Personal info from survey's
Posted By: Anon on 2007-06-18
In Reply to: This survey does NOT ask for any -nm - personal information, it's anon.
Oh, it asks enough info and you can count on it collecting your IP address, that is all it takes to find out exactly who you are. This survey may be free - but you can bet her future survey's will cost you to take, and once she has all this data, you can bet your sweet bippy her site to access all of this information is going to be a pay site! She is not interested in improving anything in our field, she is only interested in $$$$$ she can make collecting data and making this data seem like it means something.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
We were notified that they were correlating our survey info (sm)
and hope to have a new plan out to promote retention and happiness. Last letter we got stated that it was taking longer than anticipated. This was maybe a month or so ago. Not sure exactly what will be effected, just hoping for the best.
posting personal info on the net
It's gotten very scary, especially to people who are trying to get a nut case out of their life ie: victims of domestic violence, etc. I live in a large metropolitan area and our county clerk has property records on the internet. All you have to do is type a name in and see if you can find who your looking for.
Our local YWCA where I volunteer has tried to stop this, but he says that the records are available in person, always have been ..well, it takes a person a lot more effort to go down and dredge through them in person...duh. So again people, just be careful.
personal info is always at risk just by being online
all over the world...the perps are trying to get everyone's personal information....not just that company and their stupid error.....nothing is secure online no matter for the encryption codes or anything - NOTHING is 100% secure online...*hear that? all you people who bank online and pay bills online*??? Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it is not in the works.
I remember few years ago Western Union got hacked (one of the oldest companies in America) and told all 100,000 customers to *cancel all your credit cards as we do not know what information the perps got on all of you*
Nothing is 100% secure online, not banking, not medical records, not your social security numbers nor your personal records.....even if you see the little lock at the task bar.....means not much to a computer whiz/cracker.
be aware 
No personal info, no money, no scam.
Someone is definitely not pleased with the show of solidarity.
No personal info, no money, no scam. Nothing but MTs helping one another to regain self-respect, and industry respect.
This has been in the works for 2 years, finally come to fruition. Service owners, get used to it.
so, basically they are asking for $$ AND personal ID info -- RED FLAG(S)!! NM
.
You can't commit identify theft with general personal info
that is found in a resume. They would need to have more detailed info like ss#, which hopefully people aren't dumb enough to put in their resume anyway. Definitely if someone calls you asking for this, don't give it to them. However, as for the people that sent in their resume, it's not possible to steal your identity with the same stuff they could have just as easily gotten out of the phone book. Of course, I do believe that you should be cautious about your personal information, but there's no need to be so paranoid (like the Brian guy on the main page). People should be keeping a close eye on their credit reports anyway with the world the way it is now.
Survey
I got the same thing. We took that survey last year, and then finally many moons later the only update is that it is still being held under advisement? BS! I'm content with what I manage to produce for myself working as an IC for MQ, but am not hopeful about the promised benies.
a survey for MTs
I was just wondering for all you at-home MTs why you chose transcription and what kind of job (good paying or not so good paying ) your significant other (if you have one) has. If your significant other has a job, are the benefits good? Thanks in advance for answering.
This survey does NOT ask for any -nm
ui
Survey
I am working as an IC for a smaller service. VERY few if any ESLs and those that are ESL, are extremely clear and coherent. Base rate is based on 5K lines per pay period with increase in anything over that and great incentive for doing what you can Friday-Sunday. Frankly, I prefer the flexibility of IC over being an employee because of the unexpected emergencies that can and do arise.
Let's take a little survey.....sm
Since we are all up in arms about the state of MT these days, how about answering a few questions.
1. What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to MTs?
2. What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to QA/editors?
3. What do you think realistically your paycheck should be per pay period?
4. Do you think ICs and employees should be paid equally?
5. Do you believe that a person's ability to be an MT should impact the amount they are paid?
6. Do you believe MT pay should be standardized within the industry?
7. What is your BASE line rate before any incentives and does your company pay incentives?
8. Do you believe government should regulate minimum MT pay as they regulate the minimum wage in the general work force?
9. What benefits do you believe should be extended to employee MTs?
Let's just answer these honestly and see exactly how poorly we feel we are being treated.
survey
And my answers....
1. What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to MTs?
I think .12 to .14 would be reasonable. I know several services charging the client .24 or more per line so I think the MT should get a fair percentage of that.
2. What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to QA/editors?
Since I've not done QA, can't answer that one. Did do some editing and I found it to be more work then MT, just too much fixing to do so I think the current 50% of the MT pay is nuts! Why would anyone settle for that?
