Had a conversation similar to this at the drug store today
Posted By: SS on 2009-05-09
In Reply to: It seems to me that the 'matron-MTs - --
One of the ladies behind the pharmacy counter talking about raising kids. I was telling her what a wonderful life now that the kids are grown and out. I guess you can say this matronly woman is having the time of her life. I have good money coming in, in fact now getting in more than my union husband does each month, travel when I want and those golden years. Now I know where that saying comes from. This is the best years of my life right now. The pharmacy person asked me did I not miss those years with the children. I told her did I miss struggling? Heck no. Did I miss the yah, yah, yah, again heck no. Ladies you just do not know what you are missing if not, as you call it, a matron.
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Me either, but I need gas to get to grocery store
where prices have also tripled, go to the doctor, and used to be I needed it to go to a movie once in a while but can't afford that now.
Ms. Transcender, why don't you get a cheerleading skirt and apply for that rah-rah teamleader position so you can send out all those e-mails with inappropriate capitalization and the obsessive use of !!!!!!!!!!!!!
so you make everyone think you are overworked. You would think that with 6 accounts I could stay busy, but I guess I cannot compete with those fast fingers from India.
LOL! They have a store? Oh goody. SM
I wouldn't call all the pay average either. Offshoring on every account, except one, that I know of.
If you are a new MT, it would be perfect for most of the other positives she listed. If you are not new, may be better to find some other place.
If they'd tell us up front what is in store for us, they would
save us all a lot of time. Is it too much to ask to have an idea of the type of audio, dictation, the details that can make or break the enjoyment of a job? After 25 years, I have paid my dues and would like to have an account that is enjoyable, gives me an income I can live on and a management team that doesn't use the drill sargeant approach. What is up with all the rude attitudes? Maybe the account they acquired should either be dropped or charged more if no one wants to transcribe their work. That, in turn, would snap lazy inconsiderate dictators out of their mode of let the MT figure it out/look it up. While they rake in the money because time is money and when I am not typing in a report, folks, i am not making any money. The day I meet a woman/man who does this job as a hobby, I'll rethink my stand.
My son applied for a department store once, sm
and they asked him all kinds of psychologic questions - it was just weird.
I bet by the end of the year the scrapbook store
will be gone too, how will it survive with no QT money?
They are actually in India, have a store front
location in MA, not Maryland.
SURE WE HAVE TO KNOW IF A DRUG IS.....s/m
BRAND OR GENERIC! WE WILL KNOW A F T E R WE LOOKED IT UP!
We HAVE to do this to know if it is capped or not capped.
And we HAVE to look up a lot more!
Even if the doctor dictates 'mg', and we are not 100% sure that it is 'mg', we have to make sure that it is 'mg' and not 'mcg'!
And much more!
If you go to the same store every day and spend a lot of money and your neighbor
and the storeowner gives your neighbor a $50 discount for being a new shopper, would you feel entitled to a discount because you gave the shopper so much of your business? Better yet, big insurance companies send a lot of business to doctors and hospitals and they get discounts on the medical bills that individual patients with no insurance can't get. Are the big insurance companies entitled to this because they give more business than the individual patients?
If these posts from just a few weeks ago are any indication of what we have in store for us, I'm
hoping to get out ASAP. http://forum.mtstars.com/main/v/1/131261.html
You won't find a foot pedal at a computer store.
I'd recommend using Express Scribe (google for url and download it for free) and just use function keys to test. Some foot pedals are interchangeable and work with different programs, some are proprietary and only one foot pedal with work with the software so I wouldn't buy one anyway until you know what you will need.
It is an Indian run company with a store front office in the US. If you are
working without a contract you're asking for trouble. They have no obligation to pay you if there is no contract.
Oh let me tell you, they know how to pass the drug tests! (sm)
One woman I worked with was talking about how to use "Yellow Root" to "beat" the drug test! (that's what she said, "beat" the drug test) They know all of the tricks of the trade. One company stopped using the urine drug test and now they use the hair strand drug test, so I don't know what they use to "beat" that one (I guess they pull the strands out of somebody else's hair!) :-)
I'd like to know about the drug test thing too.
Do they really make you take a drug test?
