QA compensation - anyone happy with what you're making?
Posted By: GotTheTShirt on 2008-11-25
In Reply to:
I'm sorely tempted to look into a QA position and I was wondering how the compensation compared to transcribing. I would love to be paid hourly, but it seems most offer by-the-line pay. I know there are variables (platform, ESL, etc.) but I'm trying to come up with some type of comparable compensation formula just as a jumping-off point for negotiation. Anyone care to elaborate on what they're earning, how they're paid, and how this compares to their transcribing earnings?
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If you're in the 37% tax bracket, you're making over
100K per year. Quit complaining.
Are you truly happy making less than 8 cpl???
I'm very happy there. Making more money
than I've made in a very long time. QA nice but tough. Excellent insurance that is very affordable.
Glad you are happy. You making good money there? sm
as well?
Not convinced that anyone is happy making peanuts when they made $70,000 sm
no matter what year...........if you made $70,000 typing and now you do VR... keep telling yourself you are happy now making peanuts.
They're making themselves look bad.
I clicked on jen has a big nose and there's an ad there for OSI.
CMT with only 8 mo exp? I think you're making
If you're referring to your CMT as a certificate in medical transcription for completing your course, you're misrepresenting yourself.
CMT is a certification that can ONLY be obtained through the CMT challenge exam with the AAMT (AHDI).
Please, stop with the CMT for just finishing your course.
No wonder you're not making $25+
an hour. Give yourself a chance. You've only been at it 2 years. It took me almost 10 years to really start making a good hourly wage. Prior to those 10 years, I worked as a medical secretary doing a little transcription. I went to college for my Associate's in medical secretarial. During the 10 years I transcribed, I also worked part-time in an office a couple of days a week, as I am not one who can sit 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and type.
It has taken me this long to make an *hourly wage* that I am happy with. However, I must say I am far happier at the fact that I work from home, don't have to pay a babysitter or buy office clothes or put gas in a car to go work. Give yourself a break. Two years is not that long in this biz. 7 cpl isn't bad for 2 years either. When I left my last MT job, I had been there about 9 years and was only making 0.775 (even less for voice recognition). So, please cut yourself some slack. You'll get there eventually.
Try not to focus so much on the money and look at the many other rewards. The money will come, just try not to focus on it. 
If you're making it to the
testing stage but not getting any offers, you might look into how you're doing on the tests. Maybe you could have an experienced fellow MT look over some of your work & see if they can offer you any tips or corrections that might be causing the problem.
I had this happen to me & had 10 yrs experience at the time. I had no trouble with any actual medical content, but I was so used to doing things the way my previous employer wanted that I wasn't as up to date on my BOS as I should've been. Just a thought...
LOL is right...If you're only making 4 cpl at TT
You're grossly inadequate. Anyone who just makes base pay at TT with all of their incentives and bonuses must be in over their heads.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL is right!!!
I left after nine years in June before the pay cut and I am very happy in my new position and making
NM
They actually think they're making themselves look GOOD to us!
LOL
Nope...they're making more
when they offshore the work. American MTs all want 10-12 cents/line. When they offshore they pay 6 cents/line for transcription, 3-4 cents/line for QA, so they're making more money offshoring than giving it to American MTs at 10-12 cents/line and then having to still do QA at 3-4. See the picture?? Do the math...
They're not making a profit.
I work at Futurenet. I don't mind paying the 25.00. It's guaranteed by 10:30 a.m. It has only been late once and I was reimbursed the cost. It's worth it to me for the peace of mind.
Keep in mind you're not making any
money while answering those phone calls and handling tech issues. Before you know it, you're ordinary 14 hour day turns into a 24 hour day. It's not as if you take on the client and clear your .14 cpl - it's FAR from that.
You're making me have flashbacks...
I'm going to have to go take a Zantac - LOL :)
Changing jobs is such a nightmare now. It used to be so much easier when we all worked on Word, used our own expanders, etc. They'd basically just send the account rules & turn you loose... We could be up and working full speed in no time. All these weird platforms have really complicated it!
