I agree with the posts below, I think it is a good company. SM

• What else about Sheris can you tell me - I know about outsourcing.
  • So are all you Spheris posters able to make pretty good money there? .... sm - Ready for a change
    • It depends on the account, like any other place. I like the system. I am on SM - my 2 cents
  • I agree with the posts below, I think it is a good company. SM - my 2 cents
  • I'm also happy there - LK
    • New training - headsup
  • Spheris is great! - anon
    • Spheris 401K in trouble - Happy
      • Please be careful about posting such - subject matter.

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turn the whole thread ugly.  Then the posts are all removed, and the company looks bad because the good was removed with the bad.  Yes, Keystrokes pays to have an ad on this forum but it is just an advertisement like the ones we have on other medical sites, in magazines, at trade shows and in other publications. 

I am going to set the record straight for those who are intersted.  If you are not, ignore the post. 

Keystrokes has grown from 5 to over 200 transcriptionists, from $50,000 in revenue to over $5 million dollars in revenue in 8 years, with the majority of the increase in the past 3 years.  This is public knowledge, available on the website, Inc Magazine site, Aspatore books, etc. so there is no reason to delete this. 

We have 100% account retention.  We recently declined meeting the price of an offshore company when a few of our radiology accounts went to voice recognition in the same health system.  We chose not to do voice recognition with them by not meeting an outragiously low price.  We do not outsource and stand firm on that regardless of what other do.

Keystrokes has been changing over the past three years, not disputed, but the changes benefit the MTs more than anyone.  Our rates are higher than many (not all) companies, our schedules have some flexibility, our managers are all MTs. 

We have caught a lot of grief on this board for various reasons, and a lot of it seems to be from the same few people.  Or from those who talk nonsense.  I truly hope that people reading these negative posts see sour grapes when they read them and understand.  Yes, there are some bitter people out there but they are ones that either did not make it through the initial period, have poor quality, have zero reliability, have made gross patient care errors or have breached HIPAA regulations.  Yes, there has been a turnover, but we have a great team in place and those who work at Keystrokes like/love working there.

We have heard that only a very small percentage of transcriptionists actually visit the MT websites for anything other than the job openings.  A big reason is the pettiness and ugliness that the posts seem to bring out.  Another is time.  A lot of MTs work on computers all day long and want to spend off work time off their computer. 

If you have questions about Keystrokes, go to the company for answers. 

I defend the company that I work for but have made a promise to myself to stop visiting here and two other sites because they really just take up time that should be spent on other things.  I hate that the bashers will still be bashers and that no one can defend a company (any company) without being attacked.  So the bashers are the only ones that post.  I wish you all the best and rest assured, Keystrokes will continue to grow as a national presence, and will continue to attract customers and MTs and will continue to make both very happy.

What type of work do they have?  Any op reports?  Appreciate any info. 

Once I sorted through the nasty and bitter posters and then the cheerleaders, for lack of a better word, a few companies seem to be truly good companies to work for.  All I am looking for are a few specifics that will tilt the balance for me.  I do want to say that all 3 know that I am talking to the other 2 and I was surprised at the reactions.  ALL 3 of them only had nice things to say about the other 2.  They did not bash those companies or try to sell me on theirs, just gave me facts. I was impressed by that.  There were 4 that I originally had narrowed it down to, but one of them went on and on about how the others were horrible and I would be better going to them.

Here's what I need to know about MDI Maryland, Keystrokes and TT.  I just want the facts, not the bitterness.  I would really like answers from MTs who have been at one or more of them for more than 6 months.  I think that 6 months is a good evaluation period.

Do they pay on time?
Is the pay correct?  If not, do they fix it right away?
Do they run out of work on a regular basis, not just during slow periods?
Can you reach a manager when you need one?
Does IS return your calls?
Do they give feedback if you ask for it?
Do they send work offshore that you know of (worked for a company that said no but really did)?
Do you get a good feeling from them/gut instinct?
Would you refer your friends or family to them if qualified?

Thank you in advance.  I am trying to decide by Monday and these are things that current and past employees can answer.  Please do not give me vague answers like don't go there or they're great.  I really am having a hard time choosing.

but all I could find, in addition to the other complaints already listed, were complaints about being in the "middle of an 11-minute job when it was pulled and given to someone else," "There has to be a better way NOT to make a living," "I know I am going to end up on food stamps," complaints of no compensation for down time and BTXT being down and MTs not being notified.

If there were one or two positive comments about it on there somewhere, they are certainly overshadowed by all the justified negativity, outrage and frustration that's there.

I wouldn't wish this company on my worst enemy, and you should be ashamed of yourself if you recommend that anyone apply there for employment these days.  It used to be a good company, and like the song says, "Used-to-be's don't count any more."  Although I don't expect them to "bring me flowers" I do expect to be able to earn a living wage, and those days are quickly disappearing.

I can understand the employees who want everything and give very little back.  Very frustrating.

But then you have the situation described for the employee where there is no job satisfaction, no family/personal life allowed or frowned upon by management and no chance for promotion.   And then being compared to an Indian who has a completely different social environment. 

I know mothers who are IC and while they do take time off during the day for their kids (how dare they make dinner for those kids and hubby) but then they work long into the night after kids and hubby have gone to bed.  There are no weekends with their family either.  And the work reward is the pay will be lowered because the client wants to pay a lower rate.  It is not exactly incentive to work hard without any breaks and ignore the family in favor of what the company needs.

