I totally understand how you feel.
Posted By: MT/biller on 2008-08-06
In Reply to: Being Exploited Continued - Totally fed up
I can relate ot what the other says also about knowing what kind of day your having based on the first few reports. For me, I realize it is mostly psychological. Honestly, if the first report is crappy, I can deal with knowing that I cannot expect perfect dictators/reports 100% of the time. I can tell you after several of those with no end in sight it totally blows my mind and I feel worthless for the rest of the day. It's almost like instant burn out and I can't get in a good frame of mind to want to continue. The Monday-Friday jobs are few and far in between, but I'd keep looking. I'm discouraged now to the point where I did get another part-time job and when I log on, and if there is just garbage, I log right off and go to my other job, or I bounce back and forth so I get a break. It may not work for everyone but having two part-time jobs equals a FT job that I can tolerate. Needless to say, I work my second job a lot more. They can forget it if they think I'm spending my whole day doing junk..
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I'm with you all; totally understand,
am in the same situation myself, but I know there were many times when we were backlogged that I could have worked to help out, but didn't. I can understand why they may have over-staffed, if that is what is happening. I, too, am trying to hang in and if it does not get better, then will have to accept another to supplement my income. I just believe that the FN staff is not indifferent to our needs and frustrations; they probably are frustrated for us, and I think they deserve whatever chance we can give them to get things straightened out.
I totally understand about this
I have worked on escription for several years now and it has gone from a good program to almost salad. It totally has regressed and I should know, being on the same hospital for all that time. I have gathered loads of mistakes it makes and presented to someone I thought would care but nothing came from it. The numbering can go from 2, 4, 2, 2, 2 and I am told we have to teach it. It was already taught and now back to first base, I guess. No periods, that is for sure, even when it knows the end of a sentence- because why would the next word be capitalized? Now leaves off the M.D. title at end of doctor's names, leaves off names of doctors in the middle of dictations, oh how I could go on and on.
i totally understand (sm)
i was an IC for them too, i said i'd work early morning until afternoon and would get emails from sm and a few others at 7:15 a.m. saying you were scheduled to work at 7:00, do you plan on working today i never knew i could do anything about it so i found another job seriously though, what benefit is there if i WERE to turn them in?
I totally understand
now. Thanks for clarifying. Its just so tough out there right now for everyone. :(
I totally can feel you on that one.
I'm new with them, too. I love working there and the people are great, but I have that OCD thing with blanks as well. However, once I have found it the first time, I don't have to worry about spending as much time the second time. I'm on the same account you are (as my backup) it sounds like. Actually, I have A LOT of Cardio experience and ended up stuck on a Cardio report that was about 6 minutes long for 2 hours the other night. This, however, was NOT the fault of TT, it was MY FAULT because I won't leave a blank if I feel like I have left any stone unturned....it's almost like I can't let the docs beat me. Not to mention, this guy was not a bad dictator, on the contrary he was very good - was just throwing out brand names that I had not personally seen before (it wasn't medical terminology but brands that was killing me). Again, TT would NOT have wanted me to spend that much time on that report, and probably I would be in trouble for not blanking it and moving on. That's what QA is there for and I know that, but can't accept it. LOL
Understand how you feel and all I can say is....
 I think a lot of us thought what you posted, Kelly!
Oh hugs to you ((()))) I totally feel ya'
Is there any way you could drop a line to your client (in essence they are your client/you're an IC) and just explain that you are doing the best you can, have a sick child, and you certainly have them in mind, but have a bit going on. As domestic MTs, most of the companies understand.
Take a deep breath; keep him near you in a blanket if possible, and just every so often take a few short breaks to console him.
I've been there/done that. I have had to call clients (i still do tape pick-ups) and just simply say I have a child vomiting and cannot pick-up today and they totally understood.
I know you feel pressured right now, but I think honesty is the best policy and you need to cut yourself some slack. I've been stressed like that as well and it only makes things worse. Tackle one thing at a time. Make your note to the company polite and apologize, but just keep them informed that you are trying to do both.
