Letter declining job offer inside...sm

This is to inform you that I have decided to decline the offer for FT Acute Care MT.  I have accepted another position.  The mitigating factor in this reversal is the insurance deductible amount and the CPL pay rate as quoted for both accounts. 

While I fully realize all the ramifications of MTSO outsourcing abroad, it is becoming more and more difficult for experienced MTs to remain party to the deterioration of our profession that has occured (in my case in the interim since 1974, when I began transcribing) as a result of this decline.  For most of us, this is a deeply personal issue.  

The experience I bring to the table after 27 years of transcription is worth more than what most MTSOs are willing to offer.  I do not expect to be become wealthy as an MT, but I do expect to make a living wage while still being able to preserve a family and social life.  Because the wages are so low, the benefits are an extremely important part of the picture.    

If you spend any time at all in the MT chat room forums, you know that these sentiments are shared by many other MTs.  Most of us are at the end of our ropes in this regard.  The work may as well go to India.  They can afford to live well (the way American MTs used to) with the money they are paid.  Not only are we driven by these dire financial concerns but, more importantly, it is simply a matter of honor and self-respect. 

This job search has been different than the ones I conducted in the past.  It used to take me less than a week to secure employment with a good company.  This time, it has taken me nearly 2 months to find one who is willing to pay 10 cpl for full-time employee status and offer a $500 insurance deductible that I can live with. 

In all the chat room chatter, the MTs are always challenging themselves and each other to step up to the plate and refuse to allow themselves to be part of the problem, rather than part of the solution, by refusing substandard wages and benefits.  I am one who accepts this challenge. 

I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused for you and I do appreciate the time you spent with me and the consideration you gave to my resume.

• Letter declining job offer inside...sm - Just can't take it anymore
  • The Problem Is.... - It Is What It Is
  • I have an idea for you! - nm
  • Sorry to burst your bubble, but... - Reality Check
    • Here's my reality.... - Just can't take it anymore
      • So if you have a medical claim, the insurance - sm - Quakeless in Oregon
    • yeah. stop being so HIGH MAKA MAKA - so what?
    • Reality Check - JustMe
      • Correct-a-mungo!!! The industry has viewed MTs as 'prey' - sm - LowlyMT
    • OP also found a job she wanted - so what?
      • She would have found it with or without the letter! (nm) - Reality Check
        • Perhaps writing the letter boosted her self-esteem, which - sm
        • you totally missed the point bobo.. - so what?
  • AWESOME. Did you hear - Maverick
    • I have an A.A. degree in English from a 'real' college that - isn't worth the paper it's printed on. - sm
    • I'll be retired or dead by that time. Let the - Indians worry about it.
  • That was FIRST RATE! You definitely speak for - most, if not all U.S. MTs!
  • Refusal letter - OLDTIMERMT
    • Please do....nm - Just can't take it anymore
  • Excellent! Congrats on finding an employee status job with decent compensation! nm - ??
    • Outstanding job; honor & self-respect. Thank you. - my sentiments exactly. Another oldtimer.

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I have over 30 years of experience.  The sad thing ... companies advertise they want experienced MTs, but are not willing to pay for that experience.  On the other side, the starting out MT can't get a job because they want experience but you can't get experience if no one will give you a job .. kinda like the old Catch 22 I read in high school.

For every MT I wish a wonderful wage with great benefits and all you need ... for MTSOs I wish a happy match with employees that will help you satisfy your clients' needs and make you a profit as well, while you are being fair to the MT too.

As you all know there has been a steady decrease in MT pay over the years.  I think its probably the counting system.  Its so hard to get lines these days I believe because the strings are being pulled tight.  This one particular company has this to say about their platform and ability for companies to cut transcription costs.  I wonder is this for the hospital or facility's benefit (I sure don't think so) or is it to cut their MT costs, and then do they really pass that savings on to the facility, I think not.

“Special Characters” that can inflate line counts by 15%.

 “Invisible Characters” that can inflate line counts

up to 20-40%!

 Poorly designed templates that can lead to

excessive line counts.

 Multi-page reports that can drive excessive characters

and/or hidden words

I have to agree with you on this--why does everyone need to be called personally and I never thought about that, was the call being recorded?? But would they not have to tell you that??

Something just does not feel right about this. The packet is coming out in Oct, our all the packets different,after you get the packet will you have to sign something to agree to that pay rate to continue with your job, and is all this heading to a merger with Spheris at the first of the year. When I was called , there were no answers to any of my questions and honestly I think the person on the phone was not prepared for any questions, just to ask you if you got the packet.

