Interesting points, but not necessarily correct...
Posted By: MT on 2008-05-11
In Reply to: MT is different in that each voice - file would be considered a job.
So, an IC has the right to not take a voice file.
These contracts that state certain lines per week are for employees not ICs. An IC has the right to pick and choose work just like any other profession.
Of course, any MT has a right to refuse work. That is not the point. The point is that the company the MT contracts with has the right to control the end result. The end result may be a certain number of voice files (jobs), a certain number of minutes, a certain number of tapes. That is the project. You honestly believe that the company has no right to determine what their project is that needs to be completed? That makes no sense.
Also, painters do not sign contracts ahead of time. Yes, actually there are many who do. You sign a receipt when the work is complete. This is also true in some cases. Another thing is when you find a painter that agrees to a timeframe and sticks to it, let me know. Now you are putting all painters into one basket. Actually, I know quite a few who complete work in a timely manner. E-mail your phone number and I'll pass on their information. They are contractors just like us where things come up and they cannot complete the work. Of course, there are always instances when things come up. This is life... Again, that is not the point. It is all part of being a contractor and being self-employed. Yes, it is all part of being responsible. If a company presents you with a contract stating their requirements, or project that they need completed, and you are not satisified with the terms, then do not sign it.
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some points right, but
hospitals want to pay less and less for the same service which makes it very difficult for the MTSO to pay experienced MTs the line rates they are looking for - - which makes it difficult to hire US based MTs, it's a nasty cycle
Two points SM
1. Where in the world did people get the idea that TT does not do audits once an MT is off full Q.A.????? They most certainly DO do audits. If you don't hear anything about it, well I guess that means you're okay. They aren't the first company to not give feedback on audits; both Medifax and MRC, for example, did audits but did not give feedback to MTs unless they fell below the required accuracy.
2. I probably do about as much looking at old reports as anyone and I have yet to see any glaring errors that would call into question the expertise of TT MTs. Now if I wanted to nitpick.........
Just as an aside note, I can easily do 2000 lines in a day. If I push it I can do up to 3000 but that's a pretty HARD day. This is acute care and various accounts, both extext and the ichart thingy.
If I had 1 complaint about TT it probably would be that communication isn't the best. On the other hand they give me a job to do and leave me alone to do it. So given a choice between great communication and being left alone to do a job, I'd take the latter any day of the week.
I see your points, but.....
As an MTSO, do I chance losing this large client, and need to layoff MTs? I believe I am doing more for MTs by keeping their wages as high as can be afforded by searching for off shore companies to fill in when the client is too penny-pinching to worry about anything else but cost.
Two points to add
1. Do not be surprised to find out that many facilities already know that US records are being offshored and simply do not care.
2. Speak for yourself about taking 1 cent less per line. Many of these companies are already offering US MTs 6 and 7 CPL. You think I am willing to work my tail off for 5 or 6 CPL? No thanks!
Not necessarily going to ASR
All of a sudden, no work at ALL on my offices biggest ED account...no one seemed to know what happened
Well, MQ's ED templates is what happened.."over 70 different templates for 70 main chief complaints" is how it's billed...go to MQ's home page, look at the link for ER's. Doc picks the form, circles his choices and voila..all done! Don't need no MT to take care of business with these.
So, you mean to tell me after a week. the office finally says.."well, unbeknownst to us. SOMEONE sold them on the template system ..just amazing the answers they think we will believe.
Not necessarily ......sm
It could have the opposite affect too. The aircraft industry has tried that too and it just pushed more and more work offshore. We used to have 30,000 aircraft workers in my town and now we barely have 5000. My opinion is you train everybody you can to do transcription and take as much work as you can and that will leave less for them to do and evetually they will find out it is not the little pot of gold they once thought.
Not necessarily
Some MTs who have posted this kind of income were working for a service - it's mostly a matter of getting on a good account, I think.