Unless you're secretly making FAR MORE than
I just find it very hard to believe that anyone could feel their paycheck is 'just fine'. If your company is 'in keeping with every other MTSO out there', then I would take that to mean that the pay there sucks, just like it does at every other MTSO out there.
Think about your level of expertise, your knowledge, the skills you have that probably 98% of the U.S. workforce does not have. Believe me, even looking information up on the internet takes a certain level of savvy. I know people who never seem to be able to find what they're looking for on Google, for instance, because they don't know how to search. And how to read between the lines once they find information they think might be accurate.
You make thousands of judgement calls every day as you work. Do you really hear this word, or this drug dosage? Or not? Do I flag this for QA to check, or do I send it through? Your judgement calls can impact patient other people's lives.
Your typing skill, hearing and memory have to be far above average in order to succeed. You have to know prefixes, suffixes, a certain amount of Greek and Latin, anatomy, and your way around a PDR like the back of your hand. And so on and so on.
Imagine if your level of skill were being applied at just about any other line of work out there. Or if you were a legal secretory or a court reporter (2 jobs with similar skill-sets and intelligence requirements). Most of us have probably looked at those careers in the past, and we have a pretty good idea what they pay. And it's far and above what any MT can ever dream of making, even if they work 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week.
I'm 'managing' on my income, too. Just barely. I know how to budget, how to do without most things, and where every penny I own is located. But just 'managing' is a far, far cry from 'thriving' or 'succeeding'.
'Just getting by' is what you do if you sneak into the country and pick lettuce for a living. It shouldn't be what medical transcribers have to settle for.
they're the ones griping about making min wage
and barely making line counts
so they have the qa. so what? they don't have the production.
BRAVO!! I'm sure you're making lots of $$$s..sm
But if you were like the rest of us peons who had to run back every few seconds of footage because you can't understand most of what the dictating clown is saying, whether ESL or native train-catcher or sleepwalker or can't-make-up-my-mind-what-I-want-to-say, Ah...Hmmmm...Scratch that!...Let's see, ..uh...where were we.. uh... zzzz (yawn) zzzz. And then they race through the labs & medications 78 RPM. But they're God's chosen people while we can't miss a comma...QA gets p..... off if we send too many blanks, well, I hope you see my point. My hat goes off to you!
You're making $400 a day on voice recognition?
How in the heck are you doing that? What kind of rate are you getting? How many lines are you doing a day? I'm just blown away at people making $50,000 a year in this business, much less $104,000. WOW! Congrats! Talk about depress me even more LOL.
If you're making yourself sick over no work
why not get another job instead of complaining about no work all the time? No job is worth getting stressed and sick over it.
Don't forget, TT is not the only company that has low/no work. Haven't you read the other posts on the other companies or do you just concentrate on putting TT down all the time?
Find another job, leave TT if it makes you so sick.
If you aren't management & you're making good
money on VR, then why are you so desperate to attack those who don't want to do VR & try to shove it down their throats? A fellow MT wouldn't do that. They'd simply say they like it & how much they make rather than having a meltdown over other MTs not being thrilled about the switch....
You're making mountains out of mole hills. A vindictive
.
FUNNIEST THING..they all think you're making all this big money (LMAO) -nm
You're quite welcome. I'm happy to help!
I've been with Amphion for 4 months now and in the past 15 years of working from home I've never been so impressed with the professionalism and class that is this company. Best of luck!
If you're not happy with the Q...
then give your notice. It's a very easy thing to do.
If you're happy with that atmosphere
I just can't believe Transcend management is promoting such a cut-throat / get it while you can / if you can atmosphere. Everybody knows this field is feast or famine, but when the famine gets so bad that management isn't taking control of an already bad situation it becomes a scavenger hunt. What's worse yet is that they're promoting it. I wonder how many MLSs working during the day and hopping on in the evening, middle of the night, or early morning hours realize that they're working over 8 hours just to make their usual 20K? But we'll just turn our heads. Hop on when you can, wink, wink.
