I view it as part of a well orchestrated plan
Posted By: AnnuderMT on 2009-05-30
In Reply to: our fund of knowledge comes into play - steady eddie
If you recall what happened to our software/IT people, the companies started offering less and less moneys so that they could say they couldn't find American workers.
The MTSOs are probably doing a similar thing. They can then go to the hospitals, and any that dare say they want American workers doing the work can be told with a straight face that the MTSO has unsuccessfully tried to hire American and there just aren't any to do the work. The hospitals, thinking they at least tried to do the right thing, then is forced to acquiesce to having their work sent overseas.
But I still don't know who was the 2nd shooter on the grassy knoll.
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Did you understand the part about the SE comprehensive benefit plan.
This is all part of the cost-saving plan..first, send your American MTs work to India so we sit here
with nothing and then manipulate the way the lines are counted. Sounds like cost cutting at our expense to me.
Don't worry just find out and then have a plan A and plan B
I have gone through something like this but not with that company. I too am the insurance provider for my family and there are preexisting conditions, so a private policy is no good.
First of all, I work elsewhere but had the same situation. I fell short of line count, but not because of me, because they did not have enough work, and I like many others cannot make quota because of the way they count lines. Then, on last paycheck there was a negative on insurance money taken out of check. I thought I lost insurance, but found out at the end of the year, they did an audit and found out that I overpaid all year and so I actually was owed money that check.
In the meantime, I found another job but have to wait 90 days for insurance. Can't find a policy to bridge the 2 jobs, insurance is on my mind all the time. My heart is with you. Personally I am getting the 90 day meds, working on my second job which will become my real job and if I lose the insurance, Cobra will kick in in case of disaster so that is like major medical.
Sorry such a long post, but I suggest: Not to panic. You probably did not lose insurance. Call the benefit provider to see you are still covered, not the employer. If you are not still covered, get 90 days of Rx if your plan covers by mail and be billed, immediately get another job which is a better place to work anyway (I found one) and in 90 days you will be okay. Some places like Disriter cover the first of the following month, but I would not necessarily suggest you work somewhere which is not so great just for insurance. You can consider TransTech. That would be my suggestion. Sorry for such a long post. But this hit a nerve and I wanted you to understand some options, as I have gone through it. Good Luck.
Why the view on QA?
I've seen some slamming of the QA dept of OSi here. I'm curious to know why the negative view of their QA? What is the reason that you think it's the worse QA department anywhere?
A different view
I'm not sure where the other poster's info regarding mostly verbatim accounts comes from. Not one of the 4 or 5 accounts I've worked on over the years have been verbatim. Ease of production of course depends a great deal on your individual account. I happen to have a good one, although challenging, and I don't have any problem getting my lines on it. Management has been great to me personally, and I have no problem with the company whatsoever.
Osi and another view
On the other side of the coin, yes, being a newbie there was difficult because they threw so much at me at once, so many specialties, over 100 physicians all at once on a verbatim account. Yes, I did get e-mails where I had to go back and point out to QA where they were contradicting the account specifics. They had too much to handle.
BUT -- and this is a HUGE BUT -- I left there knowing so many specialties precisely because I got it all dumped on me at once and it had better be right. It was not a job, it was more like a school and I was being paid a little bit for doing the work.
Where I am now, no matter what they give me I can do it. I've had experience in almost every specialty, close to 30 or more. I've learned to push and push and not give up and take advantage of the overload to better myself. My Stedman's books are loose from the covers at this point. I don't think any school could be harder than OSi because of the pressure, the exposure to so much all at once, and you HAVE to do it as fast as you can because for me at least it was my only income. Sometimes the worst experiences pay off the best in the end. But as of the time that I left which was not that long ago, I would not advise a newbie to go there unless they had another source of income and could afford to get fired. They are VERY strict. I won't even go into the line counting debate.
