Medical transcription is an industry that REQUIRES sm

• Required hours for IC work~~curious - peanut
  • No, you are correct. IC = no set hours, etc. nm - IC-MT
  • Medical transcription is an industry that REQUIRES sm - ICr
    • I work every day and am not a slacker - peanut
      • I absolutely agree with you on this post. sm - ICr
      • IRS and ICs - Ex-MTSO
        • true, at least they can work in their jammies...sm - peanut
  • You're so right. That was my beef with a poster - Yup
    • Folks really need to read the posts correctly.... - GaPeach
      • Don't you have a panda to visit? Ha!! - Yup
        • In the spirit of the year... - GaPeach
          • Merry Christmas to you, too. I meant it. - Yup
    • That is what I thought - peanut
      • IRS and ICs - Ex-MTSO
        • exactly - peanut

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

First off I want to make it clear that I am not “bashing” any MTs by asking the questions below.  Also sorry this is so long.  Please bear with me.   -- Spelling and grammar police please take a break !!! 

I have been following some posts and just got curious.  So if we all could just take a deep breath, give it some serious thought, stay on point and not get carried away with other opinions, I think we can get some good honest opinions about why the MTSOs are treating their employees like “equipment.”  

What I have noticed is that when there are MTs looking for information about certain companies they often get replies such as:  I worked for them but “left after 1 month – 2 months – 6 months,”  Then there are MTSO owners who complain that after offering an MT a position the MT either says “no thanks” the day they are suppose to start working or are never heard from again.   This gives me the impression that there are MTs out there who treat working as an MT like they treat buying a new pair of shoes --- try them out for awhile and then return them if they don’t fit.  No emotional attachment involved. 

I am fast approaching 60 years of age and have been an MT for over 35 years.  I was one of the first to take the CMT test when AAMT first organized way back when.  My first MT job was transcribing from cassette tapes, using a typewriter and sticky paper for clinic notes and sheets of paper for hospital reports.  So obviously I have seen a lot of changes in the MT business.  Personally over the past 35+ years I have had 6 employers (4 inhouse before MTSOs offered working from home and 2 national MTSOs for the past 15 years).   Personally I am TERRIFIED of having to find a new job --- interviews, equipment setup, new platform to learn, loss in earnings during training, and so forth and so forth.  That being said I have a feeling I will need to be looking for a new position within the next six months and I am curious as to what type of employment search atmosphere I will be encountering. 

My curiosity stems from my impression that many MTs are comfortable “job-hopping.”  When they state they only stayed at a company for 1-2-6 months it is presented as matter-of-fact – no-big-deal.  I can see why they feel that way.  With several hundred MTSOs out there and most constantly looking for new employees, even the worst MT in the world could start working at age 20, work for a different company every 6 months and still not work for them all by the time they retire.  In my opinion that is what is causing the MTSOs to treat their MTs so badly, offer them less and less as starting wages, and not be responsive to questions or problems.  The MTSO invests quite a bit of money into hiring a new employee.  They either have to pay someone in their HR Department or a Recruiting Agency to do the initial resume search, testing, and interviewing.  There is a ton of paperwork.   If the MTSO supplies the computer, their IT Department has to set up the computer and ship it out which means shipping charges for the computer or paperwork.  And someone has to train the new MT.  All those expenses are incurred by the MTSO before the MT even starts to produce.  I can see why some of the MTSOs are resorting to questionable “bait and switch” tactics.  They probably also send out the oldest computers to the new MTs to cover themselves in case the MT quits and doesn’t ship it back in a timely manner.  It seems to me that the majority of complainers about type of work, amount of work, or computer problems that they are experiencing are the newly hired MTs. 

Because of all the “short-term” complainers, someone looking for information about a particular company is often given incomplete or misleading opinions based on limited information.   Can anyone honestly with 100% accuracy adamantly state a company is “#1” or “the worst on earth” when they only worked there for 2 months?  I would love to see any MT who posts a positive or negative comment about a company to also admit to how long they actually worked for the company and if they are currently employed there or not.  I think that would give their opinions a lot more weight. 