I have worked for Transcend before, within the last couple months in fact. I got so sick of scavenging for work and mismanagement that I left after years of giving it chance after chance. There isn't one person on earth that can tell me I didn't give them the benefit of the doubt. Once when the work was very low, I logged every single minute worked for 3 pay periods just to get an idea of how many lines I could type working various shifts throughout an 8 hour day. Every time I sat down at the computer and checked for jobs, I counted it no matter how short the time was because that's still considered working. Every time a job came in and I did it, I counted it. No matter what shift I worked, I counted it. I wanted to figure how much I could do in an exact 8 hour period. I can usually do about 250-300 lines an hour when the rhythm is there and the work flows continuously, but some times I had to work every single day to equal 40 hours per week because some days there was no work when I was on. Anything over and above 40 hours is OT and OT was not authorized. So if "Get a Life" is making 20K when the work is low, she is definitely working more than 8 hours a day or has some inside track to "know" exactly when the work is there to grab. But, if she is actually working more than 8 hours a day without figuring exactly how much time was worked, and is only popping an 8 into that little box, that's illegal. If she is claiming more than 8 hours a day, I'd like to know how she got OT when others can barely make the 11K requirement by working their 8 hours.
I wonder how many MLS at Transcend actually sat down and calculated the exact time it takes to make their regular lines when the work is slow instead of just working at all different times and just popping an 8 in the box. You'd be surprised at how much time you're actually putting in to make your usual lines per pay period. But then, hey, of course Transcend would promote this. They don't have to pay OT that way, they get the work done, and they appease the MLSs who "think" they're treated so well because they can work whenever they want, when they want. Next time the work is low, try it some time. You'd be shocked at your hourly wage, especially if building up those lines with editing.
I also agree with the poster below too that mentioned "Get a Life" never stated if the 20K lines were editing or typing. If she went from 20K ppp while typing with high volumes to 20K ppp while editing when the volume is low, that makes sense. She was able to keep her usual 20K, but 20K lines editing still makes for a smaller pay check and that wasn't brought out. Usually when a person is that evasive in their replies, won't come right out and say how many hours they worked, or if it was editing or typing, there's a reason for it. Why not shout it from the rooftops if it is actually on the up-and-up? Or worse yet, why take such great offense at someone asking for a straight answer if you're doing nothing you shouldn't be? If you make the claim, be proud to back it up with details.
What do you care, happy OSI'r? You're obviously
since you have so much time on your hands and are able to post to this board and God knows how many others all day? What do you know about 12000 lines except what you hear from employees who actually DO work.
Thanks - doesn't look like you're too happy about it.
The suspense is killing me - not that there is much suspense left anyway, but I still want to read it.
For someone who is so happy, you're sure a mean person.
But hey, that's how it works here, isn't it? Socially retarded person who can't discuss anything without resorting to personal attacks.
Glad you're happy, but. . .
if I may ask, who did you go with to work as an IC?
I'm glad you're happy with your pay cut...
but I'm not and do not feel that I've been over-paid. I felt that I was paid fairly under the old compensation plan for what I do and feel that I work very hard and should continue to be paid accordingly for my efforts. As I said in my post, I have always felt that Transolutions was a good place to work, and I also appreciate the intangible perks that they have offered in the past. However, at this point I do not feel that they are treating all of their people equally or fairly, and I guess I am not enough of a company man to take a paycut in any job. Someone on this board asked about the company, and I felt it was only fair to explain some of the things that I've noticed recently and to answer some of her questions that may not be answered during the interview process of any MT company. These boards are not always the most positive places, I realize, and I've never been one to be drawn into the negativity; however, this poster asked a question that I felt compelled to answer honestly and from my heart.
I will NEVER take a cut in pay in any job, as I know that I work very hard at what I do and am smart enough to demand that I be paid a fair wage. I took a paycut to get into medical transcription 5 years ago so I could stay home with my children, but that was my choice and not because of a numbers game that someone else was playing with my paycheck. I think if you asked 100 people if they'd like to take a pay cut because they've been overpaid for the last few years, 99% of them would say NO WAY, not to mention that in this day and age, most of them could not afford it.
