QA is good, they are fair - DSG not the only one with low volumes
Posted By: Me on 2009-07-24
In Reply to: Well it sounds like no work happens a lot at DSG. How are the accounts as far as decent accounts - Looking
Some days I think the industry itself is in a death spiral... there certainly has been a yo-yo effect for a while now on volume.
My suggestion is that people start looking in other directions at least for back up/part time income. I could be wrong but I just don't see a reversal happening in this industry.
Not only is VR working against us, it will only improve with time - and possibly to an extent that will even reduce VR positions. Likely more software is in development that will further erode job opportunities and/or drive down wages.
Outsourcing is playing a huge role as well.
Not to create or add to anyone's panic, but read the writing on the wall before it's too late - diversify your skills and don't put all your eggs in the transcription basket, cuz me thinks there's an egg-sized hole in the bottom. insert wry smiley face here.
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Your positive attitude speaks volumes! Good for you! sm
I worked for JLG in the past and it was a stable, quality company. There are always bumps in the road for everyone--even for companies.
READ THE ARCHIVES. There are volumes and volumes
about Keystrokes. All you have to do is scroll down the page a bit and you'll find several posts. You can also open your original post and click on related messages.
Transolutions..a fair and good company..sm
I no longer work for this company as I did not like the platform (MedType)...however, if you want an honest and fair company and can deal with the platform, these people are great. I just got a birthday card from them 3 weeks after quitting. That is going far beyond the expected in my opinion. The people on their staff are wonderful to work with and if I could handle DOS-based platforms, I might consider going back to them...just not my cup of tea.
I don't think that's true or fair. Most of the posts about KS are good. sm
I work there, have worked there a while and am very happy and know many, many others who have been there a while and are very happy too. They have improved rather than fallen apart as many companies seem to do. I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a fair, caring, well-paying, high line count, good benefits providing company. I am in acute care but know many others in radiology and ortho and clinic. Yes, we compare notes with each other (many came from Edix and MRC) and everyone is happy. They keep getting new accounts and the new accounts are getting bigger and bigger.
I agree that OT pay (or lack of) was a problem but when they said no more OT work, many complained to the point that they said to work the production you want.
It is disheartening to sit back and read posts that are so negative when I know the opposite to be true. It can chase people away from working for a wonderful company. I think we see more posts because there are more employees and because they are always hiring due to new accounts. I also know that every manager, including the owner, that I have ever talked to, really cares and really wants to continue to make Keystrokes better and better. I think they are doing a great job.
As for running out of work, I know that there are ups and downs in transcription and they try to be fair during those times, spreading the work around. I also know that sometimes when a new account starts, the volume will be go up and down because they are working on the perfect staffing mix.
If you are having a problem, not getting enough work, etc. you really should talk to them. They will bend over backwards to make it work for you.
I stand corrected. That's good to know. I have found them to be fair also.
nm
Good sound quality, fair line counting, pay always on time.
nn
Work volumes....
Work volumes have been pretty low across the board. We were told at a town hall meeting last month that they would be recruiting MTs from within the company to work on these new accounts that are coming on board soon in order to solve low work volumes many of us have been encountering. It's not very comforting to hear that they are doing exactly what they promised not to do (hire new MTs for these accounts).
Proscript low volumes
Anyone else get the e-mail about low volumes at Proscript and what do you think?
Proscript low volumes
Proscript has just had layoffs for no work.
FOCUS WORK VOLUMES
I just wanted to add that I find plenty of work if I work between 5pm and 11pm, eastern time. If I want to work during the daytime, say between 8am and 5pm, the queues are often empty (3 of them). There was one time that I logged in at 4am, and I found the queues all empty at that time as well.
Good luck.
That speaks volumes for the respect MTs have for
NM
My experience was low pay, low work volumes
But they were very nice. Unfortunately, nice doesn't pay the bills. :/
I have noticed low volumes but so far no emails. sm
Maybe it depends on your account.
Unless she can provide large volumes of
eventually the big co's with their guerilla business tactics will stomp on her little business, too.
Low work volumes, horrible sound
What is going on with Transcend?
I am about to leave also and I never thought I'd see myself type that!
Great company, low escription volumes but..
hopefully it will pick up. I really love working for them. I only want to edit, do not want to type
actions and attitudes speak volumes
....
My experience is work volumes fluctuate SM
but fairly predictably, and a full shift is virtually always available IF you choose to adapt work schedule for those days and periods when work is plentiful.
Until recently health benefits were available for a 36-hour workweek, now it's a 40-hour work week with some flexibility.
Working that full schedule, though, a skilled MLS (medical language specialist) with a well-developed and used Expander who is familiar with the assigned accounts can make good money, and many do. The incentive bonus schedule is quite good and rewarding to high producers.
Percentage of ESL is quite high, but they're as doable as any others once familiarity with their dictation is achieved (typically they know we can't understand them and try to vary as little as possible from their standard verbage).