To the one who has a different view
I agree with you. I think you have hit the nail right on the head. As to what will happen in 2 years, I will be happily retired (hopefully in Florida). Two years until retirement and I can hardly wait. If a child of mine ever wanted to become an MT, I would absolutely discourage them from doing it. Anyway, for what it is worth, I completely agree with your opinion and I have been an MT for a goodly long while!
another view
Hi all. I'm the original poster that caused so much backlash (ss# question). I am very happy to say that the replies to kitty and at the response I got for my seemingly simple minded question have changed my view. Just for the record, I understand HIPAA laws and have seen this before, just not as an IC with no background check, etc. To be honest, I never really paid attention, just did my job and did it well I might add. I'm one of those lucky ones who has never been without work and has had no trouble getting job offers with a respectable line rate. I was so happy to have found a place to communicate with others like me and I guess I kind of got knocked off my square a bit with some of the responses. I'm going to take the advice given and turn the other cheek and stick around. Those of you who are so helpful, pleasant and kind to one another have changed my mind. Thanks again to all of you for showing me the positive side of this site. 
Thanks for a different view
You could be so right about this, just was not thinking that way. I am very careful person and I really pick and choose carefuly when I try to do something. I thought she figured maybe I was on a scam which is far from the truth. My daughter tells me I cannot rescue the world (do animal rescuing also) but gosh, I can give a little of myself sometimes. Thanks for the insight!
curious about your view
Did she not break the law and was it not her own doing? You make it sound like she has had such a hard life. If she has because of this, it is her own fault. She made the choices and now suffers the consequences as we all do. Why are they bringing all this up now? Maybe she is into something she shouldn't be again?
My point of view
I don't think anyone is goint to find a perfect company. I have found OSi to be pretty good to work for, comparing to two other nationals I have worked for lately. THe work has been slow because of the holiday and hiring so many people, but I think they're moving people around and evening it out. I have plenty of work now. And I find my coordinator very knowledgeable and professional and very ready to help. There will always be things to gripe about, but I'm making my line count easily and can't complain.
Here's another point of view. SM
No benefits, no direct deposit, run out of work very very often with no compensation, HORRIBLE ESLs, all going to speech recognition and pay is very low for editing. If you can live with that, go for it. I sure couldn't. If you take wonderful money and subtract insurance, taxes, vacation, sick time, you are making about 5 cents a line.
Just a different point of view..
Maybe after questioning something QA did wrong, they're being more attentive to quality. For example, if I get a QA score that isn't acceptable to me as a personal goal, I'll make it a point to be even MORE attentive to my work and quality.
I'm not sure QA gets reprimanded for errors such as yours, but I'm sure they do. That would be an incentive for me to pay better attention, and now for you! :)
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot. I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism. I get paid by the line, not by the feedback. It would be fine by me to give no feedback. Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback. The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it. I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again. You shouldn't take QA personally. It's an awfully hard job.
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot. I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism. I get paid by the line, not by the feedback. It would be fine by me to give no feedback. Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback. The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it. I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again. You shouldn't take QA personally. It's an awfully hard job.
Can you view old reports on Beyond Txt?
Offered position with Transcend on this platform and forgot to ask.
A little more balanced view
It sounds to me like most of you are wanting to throw daggers and justify it by stating these are facts about companies, not just opinions. You feel that stating facts exempts you from wrongdoing. I don't see it that way at all.
All companies and all individuals make mistakes and errors. When even these so-called facts are presented in a way that give a bad light, disparage the character, of the person or company being talked about it, it is simply not okay at all.
The ONLY fair balance I see is this: It is okay for you to speak of every factual error and mistake about a company if the company can name you (you are, after all, naming these companies) and every error you make in your work and every time you are late to work, etc.
It is no more fair for you to sit here under the disguise of anonymity to name companies and attempt to set the world straight about them than it is for them to do the same about you.
I really truly believe in treating others as you would have them treat you. If companies came here and did the same, you'd all be filing into an attorney's office so fast it would make our heads spin.
Just sign me ...
Truth-n-Fair
Believer in the Golden Rule
My view of the VR situation...
Seems to me that the companys that talk the hospital into the VR programs can be slick talkers...basically the hospitals spend VERY BIG money for the system, to just cut our pay and have to use something we DON'T want to use in the first place... They should have forgotten about this new improved program Extext or whatever, and tell the MTs it is beyond their control to make a cut, but let us type, and save the money installing the program... and a smaller cut... most of us would have gone with that. !!! Again the big companies have to much influence on those that decide to buy the equipment...
My new system can't even count the lines... not set up to do that... unbelievable
A typical 'management' view of MTs. So sad. -nm
Personally my view is not that ignoring is
necessarily defending. However, cherry-picking is rampant because cherry-pickers know nothing will be done about it. Thanks to people like you. Cherry-picking is the thing that is pointless and wrong, NOT saying something about it.
