I have to say I disagree. QA is not paid to find faults with your report. sm
Posted By: SMC on 2008-09-05
In Reply to: REMEMBER-QA IS PAID TO FIND FAULT...SM - SC MT
QA is paid to make sure the report is as close to 100% correct before the client sees it. However, I truly agree with you that anyone on QA hold for more than a month is beyond ridiculous. Where I work, I have seen people on hold for more than a month but it was truly because of poor transcription work and has nothing at all to do with the QA people.
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I must DISAGREE. I get paid for spaces!!! (nm)
I'm paid by report...
make about $25/hr., and I think a year of radiology experience is plenty if you are really good. So go 4 it!
Do you get paid per report?
or hourly? If you get paid per report that would be easy to verify.
QAs are paid the same whether your report is
100% perfect or full of errors. We're not paid extra to find fault.
It's a waste of time & money for the company to keep her on QA this long, but it's not costing her anything.
paid by the report
I currently get paid by the report for radiology work. It has its ups and downs. I would say that it depends alot on the platform as well. The good side of being paid by the report is that any report over 2.5 minutes we get to add an additional report on top of that and we also get to add additional reports to a report that have one or more links(CT abdomen and pelvis). Personally I would not take a job that pays less than 1.20 for a radiology report. If that is the case I would say you would make more getting by the line. I hope this helps.
Being Paid by Report
I've got two firm offers from very reputable employers. One is paid per report while the other is paid by the line. One is Radiology, the other is multispecialty.
I'd like to hear from some of the MTs here who are, or have been, paid by report for radiology. I've heard horror stories about getting $1.10-1.35 per report, and having an entire shift filled with detailed CTs and MRIs with very few simple plain film studies. Conversely, I can also see where if one were lucky enough to get a run of negative plain film studies, one could conceivably make a great deal of money.
Being relatively new to subcontracting, I'd love some advice from the MTs here about what you feel is the most beneficial method of being paid.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
being paid by report
I agree!! I was offered $1.05 to $1.10 as an employee status...
Anyone you sub for is going to report they paid you
When you do your taxes, the IRS could be alerted since the contractor you work for will write it off. It's just not a good idea. Why not send out resumes offering as needed services to different companies. You might be surprised what you find.
Did you ask for more if you were paid by the report? sm
I work for KS and have for a few years. If there is an account that does not have enough work or slows down, they always have more. I would give them a try. I know they are starting a few more accounts in the next few weeks; they have a lot of radiology!
Disagree with this. Every company I've worked for paid for normals.
x
Paid for the whole report and you're right about
why you'd likely be fired after the adjustment time if you're not making at least min wage. The employer would need to supplement your income to bring you to at least min wage for your state.
Transhealth rad-paid by report or by line? sm
Anyone know? Thinking about applying.
You get paid for the whole line count in the report.
Only on QA do some companies (GRRR) pay for just a certain amount of lines or what you actually type in the blanks.
VR is the same line count as text reports - and the whole report. Hope this helps you. You might want to check with your company to confirm though, lots of weird stuff going on with some of them;-)
It just depends on how long the report is. Are you paid by
nm
Futurenet AQ not paid by report any more? Going to line rate.
sucks
I pulled a report I did today. I get paid 65 characters.
At 65 characters it was 110 lines and at 55 it was 130. If the 65 is employee status and there are other benefits that would be the one I would choose. If you don't have benefits it would probably be 6 of one and half-dozen of the other.
Sorry couldn't be more helpful. Having to make a decision too. One job pays more per line but no benefits, no bonuses. The other job pays a little bit less but has incentives and good benefits. Sounds like a no brainer but it is still hard to decide.
I would look at how productive you could be. I know you probably don't have any idea if you aren't familiar with the account. I'd also look at the stability of the company. There are no guarantees, but if there is a mom and pop company, versus a 300+ MT company, that may play a factor. Check the boards on both companies (I'm assuming it is 2 different companies but maybe it is just pay scale difference) and see what others have said about them. Tons of ESLs, hard to make lines, very inflexible with schedule, etc.
