I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her or any of the liaisons, sm
Posted By: LTMT on 2006-01-03
In Reply to: I had the pleasure of meeting D several years ago - 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. 
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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).
Message from MDI-MD Liaisons
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
---Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is the credo to which the owner of MDI-MD adheres. The success of every MT, however they measure it, is important, great or small. As a company we value everybody’s contribution and respect the work that everyone does. That being said, our success is through open communication, flexibility, integrity, and commitment to excellence.
I am coming to this chat board today on behalf of MDI’s account liaisons and management team to address some comments that were made on this board over the past few days with regard to MDI-MD and it’s management structure.
A team is only successful if everyone keeps moving in the same direction together. It is working together as a team, the MTs, QA department, operations, and client support services, that has made MDI-MD a success in a rapidly changing industry. As our leader, Dorothy carries heavily the weight on her shoulders of the 300 families who depend on MDI for financial support. This overwhelming sense of responsibility for the welfare of MDI’s employees and MTs is what pushes her forward every day…servicing our clients to ensure their satisfaction, as well as responding to hundreds of emails and phone calls daily. Indeed, she is more than willing to give her cell phone number to both clients and MTs…many of whom do not hesitate to call her at all hours of the day or night.
As account liaisons, we work closely with Dorothy and each other on a daily basis to maintain the balance of MT resources and backlogs. Our goal is to always maintain our accounts within TAT while ensuring that our MTs have enough work. Traditionally, the holidays are a slow period for the industry; MDI was fortunate over the past 3 or 4 years to have not experienced this annual slow down. This is probably the reason why some may be alarmed this year that our backlogs have been lighter over the past few weeks. You only have to go back a few weeks, though, to remember the HOURS of backlog on all our accounts. We have several major accounts expecting JCAHO visits over the next few weeks and months, so it is imperative that we maintain this level of TAT.
Flexibility is one of the best things about being an acute care or clinic MT with MDI…we each choose our line commitment and the days that we will be working. It is then completely up to us what hours we choose to work in order to complete our commitment. If we have meetings or appointments on any given day/evening, we can choose to work around those hours. If we have trouble sleeping, we can choose to get up and work for a while until we again become sleepy. This flexibility, though, must work both ways. We have a responsibility to our accounts to provide stat coverage 24/7…including weekends and holidays. We have a responsibility to our clients to keep the backlogs within TAT at all times…day/night, 365 days a year. It is with this in mind that we must all remember that flexibility is a 2-way street, even though most of the year the flexibility is in the MT’s favor.
Addressing any and all concerns is important to all of us at MDI. However, if concerns are not voiced to your account liaison and/or to Dorothy, then we cannot possibly work to resolve any issues. If your account experiences a temporary slow-down, we ask for your flexibility…if the problem is persistent, we typically have many accounts that could use extra MTs. If you have voiced your concern about lack of work and not been assigned to a secondary account, there could be one of several reasons for this…level of commitment, breadth of experience for additional accounts, account accessibility issues (Lanier versus DVI/C-phone versus WAV), requirement for DQA on a new account, to name a few. While it may seem an easy answer to pick up a new account, the training and learning curve may outweigh waiting a few days for the work on your primary account to pick back up. If you are unable to be flexible with your work hours, then notifying your liaison that you may not meet your commitment on any specific day due to lack of work is all that we ask. There is always the option of playing “Let’s Make a Deal” and asking to switch days off.
Difficult times face our industry and challenges are mounting. We continue to look for new opportunities while trying to maintain our current obligation, but this balance is never easy. Because of our commitment to excellence we are always looking for high-caliber quality MTs to join the MDI family. While we receive hundreds of resumes, fewer than 50% are considered potential candidates, and of that number only about 10% are offered a position and perhaps only 7-8% of those are successful at completing our intense 2-week directed QA training period and becoming MDI MTs.
MDI’s commitment to MT satisfaction is equally important to all of us. This is why each account has a liaison who is available to every MT via email or phone call. It is important to us to hear from you if you are having a problem of any sort, be it transcription-related or technical. While we’re not as savvy about computers as our tech support team is, we will do our best to assist you with any basic computer or BayScribe question, and if we are unable to do so we will refer your problem to our tech support team.
We recently unveiled our new discussion forum/chat board at www.mditrans.net. As this forum continues to grow you will be able to discuss with other MDI MTs account-specific or platform issues, as well as any other topics you choose to discuss. We are formulating a weekly live-online forum where Dorothy, as well as the liaisons, will be available to answer any questions/concerns/issues during a specific time frame. We have resumed publication of our newsletter in an electronic format, which is also available on-line at www.mditrans.net, and invite input from all of MDI’s MTs and employees.
MDI-MD is home to many MTs, some for over 20 years, and I personally believe that it may be the last company that most of us will ever work for. We have aligned ourselves with a quality company in MDI-MD. We have a bright future to look forward to with new accounts, improved communication and technology, which will serve to make our jobs more satisfying.
We look forward to another new year working together with the MDI family.