Thanks so much for the realistic point of view.
I need some reality-based grounding and your post really helps a lot. I don't want to make any rash moves out of fear of the unknown. But it is so hard, as you know, when your bread and butter relies on the unknown (almost). I am sorry the stress is taking its toll on you. I hope that things get better for you. At least the pay has not dropped considerably because that would be really bad. With the econmony the way it is it is impossible to get credit and really it would not be good to live off of credit cards anyway. We have to keep a roof over our heads and it is really scary to try new things while needing the money. Thanks again for your point of view. It really does help.
Transcend - Positive View
I've read a lot of posts on here since last week about Transcend with quite a few of them being not so nice. I wanted to share some positive views about the company. I started with MDI-FL part-time back in 2001. I liked it so much that I wanted to go full-time so I did in 2003. It was a great company to work for. Then a few years later, we heard the news that the company was merging with Transcend. Did I have some apprehension? Yes, of course. We had a few changes to get used to -- payperiod with pay dates was the biggest -- though our pay rates stayed the same. It didn't take long to get accustomed to it and things have gone pretty well since then. I work in a region of other platforms that does not include BeyondTxt. Does that stop anyone in this region from working on a different platform such as BeyondTxt - No it does not. As Transcend continues to grow, it is opening up other opportunities for everyone. It makes your account possibilities just about endless. With BeyondTxt, once you learn it, you can work on almost any account there is. Do we have slow periods? Yes we do, but that is the way the transcription business is. If your account is slow, request a back up and if you're flexible, you can have multiple back up accounts on different platforms. There is a lot of flexibility at Transcend. All the TLs and ROMs are great people and will work with you. If you need time off for something or need to rearrange your schedule, that can be done. You may be asking - who is this person?. I started as an MLS, worked my way up to TL (team lead) and then into the ROM (manager) position for a few years and because of decisions of my own, am now a TL again. So as you can see, I've worked in different positions and have seen the company from multiple views. Everyone with MDI-MD, or anyone thinking of applying, should give it a chance. Don't go by all the negativity here. If you have any questions that you want to ask, feel free to contact me. My email address is ****** Have a great Monday!
If you can view your paycheck online, you might be able to print W2s. NM
x
Precyse in my rear-view mirror........................
No problem. Feels good to get is off my chest. Don't mind sharing the good, bad and ugly of the job search and its results. With a little luck, I will bag one by the weekend or first of next week. Will follow up on the company board.
I am placing high priority on an hourly wage + benefits position. So much of the pressure would be eliminated and to a certain extent I would accept slightly less $ to get it. They are rare to be sure but not impossible to find with a little persistence.
The jury is still out on the do they still exit query. Over the past 31 years the general progression from good-to-bad followed a gentle and gradual downward slope, punctuated with two major deep dives in my recollection. The first was in the late 80s to early 90s when MTSOs had been around for a few years but were still relatively young. They did not seem to comprehend the concept of employee benefits. IC was their answer and full-employee status all but vanished. This began to turn around in a noticeable way in the late 90s, a full DECADE later. The second and deepest dive is this ASR jolt. We will all end up squaring off with it sooner or later. Generally speaking, small-to-medium size organizations who are competitive in terms of benefit and wages seem to be the most likely place to find a little peace...but meticulous research on those is imperative. I will not rule out anything for the moment. I plan send resumes to as many MTSO companies as possible, even the ones with the bad reps posted on this board, in an attempt to get a phone call PRIOR to what can be the labor-intensive testing phase of the process. I am interested in comparing the various recruiting strategies and offers. I have a copy/fax/scanner on my desk so that really helps in being able to cover a lot of territory.
I also think I will try to edge on out into the general transcription scene just to see what it looks like. Government jobs may be a possiblity as well....they can't age discriminate.
During search, I have found it useful to keep daily notes, tracking the process, contact info, the substance of the conversations, my gut reaction and the time factors. Will post again in a day or 2. Thanks for your interest.
She sounds like Elizabeth on "The View" !
Unrealistic view that a lot of MTs do not understand. The offshore companies sm
have very deep pockets and make it attractive for companies here to use them. Even if every smaller MTSO refused to do it, do you think we would be able to compete with Spheris and C-Bay just to name two of the bigger companies that use the offshore transcriptionists?
