I believe it was actually a big meeting of suits,
Posted By: Fellow MT on 2008-08-05
In Reply to: A suit actually called MQ MTs typing monkeys? - MSMT
ya know, the real thinkers and shakers, at some annual meeting or something. I know of one manager who had to slink back to the office - there were offices in those days - with his tail between his legs, as the word beat of the monkeys beat him back to the office. It was horrible. Happened probably a good 10 years ago, though, so its been their mentality for a long time.
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Sure. To the suits but not to the MTs.
x
I liked the suits at first -
until I found out what monsters they were.
that's right, the Suits
I meant my company's top executives, who think we should be able to produce 60% more, and were probably told this by other Suits. I'm sure none of them have any transcription experience.
No suits here....
... I don't even own a suit. Well, actually I do, but I've outgrown them, if you know what I mean.... But I'm just a minion and proud of it. I've been a manager and a supervisor. No thanks. The money was nice but it cost me too much.
I only post what I've been told by people I trust, and based on my own experience. And, as I always say, others' mileage may vary....
I think most here would agree that going to the suits with any of our (sm)
problems ends up being useless. However, these boards are a good place to vent a little steam. If it weren't for a little venting once in a while, I reckon it'd be fairly easy for many of us to finally lose our cool, go Postal on our supes, and end up on the 6:00 news getting dragged off in handcuffs.
Suits, I hope you know
how serious this is, and how profoundly you are impacting the lives of many hardworking MTs and their families. You are going to have a very unhappy workforce. Not a good thing.
Suits Salaries and Perks
What someone said on another thread got me to wondering about the salaries of those at the top. I googled the head of Transcend and came up with this on a Forbes article. Not too shabby. This was for 2007.
Salary |
$250,000.00 |
Bonus |
$0.00 |
Other Annual Compensation |
$0.00 |
Long term incentive plan payouts |
$0.00 |
Restricted stock awards |
$0.00 |
Security underlying options |
$0.00 |
All other compensation |
$0.00 |
Option awards $ |
$55,250.00 |
Non-equity incentive plan compensation |
$87,500.00 |
Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings |
$0.00 |
Total Compensation |
$392,750.00 |
Drs probably dont know. Suits arrange and pay for
3
Webmedx SUITS, read this
We know you read the boards. During the call tomorrow when you tell everyone just how much pay is cut we want to hear how much you've cut your own pay.
You've told us how efficient and productive this ISR technology makes us. So as we're getting more efficient and productive, you must certainly be getting more efficient and productive. Therefore, we'll want you to tell us about your own pay cut on the phone call on September 22.
Also, we want an answer as to why we never get annual raises BEFORE this economy went to pot. What was your excuse then when you talked about how business was booming and you went and bought a transcription school? Why didn't you give your employees a raise?
You market yourself as the REMARKABLE leader in the industry, touting your status as hiring only domestic workers. Well, wouldn't it be remarkable to give your employees regular raises? What's remarkable about yet another company who pays MTs crap wages, doesn't regularly give raises, has low work volumes, and is cutting pay? That's pretty run-of-the-mill in my opinion.
Are you making what you made 10 years ago? No? Then why should we be making what me made 10 years ago? Remember, we're working for the REMARKABLE Webmedx. Do something remarkable to earn that adjective, please.
Check the Laws and lost suits
Anything you post on a public chatboard or in a chatroom can be used against you by your employer as reason for termination if they so desire, and you will lose in court if you try to sue them. Plenty of these suits lost since the Internet started.
I worked for a bad legal transcription firm for 3 wks - fired after I posted on a legal chatboard (along with tons of others) - within hrs of posting some stuff. Definitely was why - no doubt. I then began researching whether this is legal - and by god it is. I used an anon name and no email. This co later had all neg posts regarding his co removed from the site.
As to this chatboard - the co I just left had many, many posts removed because they did not like their content.
Fortunately most cos recognize the need of folks to vent and don't want to be bothered. But some of these smaller cos really monitor posts, and mgmt posts as if they were MTs in response to neg posts or just to toot their own horn.
The suits and facilities often control dictation, not
x
MQ good until Jan. 2006, when the devils in suits took over. nm
That's the attitude that keeps the suits rolling in cash.
=
It's not law, but it's usual general policy to avoid law suits. nm
nm
good, let them do all the India work, and take all the hits for law suits...
I wish they would monopolize the India market and totally stick with that...
I also posted an article about this a few weeks back, even with pictures of the offices in India (lot nicer than here).
hope they put all their money into it and then when technology takes all our jobs, they will have nothing.
