy!
I can handle micromanage and cherries, but its the bill collectors I want to stay away
You see, to me it is more than worrying about micromanaging and cherry picking. I have been in the biz long enough to develop a rough skin. It is when I do not have enough money to pay the rent or car which bothers me. So, I take the shift least wanted b/c there will be work there, I allow micromanaging and say I will do better next time, and I learn all the toughest ESLs without complaint. You see, no one can control another person, and one should know no job is perfect out there. The only thing a person can and should do is mature-up, quit whining, and get to work so the roof stays overhead, the pantry has milk and bread and the car is still outside. Of course, that is my 2.5 cents.
Youch, MQers, how do you handle DQS timesheets if you're a regular employee with no set schedule?
nm
The best co. ever! Good work, good people, good pay, good bennies.
x
Yes there is! Good pay and good bonuses and good benefits.
Personally, DSG is a good fit for me. Pay is good and on time, sound quality depends on the account
and I like the platform. There is not much weekend work, although sometimes is available. I get along well with the management, no major complaints. There is pay incentive once you get over a certain number of lines in a pay period. I work as an IC, so can't help with benefits, insurance questions, etc.
I'm with them. Good work environment, easy accounts and I'm making really good money. nm
Fairly flexible but they do like a schedule. Insurance is good. Benefits are good in my opinion.
For the past week, work has been a little slower but I think that is common in every company..some days busy and other not.
Does anyone recommend a pretty good company that is good to work for, pay always on time and plenty
of work. I know that is asking a lot, but just curious?
Strictly IC, good company, hard accounts, good platform.
Good pay, always on time, no direct deposit though.
Is Transcend a good company with a good platform to work on. They are advertising.
:
Webmedx hires some ICs. Good company. So sorry for your loss. Good luck!
x
TransTech for many reasons, good pay, stable company, good benefits
and flexible.
I have looked around the last 6 months and have found nothing better. Have turned down numerous jobs, and have finally decided to stay put. The better insurance plans were announced and even moreso than ever, I am staying put, and my paycheck is happy about that because it is getting better every day. Good luck to you.
TransTech is a good company. Debbie is the owner and a good one at that! nm
n
Good company, great people, good benefits.
Affordable insurance. Good luck!
|