They also require a drug test.
x
Actually it goes even further back than the drug scene
This was a term meaning to start a fight, getting a fight on, older than the drug scene of even the 60s.
Yes..between this conversation and
I just don't know what to do at this point. I've been happy with OSi, but I don't know whether to start worrying now. Maybe I should just stay off the board for awhile.
This conversation was just had
As in the last string posted...the OSi situation is definitely a dead horse that we are all tired of beating. Please look back a page or so to get your question answered.
I think we had this same conversation
months ago, and you were talking about a completely different Landmark. I was on the right thread, the Landmark located in the Northeast, and they do not pay for spaces, NOT ONE TINY SPACE. I am sure that is the one being discussed in this thread, as I know several MTs who work there. Its not a big deal. They freely tell you up front that they do not pay for spaces. But there is often no work, more common than not, so spaces or not, I couldn't stick around. The last time we had this go around, you actually apologized for messing up Landmarks. There is more than one, and I am not a disgruntled anything! Sorry to burst your bubble.
the drug thing happened with Kforce too
a couple of travelers that I personally knew were transporting drugs through rental cars, i.e. leaving one state and driving back to their home state to pick up drugs. One traveler actually had crystal meth Fed Ex'd directly to the hospital! The dealer got caught and the traveler was fired of course, but get this -- the traveler always managed to pass the drug tests!
I think they require drug testing, they pay, but a pain to have to go through that. nm
.
Drug testing is different because drugs are illegal and sm
Physicals are required for certain jobs......like firefighter, where a certain agility is needed. Also they are given agility tests.
Office jobs do not need to know your medical history.
That is basically the same conversation i had with them...
Said they would send me info..i got 2 wacked out samples and i asked about acct specifics and they are confused as to what exactly i want. Seems pretty disorganized to me as well!! Thanks for letting me know...much appreciated
Conversation with my lead. sm
I had a long conversation with my lead a few days ago and then talked to her again this morning. She told me that Keystrokes is concentrating on employee relations above all else and that is why the benefits have been changing/improving, why there has been so much positive feedback, etc. I have never had a problem in the 2 years that I have been there, but she says that they are working to make things even better.
I know that they have a lot of new accounts coming on and a lot of people that will need to be hired. They are working on the health insurance changes and increasing some of the other benefits in order to get some of the MTs that are disgusted with other companies.
They want to be the best out there, and they have my vote!
I had a very long conversation . . .
with my lead who is very aware of what happened last week, so I think you misunderstand. I was also not spoken to very respectfully on the phone when I was told not to work on the account.
This whole conversation is a crock
set up by disgruntled exemployees no doubt. TT does something good to lower insurance prices and you have to counteract that good move with this rumor. If you work for TT it says in the employee handbook NO RUMORS. Get that? Now the truth from where I see it: TT went to this company to get better insurance at a lower price, which is what you were wanting months ago when you started other rumors instead of waiting. This company is stricter when they act as umbrella for little companies in that they happen to do background checks. Big deal. You have something to hide? I don't care. I have worked for another company which did the exact same thing, and I had to fill out paperwork there. They did it for the same reason, because struggling medium sized companies need to get under an umbrella of many companies to get their employees good rates. So, go ahead, quit. More work for me. And go ahead, don't apply and listen to these rumors. If you would rather hear rumors on a board from strangers, rather than actually calling the company and asking them, then you need to think about your career. I am not an MTSO or management. I have been in the biz a long time. And the packets BTW were not finalized sent out in the mail yet, they were an e mail, and will be corrected ASAP. Maybe there were time constraints on the clerk at the new company so they could get you in quickly for the lower rate. Brother. This board is pathetic. It feeds on rumors rather than encouraging good practices like doublechecking details or using common sense. What a crock this whole conversation is IMHO.
I believe that this conversation is going on just a few posts
below here. I feel like I want to string them together. Well said Fed Up! You are not alone. And Blackswan, I have a feeling that although you feel that your client is wonderful (won't name name here), I believe they are just as guilty as the rest, from what I gather from posts below and people who have posted about that place before.
With the holidays coming, I just hope everyone keeps their chins up. Keep up the faith. Just hang on and this too shall soon pass.
