My view of the VR situation...
Posted By: wise1 on 2009-09-23
In Reply to: And the Webmedx pay cut is 37.5% reduction from base rate. - Sick to my stomach
Seems to me that the companys that talk the hospital into the VR programs can be slick talkers...basically the hospitals spend VERY BIG money for the system, to just cut our pay and have to use something we DON'T want to use in the first place... They should have forgotten about this new improved program Extext or whatever, and tell the MTs it is beyond their control to make a cut, but let us type, and save the money installing the program... and a smaller cut... most of us would have gone with that. !!! Again the big companies have to much influence on those that decide to buy the equipment...
My new system can't even count the lines... not set up to do that... unbelievable
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Why the view on QA?
I've seen some slamming of the QA dept of OSi here. I'm curious to know why the negative view of their QA? What is the reason that you think it's the worse QA department anywhere?
A different view
I'm not sure where the other poster's info regarding mostly verbatim accounts comes from. Not one of the 4 or 5 accounts I've worked on over the years have been verbatim. Ease of production of course depends a great deal on your individual account. I happen to have a good one, although challenging, and I don't have any problem getting my lines on it. Management has been great to me personally, and I have no problem with the company whatsoever.
Osi and another view
On the other side of the coin, yes, being a newbie there was difficult because they threw so much at me at once, so many specialties, over 100 physicians all at once on a verbatim account. Yes, I did get e-mails where I had to go back and point out to QA where they were contradicting the account specifics. They had too much to handle.
BUT -- and this is a HUGE BUT -- I left there knowing so many specialties precisely because I got it all dumped on me at once and it had better be right. It was not a job, it was more like a school and I was being paid a little bit for doing the work.
Where I am now, no matter what they give me I can do it. I've had experience in almost every specialty, close to 30 or more. I've learned to push and push and not give up and take advantage of the overload to better myself. My Stedman's books are loose from the covers at this point. I don't think any school could be harder than OSi because of the pressure, the exposure to so much all at once, and you HAVE to do it as fast as you can because for me at least it was my only income. Sometimes the worst experiences pay off the best in the end. But as of the time that I left which was not that long ago, I would not advise a newbie to go there unless they had another source of income and could afford to get fired. They are VERY strict. I won't even go into the line counting debate.
To the one who has a different view
I agree with you. I think you have hit the nail right on the head. As to what will happen in 2 years, I will be happily retired (hopefully in Florida). Two years until retirement and I can hardly wait. If a child of mine ever wanted to become an MT, I would absolutely discourage them from doing it. Anyway, for what it is worth, I completely agree with your opinion and I have been an MT for a goodly long while!
another view
Hi all. I'm the original poster that caused so much backlash (ss# question). I am very happy to say that the replies to kitty and at the response I got for my seemingly simple minded question have changed my view. Just for the record, I understand HIPAA laws and have seen this before, just not as an IC with no background check, etc. To be honest, I never really paid attention, just did my job and did it well I might add. I'm one of those lucky ones who has never been without work and has had no trouble getting job offers with a respectable line rate. I was so happy to have found a place to communicate with others like me and I guess I kind of got knocked off my square a bit with some of the responses. I'm going to take the advice given and turn the other cheek and stick around. Those of you who are so helpful, pleasant and kind to one another have changed my mind. Thanks again to all of you for showing me the positive side of this site. 
Thanks for a different view
You could be so right about this, just was not thinking that way. I am very careful person and I really pick and choose carefuly when I try to do something. I thought she figured maybe I was on a scam which is far from the truth. My daughter tells me I cannot rescue the world (do animal rescuing also) but gosh, I can give a little of myself sometimes. Thanks for the insight!
curious about your view
Did she not break the law and was it not her own doing? You make it sound like she has had such a hard life. If she has because of this, it is her own fault. She made the choices and now suffers the consequences as we all do. Why are they bringing all this up now? Maybe she is into something she shouldn't be again?
My point of view
I don't think anyone is goint to find a perfect company. I have found OSi to be pretty good to work for, comparing to two other nationals I have worked for lately. THe work has been slow because of the holiday and hiring so many people, but I think they're moving people around and evening it out. I have plenty of work now. And I find my coordinator very knowledgeable and professional and very ready to help. There will always be things to gripe about, but I'm making my line count easily and can't complain.
Here's another point of view. SM
No benefits, no direct deposit, run out of work very very often with no compensation, HORRIBLE ESLs, all going to speech recognition and pay is very low for editing. If you can live with that, go for it. I sure couldn't. If you take wonderful money and subtract insurance, taxes, vacation, sick time, you are making about 5 cents a line.