Not necessarily so
I work at Spheris and have an account I've been on since day 1 with plenty of work. I do have a secondary but really just work on 2 accounts. I have not found them to be inflexible at all -quite the contrary. It's a big company with lots of supervisors, several platforms, and different people have different experiences. There are MANY happy employees here, along with some that are unhappy. Sorry you had a bad experience - I have had a very good one.
Well...not necessarily, but it CAN
All you have to do is create a new folder each week that you save all of your work into. At the end of the week, have Sylcount count all of the lines in that folder (the place where you saved all of your files for the week).
So, you would have a main folder called:
ABC Transcription (or whatever your company is called)
and inside that folder (after a year's time) you would have 52 folders (one for each week of the year).
Hope this helps,
Chickadee
Not necessarily
Just want decent pay, and to work with people I can respect, not people sticking daggers in my back. Managing people is really not my thing, I am more into QA, things like that.
Not so necessarily
Many high school grads are avoiding higher education in highly trained skills BECAUSE of the influx of foreign workers -- so yes, it is due, in part, to a reduced US skilled labor force not due to pay, but the realization of competition from outside countries. Even in the mid 1990s, software companies were bringing in foreign workers. I have a friend who works for one of those companies and while he has held onto his position, he recently told me that 90% of his coworkers from the 90s were laid off and have been replaced by foreign workers. The skill set of the foreign workers is higher than the ones let go and the work force is younger with fresher ideas, having grown up sucking their thumbs while surfing the net. They get an equal pay and performance bonus as he, while prorated for longevity.
If Silicon Valley employers can buy a retired cruise ship, import large numbers of foreign workers and float them in international waters for months at a time to work, bring them on shore for the government allotted time before returning them to sea, tell me where money is saved?
If our international MTSOs can spend millions of dollars on the construction from the ground up for the training of and employing of up to 5000 MTs (just for one company) in foreign countries, and those employees are now beginning to earn salaries and benefits close to what US MTs are getting, tell me where to find the savings, especially when you factor in lost profit due to power outages and riots over things we would never lose a day's work over.
It is a global economy, not just in the MT world, and will continue to filter down in every aspect of our daily lives.
Not necessarily.
I recently applied for a similar position. They did have a website, but it was very limited and didn't really have any info. No one had ever heard of this company. I was a little hesitant, but decided to accept the other anyway. It has turned out to be the best company I have ever worked for. The pay is much more than I was offered at any of the nationals. I had been there less than a month and received a raise as they said I was doing great and they appreciated all my hard work. There are good companies out there. I am very happy I took a chance.
Not necessarily - LOL (sm)
SM's platform is a horror.
Not necessarily..
Unless you don't mind working more than an 8-hour shift when the work is low to get your counts, or when there are problems with the platform, etc. Not trying to discourage you but there are problems there. And they quoted you 10 cpl?
Not necessarily
I can do 2000 lines in a day - usually a 9 to 10 hour day, but still ....
Anyhoo, my accuracy stays in the 98 to 99% range. I have occasional blanks when I just can't make something out. My company uses templates, too, for each doc (it's a clinic account) and I have them saved in Word with the modifications that are needed. I type in Word and then cut and paste into the platform.
I use lots and lots of expanders. That's how I can get 250 lph. Everything that is more than two or three characters that can be made into two or three characters is or has been and I add to it constantly when something else comes up.
Not everyone is fast and sloppy.
Not necessarily. When you have new MTs,
Indian MTs, or MTs who just really don't even try, it can slow you down DRASTICALLY & be very time-consuming. QAing is not something that should pay per line if you want it done right.
Not necessarily - sm
It is my belief that if the number of employees laid off is less than 50, then 29 USCS 2106 and 20 CFR 639.1 would still apply.
Good luck!
Not necessarily--probably just tell them --sm
to look in the *archives* or Google it. *This has been discussed here a thousand times. look it up* or some other such rude answer. Nobody on this board seems to want to help any longer.
Not necessarily...
Sometimes the bar is set so high that, even those who do meet it, can't do so for any length of time without suffering the consequences in terms of health, mentally and/or physically. Sometimes meeting the bar takes a toll. It doesn't necessarily mean a person can't meet it...simply that they won't. It all depends on each person's priorities. ;-)
Not necessarily.