Carlotta, on behalf of MDI's liaisons and management team
Thank you, Carlotta, for your eloquent dissertation regarding MDI, D, and its liaisons. - VLM
As my liaison, I do hope that your message is read without the cynicism that probably has been ingrained in those working for other companies & those currently disillusioned with MDI.
I met D years & years ago,& her bubbly personality & values made you love her immediately. Her #1 concern is for the MT - a trait that is now totally unheard of in our profession & is beyond comparison - period end!! I also met CT, MD, at the same time, who also dedicated her knowledge & expertise solely for the benefit of the MT - now also with MDI.
Having been with MQ for upteen yrs.,& having previously had to turn down an invitation to join MDI yrs ago due to health reasons,I did not think that D would ever reconsider me for a position with MDI. To my dismay, she welcomed me with open arms!!
Anyone who has been an MT for any length of time, knows that workloads decrease over the holidays. If that situation would ever to continue for a period logner than I expected with MDI, I wouldn't hesitate to contact my liaison & let her know of my concern. The communication I have had with my MDI liaison & tech support,& response time has been absolutely phenomenol - I'll swear they work 24/7.
One great perk everyone seems to be overlooking is that of being a SE with MDI. I have flexibility not offered nor embraced by other MTSO's. If there is no work at a certain time, I can log on at another time. I don't have a set in stone schedule, set hours, and will always be open to Let's make a Deal. I don't know of another company offering those options to its MTs.
I think the problem with disconcent has arisen from those not familiar with the structure of Signal from years ago,& the feeling of family & caring that it created, now carried over into MDI.
Too many MTs have not experienced a company based on MDIs values & integrity, & don't believe that one still exists!!
Sorry for going on and on, but I'm just so ecstatic to be working with a company that cares. If need be, I will go out of my way to see to it that our company succeeds and,in turn, know they will return such to me doing all that they can to ensure my workload and meet my expectations.
my pleasure.....best of luck (nm)
/
Not many..but I got mine for the satisfaction of having it. Keeping it current is my pleasure..
nm
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 believe it was actually a big meeting of suits,
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.
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!!
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.
Any company not meeting payroll on time is not worth it.
I wouldn't wait around. There is no excuse for them not to meeting payroll once, much less twice.
it's called meeting turnaround time, as a team. NM
X
Just got an E-mail about a Webmedx town hall meeting
Is it typical for decreased pay for not meeting line requirements? sm
 I know every company is different but has anyone had their pay rate decreased for failure to meet line requirements? I have heard of taking away benefits, etc. before but never heard of decreased pay rates for IC because of this nor have I ever heard of the pay rate being different for full time versus part timers within the same company. I have health issues causing my lack of meeting line requirements. It isn't because I just don't want to work. I guess this is just another tactic to take money out of our pockets and into theirs like the pay rate isn't low enough already. Geez by the time I cover my expenses as an IC, I doubt I come out with anything anyway. I might as well just work for free for the government to donate all my money overseas!
Has anyone ever figured out how much difference is needed in pay between IC and employee to cover average expenses related to the job? I know standard is 1 cent usually and that does not cover my expenses.
She was talking abt not meeting standards in a short time - sm
like a week. Doesn't sound like she was good enough to keep around for longer.
I hope the not meeting line count was due to being on your part and not due to lack of work or I'
be ticked off. I can see if someone just didnt do their line count for whatever personal reasons but I have heard of people saying they couldnt do their line counts due to lack of work. That would stink if it was through no fault of their own that they were punished.
The platform they use is horrible and slows you down with regards to meeting daily line count. Also,
QA can be bitchy, however, if you know your stuff and nip that bitchiness in the bud early on, they don't bother you later...except for one. She's rude and vague in her f/u comments, so there is really no way around that one except not to take it personal.
Just got an E-mail about a Webmedx town hall meeting coming up. Those are NEVER good news. FYI.
I predict they will announce that, due to tough economic times, they will cut the VR rate. You know it is going to happen.
I haven't, but have been looking too
I have also been trying to find something on the internet for these types of listings. There are millions of ads for MTs and QA specialists, but it is hard to find a good site for managment positions. I have had small success with Monster and Hot Jobs. If you do find any other good sites, will you please let us know too? Thank you and good luck with your search.
Haven't you
experienced everyone Anna? Congratulations on the 2-month mark!
Sucking up on the boards for the boss to see maybe? You might just keep this job.
No, I haven't tried everyone,,,
and thank you for the congrats. I do hope you're doing better these days.
Come to think of it I haven't either
Line counts all in the fingers and the transmission. I better get a tuneup? Sounds like a bunch of hokus pokus to me.
They haven't, I got something
.
I haven't gotten one either yet.
Should be soon, though.
Hey, how come I haven't gotten any (sm)
samples for all the cesspool accounts I get? We get switched from account to account with no samples whatsoever having been provided.
If you can negotiate being assigned a limited number of accounts then your chances at success will be better.
of course you haven't, why would you
How nice of you to brag about it to others, though. Hope it makes you feel better about yourself.
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