Just a different point of view..
Maybe after questioning something QA did wrong, they're being more attentive to quality. For example, if I get a QA score that isn't acceptable to me as a personal goal, I'll make it a point to be even MORE attentive to my work and quality.
I'm not sure QA gets reprimanded for errors such as yours, but I'm sure they do. That would be an incentive for me to pay better attention, and now for you! :)
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot. I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism. I get paid by the line, not by the feedback. It would be fine by me to give no feedback. Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback. The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it. I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again. You shouldn't take QA personally. It's an awfully hard job.
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot. I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism. I get paid by the line, not by the feedback. It would be fine by me to give no feedback. Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback. The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it. I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again. You shouldn't take QA personally. It's an awfully hard job.
Can you view old reports on Beyond Txt?
Offered position with Transcend on this platform and forgot to ask.
A little more balanced view
It sounds to me like most of you are wanting to throw daggers and justify it by stating these are facts about companies, not just opinions. You feel that stating facts exempts you from wrongdoing. I don't see it that way at all.
All companies and all individuals make mistakes and errors. When even these so-called facts are presented in a way that give a bad light, disparage the character, of the person or company being talked about it, it is simply not okay at all.
The ONLY fair balance I see is this: It is okay for you to speak of every factual error and mistake about a company if the company can name you (you are, after all, naming these companies) and every error you make in your work and every time you are late to work, etc.
It is no more fair for you to sit here under the disguise of anonymity to name companies and attempt to set the world straight about them than it is for them to do the same about you.
I really truly believe in treating others as you would have them treat you. If companies came here and did the same, you'd all be filing into an attorney's office so fast it would make our heads spin.
Just sign me ...
Truth-n-Fair
Believer in the Golden Rule
A typical 'management' view of MTs. So sad. -nm
Personally my view is not that ignoring is
necessarily defending. However, cherry-picking is rampant because cherry-pickers know nothing will be done about it. Thanks to people like you. Cherry-picking is the thing that is pointless and wrong, NOT saying something about it.
Thanks so much for the realistic point of view.
I need some reality-based grounding and your post really helps a lot. I don't want to make any rash moves out of fear of the unknown. But it is so hard, as you know, when your bread and butter relies on the unknown (almost). I am sorry the stress is taking its toll on you. I hope that things get better for you. At least the pay has not dropped considerably because that would be really bad. With the econmony the way it is it is impossible to get credit and really it would not be good to live off of credit cards anyway. We have to keep a roof over our heads and it is really scary to try new things while needing the money. Thanks again for your point of view. It really does help.
Transcend - Positive View
I've read a lot of posts on here since last week about Transcend with quite a few of them being not so nice. I wanted to share some positive views about the company. I started with MDI-FL part-time back in 2001. I liked it so much that I wanted to go full-time so I did in 2003. It was a great company to work for. Then a few years later, we heard the news that the company was merging with Transcend. Did I have some apprehension? Yes, of course. We had a few changes to get used to -- payperiod with pay dates was the biggest -- though our pay rates stayed the same. It didn't take long to get accustomed to it and things have gone pretty well since then. I work in a region of other platforms that does not include BeyondTxt. Does that stop anyone in this region from working on a different platform such as BeyondTxt - No it does not. As Transcend continues to grow, it is opening up other opportunities for everyone. It makes your account possibilities just about endless. With BeyondTxt, once you learn it, you can work on almost any account there is. Do we have slow periods? Yes we do, but that is the way the transcription business is. If your account is slow, request a back up and if you're flexible, you can have multiple back up accounts on different platforms. There is a lot of flexibility at Transcend. All the TLs and ROMs are great people and will work with you. If you need time off for something or need to rearrange your schedule, that can be done. You may be asking - who is this person?. I started as an MLS, worked my way up to TL (team lead) and then into the ROM (manager) position for a few years and because of decisions of my own, am now a TL again. So as you can see, I've worked in different positions and have seen the company from multiple views. Everyone with MDI-MD, or anyone thinking of applying, should give it a chance. Don't go by all the negativity here. If you have any questions that you want to ask, feel free to contact me. My email address is ****** Have a great Monday!
If you can view your paycheck online, you might be able to print W2s. NM
x
Precyse in my rear-view mirror........................
No problem. Feels good to get is off my chest. Don't mind sharing the good, bad and ugly of the job search and its results. With a little luck, I will bag one by the weekend or first of next week. Will follow up on the company board.
