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HOW IS WORKING HOME A BENEFIT???--sm

Posted By: TX MT on 2008-12-29
In Reply to: Holiday pay - Terri

Like Judge Judy said in her books, Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.  Who benefits the most (financially) from MTs working at home?  Who doesn't have to provide an office?  Who doesn't have to provide a PC (except for a fee)?  Who doesn't have to pay the electric bill to use this equipment?  Who doesn't have to pay the MT's phone bill?  Who demands the MT have high-speed cable internet connection?  Maybe your definition of benefit is different from the rest of the working world, but I/we count a benefit as something we can take to the bank, i.e., insurance, PTO, etc. (FT only, yet). 




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In the early days, MedQuist said working at home was a benefit, therefore at-home sm
employees did not receive as many benefits as those working in-house.  As I believe, it was something like at-home employees got 3 days off a year versus 10 days for the in-office employees -- WHAT?!!!  I told them it made no sense to me, since by working at home I was saving them money -- no need to provide office space, equipment, references, utilities, etc. -- yet I get shafted.  I was only part-time when they took over the previous company with their great policies, and I told them to kiss where I can't. 
I hate it when people tell me that working at home is a benefit (sm)
Benefits are something that the company pays for. No use as MTs. If it was a true benefit, then they should give us the money to cover the costs of what daycare would be, because if you have kids, generally they stay at home with you, right? So, they should be compensating us for daycare costs on top of what we already make. Now THAT would be a benefit!
This is home based with full benefit package. (nm)
nm
Actually, having employees work at home is a benefit...TO THE COMPANY
more than the employee. The company doesn't have to pay for office space, electricity, etc.....
working from home is awesome but working for DSG is not...
horrible dictators, sound quality is bad, no answers to emails and they run out of work consistently...that is just my experience though...
Thanks. I am used to working at home
and not having to deal with this.  This hospital has opened up a new surgery center which is its own entity and that took away a lot of our transcription plus a good majority of our radiology has gone to templates so in other words we are now very over staffed.  They pulled some of us in-house to work on other stuff when transcription gets low which it frequently does so when I work on other things I get paid an hourly rate.  I make more typing.  Some of the other transcriptionists refuse to do anything else but type and one of the supervisors made a comment that that is not the right attitude to have.  I have considered the nationals mainly due to my pay cut and gas prices and of course this coworker doesn't help, but am afraid of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.  I have read horror stories on this board.   Its hard to decide what to do.  There is little opportunity for transcriptionists around here.  The ones that have a job are holding on tight.  One of the local multispecialty clinics outsource to India  and another one of our big multispecialty clinics do voice recognition and templates. They still have transcriptionists but let a lot of them go.  I live in a remote area also and never thought I would have to worry about India, templates, VR since big city people claims we are soo far behind but it has happened.  Oh, well thanks for letting me vent.  I feel like I did this on the wrong board though, probably should have been on the main board.  Sorry.   
Working at home
If you compare working at home to having to get up and go into an office somewhere, rain or shine, that is a big plus. The only drawback to this profession is the declining line rate. Guess thats really up to the MT I guess. They will pay what you are willing to take. Just have to keep shopping around until you get what you want. Much better alternative than getting all nasty about the company you work for, there are plenty more out there, and they all pay different.
working at home
I work for a local hospital that has been promising us to go home for 7+ years and still be employees of the hospital.  We have Dictaphone and recently got speech.  We are in the learning phase.  We were told they (hospital) cannot decide if we will use their equipment or your own equipment.  I and another co-worker also work for a service.  That threw up a red flag for us both.  Our own equipment - independent, no benefits or possibly every thing outsourced and then possibly lose the job.  We both figure with the speech recognition coming and possibly having to use our own equipment, it would be easier for a service to take over.  Any thoughts to that?
This is why I like working at home - ALONE. nm
x
Why are you working from home?

If it is so expensive, why are you doing it?   Some people will complain that the sky is blue.  No wonder you can't make any money with that poor wittle me attitude.   Boooo hooooo!


