It was slow on one of my accounts this summer but picked up. sm
Posted By: KS Rad MT on 2007-09-20
In Reply to: I have been there for 1 year now...love the account I'm on but....(sm) - MT
If I were you, I would go to Karyn or Becky, not Martha. Both of them will help you. I think Martha is too busy with new hires but the other two are great with back-up accounts or at least getting the names in front of Martha. Just a friendly tip, not meant to offend or cause flames.
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Has the workload at MDI picked up for anyone? My accounts are still really low. nt
x
They added several new accounts this summer
so I don't know which one you are talking about, but I have been out of work for 2 days too and despite asking for a back-up account I have yet to get one. I do know that another account is coming on-line next month, though they have hired people for it and those people are probably working on the other accounts in the meantime, taking work from the estabilshed MTs.
How do you know new accounts are coming on in the summer?
I have not received any email saying such to us MT's. I hope so, because work is really low during the week, a little more on the weekend usually. More and more of our work is going to voice recognition, leaving low volume of transcribing left to do.
This is an excerpt from a press release by Transtech management that I saw on the internet. Maybe those 20 MT's love the system, but the other 280 must not. I know I hate Dictaphone ExSpeech editing platform (and hate the pay that goes alogn with editing on that platform).
We started using the Enterprise Express Speech System in late October of 2007 and have already seen a 500 percent increase in speech-recognized drafted
reports. While just 20 members of our team of 300 transcriptionists
are using the system now, we plan to expand its use significantly. In
only 60 days we've seen dramatic productivity climbs and our team
loves the system.
Good dictators end up on ASR so it can only get worse. My accounts are all picked over.
:
Okay are all the Rad accounts slow?
nm
Several accounts are slow right now
Mostly due to the time of year it is, with winter being almost over, but I'm not at all worried. I have been there a little over a year and have never totally run out of work. It will pick back up soon.
It's not just the platform and accounts that slow you down.
I haven’t worked for WebMedX for a couple of years, but the numbers I had to work with then were as follows (DISCLAIMER: Just as I was leaving, they were thinking about totally revamping their bonus system, so the numbers below are probably not currently accurate, but will give you some idea of what WMX thinks their MTs are capable of):
140 lines per hour average minimum. New employees placed on 90 day probationary status to learn platform and account specifics. Expected to reach 150 lines per hour average after 4 weeks. Line defined as 65-character line, which includes all body characters and spaces inclusive of formatting characters such as bold, italics, underlines, caps and tabs. Header and footer characters are not included in the line count.
Bonus paid as follows (in addition to your base pay per line):
Average lines/hr Bonus per line
160 to 180 = .0015
181 to 220 = .0030
221 to 250 = .0050
251 to 275 = .0075
276 to 299 = .0100
300+ = .0150
This is for the average for the entire two week pay period, so if you have a really great day and hit 500 lines per hour, then have several really bad days at 100 lines per hour, they take the average over those two weeks.
HOWEVER, if you fall below 140 lines per hour average, they DEDUCT pay:
0 to 124 = - .005
125 to 139 = - .0025
WMX is definitely looking to make a profit, so my way of thinking is they feel confident in offering a bonus that will not affect their bottom line and, as far as they are concerned, not going to be achieved by the majority of the MTs working for them. In fact, when I left, many MTs were complaining that they were no longer getting the same bonuses as they had just a few months prior and they were MTs who had worked for WMX for several years and were already very familiar with the platform and accounts.
As far as getting back up to speed, there are several factors that prevent smooth transition. First, you are on 100% QA review for the first couple of weeks, at least, and depending on the Editors you get, you may have to completely rethink what you have learned before. Then, there is the dreaded time clock. It is totally automatic. From the minute you log on to get your first report, you are on the clock. If you stop to look up a drug or find a new surgical instrument, your line count is affected. They tell you to log out for everything when you are not actually typing. That means even 2 minutes to stretch or go get a drink from the kitchen. Next, they seemed to have a lot of platform slowness. There were times when you could sit for a minute or more just to switch from the demographics page to the actual transcription page, or when trying to release the report. Sometimes, the platform would just freeze altogether, and you had to reboot. And they do periodically run out of work, depending on the accounts you have. So, if you want to keep your line count up, you have to keep logging off, which makes an 8 hour shift turn into a 10 to 12 hour day. Some people with families just don’t have the time for that. Not to mention, if they are in overtime, if you already have to put in a 10 hour day to get an 8 hour shift in, overtime will probably have to be on your days off. Also, most of their accounts are now going to ASR/Speech Recognition, and that system has many bugs left to be worked out that has caused many MTs to complain that they are not making as much money as they were before.
