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I was started at 8.5 and given a raise after a year to 9 cents sm

Posted By: Former Zylomeder on 2008-03-19
In Reply to: ZyloMed MTs....anyone making more than 8 cpl? - August

I know that I hired on at a time when they were desperate and I have many years of experience, hence the more than usual. I was also an IC.

I have not heard of anyone else getting a raise, however. Employees were given a line count incentive and told if they wanted more money to work more. ICs had no such luck. They are management top heavy with a team leader and at least 1 QA for each team, 6 teams at the moment. They also have an MT manager, an IT manager with 4 people under him, and 6 people to go after new accounts (few new accounts while I was there), an office manager and 2 or 3 people who do payroll and human resources. LOADS of support people means the MTs who actually do the work get paid less. Keep in mind, they only have about 225 to 250 MTs at any given time. Top heavy.

Where I work now, we have an office staff of 7 and about 13 other support people for 350+ MTs. You'd think I'd have problems getting questions or problems solved and I don't. They are right there 24/7. Result? We get paid more per line.

I don't know, Zylo was a great place when I was there and has steadily gone to pot over the past 6 to 9 months.

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ZyloMed MTs....anyone making more than 8 cpl? - August
- I was started at 8.5 and given a raise after a year to 9 cents sm - Former Zylomeder
  - Oh thank you so much for your response! sm - August
    - You know...sm - Former Zylomeder

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OSi, only 0.002 per year raise. nm

I got one last year; not big, but it was a raise. nm
.

I have had a raise every year at my employer
So, yes, there are people that do get raises.

Were you promised a raise after a year?
x

I have been 1 year and asked for raise, no luck
I have been on very difficult accounts heavy ESL acute care in 6 or 7 different hospitals and they won't give me a raise. And the proficiency reports they publish show those working on one account at one surgical center making 300+ lines an hour and us with the ESL at 6 or 7 hospitals struggling to get 150!! Just not fair!

9 months and it is not worth staying a year to get the BIG .002 cent raise.
Working for OSi will burn you out quick!

Is it safe to ask a company after one year for a raise? Do companies give raises?

Curious

In REPLY TO: What do you call 6.5 cents?? - Geeze, when I started out 15 years ago, I made 8 c
6.5 was the offer for one place and the second offer was 9 cents. I chose the second offer :). Rough out there indeed! There are even places paying per report now... I saw 75 cents, $1.10, $1.15 and $1.25. Ain't good for Rad.

I started there at the beginning of this year, and..
have had no problems whatsoever. Never had to call even once about a late paycheck. I have the schedule that they gave me sitting in front of me right now. It gives all of the pay periods through 12/31/05, and the exact date that the check will be deposited in the bank. It has never been late; always on time. You can even go online a few days before your scheduled deposit, and see the amount that is going to be deposited on pay day. Are you sure she worked for the same company?

Started 1 year ago, very happy
I enjoy my account and my team leader is very nice. The benefits are affordable, they use United Healthcare, and pay is every other Friday by direct deposit. The software is easy to learn and use and my Expander was compatible. Hope that may help, good luck to you.

Anyone who started with CyMed this year still with them? What do you like about them? nm
cx

I started at Medware 1 year ago
They have been a good company to work for. I have plenty of work in my primary account, and have gone to my secondary on occasion. I like my team leader and also having direct deposit, something that is way better than the checks I used to wait forever on at my old service. Medware may not be for everyone but I have enjoyed everyone from tech support to training to my team leader.

I started at Medware 1 year ago
They are a good company and have work. I started out PT as I worked out my notice and then went full time. They have accounts that use EXText and I love that software, easy to make a good line count. I like being paid by direct deposit and the health insurance is about $17 a week, so that seemed affordable to me. Good luck to you.

Started one year ago and like MedScribe
They have some very nice people and I like my account. I am an employee because I need healthcare benefits. I also like the direct deposit, that was a big change from where I came from. All in all I think they are a good company, I needed steady work and pay coming in to support myself. HTH.

I started as an employee a year ago
They give you a 12 hour window to work within so I like that flexibility. The other big factor that made a difference for me was the direct deposit, I was an IC at another company and was looking for employee with insurance. The insurance is with Aetna and it is a great plan, but as with good insurance it costs about $40 per week. But it is a PPO with a low deduct and I can also use my prescription card when I have to. I compared at the time and it seemed to be about as much as what other companies offered but a better plan. They are nice people to work with and I stay busy, that helps too. Good luck in your search.