You can take job #1, but there is no law that says you are there for the next 2 years and maybe job #2 will still be willing to hire you.
Not paid for the WHOLE report? Classless highway robbery by that company. nm
.
Are you being paid to find them MQ MTs?
If you are not being paid for 'recruiting', you are quite foolish. Don't let these people make a fool of you.
QA is not paid to find fault.
QA is paid to ensure quality. It is all about patient care and safety, remember?
If and when you find one, be sure do double check yourself that you are being paid for what they
:P
Remember QA is paid to find fault..sm
I've been there and they can be maddening. On top of the nitpicking, if you get more than 1 QA person, they'll be contradicting each other. Do one thing, #1 corrects it, so you do it her way. Along comes #2, and you did it wrong, so you do it #2's way. Don't take it personally and remember THEY'RE PAID TO FIND FAULT WITH YOUR WORK. You know that you know your stuff. If it gets to be too much of a hindrance, I would contact management to let them hear YOUR side of the story; wouldn't count on it, though. In addition, a lot of the QAs get so uppity in their holier-than-thou attitude, some downright rude. Good luck.
REMEMBER-QA IS PAID TO FIND FAULT...SM
15 months?? I would think about 2 weeks should be enough, maybe a bit more if learning a difficult account. (I was on a difficult Oncology account for about 4-5 weeks but that was because the supervisor doubled as the only QA person). But your case is extreme and just another example of MT abuse by management. I would contact my supervisor and give them an ultimatum...you have every right, long overdue. Do you know how this QA is taking food off of your table and how much time she has literally stolen from you??? You could be doing your PAID work instead of the constant, inconsistent feedback back & forth with these egomaniacs, who really need to get off of their high horse.
Does anyone know how to find out what the nationals are getting paid from the docs? (sm)
I would LOVE to be able to find out what the doctors are paying these national companies for their work. I have heard so many times, that the transcriptionists have to take a pay cut because of the economy and because of outsourcing. And personally, I do not see how any of us can work for less than what we are getting now.
Is there a way to actually verify what these nationals are charging the docs, maybe calling around and getting quotes is the only thing I can think of. Does anyone have a better idea. I would LOVE to get ACTUAL QUOTES and see how it compares to what we are getting. Any ideas?
You might find a job but you wont get paid for "normals", that is how it works now. nm
xxxx
do you find being paid per the minute pays better than per line pay rate?
Thank you so much for your help!
If getting paid regularly for your hard work is important to you, find another company. nm
t
Did find a Wright Watson Sten-Tel in Austin if their site isn't old. Find 'em with Google. nm
s
Trying to find info on Encompass on this board, can't find any recent. sm
Anyone have any current info. Any employees out there? Give me the low-down if you can! Thanks a million.
Training on the system, not paid, but if you are physically typing reports then you are getting paid
nm
Oh, yea -- PAID, too. Grandmother PAID LEAVE would be a great drawing card to TT !!
Just love that PAID TIME OFF !!
Any company that makes you wait to get paid until they get paid by the client
is not a company you want to get involved with. That's part of being an MTSO, figuring out how to cover your payroll while waiting to get paid. I would stay away!
Is this a live count of lines paid for or same as CTRL I that we do not get paid for ?? nm
m
Me too.. the outsourced company was paid for and paid me for headers, but OSI does/did not.
x
I have always paid yearly and have never paid or been assessed a penaltly. nm
nm
Be glad you get paid tomorrow. We are paid on the 1st and the 15th, so sm
since the 1st is on a weekend, we don't get paid until Monday. It will happen again on the 15th of August …sigh. It is the only thing I do not like about the company, though, so I guess a few weekends of poverty a year is not too much.
Lori never paid me and now ETC has not paid my friend.
What is WRONG with these companies?