I am sure there are WebMedX MTs just itching to correct me and let you know how great WMX is. The above are my personal observations/opinions while working for them, just to give you another perspective.
Good luck.
It's usually pretty slow this time of the year and TT is no different. The new accounts
they are hiring for will be starting next month and from what I understand they will need to hire more than 120 MTs between now and the end of the year for the four new hospitals, so I am not too worried about it.
I work for Transcend, love them, but right now a few accounts are slow..so depending on which you
were hired for, do not get your expectations too high. The work can flucuate the key is flexibiltiy. If you have to have a set schedule, I would double check on the work flow for your shift on your account. I would hope that they could be honest, and if I know them, they will be.
I have 4 accounts, doing all work types, and I usually have enough work but this is the slow time of
year so we are scrambling a little for lines. Easy platform, paychecks DD, always on time.
Depends on the account. Work on VR lately has been slow. Just like all companies, we have slow times
Honestly though, I have only had 2-3 times in the past 2 years where it was like the other day...no work... It did pick up later but I just think it's important not to make someone think we're overloaded with work all the time. That would not be fair to them if they end up with high expectations.
No - it is not always slow! Depends on the company and hospital. I have never been slow this time
Slow time is usually in September when everyone is back to work/school from the summer months.
Been doing this 24 years and never slow this time of year. Actually, I am drowning in work - can't keep up.
Why can't companies at least let you know you were not picked for a job?
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure they are bombarded with people testing, but when you think of the hours spent for MTs trying to find a new job, and they take all those MTtest.com tests while still trying to work all day, only never to hear a peep back is hard to take. A simple thanks, but no thanks would go a long way in my book. I am sick of wasting my time.
Please. Yep, they picked 1 MT to send it to.
Looks like I picked the 2 right choices TY!
/
I just picked that out thin air. nm
xxxx
I actually picked up a stalker
several years ago from another website. A pretty frightening experience!
If you want to be nit-picked to death
Then by all means, hire on with Keystrokes. I had just started with them but after I saw my review, I told them I did not want to work for them. They nit-pick every comma, etc., to death and there was no way I was going to put up with that. These services get so carried away by all the insignificant crap that they just drive away anyone who is a good MT but doesn't want to put up with the nit-picking. Good luck.
Has any company said thank you to those who have picked up the extra
work for those who are "out of service" from the hurricane? I have worked my fingers to the bone to keep a few accounts happy, no thanks, no overtime, no bonus. Guess I am the dummy here.
Love it here. I picked my shift, and
I enjoy it. Great benefits (I pay 236 a PP for full family insurance PPO with dental and vision!) plus PTO, holidays, and never ever late pay with direct deposit. The staff is awesome and I love my platform.
She tries to be nice..gets picked on for a typo..(sm)
and SHE'S hateful? You people are too much.
if someone actually PICKED this name.. then they need to hire someone with brains... nm
nm
FATCAT - Has your worked picked up?
I've read your posts for years and know you've been happy at MDI, as have I. My main account has FINALLY picked up this week. Was wondering if things have picked up for you as well. I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief and working as much as I can. FINALLY!
omg-heat of summer
I meant heat of summer!! not head--sorry
Last summer? see inside
They do not keep anything that long due to privacy. Their recruiter was let go a few months back, so it definitely is no longer there. I would send it directly to them at KeystrokesHR@aol.com and let them know that you had sent it before. I know that the process is smooth now, based on talking to a few new MTs, so if you are interested, that is the way to go!
thank you - I'm hoping by summer to
nix the Q alltogether, unless by some miracle things get better. I think my biggest peave with the Q is that stupid time clock. I never wanted FT or benefits, so I don't see why PT with no benefits has to punch a clock. Give me IC any day!