Some of the offices that have been closed so far have surprised me, especially Warminster and Atlanta, and now Houston and an office in Ohio is closing. I hope it is not the one in Columbus, that is a great office.

Where is this all going???  And all I want to do is work, if there was any!!!

Got letter in mail --  inquiry about 'opportunity' for my service to hire on 50+ MTs including dictation platform - something about an MTSO losing 98% of its hospital business in November and wanting to place these MTs.  ?  I'm wondering if these poor MTs even know about it yet ??

I am a former SPI employee and got a letter from the company who did our paychecks today saying an SPI employee had left a laptop on a plane that had our personal info such as SSI#, bank info, etc. and the laptop had not been recovered.  They are supposed to have a 1-year free deal with Equifax for a credit watch.  This is really scary to me. Was wondering if anyone else got this letter.

The first sentence that sent me tossing my cookies was "...we would like to thank you for your continued service and support.  we know the key to our success is the people who work so hard for our customers every day".

PLEEZE......I have not had one centilla of a raise in over 5 years!  So we know what that sentence was all above.  Your thanks and $1.25 will get me a bad cup of coffee at Huddle House.

Next - that's the whole reason for this letter if you ask me - the little ditty from WINSTON AND STRAWN, attorneys at law.

They wanted MQ employees to cough up DOCUMENTS (document preservation).  Of course the attorneys for the MTs' class action suite are also searching out those very same documents.   How quaint.

And that graph about "over the past several months with your help and input we have been working on developing a pay plan and comprehensive benefit program that will enable us to set the standard in the industry."  Nowhere in that whole paragraph did it mention statutory MTs.  It addressed them in the salutation of the letter, but never in the paragraph about the pay plan of benefits if you notice.  and lord help us if MQ is going to set the STANDARD for the industry (which they have single-handedly devastated all by themselves).  They did not make profit through solid  business means, they made their profit off the BENEFITS we as MTs made previously and which they through smoke and mirrors merely shifted over to their profit column.  That didn't take a genius - just underhanded business.  I could do that too, take what used to be benefits and change it to the profit monies. 

And in this letter they further have the nerve to claim:  "While we believe that the claims raised by the three transcriptionists appear to lack merit..."  How about the thousands of other MTs who also believe it to be so, and the hospitals that back them up?

I have to go pour me a drink. 

Wondering if any SPI employees have accessed the enrollment for the 1 year free credit monitoring with Equivax due to a supposed breech of security with their payroll service, Ceridian.  I am wondering if this is legit or if it is the typical scam where after the first year free you are automatically enrolled into the service at a charge and it is your responsibility to cancel.  I would hate to think they have stooped so low as to be profiting off of their employee mailing list.  Guess I am feeling a little cynical today.

You could not said it any  better.!!!!

To Transcription Companies:

We are Transcriptionists or MLS.  We are faces unseen, but hearts that beat.  We are NOT a piece of machinery, but if you choose to think of us such, then I suggest you think of your machines as following:  In order for you to have your company, you need us.  We perform best when well treated.  We don't require much care, but the care we do require must be gentle.  Like any well-oiled machinery, we need gentle hands and warm touches.  It gets lonely, very lonely being a machine by itself.  Most of the time, the only contacts we get from you are your emails or IMs to us.  The wording of those emails is critical to the functioning of our machines.  A quick, thoughtless brash email lends our machinery to slow down and run boggy.  (Many a personal relationship has been broken by email and IM communication.  It's not a good way to run a business.)  Just like any piece of equipment, maintenance is important.  That maintenance comes in the form of our pay, and we only ask that it be on time and correct.  We produce for you.  We need our maintenance.  Sure, some of us may require a little more maintenance than others, but you end up benefiting from the results.  A little thank you now and then would be nice.  And, certainly at the holidays, we don't expect you all to be able to give us a complete overhaul, but certainly a card, a pen, a special little pad of paper, a calendar, or coffee cup would be much appreciated.  When feeding us input (or QA as you like to call it), we learn much better and produce more when it is given with tenderness and teaching.  Some machines learn best with a variety of teaching methods.  (Even speech recognition needs not only the voice, but the typist's words as well.)  We Transcriptionist machines may need some visual, as well as verbal teaching; and if we only get one, it may take us longer to learn.  It doesn't mean we are stupid; we just each have different methods of learning.  We will give you many years of service and perhaps a lifetime guarantee, if only you would follow the manufacturer's instructions.  Thank you.

A Transcription Machine

You are having such a horrid time filling those job positions that I am willing to give it a go, but only for 12 cpl. Let me know. Yours very truly.