Signing a nondisclosure agreement at the outset of your conversation with the company presents no onerous burden to you and allows them to discuss the position in greater (specific) detail with the knowledge that you have agreed not to disclose anything you learn during your conversation with them, such as who their clients are. This is reasonable for them to ask, especially since neither of you knows whether you will be offered or will accept a position with them.
Sign the forms and get yourself into the conversation. It's nothing you should worry about and it makes perfect legal sense.
Many good points, they just have to be right for you. sm
Good account for me. Took a bit to catch on to the second one, but I love it there. Treated fairly, tested at nite, and was contacted immediately the next day. Pay always on time, supervisors are nice, love IM's for questions or help, instead of phone tag and waiting forever for e mail.
All places have good and bad, you just have to find the right fit for you.
Good points. SM
Newbies are not necessarily careless or ignorant. Anyone can be a bad MT, experience or not.
They had a lot of good points--
but there was one bad point (I won't elaborate on it any further than that) and I'm wondering if it would be worth it to try again.
Valid points! nm
x
All have good points,
Best thing about Medware is XXXX . She will go overboard to make sure you are happy. Best thing about Amphion, people are friendly and nice. You won't make a lot money, though. Best thing about Spheris... I'm still thinking.
Please do not post names. Thank you. Goldbird
APT...All Points Transcribers......SM
Boss bought it from an MT. Boss couldn't type, knew next to nothing about computers when we went over to computers...played all kinds of holiday/bonus games involving money and was EXTREMELY cheap and I expect nothing in the life and can still say just how cheap she was and to her 5 closest (most important and highest producers) people in her office. I left first and then 4 others slowly followed (her 5 best people) and then her biz liquidated (completely went under) which was my plan from the moment I walked out.
Payback is just SO GREAT, isn't it???? *ROFLMAO*
Now she is a miserable old lady today!
I will give you a few points there.
It belongs on the comedy board, but I would hate to see our country become so PC that no one can say anything because it is too sensitive.
good points, but.........
Maggie had some very good points, but what about companies that you do work as scheduled and then no pay! I am a very hard working MT and have worked for companies like that! Also what about working for companies that ships the work to India and you have to sit in front of your computer almost all day and through the afternoon to hope you get enough work to pay your bills and sometimes things change so quickly (no heads-up) you are just caught. Also with voice recognition, we are paid less, have to produce more and basically depending on the physician, some of the reports we have to type because voice recognition does not, recognize many of the words the physician is dictating. Also what about the companies that lie straight out, just to get you to work with them.......and there is no work! I work my but off, almost every holiday, and every weekend (I am making the sacrifices now) so I can pay my bills and I go to school full-time because this industry is going downhill fast and the fault lies with both sides, for the MT who slacks and to the jobs that don't pay on time, treat us like crap, lie, etc.......
LOL--I have to agree with you on all points
and you weren't rude at all. The system is a part of it but I am the remainder......
Thanks for making these points.
.
Great points!
Totally correct!
Good points
Those are good points. I never really thought about it, but I have worked for a couple of MTSOs and this is the first one where it is just so....quiet basically. I guess I should be thankful that no one bothers you unless you mess up or you are just called to be informed that if there is a lot of work they give you a message to let you know if you want OT you can have it. But, I feel almost isolated. It's not that I even want to contact any of the other MTs, but I think it would be neat to be noticed if someone's birthday or anniversary date at the company, and just some odds-and-ends info put in there. One company I worked for even had something called the 100 club or something like that, where if you made 100% QA score for either the month or could have been payperiod they put it on the newletter and you were paid a bonus. I missed it a couple of times with a 99.9 :( but it was just fun to see those.
Think you may be mishearing my points
AAMT has not elevated the profession EVER in my opinion. AHIMA did more for the MTs, again in my opinion, than AAMT ever has. AAMT has advocated for global transcription for decades now. I remember sitting in meetings with a couple of very high muckety mucks as they talked about how to cut out lines for the MT.