Medquist, hate it or not, has invested rather in the technology, thereby will be the leaders in that. if I worked there I would train and learn everything I could about working with that technology because that eventually, in my opinion, will drive even Indian MTs into unemployment.
WHy should I care if you are impressed or not. It it suits me, I don't give a darn if anyone
+
It is the real deal. Back to not every company suits every one.
I have been there 2+ years and never had any problems. I make good money, have a good account, don't get bounced around, and have good management. The recruiter is very good to try and answer your questions or you can email me and I will tell you what I know.
"The Suits" is the proper term for these people.
There are Suits in every industry. They are the MBAs and they consider business a giant chess board. So much fun to move all the little pieces around and see what happens. Don't be afraid to sacrifice your pawns.
Annoying, Condescending, Uppity Snakes in Suits
They're always slipping these things in casually at the end of the day. Stupid suits.
xxx
It is just a ra-ra meeting,,,
Nothing will be discussed, I was in the corporate meeting on Friay, and they basically blew smoke up our a$$
please let us know what happens at the meeting!!
x
Bet that meeting never happens now
She probably wanted to get that meeting out of the way before the pay cuts, or as she likes to call it 'leveling' - yeah it really levels you to get whacked like that - so now it will probably never get rescheduled. She wanted to say a bunch of stuff like how hard we work and how much she appreciates it and how valuable we are and don't let the door hit ya and then two days later . . . wham! Pay cuts for all!
My notes from the meeting - s/m
Apparently Acusis started in India, not the US. It's not very old - only 6 years. The CEO seems to know alot about business & making money, but not much about MT-ing. Says he's learning. They apparently have aspirations to be THE largest MT company not only in the US, but globally. He thought he could do it from India, but found he couldn't, partly because of the fact that some US medical institutions don't want offshored work. Others will allow PART of their work offshore (like radiology, etc.), but not other work. So instead this would be what he called a Hybrid US+India company. Hmmm.
So, according to what he said, he feels the best way to grow the company FAST is to also have a US MT force, so clients have a choice. They will have to pay more for US transcription, though he assures us the Indians are also good. (Yeah, RIGHT!) Initially the two-tiered business platform made sense to me. But other comments made later in the meeting made me wonder about what the REAL truth might be. Among other things, they plan to buy many other US MT companies, as well. DRC is just the first. He seems to think bigger is better. Having worked at PAMC since it was smaller, and seeing how nasty it got when it was bigger, I certainly don't agree.
Someone asked the question about the less-skilled, or even the accurate, but slower transcribers' role there. For now he seems to want only top-notch people, but later says how having a plan for bringing less-skilled MTs up to speed would be a good thing. Some questions sounded slightly hedged or evaded, and sometimes had the words for now thrown in, like maybe we weren't going to notice them or something. This had to do mainly with questions about change as it affected us. Red flag.
When asked about all the extra management people after the merge, he said that for now there was a seat for everyone on the bus. But he also allowed as how his company has always tended to have more execs than they really needed. Well, that certainly is one of the problems at PAMC, and it seems to cause them to continually find fault with the MTs, if for no other reason than to make themselves look good. So that was another rather loud warning-bell I heard.....it's a management-heavy company.
Re: Pay/Benefits - He says so far it'll remain the same. He wants it well above average, but doesn't specifically say whether or not MTs are part of that plan. He does say that by improving the software, etc., they can make the MTs more productive, and thus enable them to make more money. I didn't particularly like that part, either.
One thing that DID sound good was that although we would have to change over to Acusis' 401K (and who knows how good it is.....), he says they'll match it with 3%. Well, to me that isn't exactly MATCHING.... but I guess if you put in $100, they put in another $3.
Their company goals were:
- Global world-class customer satisfaction (sounds kinda' generic, but whatever...)
- Service flexibility & choice of options (the Hybrid-thing).
- Create the strongest organization (so they can gobble up & digest the competition?)
- Have the best technology (boys do like their toys.....)
I guess we'll lose the nice DRC software we're using now. He says he wants to have a new, blended software platform that will be called AcuSuite 3.0. It is supposed to have enhanced user-friendliness (hard to believe, if it's not written by someone who knows a LOT about MT!). He also mentions back-end speech-recognition.
He also mentioned that he was a leader in his church. (Oh, pul-eeeze! Not more holy-rollers trying to take over the healthcare industry!?!?) Definitely a red flag in my book.
The Future Plans are:
- To acquire more MT companies.
- To develop a repetitive model to acquire and integrate future acquisitions.