Is it still being paid on time if you are paid on the 1st and 15th.....
and if the 15th falls on a Saturday getting paid on the 17th? My bank is open and posts on Saturday that means I am not being paid on the 15th doesn't? This has happened a lot lately.
At least you get paid, I would rather be paid late than not at all. Just my 2 cents.
nm
Yea, at least u got paid. Everyone who worked for TSI is STILL waiting to be paid
I don't understand how Jayne cannot pay us. We have christmas coming up. I bet her family has a fantastic Christmas because she is using OUR money to pay for it. I worked so hard for her and I know the other girls did too. How insulting that she will not return phone calls or emails or PAY us. How does she look at herself in the mirror knowing that the MTs who did all the work FOR her did not get paid. She even sent me an email saying I give you my word HAHAHA her word is nothing, obviously. Well, I will call the attorney for the THIRD time and see what is going on.
To the poster, at least you got paid even if it was late. I sincerely hope you get your last check.
I disagree with you......sm
I've been working with them since July and have not had any problems with communication or having work available, and I'm an employee.
Have to disagree
I am a hospital employee. I like the platform, it is basically word. I am making more lines here than I ever have anywhere else. I only work on one account. The equipment is fine, brand new Dell with flat screen. No problems in particular with supervisors or QA. Hospital can be picky about things, but it is the hospital, not DK. Benefits are great through the hospital, very affordable.
DK is no worse than anywhere else, you just have to find what is best for you. They are working fine for me
I disagree with you. sm
I have to say that the reason companies are offshoring is not completely their fault. US MTs, over the years, have gotten to where they want to make more and more money so that they have to produce less and less work every day.
Any talented MT should be able to produce 1500 lines (accurately) in an 8-hour period. At a rate of 0.075 cpl, this would total $112.50, which works out to 14.00 per hour. If you want to earn more than that, you work extra to do so. There are people coming out of college with degrees that do not start out at a wage like that and don't make that until they have many, many years experience in their field. This would be though in an average area.
By asking for exorbitant wages, which you could also earn by increasing your line count and working just a bit harder, we are forcing companies to have to look at offshoring more and more work. Yes they work cheaper over there. However, they also don't mind working harder and doing everything possible to increase their line count.
Another issue bringing our wages down is the fact that now an Editor is used. This has come about simply because the MTs that are coming into this business are not adequately trained. Therefore, an extra cost associated with the higher wages. The same editor can be used but editing India work and the company will make a better profit and turnaround times are much better.
I do feel that MTSOs should look at the cost of living of different areas and also pay MTs accordingly as any other job would. For instance, an secretary in some parts of Texas start out at 6.50 per hour; however, a secretary in New York may start at 17 or more per hour. This is an issue that has never been addressed by an MTSO and I am sure never will be.
Over the last several years, many schools have developed that teach MT. However, they are not producing quality MTs. To make it in this business and earn the big bucks, you have to have speed and accuracy. You have to be able to remember medical terms. Most of all, however, if you cannot produce 200-250 lines per hour minimum, you might should consider a new job. This is a production job and if you can't produce, it is not the job for you.
For those of you experiencing out of work problems, easy solution... find another company to work for/with. There are too many out there, so don't waste precious time. Find one.
Well, I disagree with YOU !
Here is your statement -Over the last several years, many schools have developed that teach MT. However, they are not producing quality MTs. To make it in this business and earn the big bucks, you have to have speed and accuracy. You have to be able to remember medical terms. Most of all, however, if you cannot produce 200-250 lines per hour minimum, you might should consider a new job. This is a production job and if you can't produce, it is not the job for you.
___________________
Now, I am taking issue with this type of noncaring type attitude to those of us who are 50 and older, have a lot of physical problems, but you know what, I might not produce 220 lines/hour, but I do type 70-90 wpm, but I find I can only type for four hours, then have to stop, and then restart later on to finish up. Up to now, I have found employers out there who do understand this, and as long as I get my quota in for the day, they and I do not see anything wrong with doing the work this way. Well, you had your say, now, I had mine. Why don't YOU get to work, and stop chewing-out us other hard-working MTs, and there are quite a few of us left! I stack my medical terminology memory next to a doctor's, so there you have it, and I just could not sit by and read your comments without having some of my own to stick up for those us in my situation.