AHIMA has made HEALTH INFORMATION a profession and I see AAMT as having done or accomplished very little in 30 years.
Because MT is a telecommuting position for a portion of MTs, those are the MTs who will be affected by global economy.
And my comments regarding being single and supporting myself is that I do not have a supporting income from a signficant other, and I've learned what the field is like and know that working one gig as an employee doesn't usually meet the financial desires I have.
So i would say the requirements of a telecommuting MT is to acquire the best skills you can. Treat the work as a real job and draw healthy boundaries for yourself with your company. Ask questions if you think your line counts are off. Ask to be shown how lines are calculated and don't accept it's based on 65 char line as the answer.
If you are an IC, know how to run a business. Don't allow yourself to be called an IC for the sake of a company skirting the law. If you are not meeting the IRS criteria for an employee, know that. If you are, know that.
Know when the slow times are and that there will ALWAYS be slow times. Stay abreast of technology. Be PROACTIVE instead of retroactively bemoaning your plight.
There are many companies that do not run a good business. If you went to work at Home Depot and they said you had to work 2 hours extra a day for free, would you?
Mind set. Most of making it in this business is all about mind set.
They deduct points for that?
The company I worked for did not deduct for punctuation. I believe in the AHDI guidelines there is no deduction for punctuation, unless of course it changes the meaning of a statement or something like that. Alot of the commas are open to interpretation, but some QA people are really picky about the hyphens.
The companies do get paid by the lines, so if your accuracy is 98% they should not care that your line count has increased significantly. I would say take note of what it is they are complaining about, and keep up the good work. As far as running out of work, I would wait and see how often that happens. Could it be another case of offshoring what is out of TAT?
You do have some valid points, but
there is a lot of misinformation also. They will work with you to get your lines up and improve QA scores. It doesn't take someone long to know if you have what it takes to do the work though and giving them another month isn't going to make much difference. I made the minimum QA scores my first month. I was on 100% QA less than a week. They are NOT anal about punctuation. If you are on 100% QA they are going to correct any error, including punctuation, but I have never been charged with an error for punctuation, though it may be corrected in a report.
It sounds like things didn't work out for you so the company is at fault. They aren't perfect. I have issues with different aspects of the company on occasion, but what you have posted is a posting from a typical disgruntled employee. I don't know you, don't know the details from either side, and I am not making any accusations, but your experience is not typical, as proof by the many MTs who have been there for years, myself included.
Good points...
It's true that many facilities/MTSOs consider working at home and having a day shift perks. There are many people working in various industries who telecommute and many of them are treated much better than MTs. I think as MTs working from home the 'out of sight, out of mind' rule applies.
I agree that transcription is an important part of health care as a whole. I read that some 159 end-users rely on our transcribed documents for anything from patient care, to statistics, to reimbursement and funding. Can you imagine the cost at all levels when these documents are riddled with mistakes? Not only does it affect patient care, but it affects all of the above uses of these documents.
Some good points...
But the bottom line is that each person is responsible for themselves. We cannot change how the facility operates or what management is paid. If the consumers (patients) rallied together and demanded quality, then, and only then, would change take place. But MTs do not have to be a part of that cycle by creating low-quality documents. It is never okay for any MT to decide to personally let quality slide because they don't like how the facility is run or because they are unhappy with their rate of pay. If they are unhappy, then they need to find a different job. The patient does not deserve to suffer because of this. Should the way the facilities operate change? Yes, but that will never justify producing bad documents. Our entire healthcare system needs reform, but that still doesn't justify an MT sitting somewhere not doing his/her job correctly.
Good points
I've been in the business a very long time myself and with many of the things you described above.
When the SUITS figured out there was $ in transcription, the industry started its slow spiral downward. Not to say good service is a thing of the past, but there is no doubt that it has suffered, because as usual in a capitalist society, a corporation is INTENT on making as much $ as it can - in profit.
The balance started to shift AGAINST MTs when the bigger companies forced the smaller ones out - limiting opportunities. At the same time schools were churning out half baked (and sometimes fully baked) MTs, and the VR machine was constantly being tweaked.