3. What do you think realistically your paycheck should be per pay period?
I would say equivalent of about $16 to $18 per hour so somewhere between $640 to $720 per week. Don't get me wrong. I'd love more but......let's be real. We were for the most part educated at community colleges or the like and cannot command the salaries of people with advanced degrees, can we?
4. Do you think ICs and employees should be paid equally?
same work, same pay. the IC may not have traditional benefits but made that choice for themselves and reaps many other benefits (scheduling, time off, etc.)
5. Do you believe that a person's ability to be an MT should impact the amount they are paid?
Well, of course. We all should be compensated for our skill levels.
6. Do you believe MT pay should be standardized within the industry?
Why? There is no other industry that is. I know attorneys earning $60 K and some earning $300 K and the same is true in all jobs. some companies pay more, some pay less. that's reality.
7. What is your BASE line rate before any incentives and does your company pay incentives?
Mine is 0.85 with the MTSO I am with right now, and I am fine with it. Their platform is wonderful and the work is really good so I can still achieve a decent hourly rate and have the right to work when it works for me.
8. Do you believe government should regulate minimum MT pay as they regulate the minimum wage in the general work force?
If you mean establish a minimum, that would only work for employee status, not IC. But no, I don't think so. It is up to us to stop settling for less than we are worth.
9. What benefits do you believe should be extended to employee MTs?
Depends on the person's status.
Let's just answer these honestly and see exactly how poorly we feel we are being treated.
Survey everyone please
nm
Hey can i still join the survey? nm
x
Survey: Don't give co name, but do you all have
xx
Salary Survey
Looking at the post below about who loves their company, I am hoping to take this information a step further with what I hope is a fair survey. Working 40 hours a week, what is your salary, acute care versus clinic, benefits versus no benefits, and what company do you work for? I think it is very hard to judge what the individual companies are offering, and a lot of the opinions are based on what works for one does not work for another. Thanks to all who are willing to share this info.
Also, has your salary gone up (ha, ha), stayed the same, or gone down over the last 5 years? Thanks again.
My survey answers - (s/m)
1. Q: What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to MTs?
A: Forget the 'going rate'. It's a national disgrace. Based on current cost of living in this country, inflation, average rent, price of food, gas, etc., and amount of skill the MTSOs demand from their workers, it should be closer to 12 cpl. And no, I'm NOT kidding.
2. Q: What do you believe should be the minimum line rate paid to QA/editors?
A: Never been one, so can't answer from experience. Granted, they do less typing, but then again, they're supposedly supposed to know more than we do, 'cause they're correcting and QA-ing our work. So it probably all evens out in the end, and they should probably be paid similar to MTs. Don't forget that some of them MT when not QA-ing.
3. Q: What do you think realistically your paycheck should be per pay period?
A: One that pays the rent, healthcare copayments, puts gas in my car and food on my table. That varies from region to region. In my region it would be about $1400 per pay-period, AFTER taxes/soc. security,etc.
4. Q: Do you think ICs and employees should be paid equally?
A: Have never been an IC, so am not knowledgeable enough to give you a cpl answer. But when all is said and done, they work just as hard as the rest of us. And don't get insurance. So their pay should enable them to buy their own insurance. If they can't afford it, they're being cheated.
5. Q: Do you believe that a person's ability to be an MT should impact the amount they are paid?
A: Are you talking about the quality of work? Quantity? Both? Neither? If you are, OF COURSE I believe in merit raises. But 'raise' is a word rarely heard in the MT world. Also, I believe that maybe the pay rate should not be by the actual account (as in which hospital/clinic) but by each dictator. Sloppy dictators and/or extremely difficult-to-transcribe ESLs should pay the MT more, and cost the clinic more to have transcribed.
6. Q: Do you believe MT pay should be standardized within the industry?
A: Only if that means standardizing it to compare with other skilled jobs in this country. But if that means keeping the status-quo, and keeping the pay down at 3rd World standards, then no, I don't. It all depends on WHICH standard they'd be adhering to.
7. Q: What is your BASE line rate before any incentives and does your company pay incentives?
A: Min. = apx. 1000 lines per day. No incentives other than, 'If you want more money, just type more.'
8. Q: Do you believe government should regulate minimum MT pay as they regulate the minimum wage in the general work force?
A: Absolutely. And the problem is, this is not the 'general' work force.. this is a highly skilled profession that requires aptitudes, i.e., hearing/spelling/extremely strong knowledge of English and 'medicalese'/extremely fast fingers) that take time & education (regardless of how much is on-the-job learning) to master. It's a talent. Not every nurse or doc can do this. Not every secretary can do this. Not even every MT-school grad can do this. So we should be paid more in accordance with what we can do. The fact that technology allows us to work from home should in NO WAY force us to accept less. Sometimes working from home is harder than working in an office. We may pay less for gas in the car, but pay more for heat, AC, electricity, etc. since we're home all day. The bottom line is we still get the transcription done to the very highest standards. I think it's time the government got involved with this sector of the health care industry that has been swept under the rug for far too long, and bring our pay up to more realistic standards. Most likely that will only happen if we could all be unionized.