Obviously, not every MTSO is the “dream job” for every MT and for any MT to state they work for the “best company” is hubris and can even be fighting words to employees of other good or even great companies.  It can also lead to disappointment when an MT applies to the “best company” only to find out it does not fit their needs.  I feel that if the MTs on this board would try to leave personal opinions aside and give relevant information about a company it would be easier for an MT to find a good fit with ONE company and not have to “job-hop,”   If more MTs would work for a company for at least a year before quitting and moving on maybe the MTSOs would actually be willing to offer newly hired MTs the same respect they offer the MTs that have been working for them for 5-10-15 or more years.  

Finally to my questions.  I am curious to see if my opinion is based in fact.  Are there a significant number of MTs who “job hop?” 

These questions are primarily directed at employees of MTSOs, large or small, but  inhouse hospital or clinic MTs are also welcome to respond.  I realize IC MTs have a whole different set of guidelines they go by and often have multiple clients at the same time.  But if you are an IC and wish to give your opinion, please feel free to do so – just state that you are an IC so there is no confusion.  

Please answer as many questions as you feel comfortable giving information about (I hope you will answer most because of the anonymity of this board):

1.  How long have you been working as an MT?

2.  How many DIFFERENT companies have you worked for (even if it was only for a few hours) in the last 10 years?  (If you left but came back later that is only 1.) 

3.  How many companies have you accepted an offer of employment from but then never actually started working for them?

4.  How many companies have you quit working for within the first pay period?

5.  How many companies have you quit from? 

6.  Have many companies have you been terminated from (I guess the word “fired” from is no longer politically correct)  i.e. you were not meeting line requirements, QA requirements, time commitment requirements (signing on late, leaving early), or being told you don’t have the necessary experience/expertise for the accounts assigned to you, etc? 

7.  How many companies have you left because they were bought out by another MTSO and you did not like how the new MTSO was treating you? 

8.  How many companies that you were working for completely went out of business (was not bought by another company) and told you that you had to find a new job yourself? 

9.  What is the shortest period of time that you have worked for one company? (Even if it was only for a few hours)   What is the longest period of time that you have worked for one company? 

10.  Have you ever continued working for your former company while training with a new company? 

11.  Have you ever worked for two different companies (2 part-time or 1 full-time and 1 part-time) during the same time period?  For how many months/years did you work for two different companies?

12.  What is your primary reason for applying to a certain company (pay, insurance, flexible schedule, equipment provided, sign-on bonus, referral from another MT, etc)?

13.  What is your primary reason for leaving a company (cannot maintain minimum required number of lines, not assigned accounts or job types as originally discussed, running out of work too frequently, difficult platform,  computer slowness/crashes, management conflicts, QA conflicts, other “bait and switch” type of issues where the MTSO said one thing but you ended up doing something entirely different, personal, family, etc)?

14.  Are you really happy at your present company or are you just working there because you are afraid if you try another company it will be worse and not better?   How long have you worked at this company?  Do you plan to continue working at this company for at least 1 year (of course barring unforeseen personal or professional events).  Would you be willing to give the name of your present company?    

15.  Do you think you will retired as a Medical Transcriptionist (or in the Medical Transcription field, such as an Editor, Supervisor, etc) or do you think you will switch careers at some point before retirement?  

Thank you for your time. 

If you would like to e-mail me with any questions or responses, I would be happy to hear from all of you. 

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity and giving me some insight as to where the Medical Transcription field is heading in the future. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS. 

Hey everyone, check out this link. This is what we are up against. Be sure and note how 3M or whoever is the sponsor of this webinar throws in that dictation and transcription is time-consuming.  Nevermind that EMR and VR take more time and money to be successful and it only takes 38 seconds to dictate a returning patient and 2 minutes to dictate a new patient versus 500 clicks on a point and click EMR or the mess VR makes and having to have an Editor come in and clean up the mess. Propaganda that we should know about.

http://www.uptilt.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=2090471&mlid=125814&siteid=8121&uid=9a311a2ad9

Has anyone heard of this company?  They had an editing ad and I have never heard of them.