I totally understand and went thru similar bunk not
too long ago. Especially the T company. The only bright side for you is that you haven't accepted their mispresented positions and then been burned further down the road, hoping beyond hope that things would work out. As for the big M, truly it is a mess, but literally that recruiting firm is brandie new and obviously mass confusion...no excuse, but your timing was sure off on that one!! That is actually why I stayed with the big M. I gave it my best shot out there, and tried several companies, only to run back from whence I started, NEVER to venture out into that job hunting mess again voluntarily....and then I think Wal-Mart would be more appealing. I am sorry things are the way they are - makes no sense to me either. Recruiters certainly lost my respect, too. Either most misinformed bunch of employees for so many companies, or lying thru their teeth to make new hire quota. Not interested in knowing the answer - probably never will, but a horror story for sure.
Good luck to you. I totally understand
nm
Completely understand how you feel
I have left two small nationals for this very reason. They claim it is for the good of the company, but I call favortism by its face name and I don't play that game. I want to pull work directly from the hospital and not have it assigned out by management. Put me in a pool where everyone else pulls from the same order of prioritized work and I'm happy. I don't suck face for anybody -- shouldn't have to in a *professional* setting. I symphathize with your humbug feeling and loss of wages. One way I dealt with it at one company was to change my hours that no one else wanted to cover. I started getting the *easy money* reports once again that were not being assigned to teacher's pets as the pets liked to work when they wanted...not when it was good for TAT. To me, if I have some ownership in taking care of the hospital, it helps the patients, the company, and ultimately myself. I don't understand why some MTSOs don't get that part. 
I understand that you need to feel protective, but ...
Here's the deal. I'm a single mother with a very tight schedule. I was hired on at TT with a schedule I needed and managed to fit my life around with little flex room. I held up my part of the bargain. I had three accounts, all of which ran out of work for hours at a time in the morning (when I needed to do the bulk of my work). I was lucky to get in 800 lines a day (and that was trying to squeeze in extra hours at night after everyone went to bed, which left me with 4-5 hours a night of sleep) - I needed 1500 regularly just to live.
I left before I was asked to do VR. Actually, I had NO idea there was this push to move all accounts to VR at all. No one ever talked to me about it. I have no issues with VR. I'm a fast, capable Transcriptionist and I believe I could adapt and learn it and be fine with it in a short amount of time.
However, transcription is not my life. It is my job. I will not allow it to BE my life, because that would make me very angry and bitter. If I commit to giving 8 hours of my day to a company, I expect them to follow through on their commitment to have work for me during that time.
No other job in the world expects you to sit on your butt for hours a day, constantly grappling just to get a dollar in here and a dollar in there. All other jobs will pay you for that time you spend sitting on your butt, waiting for something to do.
Flexing my entire life (and the lives of my children) around a job just didn't work for me. I'm glad it does for you. I went IC with a company who has a truckload of work all the time, and I can do it when it makes sense in MY life, without sacrificing all the things that are important to me to keep me healthy, sane, and kind.
Let me reiterate - not only do I WANT to work (I have been typing between 1500-2500 lines a day for the last month and a half), I HAVE to work. I wanted to work with TT. I could not. With three accounts and scrambling always for a stray report, I could not work. My requests to the management for more was met with silence.
In addition, not long after I was hired, and just before my benefits kicked in, the benefits package changed pretty drastically - without prior warning when I was hired. I had to forgo insurance (my kids are covered by their father) for myself because it was too expensive, especially considering the meager line rate I was making.
And, just to be clear, while management was always kind when I could get them to communicate with me, I had a hard time getting that to happen very often. No response to emails was pretty status quo.
I have nothing against TT, really. They just weren't for me. And, frankly, I wish that before I hired on with them, other people would've given a little more feedback on this board about them. I went with them BECAUSE people on this forum sang their praises and held them up to be a perfect company in a sea of sweatshops.
The people are nice there. The pay rate and bonuses are pretty darn decent. This much is true. But, IMHO, they're not really all that different from any other national I've ever worked for. Joining them did not make me feel like I was part of a team, part of a forward movement in the transcription industry, or even part of a job most of the time.