Did you just walk into the end of this conversation? You really
nm
and YES did have personal conversation with Liz
I was part of a package that Transcend purchased.
I recievied all kinds of welcoming emails etc. It was unfortunate I did not receive emails infroming me my team lead had left, who to contact with problems etc.
My mother was hospitalized shortly after the acquisition. When I called to inform me TL I was told you are expected to produce every day.
At that time in the northeast we were unable to travel due to ice etc. (which incidentally was where my accounts were, which meant VERY little work), so I bought a laptop and camped out in the ICU.
At no point was I ever allowed to take family leave. I was expected to look for work 24 hours a day in case there was a job...........no easy task when dealing with a mother with cancer, a broken hip, Coumadin allergy, aspiration pneumonia, blood loss etc.
My mother went to heaven and I did take some time off for the funeral etc.
When I returned I was told I had made some mistakes (??? no wonder......I did not want to work in an ICU) and it was not a good fit.
And yes, ******** was aware of this.
Yes, I was told that you had to have a drug test and background check.
hey I've typed that ER before! drug addicts adn crazies! nm
x
how about listening to an entire conversation -
either on the telephone or to someone else in the room, you have to listen to make sure he doesn't remember to start back on his note. I even heard a conversation about myself when I was in a hospital setting. They haven't a clue what is recording.
I heard the most interesting conversation just the other day
It sounded like two young guy doctors..they were talking for a while about a girl/guy couple they knew (maybe other doctors they knew?) and some very intimate embarrasing things that this couple did together and somehow got out. Then he must have realized and began to dictate. It was pretty juicy and I wanted to hear more. lol! :P
Did you hear the phone conversation?
You have no idea what each MT is doing, so until the time that you are x-ray vision or we have cam on our computers, don't accuse of ANYTHING. If not management, who are YOU to point a finger?
I usually would not get involved in this type of conversation, BUT...lm
Your reference to the Mexicans doing work the US citizens do not want to do is WAY off the mark. If the wages were as they used to be before US employers found that the Mexicans would work for lesser wages and be happy, US citizens WOULD do the work. The same applies to the MT work - were it not sent off shore at a ridiculously acceptable and low wage, MTs in the US would be much happier. With such an attitude, I fully predict that the poor class in the US will rise to meet that of other third-world countries - and your attitude about oh well, that's just the way things are now is exactly one of the reasons this type of working condition is being allowed to happen here on our own soil! Working for a foreign employer is a choice that few US MTs with good work habits and skills is willing to make - and that, in my opinion, should speak volumes! Just because you are willing doesn't make it wrong for others who do not. Just my opinion!!
Conversation with AHDI, or War is Peace
This is a conversation I had with Karen Fox of AHDI via e-mail back in September of 2007, back when I still (naively) thought that AAMT/AHDI was on my side. (I didn't know they were giving special discounts to Indian CMT test-takers!) This is verbatim other than to reverse the order, so you don't have to read it from the bottom up, & the elimination of a couple of names in order to protect my employer.
****
ME: I'm looking for a position statement on offshoring somewhere on the site & not seeing it. Can you direct me? What is AHDI doing to protect MTs from this?
***
KF: Hi. Where are you from? Do you have a phone number where you can be reached? I have class today so I must focus on transcribing right now but I would be happy to discuss the international transcription topic at a time that is convenient for you.
***
ME: I live in California. Offshoring is such a huge issue, one that is affecting every MT & has recently affected me directly. I'm not seeing how AAMT is intervening in any way. Is there something AAMT, or I guess it's AHDI now, has published that will tell me how the dues that are paid in are going toward remedying this? It's funny. When I first started investigating becoming an MT I thought VR would the biggest threat to continuing a career as a transcriptionist. I thought I was way ahead of the game by knowing about this trend & decided that if I thought it was threatening me in any way I would sign on with a company that used it & become an editor. Once I saw how reluctant doctors are to make any sort of change (evidenced by the number still using cassette tapes) I figured I would be out of danger for the time I expected to be working as an MT. But now there's an even bigger threat, one that I did not see or know about until I was already working as an MT: offshore MTs lined up around the world willing to do my job for 2 or 3 cents a line. I can't compete with that & am working my way out of transcription altogether. I work for an MTSO and am paid relatively well by MT standards, but recently the account I work on decided they wanted to have the work done more cheaply & so gave over a huge chunk of the work to ..... who offshores to India. In order to keep her share of the work my boss, the MTSO owner, had to try to underbid them. She has managed to keep her staff by basically eating the difference, but it's only a matter of time before she can't do this & will have to pass the pay cut on to us, & I don't want to be around when that happens.