I am placing high priority on an hourly wage + benefits position. So much of the pressure would be eliminated and to a certain extent I would accept slightly less $ to get it. They are rare to be sure but not impossible to find with a little persistence.
The jury is still out on the do they still exit query. Over the past 31 years the general progression from good-to-bad followed a gentle and gradual downward slope, punctuated with two major deep dives in my recollection. The first was in the late 80s to early 90s when MTSOs had been around for a few years but were still relatively young. They did not seem to comprehend the concept of employee benefits. IC was their answer and full-employee status all but vanished. This began to turn around in a noticeable way in the late 90s, a full DECADE later. The second and deepest dive is this ASR jolt. We will all end up squaring off with it sooner or later. Generally speaking, small-to-medium size organizations who are competitive in terms of benefit and wages seem to be the most likely place to find a little peace...but meticulous research on those is imperative. I will not rule out anything for the moment. I plan send resumes to as many MTSO companies as possible, even the ones with the bad reps posted on this board, in an attempt to get a phone call PRIOR to what can be the labor-intensive testing phase of the process. I am interested in comparing the various recruiting strategies and offers. I have a copy/fax/scanner on my desk so that really helps in being able to cover a lot of territory.
I also think I will try to edge on out into the general transcription scene just to see what it looks like. Government jobs may be a possiblity as well....they can't age discriminate.
During search, I have found it useful to keep daily notes, tracking the process, contact info, the substance of the conversations, my gut reaction and the time factors. Will post again in a day or 2. Thanks for your interest.
I view it as part of a well orchestrated plan
If you recall what happened to our software/IT people, the companies started offering less and less moneys so that they could say they couldn't find American workers.
The MTSOs are probably doing a similar thing. They can then go to the hospitals, and any that dare say they want American workers doing the work can be told with a straight face that the MTSO has unsuccessfully tried to hire American and there just aren't any to do the work. The hospitals, thinking they at least tried to do the right thing, then is forced to acquiesce to having their work sent overseas.
But I still don't know who was the 2nd shooter on the grassy knoll.
She sounds like Elizabeth on "The View" !
Unrealistic view that a lot of MTs do not understand. The offshore companies sm
have very deep pockets and make it attractive for companies here to use them. Even if every smaller MTSO refused to do it, do you think we would be able to compete with Spheris and C-Bay just to name two of the bigger companies that use the offshore transcriptionists?
Hospitals, unfortuneately, often care more about the bottom line than the perfection we expect from ourselves. Many doctors do not read the reports (most from what I understand) and just care that they have satisfied JACHO requirements by having a record in the charts.
Offshore transcription is not going anywhere. Sad but true. I do not support it but I am a small tree in a very, very, very big forest.
My change of view occured before Transcend mentioned anything
about piloting offshore. For me, it happened when I saw all 3 major credit bureaus outsourcing our financial information offshore and that was before Christmas. Do I like it? No. Do I embrace it? No. Do I accept it? Yes. You can argue about this til doomsday, but the facts are these:
1. Outsourcing offshore is not going away, it's growing.
2. While US transcription is being sent offshore more and more, it opens up US editing positions as offshore entities cannot provide the quality the client contracts for. To offer these jobs through the MTStars website to job seekers, we must include US MTSOs that offshore.
3. Since all 3 of our major credit bureaus are offshoring our financial information and the government is allowing it, then anything is up for grabs.
4. Political intervention has done nothing. Bills that manage to get passed, get slapped down before they can become law.
Different view: If we all went to hourly pay to make sure that we are paid during downtime, it wou
what we earn on production. I make upwards of $30 an hour on production. Most hospitals are under $20 an hour. I think we would lose money if hourly and if they pay us for downtime, I am sure that the money would have to come from somewhere, so they would lower rates.
Anyone work for Axolotl in Mountain View? (see mssg)
If so, what are the pros and cons? What is starting pay? Good accounts? Flexibility? How long in business? Large or small company? etc.....
I didn't view it as a forum to complain. I saw it more as a chance to get to know sm
others who work for the same company. Working at home can feel kind of isolating at times. I do not miss the commute to work, scraping ice off of my car in the winter, backstabbing, gossip, etc., but I sometimes do miss the social aspects of working in an office. I guess my viewpoint is, things are what you make them to be.
I love Transtech and have been a cheerleader for a long time, even to the point of being accused of being management. They have stuck with me through some bad times on my end, and I have no intention of dumping them through these bad times now, although I have gotten a couple of other jobs. With the holidays coming up, especially, it may take all 3 to make ends meet and maybe have a few extras, but that is just part of life.