We need Medical transcription outsource .

On the Job Seeker's Board it says USA Medical Transcription.  That is all I know about it.  It says they are seeking transcriptionists for VA Hospital work.  Thanks.

Anyone know anything about this company?  Web site or has anyone worked for them? 

Thanks for mentioning that.

Good to see those few posts from OVER 2 YEARS AGO!!  Excuse me, but things can and do change. 

At least one person was positive and has a good head on her shoulders.  Her response was excellent about OSI.

Does anyone have any experience with this company; good, bad or indifferent? I believe they are based in Shreveport, LA, but billing invoices go to Jonesville, TX. I did a search on this site, but nothing comes up for this company. Thanks in advance!

Any info on this company would be great.  Thanks

If it is the company out of SC, I worked there.  It was great until I got sick.  I had to have surgery and the President herself assured me everything was okay and my job was safe.  To make a long story short, I had complications after my surgery and they terminated me.

The supervisor was HORRIBLE to deal with as well.

Whats the platform??  Is pay okay?   I have seen 8 cpl...is that about right?  Do you work rotating weekends?  Thanks! 

I have worked for them since October 2007. Their website is http://www.tmtmedicaltranscription.com/contactus.html, however, I do not believe the information is current.  ***Edited by Moderator***

Please do not put names and E-mail addresses in your posts.

NM

The CMC I know is based in Seattle, a great company to work with!  Most of the transcriptionists who work for CMC are located in the Pacific Northwest, but CMC contracts with transcriptionists located all over the country – from New York to Arizona. Because it has transcriptionists in so many different time zones, CMC is better able to schedule service for clients that need a short turnaround on a 24 hour basis, such as emergency rooms or pathology labs.

CMC has acquired its clients, as well as its contract transcriptionists solely through its reputation for excellent service in the health care industry. Colleen’s goal in starting this company was to establish a business that takes pride in its quality service. CMC realizes that a well-trained and supported Transcriptionist provides a better product than an ill-trained, unappreciated worker. Therefore, CMC strives to provide their transcriptionists with the finest in both technical and emotional support, as well as a good living.

After not getting a reply, I thought I would go to eTransPlus and apply.  I got to the part where you take the test and it said I must have XP or better.  I have Windows 2000. Oh, well.  So I went to MBA Transcription and applied and said to copy and paste my resume into an e-mail. Well, I have been doing that, but it cuts the city and state off my jobs that I have had and makes the whole resume look lousy.   After getting nowhere with all these companies and the only company that REALLY wants me right now is SoftScript (they have called me twice), I decided to talk to Transcription Matchmaker on MT Daily. Soft Script changed my hours just before I hired with them and now I can't type their hours they want. (Got to send your kids to Siberia if you want to get a job as an MT.) So I was supposed to have the phone interview today but did not give interviewer enough advance notice, so now she wants it Tuesday. 

Then I applied to HILS Transcription and got an e-mail back saying Due to the overwhelming response of our job ad, we will not be able to answer individual e-mails.  Excuse me, but I'm not applying for some drawing, like get a free computer.  Then another MT told me today that on MT Daily there were over 1300 resumes and 97 jobs. Oh, this is depressing. And all these ads on this site saying study medical transcription now, be your own boss, earn money at home.

Well, that's my story.

I noticed on the MT Stars job board they are asking for several types of MTs.  I also noticed there is a USA Transcription in Fort Lauderdale.  This one is USA Medical Transcription in Jupiter, Florida. Their post for regular MTs said you could work any 5 days.

I have actually talked to Wendy from HR in Jupiter, Florida. We had a phone interview but she hasn't gotten back with me since.

Hi!  Does anyone have any info good/bad on this company? 

TIA!!