I disagree with you.
I disagree with you on a number of points.
First of all, as was pointed out by another poster, 1500 lines in 8 hours depends totally on the accounts and dictators you transcribe. I have an (occasional) account where I can transcribe 400-500 lines an hour, and that, obviously, is due to the template. I have another account on another job where I can only transcribe 120-140 lines an hour. That isn’t due to my failings but due to the slowness of the company-provided computer and their platform. When transcribing another dictator, I can usually transcribe 250-275 LPH. The main reason I can do this is because I get this dictator all the time, have had the opportunity to become accustomed to his style of dictation and can make shortcuts based on his particular consistent phrasing of sentences. If a person transcribes for more than 100 different dictators, the Transcriptionist never has the opportunity to become familiar with the dictator. There are many variables in how many lines someone can transcribe per hour, and they don’t always involve the skill level or competency of the transcriptionist.
I also take issue with the fact that people coming out of college with degrees earning less. Who cares? Why should MTs who have been in this business for 20-30 years suffer just because kids who graduate from college make less money? I’m sure most of these seasoned MTs would tell you that they made much more money 10 or even 15 years ago than they do today. They are hanging in there with a deteriorating industry, just trying to make a living wage.
I especially disagree with paying transcriptionists different rates based on where they live. Often that is the only recourse for those of us who have the ability to relocate to economically impoverished areas, just to keep up with steadily declining wages in the MT industry because we love this kind of work.
Although I agree that speed used to be a very important of a transcriptionist’s job, I also believe that with the evolution of VR, the need for typing speed in a transcriptionist is obviously going to diminish since it is no longer required. Combine that lack of skill with the new graduates you mention who are basically clueless, and a whole new generation of incompetence is being created, leaving the more experienced, seasoned MTs out in the cold.
I personally am going to remain with the smaller companies, as I believe when it is all said and done, they are the ones that truly care about quality, and they may be the only ones left after all the big nationals outsource themselves into extinction through their new quantity versus quality standards. They are also the ones who are less likely to cut the throats of their loyal, highly-skilled employees.
Disagree
Just because an MT is a production worker doesn't mean we never deserve a raise. Basically, you expect the MT to do more, more, more, and never make anything more per hour, which isn't right or fair in general, and especially with the way the cost of living constantly goes up, health insurance, etc...
As far as editors go, editors have always been a part of the MT world as long as I can remember. They aren't anything new. I'm sure it's much easier for an Editor to edit jobs done by U.S. MTs than people in India who can't even speak English...That's just common sense. Alot of their reports need to be totally redone because the quality is so bad, yet you'll send work to them??? LOL!!!
Amazing how you only harp on quality, speed and accuracy when it comes to U.S MTs; none of which you're getting from any MT in India, but you're okay with that because it's filling up your pockets.
Soon, U.S. medical records will have to remain in the U.S., which is the way it should be. You'll see.
I have to disagree (sm)
I used to be an MTSO. There is a very fine line to walk between overstaffing and adequate staffing. With the TATs being what they are today, it is even worse. You have to keep the clients happy or they will go elsewhere. I don't believe that is a problem at TT like it is at many other companies. I also never ran out of work during slow times, just adjusted my schedule.
disagree
SirPercy - please don't denigrate yourself with such names. No one is garbage, maybe a little trashy, but certainly not garbage. I just left D and L typing a few weeks back. They were fab-u-lous. Challenging (in a good way -- not too hard to comprehend) work, wonderful software, very nice staff. Always was paid as promised, on time. I didn't want to leave, but had other committments. I give them 5 stars.