Not true! I do not view all MTs as "low-down dirty scoundrels" at all...
I am a realist, however, and not everyone is a honest, trustworthy person. A lot of people out there want something for nothing and there are some who even feel entitled to get something for nothing! As a manager, I've seen my share of bad seeds and my share of the cream of the crop. If you don't have minimum requirements, you will always have a few who will abuse your generosity.
I've seen it happen. The supervisor before me wanted to be everybody's friend. The dept., under her tenure, had the highest rate of absenteeism throughout the hospital. Minutes of dictation on the system were out of control and nearly everything work type was 70% out of TAT!
Like us our not, managers are not here to be your friends. We are here to run a department. We want to care about our employees and for the most we do, but there has to be a line or else things fall apart.
And that point-of-view is why we're all suffering huge
They'll pay as little as people will accept, and too many of you will accept anything.
EXCELLENT post. Thank you for a balanced point of view. nm
You make us laff here, girl! Love your point of view! :) nm
s
Interjecting a point of view is fine, but if you find it offensive...sm
people bash their companies, how about people who bash other people and taunt them by posting ridiculous statements about dark evil forces and then give you the Tony Robbins about how they should live you life.
I am a little tired of people saying blowing sunshine out my a$$ is going to pay my bills when work is sparse, wages are being cut by 1/3 to 1/2, and insurance is eating up almost half my paycheck.
I am an adult, I don't need to grow up and look on the bright side, and I don't need to bend over and take it anymore. I need to stand up to the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, department managers, supervisors, recruiters, and company acquisition specialists and tell them that my job is every bit as valuable and technical as theirs is.
They're not sitting in meetings all day groveling about how bad the economy is and how lucky they are to have jobs. They are capitalizing on a bunch of people by forcing their wages down and then saying it is their own fault because there was a typo in a report or transcriptionists in VietNam can do their job just as well and for less.
That is the truth.
When they "link" multiple job numbers for one report, like Four View Of The Feet And Ankles.&#
Yep--same situation for me.
I just dread the thought of being yelled at, and then probably fired, because I can't keep a schedule. I work when kids are watching a TV show, or taking a nap, or a neighborhood kid drops in to babysit, or dinner is taking extra long so I can squeeze in a couple more reports. Like you, THAT is why I've been with MQ for almost seven years now!
I feel like crying.
I just had this same situation come up - sm
I simply explained to the company that I would rather my present employer not be contacted at this time, since they are not aware that I am looking. I have another reference, so I hope it isn't going to be a problem. But like you, if things don't pan out with this company and I end up staying where I am, I definitely don't want any problems.
This is my situation.
I am a hospital employee thinking of going national mainly due to the drive though. There is plenty of work though and when the work is low which is rare, we file, the ones that know how code, code, sometimes we can help out with Release of Info (ROI), or do other things until there is more work so you are always getting paid. Great bennies too at my hospital too, tons of PTO time that a person can cash in.
The down side is that certain ones can get away with turning in crap work all the time. thers if they make one little mistake it is magnified and made to feel like they are the worst Transcriptionist in the world. Some are allowed to cherry pick and others get stuck with the worst dictators. Also a problem is that I am in an office with newbies who don’t have to worry about production (rest of us do) and they act like children, literally. Sing songs out loud, shoot rubber bands at each other, the phone where family and friends can call on rings off the wall. I also have a loud speaker over my head where the operator comes on and says “DR SMITH call 99999 or whatever.” I don’t fit into the little cliques.  I cannot afford fancy clothes and I cannot afford to go out and eat once or twice a week, I have go to home and cook supper as I have two small children to feed.
I'm in the same situation - someone took all my
call me. I followed the employee manual and sent an email as my first step in problem resolution to my account supe (who never returns emails). And this is a new job I took because of the very same thing happening at the last one, with assurances that I would NEVER have this problem here!
