I am in a pool... see inside for the boring details :)
Posted By: CrankyBeach on 2009-08-29
In Reply to: Years ago I worked for PHNS and it was a pool - sm - Laura E.
When I started with TRS I was a 36-year clinical-only MT, and the reason I took the job with TRS was, among other things, the fact that they offered to up-train me into acute care. (In fact I applied at Transcend just before I applied at TRS and they said no thanks, don't call us and we won't call you, and they wouldn't even let me TRY the freakin' TEST, so I find it mildly amusing that now they've got me anyway.)
But I digress. Anyway... at first I was assigned to a somewhat-limited pool on a large hospital account (an account that was brand-new to TRS and in fact I think we stole it from 'the Q') and all I was doing to start with was discharge summaries and letters. Well, once I got used to all the different voices, I started begging for at least some consults and H & Ps because even though I had only done 'clinical' before, I had done literally thousands of excruciatingly-detailed consults and H & Ps for internal medicine, hematology-oncology, orthopedics, and a few others I can't think of right now, over the years.
Then, apparently because I could actually do the work (plus I got kicked off the usual 1-month mentoring full-QA program after only 10 days, because it was mostly a waste of their time to full-QA me), they started trying me on another account, which I was later told was the VERY HARDEST account TRS had in its inventory, and before long I was in the 'all-work pool.'
So now the 'hard' account is my primary, the original account (still with only discharge summaries and letters) is my secondary, and I also have a tertiary (which fortunately I don't get hit with very often because it has REALLY CRAPPY sound 'quality', scratchy phone lines or something) on which I seem to be on just consults, progress notes, discharge summaries, and H & Ps.
I am told that the 'goal' at Transcend is to have everyone working something like 80% on their primary account, with the other 20% on secondary and tertiary, with no more than 3 accounts (except perhaps in extraordinary circumstances), mostly so there would be fewer account instructions to keep track of.
I can't find out how many physicians practice at the hospital that is my primary account (short of manually counting them) but it is a 350-bed hospital where they do pretty much everything. Just on a rough guess, there might be around 100 dictators I run into. A certain number of RNs and PAs dictate in addition to the doctors.
They keep me on that 'hardest' account because I am actually pretty good at deciphering most of it. Of course there are a couple of real 'problem children' still, and they usually have as many blanks after QA gets done with them as they did when I gave up on them, so that makes me feel better.
Not only that... our people are very proactive about actually talking to the clients to try to resolve problems. One of the worst dictators was just recently talked to and she has gotten a whole lot better. I e-mailed the liaison to report that, and asked them to please pass the word along that this doctor's dictation had indeed gotten a lot better and we, the poor saps at the other end of that phone line, really and truly appreciate her efforts....
Anyway. I had better get back to the work that is actually available this morning....
Anything else anybody wants to know, just ask, and I'll try to answer as best I can. :)
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It was there for couple of hours until I removed it. See full details inside.
The situation is this. I emailed Ms. Axelrod and asked her to contact me. Rather than email me, she posted a long explanation about her company. The problem is that the address given cannot be verified as Jax having an office at that location. As well, the phone number given is residential, not business. I called and left a message on her answering machine, but received no return call. In the meantime, I removed all ads and responses Ms. Axelrod had posted.
At about 7 PM last night, I received an email from Ms. Axelrod asking us to remove all references of Jax Transcription from this website, because our site was too damaging to their reputation and that people are posting that they are offended when they get a voicemail when calling the number given. Ms. Axelrod said that she is located in an office building under the same name as her partners.
In response, I emailed Ms. Axelrod suggesting that likely the questions and concerns wouldn't have been an issue if she had posted full information in her ads to begin with. I suggested that rather than have me removed all posts about her company, why not work with MTStars by providing full details so that their reputation is sound and that in doing so they would prove that their business is legitmate and the suspicion would cease. I am awaiting a response.
No, not boring - flipping burgers is boring!
Be grateful to be working!
did she say in a pool or in a pool to be CONTACTED?
Are you talking about MxSecure?
Get over yourself - being an MT is boring
Glad I don't do it anymore.
Ditto! Can you say boring!!
But, we are getting paid.
I have a boring last name, and when I was in school I always - sm
secretly wished a had a long, difficult to spell-and-pronounce last name, just so I could sit there and watch the teachers stumble over trying to pronounce it.
Not another TT rumble. How boring.
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It can be boring at times...but it's a job...
it's not necessarily supposed to be fun and exciting...it pays the bills just fine for me
About that boring part...
I would bet my next paycheck (and it is a decent sum) that you are the type of person who punishes others when you are bored. Bored with your marriage? Have an affair and make your hubby pay the price. Bored with your kids? Ditch them at the mall and make them pay the price. Bored with your friends? Yawn during conversation and offend them.
Life is not supposed to be free entertainment. Get over YOUR self.
Every job gets boring at some point. nm
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Now you're just boring me
You are closed-minded and refusing to absorb any other opinions other than your own. You and others like you will unfortunately find yourselves out of this profession in the very near future, and it will be of your own choosing.