Again, all this talk about growing, merging, acquiring -- has nothing to do with the nuts & bolts of MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION. He talked about MONEY, a LOT. But not MTs making money - but instead about his goal of having this be the world's BIGGEST and WEALTHIEST MT company. I don't think anyone can have those kind of aspirations and stay honest or have their employee's best interests at heart for very long.
One person brought up the fact that the Chief Officer of Acusis-India desires India to dominate the medical information field worldwide, and wanted to know if he intended to convert the clients from US-transcribed to Indian-transcribed. His answer was very ODD, and most certainly got me wondering: It was that it was his belief until 55 minutes ago. (Whaaaat?) He tried to clarify that by saying he used to think domination of the MT industry could be done solely through India, and that now he believes it cannot. But, either way, all this domination talk makes me uneasy.
Another question was How do US clients view the above statement by the C.O.O.? He admits it was viewed with skepticism. He also says hes been trying to take our clients for a long time, now. (What???) (I guess he tried from India, couldn't do it, and so now has come onshore.)
When asked about accrued vacation time, and would the MTs be able to keep it, the answer was YES. (Though said he doesn't yet understand DRCs system of accrual of vacation time according to Keystrokes typed, or how much can be carried.
In the first 100 days they plan to:
- Integrate talent, IT, Processes, Benefits.
- Establish performance goals, alignment.
- Retain only high customer satisfaction performers who get results. (Does this pertain to management? MTs? Everyone? What exactly does this mean? This wasn't clear).
- Continue to have quarterly conference calls. (Jeez .... even semi-annually would be more than I could stand.)
Later he says the MTs are where the rubber meets the road. (Good analogy, but will Acusis follow through on their statement that they consider the US-based MTs to be a valuable part of the company?) I wonder if he is aware of how many people are ready to walk out RIGHT NOW, just based on their strong ties with India?
Well, anyway, that was my take on everything, from all the notes I took. I don't plan to do anything rash.... and will instead just keep on typin' and see what develops. If I like it I'll stay, if I don't, then I guess I'll leave. But I won't cross that bridge 'til I come to it, as it's still too early to tell how the takeover will ultimately go. What we were told could be the truth, or it could all just be smoke and mirrors.
Anybody at TT have trouble meeting
I work days so I am wondering if the system is just plain bogged down. 
What kind of meeting? nm
nm
Supervisor meeting...
nm
I had the pleasure of meeting D several years ago
when you actually had to fly to Maryland to train before you worked for Signal. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I liked her immediately. D is one of those people that you meet and feel like you have known your entire life; the kind of person everyone wants to be around. Her personality comes across over the phone as well. D genuinely cares. I'm sure others know her far better than I do, but how could anyone have ANY interaction with her and not know she cares? What other company can you email or call the head honcho, as busy as they are, and have them actually talk to you and address your concerns? When I see someone being critical of D, all I can think is that person must not know her at all.
Carlotta, thanks for the positive post and for putting things in perspective. Sometimes we (me included) focus on what is wrong instead of what is right. I feel sheepish for doing that. I have worked in a hospital, for MDI, for other companies and had my own accounts and in not one of those situations was there always, or even usually, a happy medium in regard to work flow. Too much or too little, feast or famine. I should know that by now, and yet I have at times let myself forget it and slip into a negative attitude.
Those of us at MDI-MD really do have a good thing. Maybe we should appreciate it more and complain less (me included).
I wasn't asking for the meeting minutes.
I wasn't even asking what is said. I wanted to know if they were sold. I DO NOT want to get hired into that company if they are off-shoring, plain and simple. A simple e-mail would have sufficed instead of attacking a simple question. You think they would have told this potential hire that information BEFORE I entered the company? No worries, I am not jumping onto that boat anyway. Will take 2nd choice.
Easy! I was invited to the meeting...
...and it's an account I work on. Everyone else who works on this account was also invited to the meeting. Otherwise why would it matter to the casual passer-by? Clients are not to be named on this board... or did I get that wrong, too?
Looks like poster anon was at the meeting too.
And you jumped down her neck as well. Are we in need of some Midol?
What meeting? I just left but would sure love to know
what is going on with OSI. I was there for four years. TIA
meeting line counts
I guess I am confused as I have not actually worked for Amphion, but my sister works there, is constantly changing accounts and having to do 2nd and 3rd account to get her lines, and consistently meets 2000 lines a day in about 6-1/2 hours. I don't understand how you could not meet their minimum line count...