Hospitals, unfortuneately, often care more about the bottom line than the perfection we expect from ourselves. Many doctors do not read the reports (most from what I understand) and just care that they have satisfied JACHO requirements by having a record in the charts.
Offshore transcription is not going anywhere. Sad but true. I do not support it but I am a small tree in a very, very, very big forest.
My change of view occured before Transcend mentioned anything
about piloting offshore. For me, it happened when I saw all 3 major credit bureaus outsourcing our financial information offshore and that was before Christmas. Do I like it? No. Do I embrace it? No. Do I accept it? Yes. You can argue about this til doomsday, but the facts are these:
1. Outsourcing offshore is not going away, it's growing.
2. While US transcription is being sent offshore more and more, it opens up US editing positions as offshore entities cannot provide the quality the client contracts for. To offer these jobs through the MTStars website to job seekers, we must include US MTSOs that offshore.
3. Since all 3 of our major credit bureaus are offshoring our financial information and the government is allowing it, then anything is up for grabs.
4. Political intervention has done nothing. Bills that manage to get passed, get slapped down before they can become law.
Different view: If we all went to hourly pay to make sure that we are paid during downtime, it wou
what we earn on production. I make upwards of $30 an hour on production. Most hospitals are under $20 an hour. I think we would lose money if hourly and if they pay us for downtime, I am sure that the money would have to come from somewhere, so they would lower rates.
Anyone work for Axolotl in Mountain View? (see mssg)
If so, what are the pros and cons? What is starting pay? Good accounts? Flexibility? How long in business? Large or small company? etc.....
I didn't view it as a forum to complain. I saw it more as a chance to get to know sm
others who work for the same company. Working at home can feel kind of isolating at times. I do not miss the commute to work, scraping ice off of my car in the winter, backstabbing, gossip, etc., but I sometimes do miss the social aspects of working in an office. I guess my viewpoint is, things are what you make them to be.
I love Transtech and have been a cheerleader for a long time, even to the point of being accused of being management. They have stuck with me through some bad times on my end, and I have no intention of dumping them through these bad times now, although I have gotten a couple of other jobs. With the holidays coming up, especially, it may take all 3 to make ends meet and maybe have a few extras, but that is just part of life.
Not true! I do not view all MTs as "low-down dirty scoundrels" at all...
I am a realist, however, and not everyone is a honest, trustworthy person. A lot of people out there want something for nothing and there are some who even feel entitled to get something for nothing! As a manager, I've seen my share of bad seeds and my share of the cream of the crop. If you don't have minimum requirements, you will always have a few who will abuse your generosity.
I've seen it happen. The supervisor before me wanted to be everybody's friend. The dept., under her tenure, had the highest rate of absenteeism throughout the hospital. Minutes of dictation on the system were out of control and nearly everything work type was 70% out of TAT!
Like us our not, managers are not here to be your friends. We are here to run a department. We want to care about our employees and for the most we do, but there has to be a line or else things fall apart.
And that point-of-view is why we're all suffering huge
They'll pay as little as people will accept, and too many of you will accept anything.
EXCELLENT post. Thank you for a balanced point of view. nm
You make us laff here, girl! Love your point of view! :) nm
s
Interjecting a point of view is fine, but if you find it offensive...sm
people bash their companies, how about people who bash other people and taunt them by posting ridiculous statements about dark evil forces and then give you the Tony Robbins about how they should live you life.
I am a little tired of people saying blowing sunshine out my a$$ is going to pay my bills when work is sparse, wages are being cut by 1/3 to 1/2, and insurance is eating up almost half my paycheck.
I am an adult, I don't need to grow up and look on the bright side, and I don't need to bend over and take it anymore. I need to stand up to the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, department managers, supervisors, recruiters, and company acquisition specialists and tell them that my job is every bit as valuable and technical as theirs is.
They're not sitting in meetings all day groveling about how bad the economy is and how lucky they are to have jobs. They are capitalizing on a bunch of people by forcing their wages down and then saying it is their own fault because there was a typo in a report or transcriptionists in VietNam can do their job just as well and for less.
That is the truth.
OH - I thought part transcription, part escription, but don't know for sure
nm
When they "link" multiple job numbers for one report, like Four View Of The Feet And Ankles.&#
They no longer hire part-time and may be eliminating part-time employees within the next 6 months.