I'd like to know, though, what AHDI thinks about all this & what kind of lobbying they are doing, especially with the UCSF debacle a few years back having made HIPAA something of a household word. I'm looking at the AHDI website & any reference to any of this is glaringly absent, unless I'm just missing something obvious or am not looking in the right place. If you could send me the link to a position statement I'd be happy to read it.
I do see:
- Patient safety and continuity of care through documentation standards designed to ensure and protect the integrity of patient health data.
- Consistent, secure and confidential capture of, management of, and access to patient health data
- Workforce development in allied health that will ensure resource longevity in healthcare documentation
- Establishment of a national health technology infrastructure to address patient safety, continuity of care, and healthcare delivery costs.
*...address healthcare delivery costs???????????* The entire focus of these 4 bullets seems to be protection of the medical documents, protection of the public, protection of the doctors. I'm not really seeing how the MT is being protected in all this, & it leaves me wondering whose side AHDI is actually on.
******
KF: You make some very valid observations and echo what other transcriptionists around the country have experienced. Right now, the real numbers are showing that international transcription is absorbing no more than 5% of the total dictation volume generated by the US healthcare system.
******
ME: How do you arrive at this?
******
KF: The position that AHDI has taken is to endorse that international transcriptionists must meet the same high expectations of transcription accuracy and standards as we expect and get from a vast portion of our domestic workforce.
****
ME: This is ridiculous. All it says is that doctors will now get Pakistani transcription equal in quality to that of a US Transcriptionist and still pay 3 cents a line. If the yearly cost of living for someone in a 3rd-world country is something around what I make in a month, there is no way I am going to be able to compete, & if all you do is raise their standards, you still have not raised their cost of living. They still have an incredible margin with which to outbid American companies.
*****
KF: Another reality is that international transcription has created a huge market for transcription editors and higher QA expectations much like speech recognition has. We have also discussed international transcription in our legislative interactions as many of our state and national policy makers have no clue we have international transcriptionists. I have attached a joint statement made back in 2004 when the UCSF transcription issue made headlines. At that time, Senator Figeroa wanted to close down the California border and not allow any transcription to be performed outside of the state. This was not a practical response. The fact is – we are a global economy. Add to that, if you want to limit international transcription so must you limit outsourcing transcription,...
*****
ME: why? Why is it necessary to limit outsourcing within the US as well? I'm not seeing the connection.
*****
KF: ...outsourcing being a primary source of transcription employment for a huge portion of our members, either as a home-based employees or as independent contractors, some using subcontractors.
*****
ME: I don't see how these are related. Outsourcing within the US should be fine for anyone. Outsourcing outside the US should not be. You seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
*****
KF: What we can ask for is full disclosure of where the transcription is being performed – we have those rules in place; they just need to be enforced. What we can ask for is for our domestic MTs to raise the bar and become credentialed to meet the work force need.
*****
ME: I became a CMT but did not renew, for quite a few reasons. My MS in physiology means more to my employer than a CMT. I can teach most of the courses required to renew, & I am so busy living from paycheck to paycheck, I don't have time to write down the literally hundreds of pages of surgical technique on equipment manufacturers' websites that I have read cover to cover, or the e-Medicine account I maintain to read in-depth accounts on every medical condition I come across, or even the MS Word users' websites I frequent in order to become ultra-skilled at MS word. Besides which, at this point I don't really want to support AAMT. I really do feel that your position is completely lukewarm and not representative of your actual constituency, the MTs.
*****
KF: We may not be able to compete on price or on Turn Around Time but we can compete in the arenas of skill and knowledge and show how that skill and knowledge can actually save companies money in the long run.
A bigger threat to our industry and most importantly patient care (after all, that is the business we are in is to provide the highest quality documentation that affords excellent patient safety and care and lower risk management issues) ...