Happy working at home

I love working at home for a hospital.  I don't have to share work station, books, equipment with anyone.  You have to teach family and friends that you are really and truly working, and to leave you alone during work hours.  It's easy to allow intrusions but set rules from the start. 


I had to work in the hospital med rec/MT department for a month and while I enjoyed the people, I hated being there in a windowless dingy room.  At home, you create your own work environment.  My two coworkers at home are two cats who keep me company.  Good luck!


Exactly! When I first started working at home
with only 2 years clinic experience (no acute care at all), I was offered .075 cpl. Six years later, with that much in acute care experience and with the very same company, I was offered .0725. Something is just so wrong with this picture!
working from home question

I have been working acute care hospital, clinics, and doctor's offices for the past 7 years.  All done from the same hospital, which handles it all.  My favorite thing to type is op notes, but can and do everything. 


I would like to work from home, but live in the wilderness with no possiblity of high speed except satellite or dial up.  I have heard that dial up is impossible to make any money. 

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to use dial up and make good money and how good is satellite? 


What is the best way to go about finding a good work from home job?


Is it safe to put a resume on the internet?


Any other suggestions?


 


Working at home is very important to me
But keep in mind we HAVE BEEN working at home in this industry and making GOOD money for years now. It is only recently that this downslide has occurred. It is as much a benefit to the employer as it is to the employee to work at home. Think about all the money they save in office space and utilities and more and more of them do not supply equipment anymore. They want us to keep thinking the way your post reads and forget that we benefit them by working at home too. The working at home is a wash when it comes to which side benefits so we need not even go there
Interruptions working at home
You have to be very stern with everyone, especially family.

I told mine long ago, This is my room. I work in here. When the door is shut I am invisible to you because why? I AM WORKING. hehehee.

I don't answer the phone. Let them leave a message. If it is too tempting to stop and answer it, unplug it.

Put a note on your door for ding dongers - Day Sleeper. No Solicitors. That keeps them away.

The problem is MTs because we work at home have this wonderful life of freedom. Sure. It means that we can pick up everyone else's slack, or have them angry at us because we don't do it. Or we end up doing for everyone and working while those 8 to 5 folks are sleeping to make up for what we could not get done during the day. Or for those who call and ask you to pick up their kid from school, or take grandma to the doctor/pharmacy - call them once at work and ask them to do the same for you. They think it's ridiculous. That's when you can point out to them how untrue that is.

My favorite expression when I am interrupted is, OH SURE! I CAN DO IT, I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING!

It makes them feel bad and away they go with their interruptions.

Lasty, if you have a headset on when folks try to talk to you, pretend you can't hear them. :) I heard one of my nephews tell the other one who was trying to interrupt me, Don't bother, she can't hear you she has that head thingy on. hahaha.
I love working at home...

I agree that there are those out there that think being an at-home MT is a piece of cake and anyone can do it and they are sorely mistaken...I have an 8-1/2 year old and a 14 month old and I take great pride knowing that I am able to do my job and take care of my children....I have never used my children as an excuse not to get work done and I don't plan on it...my job as an MT is very important and I do it to the best of my ability....I do wish people would take more pride in their work but we don't all have the same work ethics unfortunately...


Yes ago I was working for a home health
care agency and they tried to initiate EMR.  This was 15 years ago and I didn't know what EMR was at the time.  It was a no go.   Recently had an appointment for my son with a specialist we saw for the first time.  He was so busy filling in the blanks, that he barely even looked at my son and sort of having a limb missing or having green skin I don't think the doctor would have noticed any issues.   If they want EMR I don't have an issue with that, but why not just have an MT transcribed document uploaded into a databank?
I hear ya! When I first started working at home...sm
I felt pressured to the max, but what I finally did was to put my bills in date-due order and placed them where I could see them at all times while working. It sounds silly, but it caused me to discipline myself like I had never done before - and after awhile, it became habit to work as if I were in house and actually helped me to increase my income! It is really nice not to deal with the office politics and a supervisor at the next desk, too! Good luck to you!
I make more working at home that I ever did on site
the most I made as an MT on site was 8 bucks an hour.
I figure working from home is worth at LEAST sm
an extra $5/hr for me right now (maybe more). Had offers to work in-house. Ability to work from home is the ONLY reason to do MT. Absolutely no point in leaving the house to do MT work.
Working from home/office work