Will things change with them? Absolutely. Will it be for the better? Maybe. But the feedback of people who have recent experience with them NOW is necessary for other people to make proper decisions as to whether or not they want to work for them. Your input (that is, your input regarding YOUR experience, not your input assuming MY experience) is included, mind you.
I would appreciate it if you would spend less time assuming and judging a person (and people) you know absolutely nothing about. Typically, people who do that turn out looking pretty bitter, angry, and clueless.
Take care.
I understand. I feel the same way today.
Feel like sitting by the highway with a sign that says, Will type for food. I keep looking at other jobs, and I did have another part time job, but when we got busy at MDI, it was too much to do both jobs. And have been elsewhere as an employee with no work, which was worse b/c you just sit and wait. At least here you can leave. I am tempted to go for the day today, and should be able to as an IC, but afraid if I don't get count, I will be given the lower line rate prn myself. I am with you. Saying the Serenity prayer today and will just keep notes as to times ran out of work, etc. Don't know what else to say except there are others here who feel the same way and really don't know what to do.
I feel totally secure with MQ...no problems NM
XX
I can totally understand a drug test and criminal background check, but...sm
personally I don't feel you can always judge the caliber of an employee based on a credit report. I know plenty of people who are the salt of the earth, of high moral standing and work ethic that may have encountered a unfortunate circumstance, i.e. job loss, car accident, excessive medical bills, that may have put a blemish on their credit report. They should not be discriminated against.
However, I do see where a credit report would be necessary for a position of relevance. I just don't see the justification for an at-home IC who is using their own equipment, paying their own taxes, etc. to have to submit this information.
I'll use my own situation as an example. A few years back my husband accrued an excessive amount of medical bills and I was unemployed because my job was outsourced. We were late on a few bills and are trying to rebuild our score so that we can get a good interest rate on a home. Every time that score is pulled, it drops a few points. We have worked very hard to rebuild this score just to have it drop because a company wants to know personal/private information. We as MTs are supposed to respect the privacy of patients and have HIPAA drilled into us daily. I feel my personal information should be respected as well. A criminal background check isn't personal information, but necessary for the safety of all involved.
I feel the same way...I love working for Keystrokes and feel blessed that I have such a wonderful jo
nm
Yes, it's totally word based, but it's also totally slow.
I haven't had a very good experience using dictaphone EXText. I wouldn't recommend anyone work on this platform. I don't know how anyone can say this is a very productive platform in any way whatsoever. Actually, it is the worst I've ever worked on. I like Bayscribe, DocQscribe, and many others over this setup.
I feel the same way. I'm irritable because I feel
and that my years of experience overall, and past few years of busting my @$$ for them hasn't been appreciated or noticed in the least.
We're all just cogs in the wheel.
Totally VR?
Do you have any idea when that is supposed to take place and the effect it will have on the staff? They are doing a lot of hiring recently, myself included!
totally aside
I'd like to add that irregardless is not a word.
Totally!
I had the exact same experience. After five months, I left. I guess to each is own.
That is so totally what I'd do too!
....go in and edit the crap out of the thing and provide a phone number to my attorney, the state district attorney, and the department of labor for their calling pleasure.
I think these bastids count on the fact that this is a female-dominated industry...an industry of what they believe are just mousy housewifes who won't say boo and will just take it. Think again mister man. We brought you into this world, we can take you out.
You are totally right!
Every day, people have circumstances that are way beyond their control, i.e. illness, unexpected car repairs, laid off from job, etc. Just because someone's credit isn't the best is no reason not to hire someone. The whole idea of employers checking credit just sickens me. There is no need for it. That is why we have references! Our credit reports are none of their business!
Not totally 100% out but very, very low. :(
xxx
Totally
wrong for them to keep this information if it is the information that your pay is based on. When they send a check they don't send some kind verification for what they paid you? This is wrong and could possibly be illegal depending on what kind of agreement you signed with them if you are an employee.