*****
ME: That's the business I am in, definitely. And as an MT it's the business you are in. But as an AAMT representative, it's not the business you are in...
*****
KF: ...besides international transcription is the input from point-and-click technologies, clinician data input with no editing prior to finals being signed, speech recognition reports with no editing before finals, the merged electronic health record that may exponentially repeat a medical error that is now currently housed in one institution in one paper document, an EHR that contains no narrative that affects clinical decision making – these things are a focus of our association and its leaders as far as how to secure a place for the knowledge-based transcriptionist in the healthcare documentation domain.
*****
ME: AAMT's business was, or so I thought, to represent MTs. Liability-wise, it's the doctor's responsibility to ensure the quality of the document in terms of whether s/he chooses to use a point-and-click technology. If they have made an informed decision as to the limitations, there's nothing you or I or anyone else should be able to do about it. If you mean helping them to make an informed decision, then great, but again, it sounds like you have jumped some sort of fence. You are trying to satisfy too many factions & in the end will satisfy no one. I know many, many MTs who have nothing but negative things to say about AAMT specifically because of the lukewarm stances it takes on the issues MTs are most concerned with.
*a focus of our association and its leaders.* What does this mean? That you think about it a lot? I'm not sure how these ideas are translating into action. Do you lobby the AMA? What is the action associated with these ideas?
*****
KF: You mention a focus on the profession versus a focus on the MT needs. This is intentional and while it may feel unfair to the working MT,...
*****
ME: It does indeed. It feels like a form of bait & switch, & it's the reason I & so many others don't really want to be associated with AAMT anymore. Did you ever read Orwell's Animal Farm? AAMT reminds me of the pig. (I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm talking about the actual character.) The pig started out representing the masses & got enough power to rise above & became part of the very thing the masses needed help overcoming. This feels exactly like what has happened to the original organization.
*****
KF: ...another vision includes the broader picture of where MTs fall in the stream of the healthcare client (institutions and the patient) and providing patient care; ensuring we have a place at the table of decision makers and a hook to hang our industry hat on and continue performing our craft. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) – Capturing America's Healthcare Story is committed to development of a professional association poised to impact heath data technology and patient safety and risk management and ensure our industry is a part of the transition into the next age of healthcare and health information exchange.
All of those things may not solve your individual circumstance and I understand that is very frustrating. I truly believe there will be a pendulum swing in the advent of international transcription when companies start really looking at how many times the report must be touched in order for it to be a final product and I think the cost factors will eventually blur. We are going to see a continued increase in documentation and an even higher demand from the client/consumer for accurate and complete records – hopefully with a human interface. We are already seeing some backlash from some the technology in place, point and click and doctor-input narratives, as the physicians are reading the final reports 3 months later upon patient followup and realizing the mistakes and gross medical errors that are contained within that any transcriptionist worth their salt would have caught and changed. We have made MDs look good for a long, long period of time. The pendulum may need to swing around a bit before it comes back to our court but I think in many instances, this is already happening.
I empathize with the plight of your account and the company you work through. You are not alone in losing accounts to international or just larger MTSOs or technology such as speech recognition or electronic input mechanisms. Hopefully you will continue to see value in what the association does on your behalf.
*****
ME: Continue is not the right word to use here, Karen. I really have not seen what the association does on my behalf for some time, & although I really appreciate the time you have taken to lay all this out, I'm not seeing it now.
*****
KF: While it may not be the blatant denouncement of internal transcription you were hoping for, perhaps I have given you some other ideas to consider and you will support me and your California and AHDI leaders in the cause.
*****
ME: Actually, no. What I think, (& I'm saying this in the most fervent, democratic, question-authority voice possible) is that I'm hearing a lot of political double-talk, the likes of which would make anyone in Washington proud, & I don't mean that in a good way.
*****
KF: In California my primary goal is to build an apprenticeship program in this state so that we can provide a real answer to our workforce need; providing qualified domestic MTs to include those in our military spouse program via the community colleges in California. As Legislative Issues Group chair, another primary purpose I try to achieve is to educate our members nationally so they can tell their unique stories, such as the one you have shared with me, with their elected officials so that ultimately we can have educational programs that invest in this viable career option in allied health much like the international countries are doing and so much more.
