Great post! In the same shoes you are! sm

• Kudos for TransHealth - Chickadee
  • Great post! In the same shoes you are! sm - mlstoo
  • Ah, so you are the reason I got so many calls - diddles
    • :) LOL Sorry about that! Thanks for SM - Chickadee
    • Kudos for Transhealth - no name

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I post my opinions on companies when people ask, but always try to remind them that that is just my experience, might not be the same for everyone.

Thank you for posting this. It was well said!

nm

I've been trying to take a look at the really big picture lately.  I see almost daily tornadoes ripping our country apart.  Wildfires doing the same thing.  God only knows what we have in store regarding hurricanes this summer, too.

In addition to that, we have, on almost a daily basis, reports of someone at a school, business or courtroom killing innocent people.  We have missing children at an alarming rate.  Crane operators and miners are being killed because there's no longer any push for worker safety, and if anyone tries to sue for negligence over the death of a loved one, THEY become the enemy.  Our bridges are crumbling from beneath us as we attempt to drive across them.  Our children and pets are being poisoned by imported food and toys.  There are more people than ever visiting food banks because they simply can't afford to feed their families any longer.

America today seems to be resembling war-ravaged Iraq more than the healthy, thriving, prospering USA I remember.

I honestly don't blame Indians for wanting a better life for themselves and their families.  Instead, I blame a GOVERNMENT that would permit such personal items as the transcription of medical records to be outsourced to other countries.

A couple years ago, I worked for a company that (thankfully) didn't outsource (to my knowledge, anyway.) 

I began to transcribe the note and started giggling because the patient's name was the same name of a politician whose name was being mentioned at the time as possibly running for President in the 2008 election.  I thought, Wow, this person must be teased a lot, but I KNEW this couldn't be the same person because Washington politicians certainly have the best security the USA has to offer, right?

WRONG!  As I progressed through the note, my heart sank when I realized that this patient, indeed, WAS that politician.

I have to wonder how many members of Congress have had their personal medical notes transcribed by someone living in perhaps a less than friendly country.  If there are any, they probably don't even know, and their physicians, as well, probably don't even know.  All these physicians know is they pick up the phone, dictate the note, hang up, and it magically appears in print a short time later.

I was prepared to send mass emails to EACH member of the House and Senate, warning them of what I had just experienced, without divulging the name name or gender of the politician; however, the way their contact emails were set up, if I didn't live in their district, I simply couldn't communicate with them, so I abandoned the effort.

Just as it's recently been discovered that our ports aren't secure, now (along with our borders), almost seven years after 9/11, I wonder how many other lapses of security are present in the USA today.

Outsourcing is okay for some things.  Private medical records isn't one of those things.

It is refreshing to hear someone look at the positives for once.  I, too, have found a company that I am happy with.  I have been with them for almost 3 years now and I am very happy.  I feel I am extremely lucky to have such a great employer.

I always have work, a make a good line rate and I have excellent benefits.  Do I have to stick to a schedule?  YES!!  Do I have my work audited and have to provide quality work? YES!!!  Do I always agree with everything??  NO!!!  Can I support my family and make a decent wage? YES!!!  Do I have to pay for clothes to go out to work?  NO!!!  Do I have to pay for childcare?  NO!!!  Do I have to pay for gas?  NO!!! Most importantly, do I have to put up with the constant drama of working with a bunch of women?  NO!!!!

I feel sometimes people in this profession want to have their cake and eat it too as they are always complaining about sticking to a schedule, QA being too harsh and people hurting their feelings when they do something wrong, etc.  I think we are lucky to have the opportunity to work at home.  We do not have to deal with gas prices and all of the other things that come with working out in the real world. 

This is just my opinion. 

Many companies take the chance to say you're appreciated to their MTs at this time of year.  I work for 2 companies-- One sent a card, one send rather expensive (greater than $50) gift.  It's nice to be thanked for doing a good job.

It's not at all greedy or any other negative adjective unless you're an MT that does little but kvetch, rarely hold up your end, etc.

Keep holding on to the positive and let the negative posters simmer in their own words. 

we can only lead a horse to water, we cannot make them drink it....if they choose to be intolerant, it's their choice as sick as it seems.  I choose to go through the life as a loving, compassionate person.  Others choose not to go this route.

Yes, racism and neonazism is, unfortunately, alive and well, in the USA and all over the world.  So, if we raise our children with our awareness and our love and compassion, hopefully the future generation (our kids) will Do The Right Thing!! 

I started in a clinic but quickly moved to a large teaching hospital, and the mentorship and listening parties was very valuable.  Another thing that works that I particularly like is to walk away, go have a cookie, then come back.  Sometimes then you can hear what the doc is saying!  At least as bad as ESL are the docs who have a 15-minute report but by the time they're done uhh-ing and ahh-ing and emm-ing through the report you have about 40 lines. 

you are told upfront what the benefits are and what the requirements are, so if they are not to your liking, why take the position?   I am quite happy here at TT, and am thrilled at the news about the 401k.  Of course, I've been doing transcription for over 30 years now, so I guess that puts me in the age bracket where thinking about retirement is a little bit higher on my list than maybe someone 20-something, although I wish I had been smart when I was 20 and started putting away.  Oh well .......

Again, great post ... thanks for sharing. 

I wish that you would share your post directly with MTSOs who may not see it here, by anonymous email or some other method.  Actually, I just might send the link to the HR manager of some of these MTSOs, if that's okay.

Recently, my Indian manager was replaced by a female USA manager, who has some of these traits/habits, the worst of which is that we have received emails that indicate her inclination to always assume that 100% of the clients concerns are the fault and responsibility of the MTs, that MTs should be able to read minds, etc., etc.  Her communication style is very condescending.  If you email a question, you don't expect an answer unless she decides that it is important.  You know the type.  I can't wait to find out how it all works out in the months to come.