I can also tell you that there is more than just one account where people took a pay cut, some people much more than others.
p.s. I also know my stuff and have NEVER gone below 98% on my QA, usually 99% or 100%, until the last 2 months. I also heard in the last phone conference that I was not the only person who had noticed the change. I guess you're just smarter than most people.
I plan to wait it out a couple more paychecks and see how things wash out, as I really have enjoyed working for Transolutions for the most part. I agree that they have some good people and good accounts, but sometimes companies make decisions that are more important to their bottom line than to their current employees, so I guess we'll have to see how this numbers game plays out.
If you're happy there great, but it is
the worst company I've ever worked for.
Glad you're happy but....sm
Happiness is a subjective state of mind. So just so I understand your happiness versus what my happiness is I have these questions:
Do they pay enough to live on? Or to put it differently, are you making at least 4K a month? Because that is what it would take to make me happy.
If you are making that kind of money, how many hours are you putting in? If you say you must put in long hours, that is not my happiness. I don't want to have to have a chair-ectomy when I am through for the day.
So if your happiness fits into my version of happiness then I am happy.
Of course we're happy to have jobs (sm)
However, the job is becoming less and less valuable, in my opinion. The employer is becoming more and more just like every other MT company, in my opinion, yet they're doing it while using the marketing ploy that they're remarkable. Well, they're becoming less and less remarkable.
Another issue is the fact that they were not routinely giving raises before the economy tanked. Rather than give a raise to employees, they bought an MT school.
The obvious is that we're glad to have jobs. However, I'd hope to go beyond the obvious. This reminds me of the industry's typical response to requests for higher pay (how many have you heard?):
1. You get to work at home. Look at all the money on gas and clothing you save! You should be grateful. Gee, I wish I could work at home!
2. You should be doing this for the patients and not thinking of the money. It's a service industry, and we are serving our patients. [yes, I actually heard this one before]
3. You can give yourself a raise! We offer _____ (fill in the blank with any of the following: (a) weird schedules that nobody would want to work in exchange for a small incentive! (b) an Expander program! (c) overtime! (d) flexible scheduling: You can actually sit at your computer and look for work all day, catching work as it trickles in!)
So do we really need to add #4 now? Has the industry sunk so low that the answer to our complaints of not getting paid adequately and BEFORE the economy tanked and only having things get worse, is the answer really Gee, you should just be grateful to have a job. I know X number of people who have been laid off! Are we really going to excuse YEARS of this widespread poor pay in the industry and the excuses while a company buys a school (and how much did that purchase cost?) as basically just be glad you have a job? The trash man has a job. The bagger at the grocery store has a job. If that's all it is, just get any old job and be grateful, then what's so remarkable about this company that says it's remarkable?
You've stated the obvious. Yeah, we're grateful to have jobs. Yeah, we're realists. Can we get back to the point now?
Glad you're happy - however,
how can you say most MT's are happy with their gig? How do you know that?
The world of medical transcription is changing rapidly and the picture is not as rosy as it once was - in fact, pretty bleak - so just beware - your time may come.
Hope it doesn't, but it may.
:-) If you're not happy there, there are hundreds of other companies.
Truth: There is no Lanier equipment on my account; there obviously still is on yours.
Truth: If you don't want to work extra, you don't have to, and you can't say that you have been forced to. Yes, naturally, if the account is behind, the owner is going to ask for folks to help out if they are available.
Truth: Contact with the recruiter virtually ceases after your initial QA period unless you just want to email to chat.
The recruiter also is responsible for putting a team together for starting new accounts, but after the account is up and running, the recruiter has nothing to do with the day-to-day operation of the account. I have been involved in 2 new account start-ups myself (by invitation and with my agreement), and the client specs have been updated as issues came up and were addressed.
I concur with the other poster who suggested that you contact Dorothy with concerns about the recruiter (although, if you're off QA, why is that even an issue?) and your account liaisons with concerns about not having updated account specs.
Meantime, I'll get back to work. :) If any readers would like to email with specific questions, please feel free.