They are going to have those that are PT go FT if possible. Some accounts require 1 weekend day, but not all. Most transcriptionists have 1 account with 1 back-up account. I know that they are hiring for hospital accounts in medical records and radiology right now.
No PTO for part-time. Not sure if you can work part-time or not since recent rule change. sm
You do pay a deposit for their equipment.
There is a part-time and a flexible part-time, just left there and they offered
me both. Flexible, however, is more or less when they need you (I.e. weekends), part-time is fixed hours.
Yes I know they hire part time because I referred someone there for part time.
They are internet based.
From what I understand, the part-time positions will be only be for those that are already part-time
It is not a restructuring of the company, just of some of the existing part-time positions.
I know that there are a few employees who have been with Keystrokes for many, many years who are part-time and they will not displaced.
Other than that, there have been many discussions why there will not be any new part-time employees hired, and I really don't think they will back down on that.
new MQ pay plan
It's been in QNews, snail mail and on MQ's home page under the QNET as promised by Frank for the last six mths.
What do you like about this new MQ plan?
I would just love to know what people like about this new plan because the way I see it they are not paying for your internet service anymore which is essential to getting this job done and they are not offering any kind of weekend incentives which is when they are always begging people to work and also, the part that really is laughable is even if you are part time and say work 15 hours a week and want to work 20 instead one week you have to get that approved. Now, they are always begging people to work so why do we have to get approval to work extra. I can understand over 40 hours but if you are part time what is the big deal. As long as you put your hours in that you are supposed to, why do we have to go through the trouble of calling our supervisors and asking to work an extra hour or so.
I don't see much of any kind of incentives in this new plan. I mean if you type over 1200 - you get a small increase. Say you type 1500 well you would make an extra $1.50 that day. What kind of incentive is that?
I just don't get it. Maybe I am missing something and people can explain to me what they like about it. I would LOVE to hear it.
new plan
There is nothing to like
well i DO like the new plan
It adds up to a lot of $ to have 18 days PTO at production rate vs. 10 days, plus now the 6 holidays at time and one-half. The difficulty premium adds another level of fairness and compensation to the skill tier.
As far as part-timers having to ask to work an extra hour or two -- where do you read that? i went back and looked and see that your option is to work between 8-39 hr a week -- if it requires permission, i guess i missed it. I can see where it would help in scheduling and TATs though.
As far as the lack of I/N payment now, that's not a plus, BUT you CAN claim it on your taxes along with your books, etc.
It may not be an exciting plan for those who have limited skills and just can do the easy stuff, but for me, it works well enough.
Better than MQ's new plan. sm
You would need to check with their recruiter for what you would make. They have the MQ-type quarterly bonus and shift bonus for night, which allows one to make good money.
TRS pay plan help!!!
I have been working at TRS almost a month now and still cannot undestand the pay scale. I thought I did,but I am lost. I am on a difficult account and I am having trouble making line count. My first pay check is coming up soon, and I need to get another job. Should I hold out, or run for the hills? I hate to jump ship, but I don't want to stay too long if I cannot make any MONEY!!!!!!! thanks
Pay Plan
Well I am one of the MTs who does like the pay plan. I've done quite well on it. I would suggest that you talk to your supervisor and ask for a better explanation of it and be sure you understand it. Once you have a good grasp on it, it's not that tough. Good luck and I hope you stick it out!
The plan is this
IMHO: Hire good typists to transcribe for peanuts; then hire qualified MTs to QA for peanuts.
Ain't globalization fun?
Thank you - I may have a plan now!
Thank you all for your comments...
I am still racking my brain (which is not helping my production by the way)...but I may have just brewed up a plan!!!
Since I was meeting double the LPH requirements, I am just going to slow way down and meet the required production - they require set hours...they are going to get it...they will still get quality work, but I am not going to stick my neck out anymore...
Instead, I am going to focus on the smaller company and pray it turns out good. I will take the extra time from the national and even out the line count I need with the smaller company..and hopefully, it will all fall into place and I will decide the smaller company is my answer...
In the meantime, I am keeping my foot in both doors and looking out for myself for once!!! Staying more and more loyal to the one who actually appreciates me....yup, the smaller company
Thanks!!!
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