WebMedx specializes in mid-sized community medical centers. No Cleveland Clinics or UCLA MC here, which is the biggest drawback I know of, really the only one, with this company. This type of workload does contribute to getting that high-line-count familiarity, though. Accounts and formats are typically easy to learn, with relatively little in the way of fussy individuality to keep track of.
I do believe WebMedx is genuinely trying to get and hold onto good people by treating them well. Absolutely no complaints in that regard in all the time I've worked there.
So, welcome, NN, and best wishes on your decision, Decision. :)
I wonder if these students aren't doing some Webmedx dictation already with work volumes as they
It ain't all the economy. They are either OVERHIRING incredibly or the work is going somewhere else. Definitely. They should have the decency to be straight with us.
Not fair!
I have been working with them for 7 years now and have NEVER been offered a shift differential! I too, often work in the evenings. I find it a tad unfair how they offer such good incentives for one office and not the other. I have been extremely happy for all this time until I started reading these posts where the truth comes out! I now realize how I have been neglected as a transcriber for them.
To be fair.....sm
....I was on an account with this company. And it was the hospital itself that was trying to cut their own costs, and jimmied the lines counts to a way where the MT and the MT company got less. Taking spaces out of the header, cutting some spaces out of the doc's signature line, etc. I know, because I was told right away, and I know the email went out to others on the account. So in that particular instance (last year), Focus did inform the MTs, and it was all the customer, trying to cut their own costs, not Focus.
Just my 2 cents on that account at that time.
Yes its more fair
but not many companies pay by the minute (that I know of). If the rate is fair, then its a fair method - but then that goes for all the computations... by the character, line, report, etc.
How do you even know? Maybe it's all bad. I think they are very fair. I get both
nm
Yes, it is fair.
They are being charged fair rates for their economic environment, just as we are.
Do you think every tax payer in the US should pay the exact same tax? Probably not, eh?! Think of it: If everyone in the US had to just pay $5000 in taxes every year, we will have a huge number of people unable to do so while the wealthy get off paying just $5K from their hundreds of millions. It is rated against their income.
Same thing with India. India's economic environment is no where near the wealth of the United States. So, to be fair the AAMT has rated their testing rates compatible with their economy.
It is fair.
Now, if you just don't like other countries doing work for the US, that's a little different topic.
Then again, considering that we sure as heck want to do business in their countries, maybe it really takes on a little different perspective.
It is fair ......sm
So, do you think the MT with 25 years experience and excellent work ethic who is reliable should make the same cpl as the MT with 2 years experience with the same work ethic. I think not. We should be paid for experience.
I can tell you that it really ticks me off when I hear of the MT with 2 years experience making cpl for clinic work and do all acute care with the 25 years experience. That really pisses me off.
I have learned to become quite the negotiator when it comes to line rates and pay.
Fair Enough...
You make a good point, since you're up against those very obtacles. I always find myself tending to try to sway to the side of the MT.
Maybe the OP will check back in at some point and offer more info to clarify things.
Have a great day!!!
Fair enough...
You can come back to this board in 1 year. I will be here. I have been posting here for years. I have also been an MT for many years. I do not need a union contract. I make a great living without one. As for working for the Q, I did many, many years ago. I used them to get my foot in the MT door. Once I had enough experience to find something better suited for me, I gave my notice and moved on. It was really quite easy, actually.
That happens to me too. But not fair !!
They see I can cover all areas, (made a point to learn all areas) but it is just as difficult for me on some of the crappy dictators and just cuz was pretty much able, does not mean you made much hour-wise, while others with less experience prob. get about same pay and get it easier. Really does get to me. It is all about what is fair to another human, don't dump the junk.
fair?
 It's fair to keep a good line rate if your production and work is excellent. Sometimes, pay is based on how long you're in the field and how good you are at what you do. The great line rates at D's place just show that she has paid her people based on their skills. That's hard to argue with. Just my 2 cents.
No. Must mean that they are a fair and reasonable
company to work for. If not, I would have left a long time ago.
9 cpl at Medware for 150 lph seems fair
If the base is 8.5 and you can make .5 incentive for doing 150 lph, that seems fair to me. 9 cpl nowadays is a good line rate for employee status with benefits. Plus you say the insurance is affordable. That's probably why they are a good company and get good reviews, seems obvious to me. The offshore thing is about par for the course today, any company who does not offshore will soon find themselves behind the eight ball trying to compete. Balance is the key and taking care of your employees with a decent line rate helps.
Transolutions is Very Fair
I have found Transolutions to be very fair as well. While I'm having trouble meeting my line counts, to this point they have been very fair in allowing me ample time to get up to speed. Also, I was a bit leary about using a DOS-based system, but so far I am very happy with that too. No complaints here.
It says everyone so that it is fair! If they just e-mailed you and not everyone, then you would be
x
well, that would be nice and fair IF we had
anyone can post anything
I though the tests were very fair sm
and although not simple, they weren't extremely hard and certainly much better than some I have taken. The actual verbal, I thought, was the easiest. By the way, definitions ARE a MAJOR part of transcription ability. Sounds like you are sore at the company for not getting the position.