*****
ME: It actually feels like not only are you not denouncing international transcription, it seems like the organization now sees itself as some kind of Peace Corps of transcription. I'm not getting where you think an *answer to a workforce need* is any kind of issue. The MT schools are pouring out newbies. Supply is not the problem; in fact, it's quite the opposite, which is the exact reason it's so hard for MTs to make a living. It's because the supply is so abundant that companies can bid each other down to 4, 5, 6 cents a line & still get resumes.
*****
KF: I hope some day to meet you. I live in San Diego but I travel extensively throughout California so maybe we can visit face to face one day. Please let me know if you have further questions and I will be happy to try and answer them.
*****
ME: I think, in truth, that I feel utterly betrayed by AAMT & I'm on my way out of this profession. If you want an earful on what prompted me to write this letter to you in the first place, go to http://forum.mtstars.com/main/v/1/88501.html.
Thanks for your time, Karen.
******
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How did Transtech get involved in this conversation?
nm
TT talks sweet, but I have never desired even a store clerk to call me sweetie . . . those niceties
have never impressed me unless they come from my husband/lover.
Don't forget a drug reference. I like my Quick Look that is installed on my 'puter.
nm
Mind letting the rest of us in on the conversation and let us know
at least the initals of the company? It is just maddening to be outside of a conversation. LOL.
Then YAY you! This conversation does NOT pertain to you, aren't you glad!
nm
I can totally understand a drug test and criminal background check, but...sm
personally I don't feel you can always judge the caliber of an employee based on a credit report. I know plenty of people who are the salt of the earth, of high moral standing and work ethic that may have encountered a unfortunate circumstance, i.e. job loss, car accident, excessive medical bills, that may have put a blemish on their credit report. They should not be discriminated against.
However, I do see where a credit report would be necessary for a position of relevance. I just don't see the justification for an at-home IC who is using their own equipment, paying their own taxes, etc. to have to submit this information.
I'll use my own situation as an example. A few years back my husband accrued an excessive amount of medical bills and I was unemployed because my job was outsourced. We were late on a few bills and are trying to rebuild our score so that we can get a good interest rate on a home. Every time that score is pulled, it drops a few points. We have worked very hard to rebuild this score just to have it drop because a company wants to know personal/private information. We as MTs are supposed to respect the privacy of patients and have HIPAA drilled into us daily. I feel my personal information should be respected as well. A criminal background check isn't personal information, but necessary for the safety of all involved.
Missed yesterday's conversation here. Could someone email the jist of it? Tx. nm
aaa
They do require urine drug testing for sure, no matter what accounts you work on, theirs or a hospit
.
I've learned that it is exactly that - a store front. Or maybe just a front. nm
,
Yes, very similar. (sm)
I think they are interchangeable, meaning if you save a document in Word Perfect, you can open it up in Word (on the newer versions anyway). I used to prefer Word Perfect over Word, but now I like Word better. But, yes, they are very similar.
I just went through something similar
about a month ago when I left a big national to work for Keystrokes. I was apprehensive about it at first but now I wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Good luck!
something similar
I had something similar happen when a former employer did not pay the insurance bill for a month. It sounds like this is what happened to your company, although I would be concerned that they told you they would reimburse. Does that mean they don't have the money to pay the bill?! Something weird is going on, and I would ask a lot of questions.
I would never tell anyone to get a different job, but I personally think that everyone should have an updated resume at all times.
Let us know what happens, okay? Good luck - I hope it works out the way you want it.
OSI has similar
plan, which I read in the fine print of the employment papers. It said that I would only be paid minimum wage if the client did not pay. It was unclear as to whether back pay would be made once the client did pay or if I would never receive any more than minimum wage if the client NEVER paid. So, I turned down the position. I'm really surprised that I have never read about this little detail on these forums (regarding OSi of Georgia).
Actually it's very similar to
what's going on here. It's about dishonesty being punished so the rest of us have a fair shake. In other words, management not doing anything about a cherry-picker is as bad as saying It's ok honey. Go ahead and cherry-pick.
Similar situation here..
That gal has some serious issues. I agree with you to each his or her own. Maybe you have to have something in common with her...i don't know. Just glad i found an editor position elsewhere.
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