Am not sure what the situation is. SM
If this is a local hospital, I was welcomed with open arms on no more than a medical terminology course, although that was years ago. There is no better training than the one-on-one I received there. Sometimes you will find there are people available to help you until you can get up to speed. Even in a local doctor's office, you may not be on your own for awhile. If you're not sure about the situation, don't hesitate to apply, and there is no need to mention your lack of experience. I imagine it will show up on your resume, so they will know exactly what they are getting. If you get to the interview stage, that would be the time to ask about training, what exactly is expected, how long you have to learn all you need to know, who is available to help, etc. Good luck whatever your decision.
my situation... c msg
I'm an actual full-time employee for two merged hospitals. Full benefits. also includes radiology. I went home 1-1/2 years ago. pay is 20/hr. The minimum production is 75 minutes plus 0.50/min after 80 minutes. all equipment provided including second phone line and internet connection. We do have outside vendors that back us up, but we have majority of the work. I'm happy with my position. Unfortunately the hospital itself is making cuts and the transcription department is one of its targets, although they haven't touched us yet. One of our vendors are now doing most of the work for one of our hospitals, so I am considering asking my boss to hire me as an IC.
I say take the job if you have more pluses than minuses, but remember, hospitals do lay off so have a back up plan. Good luck to you.
I don't think I would like that situation...
I think you should be able to see how many reports you did and line count for each. I've had instances where a report I sent was missing from my total, and I would never have known if I wasn't able to get that detailed info. I have always kept a log, also, of all job numbers to compare. Maybe there would be some way you could check the line count for each report before you sent it and write it down and then compare the total to what shows up? but that would be a pain!
Your's is a different situation
than mine of course, and so we have different concerns. I really do not know much about them, as the people who merged with MD-IT, who I will be working for, are very new to MD-IT (June of this year), and they really cannot give me many answers to my questions. This is what concerns me the most! MD-IT may be fine itself, but I am worried about the branch of it that I am dealing with. Let me know if you would what you find out about them, and I will do the same on my end! Good luck with whatever you decide to do!!!!
Yes, same situation here also
You don't know the situation...
shut up until you do. It is not up to supervisors to train someone how to be an MT, they are only responsible for showing them how to use the software platform, unless they teach a transcription class. Companies hire MTs that have had years of experience, like duh. These were stupid errors only first-year MTs would make and this woman had more years of MT experience than me and still made them.
It's not my responsibility to teach MTs medical terminology and spelling. They should already know.
Sad situation...
I am currently working for a company that acquired business here, only to eventually send it all overseas. I'm just counting the days before I’m given the boot... I hope and pray that our next president makes it very unpleasant for companies who do this to Americans. What goes around comes around and you get what you pay for! Let's see how long the clients stick around with the quality issues you will soon be faced with. I am very disappointed because I thought I was a valued employee... silly me!
It's a sad situation...
Most of us expect not to be given raises...but I think that should change. It makes no sense to be at a company 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and so on years and never be given a raise. It doesn't happen in other professions, does it?
Never had that situation, but I was only
assigned 1 account and was told that if I needed to add to it to let them know. I've only been with less than a year, but when I interviewed, they went over the account in pretty good detail with me. So I kinda knew what I would be working on before I accepted the position.
Are you with MDI currently and are having a problem or just looking?
When I went through the same situation with
I called the bank with the paycheck account number and asked if a check for my estimated amount was covered. When I found it wasn't, I figured out the check wasn't simply lost in the mail and confronted the MTSO, who fessed up that things were temporarily tight. I quit immediately and stayed in contact daily until I got my wages. I do not give the benefit of the doubt anymore.
My situation
I do both ASR and transcription and never run out of work. I have two accounts, acute care. I'm not sure about the radiology side of things. I used to run out of work until I volunteered to do ASR, which keeps me busy when transcription is low. I never run out of work now.
situation
I did run out of work off and on awhile back, as we will in this biz. I have several accounts (by request) and am almost never out of work. Lately very busy in fact. Yes, they have been very good about accommodating me. IMO it is a great company. Have been there a couple years now. Biggest drawback is feeling the need to work on days off if acct is busy. As they've said, if everyone for that acct put in 1-2 hours at those times, it would solve the client needs. Unfortunately, not everyone is so conscientious. good luck.
I had same situation
I applied to several companies. A couple got me all excited but then blew me off after paying closer attention to my resume and how long I had been out of the field. I applied with Focus and got hired there but never actually started because my former employer from many yrs ago finally got back to me and offered me a job (after testing since even they were skeptical even though I was a great MT back then). Apply for everything you can and test for anyone who offers you the chance. If you are interested in working for local doctors instead of a national company you could compile a list of who is in your town and start contacting each of them.
Good luck. You will find something. Try not to get too discouraged.
this is exactly how the situation is with VR...sm
good VR system + good dictator + good audio = happy VR-MTs
bad VR sytem + bad dictator + bad audio = miserably feeling VR-MTs
and all the variations in between.....
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