I was counseled about not meeting my lines
when I had some personal issues that were making me very unreliable over several pay periods in a row...not just a day here or there, but I was only meeting about 60% of my lines for about 6-7 weeks.
I got a professional email offering to place me on a p.r.n. basis at a lower line rate, or get my act together and keep my promise by being reliable.
I looked at what was keeping me from making my lines, straightened out my issues (including having an outpatient surgery for something that had been dragging me down). After making my lines for 2 paychecks, I was sent another email thanking me for getting things fixed and patting me on the back for being the MT the person writing believed me to be.
They never dropped my pay. In fact, a few months later when I was able to increase my lines even more, I got a raise.
The point was that I committed to lines that I wasn't meeting (not due to lack of work) and they counseled me before giving up on me. If I hadn't pulled myself together, we would have parted ways. I needed that kick in the bum. I feel it made me a better MT and it made me feel better about myself in general. No one has ever said a word to me about not meeting my lines for lack of work...in fact, I usually get emails where they acknowledge the issue and reassure the team everything will be okay.
I think they are very professional, but they do have high expectations, which is why the best of the best work there.
I was told that it was going to be brought up at their next meeting...
hopefully something like that will be set up because I think it would be beneficial...
SPI account managers meeting
Well, Well....The account managers are at a conference in Nashville once again...I have heard rumors that some of them are going to fight for the MTs to get paid for headers/footers once again!!! GOOD LUCK TO THEM!! The last time they had a big account managers meeting like this (sometime last year) both my account manager and senior account manager left the next week!!!! Wonder how many they are going to lose this time??? I heard there is plenty of work now, but the problem is there isn't anyone left to type it, so they are trying to work to death the ones that are left...what a mess!!!
Do you have any problems meeting production?
What's "out of work" for you? Are you meeting your
minimum line count or barely scraping by?
Any comments on the Acusis/DRC meeting?
Sometimes change can be a good thing, BUT...I have to say that I wasn't feeling too warm and fuzzy by the end of the call. What's with letting go of key people? Or maybe I haven't been with Acusis long enough to know that it happens all the time, just part of the business.
Also not feeling too thrilled about the change from KS to LPH. I thought I'd lucked out and found a company who understood the nitty gritty of production and paid fairly, but now they're switching to how everyone else does it. I'll wait and see how it shakes out (once they get it together and figure out the magic conversion formula) but why am I thinking it's going to be downhill from here? Or maybe it's just a mild case of paranoia...like MQ deja vu all over again.
town hall meeting
I agree. This is very much a listening meeting, basically a pep rally about how great Webmedx is and how they put the employees first. Unfortunately this is not the case demonstrated by the amount of posts here and the lack of work for those of us who have given so much to this company. Now we sit with nary a thing to do.
Raises were not the purpose of the meeting.... sm
Did you not hear it said that prices are down 25% overall in the industry over the last few years? How can a company give you a ____ cent-per-line increase if the industry prices are down?
Did you not hear about the technology they are implementing to help the MTs increase productivity?
Increased Productivity = Increased Paycheck.
Overall, I came away from the meeting with a very good feeling. I'm sorry if it was not the same for you.
Precyse MTs - Big meeting tomorrow
The big MT conference call meeting for all Precyse MTs is tomorrow. Anybody know what this might all be about?
also dock your pay for not meeting QA standards..nm
xx
You're welcome! Likewise to you! Nice meeting you!
Maybe I'll see ya in MQ world!! 
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her or any of the liaisons, sm
but I do look forward to the part of the new forum with photos and profiles posted. It will be interesting to see if my mental pictures match the real thing.
I'm like you ... I do tend to fret and worry when work is slow, even though I know that ups and downs tend to be the nature of the business. I do believe, though, that everyone at MDI does the best they can to look out for us. It still doesn't stop me from worrying when I run out of work, but I do not feel angry or blameful ... just sometimes wonder if I can find an electric pole to plug my computer into if I become homeless (smile).
Thanks to you, C, and D for the positive posts. 
You are so correct! Years ago at an AAMT meeting, sm
we asked a local risk management physician lecture us. He stated, Your company (or office) is only as good as its worst employee.
I have no trouble meeting my line count - and then some. nm
I will tell you why you aren't meeting the line count...
Other places more fair. If line count fairness isn't important, stick with Amphion. Also, work DOES run out and you are put on other accounts with nit-picky specifics.
Any comments on today's DRC/Acusis meeting? NM
x
So you ARE NOT having trouble meeting your line counts? sm
May I ask what your minimum line count is?
Most companies have a 2 week training period and if meeting
production and QA one can opt out of it early.
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