Once people started to leave last year
and the company was up for sale and more office employees started to leave, we should have seen it coming. All the red flags were present I just didn't want to believe it..such a sad day..I wonder if anyone will work this week?

If you had asked this a year ago, I might have said that I was not happy and actually started sm
to look for another job. I have seen really big changes in a lot of areas since then, the biggest one being communication. I would not even consider leaving now. I have been with them for almost 3 years.

I know of 2 MTs from reputable schools who started w/o the 2 year exp. nm
.

I started at 8 cpl, was increased to 9 cpl in 3 months and 9.5 in a year. nm
nm

That is MTSO PR b.s. A raise is a raise in line rate. A bonus or incentive is just that. NOT sm

a raise.

Asking for a raise isn't going to do it. There is a policy for raise increases.
nm

What is average? 7 cents, 8 cents, 9 cents? 65-character?
x

I also work for 8 cents a line. I left a job typing OPs for 10-11 cents sm
to take a clinic job. I made an average of $17-18 an hour with OPs, now make $16-17 an hour, but the work is easier on me. I do not call that poor pay. I type 200+ lines an hour. True, it isn't the $26-27 an hour I was making 10 years ago at a hospital, but that's gone for good. I have excellent skills, make better than 99% on QA at any company I have worked for, and some of those have been very demanding.

I'm afraid the people that are expecting to make $20-30 an hour in MT are going to be disappointed. A few can still make that amount, but for the average good transcriptionist, the pay is much more likely to run $15-20. Benefits are pretty much gone. However, I feel that what I'm making is considerably above what I could make in another field, unless I decide to teach, which I will not do. Still, I make more than I would at Walmart or Burger King, or even a secretarial job. It's my choice. Good luck to you.

The mentoring program does not pay 8-1/2 cents per line. Believe it is like 6 cents.
n/m

4 CENTS , SCHMORE CENTS. THAT'S WRONG!
Whether an MT is new or an editor, 4 cents a line is deeply insulting, and 9 cents per line isn't really too much better. You know, I understand that most of these MT companies want to save money, but most of them don't seem to want to pay what an MT's time and skills are really worth. Why not pay an MT who has been in the field for 7-10 years or more 15 or 20 cents per line? At least I might consider working for one of these companies at home if I were to be paid that much straight off the bat for having 12 years' experience, but I guess that would be too much like right...

Do they still pay you 5 cents a line and 2 cents if you send anything to QA?
xx

I have a problem with 7 cents and 8 cents a line because
...when I started 15 years ago, my very first MT job started me out at 8 cents a gross line, then went to 9 cents a gross line after only a year. I was SOOO happy and proud of myself for choosing a profession that paid so well - I imagined myself making a lot of $$ once I had 10 or 15 years experience behind me...

Well that never happened; in fact, it all went backwards, pay wise. The company I worked for back then sold out to a national, and of course the pay was cut, and 9 cents a gross line was never to be had again, at least not that I could find. I am considered living in poverty now. I started out great but have ended up very badly.

I think my own personal problem is that it's hard for me to let go the fact that I made good money just starting out and how everything I had ever learned about jobs, careers and pay was that the more experience and education you have in a particular field, the more your pay goes up as each year passes. Well my pay has been consistently taking a nosedive for at least a decade now. I actually have to work MORE to make at least as much as I did years ago, and it's killing me health-wise as far as my wrists, my legs, my neck, my back....

It also kills me that I'm going to have to accept 7 or 8 cents a 65-character line when I made so much more than that 15 years ago.

I suppose to someone who's just starting out, 7 or 8 cents would seem pretty good, though. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to land any jobs with my resume. They may not want me with my years of experience, probably want a newbie who will be more grateful about such low pay. I dunno.

I could just kick myself for wasting money on MT school those years ago when I could've spent it on a career that would actually LAST and where I'd be making great money after being in the same field for 15 years. There's just no reward to this business. None at all, IMO.

I would NOT recommend this field to anyone just getting started. To me, it's a dead field.

I'd have more freedom working at McDonalds (for a number of reasons), and, believe me, I've been considering taking a local job around my home for minimum wage. At least I'd have a consistent paycheck and would know exactly what I'm getting every 2 weeks, then build from there as far as another job or two.