When you post something like that and sign it that you're not happy, sm
the bashers have a field day. I wrote a post a few months back that was taken wrong and by the end of the thread, it appeared that KS is the worst company in the world. To me, it is the opposite. I have been around the block too many times, and they are far and above the others out there including all the bigger ones and most of the smaller ones!
Things written on a public board can be taken wrong and can damage the reputation of a company or person. My daughter is going through a bad time right now because of a post that was supposed to be a joke. She's 14 and they are no different than adults when they see something to jump on.
You're happy your wages have stayed the
same, even though:
Gallon of milk, 1992: $2.78
2009: $3.75
Gallon of gas, 1992: $1.13
2009: $2.50+
Dozen eggs, 1992: $0.93
2009: $2.25
So your salary stayed the same while everything else skyrocketed... yay!
And according to the IIAP, the median salary for a 'secretary' in 1992 was around $25,000, and in 2005 was already up to around $40,000 (no stats listed for 2009 yet). So are you still feeling good about sliding backwards?
Glad you're happy, that place has gone WAY DOWNHILL.
x
I honestly am very glad you're happy! I juggled 2 nationals for a while, and it was exhausting.
Though if I could, I would probably go back to Spheris. Long story there, but probably would not be rehired as I never made it thru training. Just trained with the biggest bunch of, well, MTs. If one more person clapped those little hand icons at some lame joke, I thought I would vomit. Actually did vomit...I was very ill, and just folded...Get rid of the clapping hand icons!!!
Glad you're happy -- I love MDI-MD too, although I missed out on the signup bonus. :( nm
x
New MT compensation
Does anyone know what the range is with the new MT compensation package?
SPI compensation
Was an MT at SPi, but gone now...you MTs who are still there for some unknown reason and who are fighting for work need be standing up for yourselves. If this company expects you to commit to a schedule and sit there until the work shows up (or doesn't show up until your shift is over and the night person gets it), then they should be paying you unemployment....call your local labor department in your state and they will tell you this. This just isn't fair. AND, if you think this new line rate increase they gave you is a raise think again - they did that to try to make up for what they've taken away, making it a less bitter pill for you to swallow....makes me gag, quite frankly and sad that you guys sit there and take it. You can rest assured that if they realize their profit margin is still not what they expect with this new plan, they will be taking money out of your pocket another way either in the way of benefits of some other behind the scenes change in the counting configurations, or they will pull you from your primary account and putting you onto a more difficult one that they charge more on. Do the math....just more smoke and mirrors, in IMO.
SPI New Compensation
Wondering if other SPI MTs are seeing a huge difference in their lines with SPIs new compensation plan. Even without counting the headers, which I previously did get credit for, it looks like at least a 30% decrease. Is that possible or am I missing something? I certainly did not get enough of a bump in my line rate to cover this.
compensation
5 cents a line??? you have got to be kidding! How can you make a living on 5 cents a line??
SPI New Compensation
Now that it has been a few weeks since SPI announced their new compensation plan, I am wondering -- Is anyone at all making more money than they were before? Also for those who are not, how much of a cut has it worked out to be per hour? In my case, it has been at least a cut of a few dollars an hour. This is not my main job (thank goodness), but I am wondering how it is working out most of the MTs who have stuck with them through all of the chaos of the last year.
your compensation? You get sm
your compensation in the form of your paycheck. Your employer expects the best you can give and I hope your employer hires the best MTs out there. Also what about safety to the patient? Somewhere it seems to me that some MTs are forgetting that there are actually real PATIENTS behind these reports! You have a bad attitude!
UE compensation at 50% - that's just a bit - SM
higher than having to go to VR from MT (4 cpl from 8, 8.5, 9) which is 45% to 50% of regular pay.
transcend compensation..sm
Would anyone be willing to share what Transcend starts pay at for employees and independent contractors?
Compensation not listed
Has anyone else ever emailed a company when they do not list their rate of compensation only to be ignored? This really irks me. Why can't they just list what they are offering so we don't have to waste our time? This really annoys me. 
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