If an IC, then not illegal, but still unacceptable.
how is that TOTALLY IC?
1000 lines M-F?
Actually, you just did totally help :)
Thanks.
I will be documenting everything I send to QA from now on (I don't care right now if it does drop my production a bit).
I am also going to be trying to the blank and then go back thing you suggested. I sometimes will spend 20 minutes on each blank the first time I go through the report (half the time only to get the blank filled in later because the dictator repeats it).
Thanks for the help !!!
IC Job? That's totally different
You are getting screeeewd!
What I don't understand is this-
But I still don't understand
They never have anything positive to say, except about themselves. I guess we don't need to ask anymore questions after we come to that conclusion.
So, let me understand (sm)
That this is your first career/job out of high school and you are getting 8.5 cpl for clinics and they are mentoring you? Did you hire in at that? How long have you been there to be offered QA with such little background in MT? (no offense) I have 10 years experience and they are talking 8 cpl to me. Hmmm.....
I think we can all understand
The typo police don't have to come out every time. Get a life. We all work with words all day long and when you get on here, you might be a little tired. Give 'em a break.
I don't understand it, either. sm
It'd be great if MTs came here and supported each other. This is NOT a great field to be in, IMO. We should be banding together as sisters (and brothers) in the same boat.
I wish the monitors would institute a zero-tolerance policy toward people who deliberately harass someone here like this person or people were doing to Metrochick.
Don't understand
I couldn't afford to stay in business if I paid people for NOT working. I can understand if the computer is down or if there is a problem, but just because there is no work, a company would go broke. Can I bill the doctors if they do not dictate a day? How can I pay you if I cannot bill a customer for work? This work has always been up and down -- feast or famine my father used to say. But through the years -- now over 20 -- I have learned to save for the lean times. Like I said if the problem was on my end due to machinery malfunction but if docs don't send in the dication how can I pay you for something I cannot bill out to them?
I Understand more now
I understand more now of what you are saying. I agree with you more than when I first read your post. It is so hard to juggle in this job market. There are so many pieces that fit into the cpl you charge the client, the transcriptionist, supplies, QA time, software, etc. that is it very hard for an owner to make much and when an account is down for the day to pay those people that should be on it while it generates no income is double hard. It is really hard to strike that balance of being staffed correctly for both the busy and slow times of the year. A lot of it is out of my control. You are probably with a larger company that can afford to pay you for 8 hours of work and generating income from only one. They count that into their overhead. I have only 5 accounts of 2-3 docs, have 2 part-times and am the QA, owner, Transcriptionist also. But on those accounts that my gals type, I make only 25 to 30% max on what they type which a lot of times generates out to only $7 to $9 an hour for doing pick-up, pick-up, delivery, printing, etc. That is why in 2006 I am going to probably cut back to doing only what will keep me with a decent income to pay my bills and I do not have to worry about having enough work for the gals, doing the running, etc. My guilt is high when the docs are on vacation or it is a slow time and the gals have no work but I cannot cut myself short either. Enough rambling on, - I do understand more and I think that if your company is not paying you for the time, they know they have overstaffed themselves to cover those times when the need is heavy and thus I would probably look for another company that staffs more evenly. Sorry I rambled on so much.
The way I understand it . . .
they are instituting what they're calling a pilot program to sort of test the waters of offshoring work by starting to send a small percentage of work overseas in order to be competetive with their contract fees. No, I don't think they're doing it yet, but it is obviously going to happen at least to a small extent in the near future. We have to accept this as the trend of the future because it's happening everywhere, like it or not.
What does this mean for MTs? I don't understand.
?
Understand. Thank you!
x
I understand!
That is why I love it when they post unqualified applicants need not apply!
I can understand...
I worked for an Iranian doc in office and there was a woman there that'd worked for him for about 13 years. He would call her at 3 am because he thought of something he wanted to tell her (she was also an MT). He did this all the time. As far as I know she's still there because he pays so well.
I understand all that.