As an MT, IC for years, I have never had to rely on anyone but myself and am grateful for that.  There will always be a place for me in this field as an IC, as I stick to commitment.  Keeping my word is important to me. 

I have thought about venturing out and hiring a few MT's to help when my workload gets busy, but after trying it once realized I do not have the patience.  Thank goodness for the MTSO who has the patience. 

Good luck with your new hires.

And stayed on the Selectric for nearly 10 years pre-word processing computers (pre-Internet).  I remember, we had no self-correcting - we had to use a white tape to remove a letter.  But in those days, I did 2000 lines PER DAY!!!  At 6 CPL. And I worked 5-1/2 days a week in their office.  I had 12 accounts there.  So, I know my value and I know I'm not making my line counts for the BIG national since 1/1/06. 

I agree with you that MTs will always be necessary. I too have been doing VR for about nearly 2 years and it all comes in terribly garbled via VR and we have to make it all nice and professional looking.  I love VR though today, I rarely get any VR reports. Don't know where they have been farmed out to either.

Thanks for your insightful post!!!  I, too, am tired of the moaning and groaning....something I never *indulge* in.  All this complaining is an indulgence in my mind. 

Be well and thanks again for your insightful post!! 

I guess you've never worked on the inside of an MTSO business, but you wouldn't believe how physicians and hospitals are chipping away at our pay by demanding lower rates from the MTSOs.  Some MTSOs that people on this site complain about offering offshored services to client did it to KEEP from losing their clients.  When it starts with the doctors and hospitals, what choice do the MTSOs have but to pass that on to the MTs?  It really is a vicious circle. 

Some MTSOs team up with schools and offer interships where an MT in training works for free for a period of time to gain experience.  Now trust me, THOSE savings are not passed on to the experienced MTs...that goes directly into the MTSO's pockets and those MTSO push their long-term, higher paid MTs out the door to save a few pennies with no trouble sleeping at night.

So what about a union?  You're right.  More jobs will be offshored.  More experienced MTs will lose their jobs.  Doesn't anyone remember what happened when the air traffic controllers went on strike and the president of our United States canned every single one of them and airports had to hire an entirely new staff of controllers?  Did you see airlines stop flying passengers?  Nope.  Managers worked triple shifts until restaffing occurred, oh, without extra pay since they were salarired.

I don't pretend to know the answers as to how an MTSO should run its business but honest communication, good benefits and wages that have been lost in just a few short years (less than 10) would be nice.  It should stick to its gun and promote keeping jobs in the states for the patients' sakes.  And for the Indian physicians who have organized and created their own MTSO's to keep their families in India employed should be boycotted.  MTs should educate anyone they know who uses a doctor to ask the physician where his/her transcription is done or if s/he even knows and use only physicians with American-based transcription.

Boycotts worked in South Carlolinia and other states to take down the Rebel flag. Why can't we have a similar affect?  Mostly because we are not organized (I did NOT say unionized) and we do not generate the media coverage necessary to affect change.

d~

I am very small MTSO and it still gets hairy with turn around time.  All it takes is for one I/C to say, today I don't want to work -- which they can -- like the one above said, I want to work when  I want to and do as much as I want -- and suddenly she decides not to work, well suddenly that leaves 1000 to 3000 lines to be spread around, times that by 2 and what a mess.  You cannot control what and how much the docs dictate.  I would not hire someone unless they were strictly for overflow without somewhat of a committment whether it be the lines or time that the could do on specific days.  Imagine having 15 people with this attitude.  Like I said walk in my shoes, it is a balancing act.  Too much work, they gripe -- too little they gripe.   But someone that wants to work when they want, how much they want could not budget accounts that way.  It would be strictly overflow and then if you weren't available when the work was you probably would not stick around nor again would I keep you around.   Sure an IC can set their own hours but I expect a certain amount of work done in a certain amount of time to meet my TAT and not be docked because we didn't. 

I had 3 under the age of 5 at home.  I've worked both statutory/IC (the only difference is that statutory means they take out the federal taxes and IC doesn't)and employee positions.  By far, the best for me was statutory.  Even now that my kids are all in school, statutory is still better because of summer vacations.

Some things to remember:  Most employee positions require you to punch a timeclock.  Some companies let you get your work done in a 12-hour window, others require you to work just the shift your scheduled for.  The employee position I had did not give you the window. 

My employee position also required me to produce so many lines per hour, even though I was paid by production not hourly.  Therefore, if you are scheduled 6 hours and had to produce 100 lines per hour, you needed to have 600 lines in by the time you clocked out.  If you got interrupted by 1 of your kids, you had to either clock out and make the time up at the end of your shift (which no one feels like doing) or stay clocked in, try to handle the problem in a few minutes, and hope you make your 100 lines per hour.  Of course, the line requirement was averaged over the week or payperiod (can't remember which now), so I always went with the second option of staying clocked in rather than having to make up time at the end of my shift.  But, anything that took more than a few minutes to handle, you'd better clock out or else Big Brother will report you for stealing from the company.

There are some downsides to statutory.  You do not get benefits.  If you want a day off, you take it, but you don't get paid for it.  You also don't get time and a half.  You work what you work and get paid the same amount, unless you're with a company that pays incentives/bonuses for anything over a certain amount. 

I honestly can't say much else about statutory.  It's my favorite.  The flexibility is just too good to pass by when you have little ones at home. 

I won't comment on companies to work for.  Too many people like to argue when you try to post something positive about a company.  Read the archives, decide on 2 or 3 companies, then ask about those companies.  It's just too broad otherwise.