So it comes back to the old supply and demand model: to some degree we have to realize that MT work is certainly not the first job description to be affected by changes/progress in technology
OK I am tired so this likely makes NO sense so I stop now.
Not necessarily - there are 2 systems....sm
Transcend's and eScription used by MDI-Florida.
Bigger ain't necessarily better!
Just because someone works for a national doesn't mean their accounts aren't overstaffed, they don't have a terrible platform that breaks down virtually every day, (sometimes for 8 hours at a time), and they don't constantly run out of work. I simply can no longer afford to remain with my current employer, which is a national.
I'm a hard-working, loyal, dependable, dedicated person who takes pride in her work and doesn't like to switch jobs. I'm not looking for my next job; I'm looking for my FINAL job.
All I want is an HONEST company with a dependable platform that actually works, an abundance of work (with no overstaffing/bait-and-switch games) and decent medical benefits. If it's a small company, that's fine. I just want to work for an ethical company that I can trust and respect, and one which is willing to pay a fair cpl rate. (To actually receive respect and some loyalty in return would be the proverbial icing on the cake.)
Is there such an animal out there somewhere?
Not necessarily 2 weeks (sm)
It depends on how fast you pick up their excellent system. Your reimbursed after so many months for your expenses out of pocket. No charge for the use of their computer which they maintain excellently. No one looking over your shoulder. What more could a happy MT ask for. Excelent work environment.
Not necessarily. I was a CS grad...
xx
Not necessarily-if you get a bad dictator -- sm
your production is hurt whether you are experienced or not. Fast production not only depends on the MT's ability but the quality of the dictator and how fast or slow they speak or how clear the speak.
A person with more experience will leave far less blanks but will still be limited on how fast she/he is. Thus they deserve to be paid more than 7 cpl.
It isn't necessarily overscheduling. My
account is fairly new. They may get 800 minutes one day and get 1500 the next day. The TAT on my account is very short. If they staff for 800 minutes and there is 1500 they can't stay within TAT. If they staff for 1500 and only get 800 then obviously there isn't going to be enough work to go around.
If you've had an account a while and can see the trend in dictation, or have a longer TAT, then you can better staff so that everyone has plenty of work.
I agree there are companies that overhire. There are horrible companies that constantly have ads running because they can't keep people, but there are also companies that frequently have ads running because they have getting new accounts. My company has gotten 4 large accounts within the past 6 weeks and have had to hire probably 100 new MTs.
That is not necessarily true...
The company has a right to control the end result, but they cannot control the means to the end result. As I understand it, they can require a certain number of lines each week, but cannot tell the IC how to complete those lines (which hours or how many hours).
Not necessarily spiteful
The negative comments were well unpleasant, but seemed genuine and not over the top. Is it not possible that some people really did have a bad experience, and were just trying to answer the original poster's question honestly?
Most readers know to take comments posted with a grain of salt...
Not necessarily true.
My company has Global in their name, yet they are a very small US-based company. They are the best company I have worked for yet. I wouldn't judge a company based on their name.
VR does not necessarily increase
your speed. If you are making lots of corrections, then you will actually lose ground.
not necessarily fault of the MT
I ran into a former coworker of mine. She works at a hospital where the doctors are allowed to send the VR reports out without review by an MT and was telling me about the HUGE problems this has caused. Can you imagine? Egads.
You make good points. SM
I agree with you. Just experience does not make a good MT and some newbies are excellent and careful. If you have 20 years of experience with no mentoring and substandard training, you probably make dumb mistakes and are not aware of it. Everyone makes mistakes but some seasoned MTs make way too many. Keep up the good work.
all companies have good points and all have bad
I have been with DSG for over a year. I have worked for other companies as well. Every company had their good points and their bad. I think it is just what you are looking for in a company. DSG pays on time, their line rate is decent, there is plenty of work (except during the slow times, but everyone goes through those) communication is always open. I have never had sound issues. There are good dictators and bad dictators, along with ESL dictators. Overall, they are decent and the MT Supervisor for DSG is the best I have ever met.
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