But before the government can do anything to help us, FIRST they have to be made aware that we even EXIST.
9. What benefits do you believe should be extended to employee MTs?
Let's just answer these honestly and see exactly how poorly we feel we are being treated.
survey answers
1. Minimum line rate should be at least 12 cpl/65 characters. The company I work for now pays 6 cpl/43 characters, which evens out to around 8 or 9 cpl/65 characters - aka, not enough.
2. I think editors should be paid for the amount of work they have to do. I have been an Editor for almost 5 years now and the work is harder when the MT is brand new. You have to read every report line by line, which should merit more money. However, on reports for seasoned MTs where only blanks need to be filled in, this requires less work and should be paid so. Don't ask what I get paid to QA - it's definately not enough!
3. Realistically, I think my check should be at least $1200 to 1400 per pay period.
4. Yes, I think ICs and employees should be paid equally.
5. I think there are too many MTs out there that are not really MTs, as in going through the actual training and certification process. I know of several that just learn as they go along, but that don't know drug names, syndromes, etc. I think it should be manditory to have training to be an MT and then the pay thing wouldn't even be a question.
6. No, I don't think pay should be standardized because there are too many bad dictators out there to make typing their reports worth the same as someone dictating very clearly and cleanly. Pay should be based on difficulty of dictator and only mandated by the MTSO.
7. 1,000 lines a day is not unobtainable for any MT as a base line rate, as long as they are considerd FT. Incentives should be given when the MT is no longer required to go through line by line editing; quality of work, as well as quantity. Anyone can type more, but how well is it being done? No, the company I work for does not pay incentives - I'm betting, though, that I would be spending a lot less time editing if they used my idea!
8. Does the government actually even know we exist? I think they think that all MT jobs are over in India. I'm sure, though, if we brought ourselves to thier attention, they'd find some way to regulate just about everything having to do with the industry. However, I don't think the government should have anything to do with it.
9. Medical, dental, vision, disability (carpal tunnel, anyone?), and family plans shouldn't cost you your entire paycheck!
My main beef with the MT industry is the number of companies that willingly send work out of the United States just to save a few pennies per line, but that gripe could go on and on and on...
What do you pay for health insurance? Survey. sm
What do you pay at the company you are with for health insurance? Is it employee, employee w/spouse, employee w/children or family? What is the deductible? HMO or PPO? Big company or small? What percentage does the company pay?
We are trying to come up with what is fair for everyone without putting us out of business due to cost. We need more MTs for new contracts but cannot grow until our benefits are better. Catch 22.
I really would appreciate feedback. What other benefits do you get? Do you want?
Re: Survey below. Why would someone say that an owner is moody. Why are they sm
talking to the owner at all? I have never talked to the owner of Keystrokes and I have been there for over two years. I have never had a broken promise. I have plenty of work to make my line count and 24 hours to do it. I have high QA scores and do not get bothered, which is important to me.
To each his/her own.
Wow..okay. How about a survey of ANYONE that was happy with their service.
I'm not sure how or why they keep in busy if everyone can do better on their own getting a job. Personally, I've never felt I needed a matchmaker. I just did the best I could in matching up my own skills and preferences to what was being offered to me once I applied. I have never had a problem getting a job in this business, anyone else???
QA error values survey...
I am just curious and trying to get a randomized answer regarding error values when an editor/QA/QC audits reports. For example: Major medical error has what point value, minor English error has what point value, etc. Also, if you don't mind stating what company this is or was for? If you would rather email me, you are more than welcome.
Survey - Is it time for hospitals
to bring their transcription home to the medical records department and contract directly with MTs, both ICs and employees? IMHO this is something that seriously needs to be done both for the cost savings to the facilities and to ensure that qualified MTs can make a decent living. This could be even more important with the EMR thing and could apply both to regular MTs and EMR editors. With health care reform on the table it would seem to me that this is the time. Email me with your suggestions of how this might be accomplished.
Anyway what was the result on the Female MT and Male MT survey?
Oh yeah, Cant find the tread and the results.
Well, here we go...time for another survey. Anyone out there love their job and able to survive on .
what they make. I am totally burned out on broken promises, dreams and expectations when I have taken jobs. Recruiters hype their company up but then they never live up to it. All I am asking for is a job with regular work every day when I am assigned to work and decent benefits. Is this impossible to find? Have any of you found such a thing? If so, let me hear from you.