I can't speak for other editors here, but if the MT is awake and alert and editing reports, your argument about compromising patient care is just ludicrous. A proficient, skilled MT will not jeopardize patient care any more through editing than he/she would through standard transcription.
You've made up your mind. I'm not going to attempt to reason with you further.
You're only hurting yourself by refusing to learn and that's quite frankly your choice.
*shrug*
Free and incredibly boring! (nm)
xx
Lots of boring discussions!
What kind of toothpaste do you use? What is the weather like where you are? If you could be any animal, what would you be? What is in your purse? These are just a few examples of the ridiculous discussions that have been held on that board!
Name just 1 job that doesn't get boring at some point. nm
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Many times the truth is both boring and painful.
Time to wake up and admit that to yourself.
that place is sooo boring; who posts there?
jobs there. I think Spheris also has job ads there... 
This drama NEVER ends! It is SOOOOOO scary, and so boring at the same time!
Now Lee will come on, with an empassioned plea to please call her, and yada, yada, the misunderstandings. This person left, or that person left, or now a new bolt of lightning. It is getting ABSURD to have this regurgitated at least weekly on this board! Same old, same old. I would NEVER work for Keystrokes, and can't imagine anyone falling for this saga and applying. Something is VERY wrong in KS land.
Ditto that! Psych is soooo boring. Feel bad for people and their many problems, but not
s
Could be that you are in a work pool and...sm
...work filters through chronologically in order of TAT.
It's common for companies to put 2, 3 or 4 hospitals in one work pool. Sometimes these are under the same corporate umbrella. You might have 4 hospitals run by corporation ABC - they are in different locations geographically, but in the same pool.
Typing pool
Has anybody out there been in a typing pool and always running out of work? I find it very frustrating when there is work in the pool and all of a sudden every MT is on line. By the time you finish a report almost all of the work is gone and you are screwed and not making hardly anything. Has anybody experienced this? This month has been so slow it's ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hospital, no pool, just take what's there. nm
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no, usually you are in a pool; if they have many specialites....
you can end up on an account where you as the new guy get the ones nobody else wants to do; that happens; I've been there.
IC, 12 or 24 TAT, work from pool when I am available?
Is this actually offered anywhere? Some days I have plenty of spare time, some days I have none. I would like something to fill the gaps. Any suggestions?
OSi. How's the work pool s/m
The recruiter assured me plenty of work, but I have heard that is not the case. Wanting to leave my current company, but can't if the $$$ isn't there.
exactly. That's why I also mentioned POOL
/
That pool thing ?
Definitely not you. Probably just the pool of We don't know what we are doing here, we need help but we can't get it through our skulls that we need to hire good MTs which would take the burden off every entity of our organization and then treat them well and pay them fairly so they will stay with us and never create this situation over and over again and time and time again of losing clients, getting new clients, hiring, overhiring, laying off or running out of work. We simply have not figured out that stopping this repetitive cycle and treating our MTs well would only cause us to be more profitable. Amazes me that I have never found a company that has figured this out. I am really surprised with all the mismanagement anyone of them stays in business. Somehow they do because we all need to work and just put up with it, I guess. Good luck to you though, its kinda crappy in this profession most days.
I am an IC, and I basically type from a pool.
The work is available for me to get and return in 24 hours from the time of dictation. I have come to learn when the work is there. I do all clinic though. Some companies require ICs to have set hours, but I don't think that is right.
Of course some companies will ask when you're available, but most that know the true meaning of IC do not care what hours you work as long as you get the work back in a timely manner.
I have my own accounts as well, so that would not apply as far as getting lines because I charge all different amounts. One is subcontracted, I pick-up and deliver. IC offers flexibility at least in my eyes.
I don't know anything about Tera Nova - sorry!
We don't have the pool any longer- we moved
A Mexican family. So, I'm not paying for anything. The pool installers were American and lazy, broke the filter, and took all day and night and brought theird kids to play on my swing set and requested soda. The Mexican landscapers required no water, did not ask to use my toilet, and were done in one-half day with a lot of digging and a lot of stone work that would have taken a lot longer if they didn't work as hard as they did in the blazing sun. The American installers did nothing but cuss, moan, and complain about the heat.
As far as healthcare, we'll be paying more anyway once Hillary gives everyone who can't afford healthcare, free healthcare. Too bad, Americans are too lazy to work harder and smarter. I'm all American, born and raised, and I work very hard, but hey if the foreign entity comes along (like it did on my hospital job) and says they can do it cheaper, then what can I do?
Right now, they seem to be pulling VR editors from their MT pool nm
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SoftScripts work pool?
Is it fairly steady? Plenty of work to go around.?
As an IC, I prefer pool work.