I have to disagree with you.....sm
on that explanation. I do NOT work for Keystrokes, but I did try them out very briefly awhile back and they put me on an account that had horrid ESL dictators that I could not even begin to understand. I tried telling them in a round about way, but they never would give me anything different and there was NO WAY I could have stayed there with that mess. If they had anything better than that, I wouldn't know, but I have heard that most of the accounts or horrible. Besides that, they weren't too bad, but nothing out of the norm. Not every company is good for every person. 
I disagree.
Great company small company to work with. Plenty of work and payroll is DD and always on time. There are a lot of ESLs, but if you're an MLS that's great. Let's face it their here and they're not going anywhere. Their only downfall is that are no benefits so if you need paid vacations and insurance don't go there. They do not treat you like you don't exist. You are in constant communication through IM which stays up all day and there's always phone or email if needed. As for previous post you do look up a lot of addresses, however those are provided for you for each account. If you do not have it you don't search you leave a blank. No guessing. No internet searching. Can't find a word - they don't dock you for blanks. They would rather you leave a blank than guess. Daily feedback. You can have DSL to work with them, you dowload several voice files at a time and then can up load at same time or individually so second line would probably help but not necessary. They do not have much in the way of flexible hours, pretty much wanting you to work 8 hours straight but what job doesn't. They are not strict though, very easy to work with. As I said though if you are needing insurance coverage and vacation/sick time they currently do not offer, although have been working changing this.
I disagree
We work long hours (often longer than reported) on a job that is physically demanding (people don't realize how much so until they do it a few years and people who have never done it have absolutely no clue). You cannot socialize at all when you work, your right foot, both hands, ears and eyes are 100% on task for many hours. Because we work from home I think most people don't realize how hard we do work. In fact, most of us work harder from home. Yet, we get vacation time that is like a carrot dangling in front of a horse to get and you'd better be careful how you use it, unrealistic demands that we would have told any hospital to shove it (well, most hospitals don't treat their employees like that to begin with). We work holidays, weekends, nights, days, you name it. Our work is changed and thus our incomes, we're asked to be on call without pay. I could go on but I won't.
No, it's not that attitude that is harming the MT field. It's the attitude toward the MT field that is harming the MT field. It's become a nuthouse.
I disagree
I'm sorry, but I think we most certainly are different from assembly line workers or a pharmacy tech, etc. Our job involves a whole lot more than those professions and I feel proud that it does. I would say an experienced multi-specialty MT might be on the level of having a bachelor's, and what would be wrong with that? How many of you with years of experience can diagnose a patient after hearing the H&P and know not only what meds to prescribe but their proper dosage along with a treatment plan?
We still do patient care but in a different way. We work with the written record as opposed to hands-on patient care. Why should this mean we don't need as much knowledge? We're the patient's safety net, as I recently heard a medical professional say. Especially with the EMR and electronic signatures, we've got to be darn sure all the bases are covered and covered correctly. The next time that patient is treated, what we have transcribed will be what the treating physician refers to. How else can we know what the mumblers, speed demons, ESLs are saying if we don't know what they are supposed to be saying! This is where the years of experience really pay off.
I think you're selling yourself and this profession short to compare it to those others. To do our job well and make the most money, we can't spend time looking things up. We have to KNOW it. We have to know anatomy and physiology, disease pathology, pharmacology, procedures, maneuvers, signs, surgical equipment, the world of nuclear medicine, etc. not to mention knowing how to make the best use of our computer's software, and the Internet, and tricks of the trade with our platforms, and skills with the English language such that we can edit where necessary all the while following account specifics which change depending on which account you are on. Yee gads, it's amazing what we do! If this weren't the case, why would the companies be so insistent on wanting people with years and years of experience? They don't want errors and they want high production from us. That's why newbies have such a hard time finding employment -- they don't know enough yet. It takes years, as you all know, to incorporate the booklearning with excellence in the job performance. It all has to come together and this takes time and effort on our part and the end result (our pay) should be worth the effort just like with any other job.
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