The new company I'm going to only requires me to meet my daily quota on the days I say I'm going to work. If I need off, I just let them know I won't be working that day. No more holidays, no more cesspool and no more TIME CLOCK!
I hope things go well for you at KS. I've heard a lot of wonderful things about them on this board, especially if you want FT and benefits. Good Luck! 
There is no summer slump at MDI. Its a
permanent slump situation, as its been going on for a long, long time. Something is way not right about this company, and I'm not sure what's going on, but its not good. Look below, and you'll see more eager new hires ready for training, every single day. I was bored the other day and browsing other MT sites, and I was shocked to see a thread and battle, just like here every day, of MDI-MD MTs with no work, MTs who can't get the 5 training jobs a day, yada, yada, and I saw the EXACT same letter from the recruiter and also from the tech person, whom many claim does not set them up at the agreed upon time, etc, and does not help with tech issues. The shock to me was that all were dated from Spring of 2007. That's how long this exact scenario has been happening, and it was creepy to read what looked like sincere posts here, as they were copied verbatim from a year earlier, and probably more before that had I wasted my time looking. There is something WEIRD and wrong about this company, and why anyone would waste 1 minute of their time with them is beyond me. And it was so hurtful and hateful a few months ago when those who posted that they had no work and something wasn't right were bashed and flamed for it being their fault somehow. Inferior MTs or whatever. There is a boatload of BS going on at MDI-MD, and I have personally experienced that boat, and its not gonna float for anyone. I truly believe they have their original staffers who get work, but forget the rest, and they are always, always hiring more and more, and with no work. If I were with them now, I would be MAJOR pissed and demand work. But there isn't any? I would also be demanding to know why they keep hiring. They have no answers, and they have no work either.
I was mid summer this year.
I used IType.
TTS - When I applied last summer
nothing more than an insulting subcontractor rate for 30 years' experience. Are you making at least more than 6.25 cpl?
Here's a review from last summer.
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/74751.html
If you think you dont get more of the junk work when it is picked over by VR or ASR you had better
think again. The best attendings will be gone to VR and you will get the leftovers. I have been doing both for a year and I can guarantee you your CEO is full of it. Dont believe a word of it. You will either make less money on ASR or less money on the leftovers. Take you choice.
Amen to that - I have years of exp but never felt picked on here. nm
.
Have picked up a PT job on the side. Hoping all works well with WMX, but (sm)
not going to disappoint the grandchildren at Xmas and birthday times.
The only problem with picking up a PT job is you lose flexibility in making up hours/lines with WMX because you are otherwise obligated. Oh well, I don't think that can be considered my fault. I just don't want to use up my PTO because of it. Will they just let you take unpaid time if they run out of work during your window or do they make you use PTO or make it up?
Anyone else running out of work this summer?SM
I have been with this company for quite some time, and this is the first time I have run out of work. It has been slow since June, but pretty much the whole month of July has been hunting for work and getting lucky if there's any there. We've been told it's just an unusually slow summer. Anyone else with this problem?
I was with MQ for 11 years and left last summer.
The changes after 1/1/06 were not to my taste. And from what I can see over on the MQ forum, it hasn't gotten better. I started with TT last October and have really liked it. I've only run out of work a few times, and have had work in my backup. The office staff is wonderful. It was a very good move for me.
Info about Wordz from this summer.
Wordz was not the job for me, but I have nothing bad at all to say about them. Here is some recent info from this summer, hope it helps:
Pay on time by DD.
I worked on 2 platforms. (Winscribe and Transnet) Both use your version of Word and your Expander of choice or autocorrect. The platforms were just for management of voice files and attaching/uploading documents, no demographics were filled in.
All demographics were manual, and you download pt lists (some in notepad where you can copy and paste names and some fax copies where you have to retype everything).
Provider/address lists were provided for letters.
Job lists come out 4x per day. On at least one platform you have to check the job list for your work and manually enter the dictator# into the transnet platform to download jobs (you are not routed jobs automatically on the Transnet platform).
Pd training. You get about 4+ hours of phone training your first day, 3 modules. The longest module of training is administrative, paperwork, file management that you are expected to do and the other modules are on the transcribing and audio platforms. The administrative/paperwork/file management is the longest for a good reason, you spend plenty of time wrangling voice files, job lists, and pt lists every day.