I feel I need to speak up. I understand that the industry is going backwards in pay and for all of the more experienced MT's this is really degrading from what I hear from some. I understand and I would probably feel the same way. This is a craft. Not everyone can do what we do. It is a very hard craft. We should be paid what we are worth. There is no doubt about that but I also know how it works in an office in this industry. Being in an office is awful! I did it for 15 years. I worked at 2 different companies and both took advantage of the hard worker I was. I had MULTIPLE jobs and was not compensated for it. When I hear MT's complain about how bad they have it I want to scream. Yes, the pay is an issue. Yes, the belittling emails from managers is ridiculous. I completely agree and all of those managers should be let go but you do not know how awful it is to be in an office setting dealing with those belittling managers.


Trust me everyone in the company you work for or wherever that is not a VP or CEO is going through hell on a daily basis and not getting paid for it. You are making a lot more money for the time you put in than the people working in the office mostly. The people in the office are probably working on salary. When you figure the hours they work and the amount they are paid that are probably making about $5.00 an hour or less. They also have to work nights/weekends etc. from home. They also are having to listen to all of the MT's daily when they have a problem, they call in giving a excuse as to why they cannot come to work and trying to scramble to get the shift filled when the MT is really not sick as she said, problems dealing with the clients and their complaints about the work or turn times, problems with MT's and editors fighting via IM or email, problems with the Sales guys telling potential clients...oh yeah, we can do that...when we CANNOT.


I could go on and on. Being in an office is a lot more work than you would think. I would be greatful for what you have. I am not bitter at what I have gone through in an office setting. It got me to where I am today. I just want to let you know it is not easy working in an office and it is a lot harder than being an MT when you can type and then stop for the day and not have to answer to others and deal with their issues. Being an MT is a craft and it is hard...just be thankful!


Have a HAPPY HOLIDAY! Be joyous! Feel Blessed!


What is your problem with moms working from home?
It sounds like you have some kind of bias against moms working from home! What is wrong with that? Just because an MT is a mom working from home does not automatically qualify her as someone who puts out crappy work. I am sure there are tons of moms on this board who put out quality work. I put out quality work now and once my baby comes I will still put out quality work. Quit bashing moms working from home.
Do any acute care hospitals still have MTs working from home? sm

Back in the day (which was a Wednesday... in case you are curious)... I started out working for a huge acute care facility, then went home for them.  Any of them still do that??  You can e-mail me if you want.... I'm sick of working for nationals.


I worked for them years ago, back in 1994. No one was working from home then... SM
Well, if you were working from home, you were coming in and picking of tapes.  It was a pretty good place to work.  I was just starting out as an MT so it was really good experience for me.  They paid me hourly, but I was in house back then.  
I have a friend working in a hospital and she is looking for a company from home as an employee.
Would anyone care to recommend a good company?
Hmm....working on the holidays, PMS, kids home from school, wanting to find a better job but can'
s
I love doing pathology, but it is hard to find a position for working at home. Gross pathology is
easy, descriptive typing.  Microscopic is a little more difficult, but once you get the terminology down, it goes really quickly.  I also found it easy to get lines in with pathology.  If you've done acute care, you should not have a problem with the transition, IMHO. 
What would the benefit be except that you'd
s
She's going to benefit from it, too, so don't
If she's going to pay the person part of her rate, then she's obviously going to have her doing part of the work assigned to her, and she's still going to make 6.5 cpl off this gal. Not to mention, the original poster knows nothing of this person and she could stiff her for pay entirely. I would be very leery of a work offer such as this. The original poster would be better off going directly to doctors' offices or other services and offering a free trial of her work. However, if she went to a decent school, her school should help her obtain PAYING work upon graduating.
It's a benefit to me.
All those who doesn'ts you mentioned are actually tax deductions, which overall lowers your tax burden anyway. I love working from home and do consider it a benefit not having to commute, deal with office politics, boss breathing down my neck, etc. I did take a pay cut to work at home and am still glad I did. This is just my opinion and I am one of the rest of the working world. I love Judge Judy too.
I would like that benefit best of all, lol nm
nm
What is the benefit of IC if they tell you when to work. nm
:
Those in need do not benefit from outsourcing
The people in need do not get anything.  They will continue to starve while the upper castes/classes become more and more of a consumer-driven society.
What they want is a benefit-less employee.nm
x
There is one loophole to their benefit.
I got caught in this with the birth of my last child.  You have to have worked a certain amount of hours within the past year. Its an average of 24.  If you worked enough hours to qualify, then you can absolutely take all 12.
You can say that again. Never for the MT. I get sick of being taken advantage of for their benefit.