Survey - how does your company do with maternity leave?
I am contemplating trying to get pregnant within the year, and I am wondering how all the MTSOs take to maternity leave. I am afraid if I get pregnant, my company might find a way to get rid of me before having to cover my maternity leave. Any advise or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
Survey - What type of medical insurance does your company offer?
Just curious about which company you work for and what type of medical insurance they offer. HMO, PPO? Cheap or expensive for you?
Christmas Bonus survey...Has anyone received a bonus yet this year or expect one?
We usually get one but haven't see it yet. Just curious if anyone has been so lucky as to get one.
you took this quite personal
you are really sticking up for MQ here, I don't understand your anger at this poster
Nothing personal
Just responding to a condescending post. You're also way off about ''major quality issues''so the LOL is on you--Sure hope you're more accurate in your QA duties.
Not personal
Of course our anger is directed towards the companies and not toward any worker trying to make a living. This is an emotional topic, but we have a right to make a living too. These companies started in the USA, benefited from Americans and then decided to go overseas not to provide a better service but just to make more money. And not only are jobs are affected but also the loss in tax revenues.
Sorry, but personal or not
You have set a double standard by saying keep the personal remarks out of it when you opened it by making IMHO a snide remark about MTs who want to keep American jobs in America by working at times that non-Americans workers normally cover. In the middle of an otherwise very well handled discussion by those affected by the merger, IMHO I do not believe you did service to Transcend by having made the remark you did. Even other Transcenders have posted that it did not prove useful to cover other shifts and had difficulty finding enough work.
Indeed you have a right to your opinion, but if it is respect and support you are looking for, perhaps consideration to what you have to offer would get different results.
No. I have 2 personal systems --
one desktop and one laptop. I can do whatever I want with those systems.
My personal advice to you
Don't give up!
Since you are just beginning there are many factors that are probably preventing you from doing more lines. For example, do you look up words and/or medications frequently? If so, for obvious reasons, this will slow you down. Second, if you are not quite used to DQS, then that too, can slow you down. Also, take into consideration how many words you type a minute. Everyone is different. Some people can type 65-70, while others, can type 80-90 and that can also effect what you make. It also depends on your accounts you are on. There is no doubt when I type for ER accounts and use their standards, I get more lines - bigtime!
Like I said, just don't give up. We all started out slower and have only gotten better. You will improve with time!
My personal experience has been...SM
I've been there via Total eMed for over 6 years now. I have never been out of work for any longer than I chose to be.
I also never have had a problem meeting minimum, even if I did change accounts a couple of times within the period. It's not that difficult if you've got the basic entries in your expander.
Good experience with supes overall. They've allowed me to change my schedule and flex whenever I needed to. Benefits and HR teams very helpful.
Co-workers are THE BEST! Helpful and willing to share tips and information.
Pay is on time, benefits are reasonable, and they are working to improve with MT input.
Of course a large national won't make everybody happy and it's not the right fit for everyone, but if you must have benefits, you could do far worse than Spheris.
Personal names. How would you like to see your own name
trashed on this forum? If not, maybe you shouldn't do it to this man, either.
my personal protest
In honor of my fellow MTs who are soon to be exHeartlanders I, personally, am not going to buy a thing on Friday, July 7, 2006--- nothing, not a gallon of gas, not groceries, not an ice cream cone-- not anything. I'm sure that no one will notice but I hope you will join me anyway.
I think this is outrageous. It seems to me that if Heartland conglomerate laid off 1 top executive one $71 million salary would make a nice little lump in their profit margin instead of laying off 151 MTs!! How outrageous is that! Today, in the minds of politicians America is corporate America, working Americans are just a souless, faceless mass. What's it going to take to change their minds... a revolution?
that's why I would never EVER use my personal equip for any
that's what you get for using your own stuff.
Just my own personal opinion but - sm
I think that the child labor laws that have been put in place in the last 10-15 years has a LOT to do with horrible work ethic youngsters have today.
When I was growing up (I'm 38 now,) my parents put me to work. I wasn't really contributing to the household bills but I certainly was responsible for purchasing my own clothing and paying for any of my personal expenses. I was 12 the first year I bought my own school clothes.
I knew what it meant to work, how to save my money, and how to tell the difference between wants and needs fairly early on.
Child labor laws were put in place to protect BUT they have also hurt us. I think they should be re-examined.
By the time a kid is legally old enough to work in our state (16 years old,) the years have past when you can instill good work ethic in a young mind.