The point is that besides the tons of different work types there are VERY different account specifics from hospitals all over the country. I am well versed in different work types; that was not the issue. The issue was all the different account specifics that changed on a weekly basis to boot. It became where we had no primary account. How is that productive for them or for me?
I understand that...
That is my exact point that the PTO accrues so slowly that how do they expect you to use this for your maternity leave!! Actually right now I earn less than 4 hours every two weeks and I can't accrue any because I have to use it for holidays and when there is no work unless I want to work all through the night after I have just sat all day waiting for work!! Do this make more sense... I was just told I wanted to be a maternity rider when that is not the case. All I came on here to do was to try to find a better job with more PTO then maybe when I do have a baby I can take two weeks off with it at least...at this rate I will have to come right back to work like two days after I pop a kid out! I never wanted to get into a XXXX match with anyone over maternity leave, but that is what it has turned out to be!!!
I know, don't understand it either!
there really is no proofing while you type. Proofing is going back and proofreading a document after it's done. Doesn't everyone technically read the words as they type??? And with all that going on at once, you miss things. On the other hand, I do not blame MTs who do not proofread the documents at the end, definitely less production and hence less money. I'm going to tell you a secret...lol..I just started skimping a bit on that myself. If I have a small mistake, oh well. I need to make a living here! :)
No, you don't understand.
My account with them DID pay for headers and footers and I always randomly check my line count against the ESCRIPTION (not Editscript) metrics of the company. This week it is off consistently and in talking with the company was told the client does not want to pay for headers any longer ???? so without letting us know, we are suddenly not paid for completing demographics. I simply wanted to make sure others were aware of this as this evidently can happen anywhere at anytime and no one at the company may feel compelled to share this info with the MTs.
I understand what you are trying to say, or what
is bothering you. I have been in this industry my entire adult life - a LONG time - and I agree that most companies have changed in that they just don't share info that is really pertinent - like not getting paid for headers anymore. Its sneaky to me, or underhanded, and just breeds contempt or suspicion in the MTs. Or, the company can have an uppity attitude, like why on earth is it the MTs business what they are getting paid for or not? Which also makes me feel bitter. I remember the old days of honest communication - the news might not have been good, but I handled it well. They treated me with respect, and I felt like a professional. Gone are those days, and it is a shame. 
This is what I don't understand........
Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to everyone involved to sell the company rather than just let it die a painful death?
I don't understand...
why they yell at the MTs when it is not their fault? The MTs get blamed for everything!!!!!!!!! Grrrrr
I don't understand
how you can say they ALWAYS pay on time when just this past Friday they were late with direct deposit
I don't understand something sm
How do you have any contact with anyone in upper management? I work there; I never even hear from upper management. I talk to my manager and that's it. What morale problems are your referring to, because I couldn't be happier here?
I really don't understand all of what you just said
but I do know that not everyone has had a bad experience with OSi. I never run out of work, have great coordinators, am always paid on time, am making more than I did when I first started, and have expanded my abilities greatly. All of the things that are important to me in a company, I have at OSi, and I've had them for the past 3 years. I understand some people didn't have a good experience there, and that this is their place to hang out and vent. I just think it's too bad when OSi has been a good fit for many people, and then there are these people who hang out at this board who have made it their life's mission to carp on OSi. It doesn't really affect me at all...it's just very, very tiring.
Don't really understand what she is doing.
I tested for her last year and was hired for this account. Immediately she wanted me on a psych account that I was not interested in. She then tried to give me ANOTHER account. I explained that I would be more than happy to take on the other account AFTER I was established on the one I was hired for. She came back and told me they shifted things around internally and had it covered now. Not sure what kind of game that was but I know it is one I want no parts of. Hope this helps.
What I don't understand is (sm)
If a company does not pay for headers and footers, fine. I get that. But what advantage is it for them to disable the feature so that we can't see the counts of individual reports? I have worked at places not on Ex-Text where some reports just mysteriously never made it to the hospital. No one was cheating, it was just a software glitch. Had to send again and it counted. So what would prevent that from happening with this? I agree, we should be able to verify that every single report is counting, if for no other reason than this one.
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