QA was outstanding and very helpful. Quick relevant feedback and even a good job here and there.
There are set hours - sort of! They do ask that you set range of hours they can count on you to be there every day (maybe 8:00 to 3:00 for example) in case they need to reach you for stats or whatever, but you do not have to necessarily be working all that time, and you are not monitored. You are just expected to complete your account assignments within TAT.
Pay is low (it was 7.5 cents), but they justify that by the fact that they match transcriptionists to doctors....no pools. (That did not turn out to be the case for me, I was up to 20 dictators with more to be added on, although I know many are assigned to a small # of stable dictators...just get as much specific info during your interviews about exactly what accounts you would be on and how many providers so you can make an informed decision.)
Good luck!
Grandchildren keep me young. I have had 2 FT this summer (sm)
and occasional trips to town for teenaged grandson who has stayed at home this summer. Sometimes it is hectic and I feel stressed getting my hours/lines in, but then I take my mother to the Senior Center and watch all those people with so little to occupy their time and I feel really lucky.
During school year the 2 youngest still catch the bus here and come here after school. I am able to adjust my schedule so I can attend school functions/lunches during the day if their mom can't.
There may be a lot of problems with MT work anymore, but these are the reasons I and many other stay with it.
Than mystery jobs randomly picked by mgmt.
bonuses/weekend/night shift differential is much rather preferred by me in the Dallas office than those jobs picked at random by "who knows who".
Same thing happened to me last year and when it picked up, it was crazy sm
For the rest of the year.
Tired: Has worked picked up at FN. Used to work there and left for WX. sm
Would kind of like to go back. Loved the gang; I used to be a YOGer. Had to leave about 1-1/2 years ago because of no work. Still mostly IC? Thanks.
Well, I left MQ after 8 years last summer to go to Keystrokes (sm)
so I would have to say Keystrokes. I have plenty of work and love my account and Keystrokes gave me primarily what I asked for as far as what specialty I wanted to type. I work in Meditech but there are other platforms there, it just depends on your account. MedQuist was a great place to work for about the first 7 years. In January 2006 they introduced what they called the Rewards Plan and after that my work dried up in a hurry and I lost a LOT of money by staying there. But there are still people at MQ who have plenty of work and like it there, the way I felt about it in the old days. Both places have positive qualities but I am happier now at Keystrokes. It also depends on what you are looking for as far as how large of a company you want to work for...MQ is a big national, KS is much smaller and more personalized. Good Luck!
Talked to them last summer. Very nice people.
CPL depends on shift worked and how well you do on the test.
They have overhired for the summer. We will ALL be running out of work!
They thought they had a new account and it was not a go, so overhire again. They are just running this ship TOO TIGHT
knew something was up after the paycheck fiasco this summer . . . sm
this DOES not surprise me, and I am sure there is more coming in the future.
I have not run out of work, except for about 2 or 3 hours late in the summer. sm
While I am NOT management, I do know both sides of this story...that of the MTs and of management. The side I pick? MY SIDE! The side with work in the queue, the side that I get paid for. So, even though I know both perspectives, I am not picking sides or defending management.
I will only observe that those who come here to bash a very nice company could be producing their lines. Given that I have consistently gotten over my minimums each and every day for the year I have been with TT says to me (remember I am on my side) that the work exists. If I can have it, so can you. Of course, every hour you are here spreading your ill-considered opinions could be, should be spent doing your job.
I am here, it is my day OFF!
I have to second that statement. Wish TT would not overhire during the summer months, as we get so
low on work now -- it is frightening to think about the summer months and then the holidays that follow. Ouch !
Well, mine have even less today than yesterday. I don't know what is going on. I know summer te
to wax and wane, but I've only seen wane this summer, no wax. Usually it's up and down, not steadily down, in my experience. I'm becoming very concerned about being able to make ends meet.
Con: Overflow work is cherry-picked from the git-go by the account's inhouse MTs. nm
x
It was during the summer, I think. Maybe you can access old stories from your local newspaper on
s
good point!!!! summer off plus 5 weeks during the year
if i had my life to live over.... a teacher has the best life
What season is THAT? Late spring/early summer? .. sm
or the figment of some MTSO's imagination or latest line of BS??
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