No wonder the kids expect to have everything handed to them. They are used to it and can't handle it when their support is taken away.
Any wonder why so many 20-somethings and early 30-somethings are going back home to sponge off mom and dad? Any wonder why so many of those same people are dumping their kids off on mom and dad to raise? Nope!
Sounds personal
 You must have some major quality issues
don't have personal experience with
in an earlier post, they said something like the lines would be longer than usual (meaning smaller margins/fonts), and they only pay $1.50/page. I would want to ask about what the length of the lines and the average length (or lines) per report to make sure the pay is fair.
Say there are 10 lines at 65 characters per line per report, that is 15 cpl; but if the font and margins fit 90 characters per line, then it is not such a good deal.
And how many trained MTs have done phone interviews? Seems they would be advertising to a different work pool. I kinda wonder if they know what they're doing.
personal experience...
Very, very nice people, very conscientious. Platform all right, but line counts seemed to take longer to make for me. Had to have unlim. LD and that was the big problem for me. I also spent a lot of time dialing into accounts looking for work. Good QA, good tech support. Wish it was all via Internet. I also did not want to be responsible for my taxes (just lazy, I guess!). DId like the flexible scheduling. If you want to be IC and don't mind the LD, it's a great place.
I don't have personal experience
with Apex, although I hear it's pretty cool. My account is still on DOS and I have absolutely no problem with that. We have DOS and internet accounts, so I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't have access to high speed internet. I've been there over 4 years and do quite well. There's a new pay structure in place recently as well. They're worth checking into. I do work a lot of OT but I don't mind since I'm a single mom. The money is good, and I work extra when my baby is with her dad. It works for me.
Just personal experience, that's all.
.
No personal experience with either though
Keystrokes would be my choice based on what I have read on the boards.
No personal experience, but..sm
I work for MQ and posted a frustrated post a week or so ago and received a private email from an MT who had left MQ recently and went to JLG and she loves it there.
I talked with them 10 or so years ago when MQ bought out my company and they seemed nice and I would have taken the position, but just had too much on my plate at the time to move jobs - and then MQ got better for me, so I stayed.
Ready to leave again now and after getting that email from a fellow co-worker, I think I'd try JLG.
From personal experience
From personal experience with over 20 years of acute care and moving to radiology, I think it is easier for an acute care MT to move to say radiology or pathology than it is to go the other way. Radiology and path can be challenging as well, but I think what really slows me down with acute care is the drugs and all the labs. Not that I'm not familiar with the terminology, but just because the numbers for me anyway, slow me down. I think it can be OVERWHELMING to transition from radiology to AC. I say this with some certainty because I have worked for companies when I have been responsible for training radiology MTs to do acute care and training acute care MTs to do radiology. I just think it's an easier transition TO radiology FROM AC, not the other way. I hope you will be able to hang in there and stick it out. Sounds to me like the recruiter doesn't really understand what each job entails. Unfortunately, the recruiters rarely understand what our job entails. I'd talk to your direct supervisor rather than the recruiter if that's an option.
It is my personal favorite by far! nm
nm
I can only tell you my personal experience sm
which I did. Anything else would be gossip. I was not an MT with them so cannot speak from an MT standpoint. ESLs were not bad - but things have changed drastically since then - found out later they did overflow for Medquist and not sure now which accounts are really theirs.
Personal Choice
While I understand the sentiment of your rant, the reality is you're blaming someone else for your choices. If you want to be a REAL IC, then ditch the middle man, go get your own accounts and deal with the client directly. Explain to them that you only want to work when you feel like it, or that you only want good dictators, or that you can only type if your family has nothing else on the schedule. Pay your own taxes. Carry your own weight.
Yes, there are many companies treating MTs like employees and calling them ICs..... but they COULD NOT do this if MTs didn't CHOOSE to work through a middle man.
If you are an IC, you should be presenting a contact TO THE SERVICE (not the other way around) with your rates, you availability, etc. Have you done this?
And being new is not a reason for being under-trained. It means you don't have the skills if you are catching flak. A service is under no obligation to train you. They ASSUME if you are calling yourself an MT that you have the skills that intimates.
And no, I'm not a supervisor for any company, I'm not a service owner, I'm just a grunt who realizes that I'm an adult and a professional and I DO get to decide what the trade-offs are for doing my job.
No personal experience, but...
... I have a friend who works there and DESPERATELY wants to get out. I think she said she's on something like 50 different accounts (!) which is completely untenable because she gets them at random, and there's no WAY anybody can be expected to learn 50 different sets of account instructions, so that slows the production waaaaay down, because she constantly has to look things up.
As always, others' mileage may vary.
|