Well anyway that's all. I really need a job. I'm going down, going under, and it's a shame because I do very good work and have all this experience but no one seems to want me, even the low-paying companies. Oh well.

I was hired and started in 1 week. That is not a long set-up time. When I started with our local h
I needed to get a physical and go through orientation at the hospital which is only given two times per month. This is a 900-bed hospital, so it cannot be an unusual process. MQ took 2 weeks. KS took 1 week. SoftScript never got me started even after repeated calls and emails.

I have only been with KS for 9 months but would never put them in the same catagory as the others you mentioned. They are the best company I have worked for, and unfortunately, I have bounced around a little in the last 5 years.

my first year I made 16k. Doubled that second year. Going on year 6 with (sm)

two local accounts I earned 23,000.00 and a national I earned 35,400... 58,400 this year. Don't ask me how many hours, though, I really have no idea. I'm pretty motivated. (When people ask me how many hours I work a week I reply as many as it takes I'd say 40-50/week. I am also a fitness instructer and personal trainer, about 5 hours a week or so. Decent money (sometimes under the table!) but mostly I just do it for fun and to be social and wear cute work-out clothes.

that first year was a rough one... but I consider it part of my education.

I'm pretty motivated.

Few cents here, few cents there stolen from you by
x

I'll add my 5 cents to your 2 for 7 cents sm
I AGREE WITH YOU!

I know an MT who sits on her laurels and whines about no work and only getting 9 cpl after 5 whole years of experience. She can type 3 specialties, won't touch an ESL, goofs off when there is work and whines when there is not. I have tried to help, but it is quite plain to me she doesn't want that help.

I have about 3 times the experience of the above MT. The only specialty I have not done is pathology. I have literally done everything else. I know the BOS 2 like the back of my hand and I have outstanding accuracy scores (even if I can't type straight here). I work as an employee and make a base rate of 8.5 cpl, which I never get because I always have some of the different incentives offered. I regularly turn that 8.5 cpl into $25 an hour and at my PT job where I get 10 cpl and faster software, I can turn that into $32.50 an hour.

I have heard, more times than I can count from other MTs that they wish they could have my income. I can tell they why they don't. It is called hang out to complain on a message board like MTStars. It is doing everything, BUT your work on your shift. It is your lack of a willingness to learn new things, even if they slow you down some. This very year, recently in fact, I was put on straight cardiology procedure notes and I didn't worry for a second that I would suffer financially. I AM FLEXIBLE and that, in a nutshell, is why most MTs will not succeed.

A long time ago I realized that if I want more money, I was going to have to work SMART, not hard. In my 15 years, I now make 5 times what I did my first year and at the same exact line rate I had then! I spend less time working to achieve that these days. So no, I can't agree with your sky is falling routine.

Most of you...your attitudes suck. If I had to have you on site as my employees, you would not last 15 minutes. The first time I heard you at the water cooler whining about your pay, I'd fire your fanny so fast it would make your head SWIM. I have eyes in the back of my head too, so when you started making that stink face you are making right now, I'd have sacked you for that, on the spot, no warning and no day's pay. The ONLY reason you all get away with this is that you THINK no one who knows you is watching and that your respective contract holders can't figure out who you are.

By and large, I can't tolerate other MTs as friends. I find them lazy, self-absorbed whiners and complainers with some the worst negative attitudes I have EVER seen! If you hate MT so very much GO GET A JOB DOING SOMETHING ELSE. I can tell you, your bad attitude, your tendency to complain, whine, witch (with a capital B), moan and ALWAYS see the most negative side of everything...THAT crap will follow you to that new career and it won't be any better than this one. You have issues and I really think they are issues for a good therapist. They are called personality disorders and many of you have them in multiples and in spades!

I think you should be completely and utterly ashamed of yourselves. Too many people are out of work, homeless, and starving this Christmas to be so opinionated and selfish.

Last year, there was a letter sent that told us what we earned the previous year. sm
In the past, it has been all or nothing; if you did not hit the lines for full time for the year, you did not get PTO. I talked to my lead this morning about a last-minute vacation and she told me that the yearly packets are going out in a week or so and that the new policy will acrue PTO by the pay period or month. I like that a lot better, but she also made it sound like they are upping the amount of lines needed to acrue PTO. I normally get between 15 and 20,000 lines per pay period, so I am sure that will be fine but I am worried about the periods that have lower volumes, like most of January every year.