I remember years ago working for a start up company and the manager did not want the single girls to date at night and instead work late.  She thought they should be devoting their time to their career in transcription.  Well a Transcriptionist could do that but whether she worked harder or not the pay would be the same and she would always be a transcriptionist.  The manager on the other hand if the company did well would receive promotions and raises I am sure.  So that is the difference....management perks vs worker bee perks.  It was easy for her to give up a social and personal life because the rewards but the transcriptionist typing straight for hours and hours would see the same pay day in day out, no advancement or recognition for working harder other than not having a manager angry. 

However after reading that post I will be aware  and really give it my all. I do understand the need for a better work ethic.   I see what the management wants and needs.  Especially when managers are spending Thanksgiving with their families and the transcriptionist is working for 7 cpl with no break.  It is the American way of doing business.

And for most companies, there are also good posts. 

There are a couple bad things to really listen to--late/no pay is one of them.  However, most have an opinion based on personal preferences.  Some people don't like OSi (or Spheris, or Medquist, or fill-in-the-blank), and some people do.  It's all based on a personal preference, and that's why many people say again and again that every company is good for some, bad for some.  No one company is going to be perfect for everyone.  The most balanced views acknowledge the good and bad of a company.

I currently work for OSi and have for almost 2 years.  I loved working for them as an MT and hated working as QA.  I am back to part-time MT, and while I'm generally happy and still would and do recommend them to MTs, there are some things I don't like.  Just as I assume there will be some things I will not like about the company I go to next.  But as far as OSi goes, they ALWAYS pay on time, the account coordinators are great, and most of the management are nice and try their best to be accommodating. 

The honest truth is that I would not recommend arguing with the QA department, or at least to pick your battles carefully.  However, mostly the QA dept leaves you alone unless you fail a review.  Just don't ever work for QA there... lol  The QA dept is seriously the only bad thing I would say about OSi.  And they're mostly good people, just very inept at QA sometimes. 

So all in all, I say OSi is a good place to work.  Despite my personal distaste for the QA dept, they are not terrible and do not really affect your day-to-day work.  I recommend them with all honesty and I think that MOST MTs would find them a good place to work.

They have great accounts, some very good line-makers.  I seldom run out of work, but cannot say that I never run out.  But when I do, I have the choice of going to a secondary account.  I really do like all of the accounts and the sound quality is never a problem (at least for me--and obviously there are times that docs dictate on cell phones that sound as though they are on a motorcycle, going 100 mph).  But the overall sound quality is great, and ExText is my favorite platform thus far. Again, the account coordinators are very good, very friendly, and very easy to talk with.

Lisha

doesn't mean they're in management, and you're presuming that someone who posts a positive is a manager is pretty ludicrious.  There are plenty of MTs out there happy with their employer... even some folks happy with MQ even with all of the legal problems that company has ongoing.

Unless someone makes a statement about someone in particular at a company that is completely false then there would be no reason for anyone to request a trace to find out who a poster is.  For example, on most internet boards anywhere you can say something like "XYZ company stinks" and be OK, but if you said something like "XYZ's payroll department paid me only a fraction of my earnings and failed to correct the problem" without proof to support your statement then you could be potentially held liable for posting false information.   If you did have proof of in this instance a payroll problem and proof of where it was attempted to be resolved then you'd be safe. 

You didn't say if you interviewed for acute care or clinic.  There is not much chatter on this board because Axolotl is a small company.  About 20 to 25 acute care and 20 to 25 clinic MTs. 

Your questions:

Platform: can be slow depending on your accounts

Incentives: none to speak of besides overtime

Benefits: comparable to good.  Depends on what you need

Communication:  Average

Flexibility:  If you comit to working 7 am to 3 pm you better be there are 7 am.  If you don't call in they might call you to find out where you are because they are so small and need everyone to be there when they say because of turn around time.   No timeclock to speak of so you can work as long as you want to get in your 1200 lines per day if there is work.  When there is no work you have to leave after your shift even if you have not gotten your minimum lines in. 

ESL:  If you are acute care you could get stuck on a couple of really nasty ESL accounts where you can go for several days getting mostly ESL and not enough others to average out the lines.  So if you are not real strong and love to do ESL getting lines in may be a problem during an 8 hour shift even after several months. 

Like any company everyone's experience is different.  What is great for one may be a disaster for another.  I have been with them less than 9 months and there seem to have been quite a few MTs whose names seem to suddenly disappear so it seems like Axolotl may not have been a good fit for those MTs.   

If you have other specific questions, you can E-Mail me. 

Good luck in whatever you decide. 

it just goes round and round.  How about doing something about it rather than arguing back and forth.  I think we all can agree that there are good companies and bad companies but that for the most part they are all pretty similar.  Slipping through the cracks?  It happens.  Be the squeaky wheel and call the company.  Obviously they need people if they hire.  Perhaps your resume was stuck to another or your message not written down correctly.  Perhaps you misunderstood something and need to clarify it. Perhaps they misunderstood something and need to clarify it.  If you have chosen to work for a company and did your research, then you have to decide after a month or so if it is the right company for you or not.  Transcription is a very small world and these service owners talk amongst themselves.  They work on making transcription better not how to burn and tick off the next applicant.

Be realistic.  These companies all have good and bad points.  The really bad ones are obvious with the paychecks that do not arrive for months and those that continuously bounce checks and those that rip off their employees with fraudulent line counts.  But the ones that are constantly attacked on here are the ones that have been around for awhile and will continue with or without you.  MQ, Spheris, MDI, Transcend, Transolutions, Keystrokes, Heartland, TransHealth, OSI, Precyse and Cymed are going to continue to hire and fire and have happy MTs and MTs that do not like working for them.  The truly bad ones like XXXX and SS, to name a few, the ones that only have horrible posts are the ones that will fade away.