Could you tell me about their platform and if family med ins is a benefit, PTO etc..
Please give more details. Do you work for them now? Pay rate?
Another benefit of employee status over IC
Many people are uninsurable or have family members who are uninsurable if they were to try to get health insurance on their own. Getting it as an employee of a company is their only way to insure themselves. As long as there has not been more than a 63-day break in coverage, if you are an employee, not only does the insurance company have to accept you, they also have to accept all your preexisting conditions. Health insurance with most companies is not cheap anymore, but expensive insurance is better than no insurance.
Where is our benefit at TT? Too long to get pregnant !! nm
b
Maternity leave benefit
I would like to know if there are companies that offer maternity leave benefit for FT?
Unpaid time off - a benefit?

New one to me.  Never heard of it unless ofcourse you have used up your PTO and need to take off unexpectedly.  As far as using your PTO when there is no work, I think that is totally unfair.  That should be your OPTION, not a requirement.  Suppose you had plans for that PTO?  I also do not believe you should have to clock out when there is no work, unless you want to work outside of your shift.  I mean your shift is your shift.  It should be up to the company to supply you with work during your shift and if they can not do that, then THEY should be the one with the problem. 


I worked in-house for many years by the hour.  When there was no work, I left the office.  To tell you the truth, when I started working at home I worked longer and harder than I ever did in the office.  Ofcourse since I was more productive, I made more money.  I think our jobs should be considered just as valuable as any inhouse employee, maybe even more so, and should include the same benefits if we are more productive and cost inefficient.  I mean, can they really have it both ways?


I usually try to give the benefit of the doubt,
but unfortunately that sounds like a big fat lie. But I am no longer expecting honesty, respect or anything else. They told me when I hired on, that ABSOLUTELY NEVER would they outsource our work. Period. Well partnering with one who does, is the same thing, IMO. Of course they know what the pay scale is. That answer just tells me its not good for us...
How is their benefit package? Insurance costs, etc?
//
Nah, even more work and the benefit of letting you make a

Thank you for the reply - is there any benefit to saying you will type 1000 per day?
Can someone sign on for 500 and type more than that? What I am asking is, is there any benefit to signing up for 1000? :-)
the benefit package for Diskriter is the only reason I am looking at them...nm
;o)
Some people who work in offices have that benefit, but no MT
booooooo
Approximate benefit costs/pay cpl difference
Does anyone have just single coverage for yourself through Keystrokes, around age 40; how much approximately per pay period? Also, is there usually a higher line rate paid for acute care and Ops compared to ER? Any info appreciated. Thanks for all your help.
Need health ins in 30 days ..what companies have that benefit?

Hi, I really need health insurance faster than 90 days.


Does anyone know the companies that offer it effective in 30 days?  I have seen a few advertised but can't find them.


any help would be appreciated ... thanks in advance


Did you understand the part about the SE comprehensive benefit plan.

Well, besides the outsourcing, they manipulate the line count for their benefit. nm.
nm.