Webmedx lets you carry them from year to year sm
You can accrue up to 140 hours (I think) before you stop the accrual process. Don't have to use it all in one year.

I would stick it out, most places are slow now through the end of the year every year (nm)
x

How do you get a raise with MQ?
So, how do you get raises without asking? Yearly? I did not get a raise since 1998 and asked two years ago. I got less than a fourth of a penny more per line. I dont like DQS. We dont get paid for the demographics screen, yet most of my doctors do not fill the screen in or they put in the wrong MR#. So I can spend up to three minutes each report trying to decipher what name the doctor is stating or spelling and then search for the name. If you figure three minutes per report, 40 or so reports a day. That is money I deserve but am not getting. For pete sake, we dont get paid for downtime researching words, lab results, medications, the least they can do is pay for the demographics screen.

MQ raise
Dittos,have been with MQ 9 years and no raise. After DQS, line count fell dramatically, so no more quarterly bonuses. They are a bunch of scoundrels that are taking advantage of their employees.

RE: How do you get a raise with MQ?
Everything your complain about in your post is a part of your job. You are supposed to verify, transcribe a report accurately. That should include the patient's name, medications, laboratory values, etc. Have you ever read the job description of a transcriptionist?

You must be one of those that got a raise or
got a decent account with a team leader that is available. This company offers no way of advancing into any kind of management, no way to change accounts, nasty teamleaders, no raises, no communication, and just gives a lot of hot air promises that never happen. The biggest change since Transcend took over is that there are no more bonuses which was the best part of the company.

What should I do about a raise?

I have been working for Spheris for a year and started at 5.5 cpl and after 6 months went to Level-1 only making 6.5 cpl. I am still having to work crazy hours to make decent pay. Has anyone from Spheris ever asked for a raise and actually received one without jumping through hoops and switching accounts. The only way to get an extra cent raise is to be trained on 2 different accounts until they are learned and then get an extra cent. Has anyone ever just asked for a raise?? I would like to make 8 cpl preferably, but would be happy with the 1 cnt raise. I have a feeling they won't do that.

I tested for Transcend Services and passed their testing and was only offered 7 cpl to start which is only a 0.5 difference. So, of course I turned that down. Anyone have any advice?

When, if ever, should a MT ask for a raise?
Been with the company for almost a year. I have acquired three private accounts through them. When should I ask, if ever, for a raise? Wait until the one year mark? If so, what is the best way of going about it? Has anyone ever gotten a raise from their company? I am an MT with over 14+ years experience, get paid decent, but absolutely NO BENEFITS...tia

raise
I haven't had one either and its been 8 years and a large company. I'm sure they have perks

raise

ha ha. The way it goes in this industry is --great news! We have new software! You have to double your output for a cut in pay. Doesn't go that way in upper management does it. If a CEO doubles the output he gets a raise -- we are lucky to get new software that requires we double our output, working just as hard, for less money. Wake up. The middle class is disappearing. It's time to get involved in democracy again, people.

WE NEED A RAISE!!!!! nm
nm

Raise to what? 5-1/2 cpl?
x

RE: Raise to what?
It does start at 5 cpl because we've been burned by MTs that said they were highly experienced and then their work did not show that and/or they were extremely unreliable. This is just a 'probationary' phase while the MT gets to show us what she can do, we can show what a great company we are and then it does go up. That can be negotiable and it is dependent on how well the MT does. If she is unreliable and does not get out of QA after working on the account or accounts after several months, why should we pay more? We're a small company,not a national and we do not rake in the big bucks. We have MTs that have been with us for years because they are treated fairly and we do remember that things come up and do not threaten you with being let go because a family member got sick. Thanks for all of those that responded and we will be notifying those that we have chosen soon.

WOW a RAISE
I have NEVER gotten a raise in my 10 years of transcribing. So your 0.25% sounds nice.

Raise...
I got 3 with the first company I worked at home with. I worked 5 years for them and didn't get a raise the last 2. I also got a raise with the 2nd company I worked with. I was only there a little over a year. The 3rd and current company I have not been with long enough to ask for a raise. Good luck!

Raise?
How long have you been there? I was thinking of asking for a raise but was told they do not give raises! Hmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

raise
I agree - start with your liason - send an email outlining why you should get a raise and ask her to forward it as appropriate.