I have done pool work and been assigned docs and I prefer working a pool. When I was assigned docs, my lines varied so much. I never knew how much I was going to get each day. Some days I would get over 1500 lines, some days only 500. It made it very hard to plan my day as I never knew how long I was going to have to work. I never made enough money, yet I found it hard to work a second job as some weeks I would be loaded down with work from company 1 and not have time to work my commited lines for company 2, yet the following week I would get very few lines. Working a pool, I know I can get in at least 1000 lines a day every day (rarely have issues on my account with not enough work and usually do anywhere from 1500-2200). I don't have to guess how much I am going to make that day as I am in control of how many lines I take versus someone else sending the work.
Also, as soon as I get up, I can start working (like to start my day around 4 a.m. and be done around noon). I don't have to sit around wondering when my reports are going to be sent to me and waste half the day waiting when the company decides to send them at 4 p.m. instead of the usual 9 a.m.
Also, when only assigned 1 or 2 docs, if they take vacation, you are typically out of work for a week or two with little to no notice (at least in my experience). With a pool, you don't have that problem. If a doc goes on vacation, you have plenty of others to transcribe for. I also tend to get bored easily, so I prefer transcribing for multiple docs. I transcribe for about 15 docs now and I am very familiar with each of them and can transcribe over 250 lph. This would be different though if I was transcribing acute care and had 100+ docs though. But in that instance, pool work is better as it makes TAT faster.
Guess it is good that each company does it different so we can each find what works for us.
Throw a VR back into the pool?
My company has stated if this were the case, you could be terminated. I do not like to straight type anymore so definitely would not want to throw away a VR report.
quarterly bonus from company pool?
Anyone here work for a company that offers a quarterly bonus that comes from a pool set aside by the company and the transcribers who qualify for the bonus, split it at the end of the quarter? Just wondering, if any, are you bonus checks worth the hassle? Are they decent checks? Thanks for all replies.
I know the MTs that work this acct. load them from a pool. However, sm
I think that is a very good idea - batching docs and/or specialties together. I wonder why they don't do that, and I am going to ask! Thanks! If you saw my post above, there are a total of 37 specialties on my list, made up of approx. 4-5 docs in each specialty, so I'm looking at learning well over 100 doctors in only 40 hrs. of training? That's a joke.
Have 3 primaries and then go into the pool rarely, but always have work sm
You get 20 different accounts every day? I feel for you. In the beginning of last year, I was doing as many as 15 accounts. Since at least November, I rarely go into the pool. Maybe you can switch accounts?
Ha! This is what dropped into my pool of its own accord. It was a "pocket" and that happens s
I am NO ONE'S PET.
Fair? Just curious, why does all the work in a pool go to
the same people and some don't get anything except what they can scrap up? Just curious about this
My guess is someone messed up the pool scripts sm
which determines how the work is routed. I had work until about 1 on my primary and then moved over to my secondary and scraped together the last 200 lines. For the last 3 weeks I have been running out on my primary at 9:30 in the morning.
Years ago I worked for PHNS and it was a pool - sm
which I don't know if that is what you do, or if it is assigned doctors who you do the same ones day in and day out. But when I first started I only had PT in my pool, then I ASKED for more work to expand my horizons and obviously to make more money as PT would run out from time to time. I ended up probably with 300+ doctors in my work pool, more than enough work to go around then. As CB says above, you need to go and ask for more, it is the only way you are going to get enough work.
We worked out of a pool, and when a report came up from a cruddy dictator (sm)
they would hit "1" and send it back to the pool so the next Transcriptionist would get it. It was so obvious, as soon as you went on in the morning the first few reports you got would be from the most God-awful ESLs and you can see that they were dictated the previous day, but then all of a sudden you start getting jobs that were dictated just an hour before.
Friend of mine cleared out pool for incentive - never got it
and now theyve bounced her fourth or fifth check. She's been gone for months and they're STILL messing with her
Do any companies let you specialize rather than work out of a huge pool? nm
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Not to be referred to as a "scribe" or "typist" or "typing pool." nm
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WEBMEDX- Assigned acct or pool and how is the platform?
ds
Details, details.....sm
Minimum is 1000 lpd, Expander is not a problem. Surprisingly, schedule is quite flexible.
We need more details, please. nm
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Anyone have any details?
Looking into Probity - anyone have the scoop on them? Their website doesn't say how long they've been in business, or much about their size, platform, benefits, requirements, etc. Does anyone actually work there or are they brand new?
E-me if you want details, MT *or* QA. nm
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I don't know the details...
I just was told the contract expired and wasn't renewed...for what reasons I will never know. Total bummer man.
details on
*new* insurance plan been released yet? It has been months in the making . . .
Details
Of course, individuals will have different experiences. Some find the accounts a breeze and love it there. I found the accounts to be tough, the QA to be extreme and at times inconsistent. I know that it has been said here that the manager is better now, but this was the primary reason for my departure. I could have dealt with the stringent QA and the tough accounts, but nastiness and disrespect I could not handle.
I would suggest that you try them for yourself. The benefits are great and I loved the fact that I could see how much money I earned for each report I typed almost immediately after completing the report.
Even if the manager was not an issue, I do not think that I could have earned a decent living on the account that I was on. Give them a try, maybe you will get a better account and have a better experience.
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