But is it really fair to punish most of your MTs because of
nm
Sounds fair to me, and here's my take on it. sm
Seven diffefent worktypes? If it's acute care, then you should be well versed in this many anyway. H&Ps, discharges, consults, ops for sure. After that, there are many different types of reports an acute care MT should easily handle - EEGs, EKGs, wound treatment (hyperbaric oxygentreatments etc.), psych, nerve condutions, clinic notes - you name it - the list goes on. I see nothing abusive about 7 different worktypes.
As far as 4 different accounts - there are shades of gray here. If the account specifics are pretty much the same across the board, then there is no room to complain. If however, there are a million nuances to remember from doctor to doctor and account to account, then yes - that will slow you down and those *are* difficult working conditions.
On the flip side, it sounds as if the company is at least providing you with enough work to make your line count.
MTs are fickle. Not enough work, they complain. Too much work, they complain. Not enough worktypes, they complain. Too many worktypes, they complain.
I'm in administration at our company. There is no pleasing everybody, but we try our best. There are some MTs that *love* the variety of work - they are thankful they're not typing the same reports/same docs all day long. Then another MT may feel just the exact opposite - and wish she could do nothing *but* clinic notes, or ops day in and day out. What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.
It's not an exact science. The company has to try to balance enough work for the MTs without overhiring, yet still meet their contracted TAT.
Is this a fair wage?
I'm a new graduate and I got an offer for 0.75 cpl. Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks! I think I tend to be fair
and what this and other MTSOs are not realizing is that much if not all critism here is not meant as an UNfair attack. It's a vent board for one thing. :)
What galls me are the MTSOs who won't discuss the problems *before* you quit, much less take responsibility for true problems, but then want to protest when they see negatives posted...
There's an old saying about a shoe and what to do if it fits...
:)
Just not fair to their MT's -- TAT understandable, BUT
The goodness of TT lasted for 1 year. Now it is low to no work on a daily basis for the past month or more on an almost consistent basis. They have definitely overhired for the accounts they have acquired. Covering their behind, not the MT's at the present time.
Maybe someone who knows a fair amount about
x
I agree with you and that is why I said it was not fair.
With 20 years of experience, working for same company from day one and no raise until 10 years later and find out a 3 year experienced MT gets paid more than you? Not fair.
By the line is always the most fair...sm
To many variables, and if there is any cherry pickin going on, you are just out of luck... my experience if you are being paid this way, normally is because it is to their beneift, not the MT's benefit.
I will be checking on this. No fair
I currently work QA there and am paid by the line. If they are bringing on new people at an hourly rate, then we all need to be switched to hourly.
DITTO -- IT ISN'T FAIR. ... nm
THIS is why it's not fair to cut VR rates for MTs
in half. VR is ripoff that doesn't work even close to how it's supposed to.
That's not very nice or very fair (sm)
Why'd you feel it necessary to get that jab in? He/she answered a question. He didn't ask for the poster to email him to give him more details, now, did he? And if he were aiming at a referral bonus, he'd probably need a better name for the company than Webhead.
Really sick of the personal attacks here. There's a post from the mods saying to knock it off. Why don't you? With all of the crud in the economy and the stress we're all under, we really need to be a bit more decent to our fellow humans who are in this mess with us. That extends to a bulletin board.
And no, I'm not Webhead and don't know him/her. I am no rah-rah about Webmedx, either. Just sick of the snarky replies like that one you just gave. It's unnecessary, and you don't know what this person has going on in their life that you just added some more grief to it. Please think.
Fair warning
I am confused. You say this is the not the first time they have done this and won't be the last and say money is owed but you also say you do not work there anymore. How can you know all of this if you are no longer working for them? Did you recently quit? Not trying to stir the pot here, just trying to understand. And why don't you handle your issues with them directly rather than posting it on a public board? How is creating this post supposed to help you? And what does the fact that the owners once worked for MQ have to do with anything? It's a red herring, a non-issue. A lot of people, myself included, once worked for MQ. So what? LM has always been on time with my pay, always, and have always been honest in their dealings with me. I think that the owners are decent people who treat their employees well. It is important to remember that great harm can be done to others with our words. If it were me and I had a legitimate gripe about not being paid, I would handle it through legal channels that have power to resolve the issue rather than resorting to a public bulletin board that does not. Just sayin', that's all......It's too easy to come on a board and flail away at someone. It just doesn't seem like the professional way to handle what should be an internal issue between you and a company.
What's "not fair" about PTO?
There is nothing that mandates how much or how little PTO you are given. Fair sounds like an entitlement mentality. (I am an IC/SE and have no PTO but so what? I think that is perfectly fair. I knew the terms of my employmentment when I signed the contract.) Too much what's in it for me, not enough what can I do for the company. Just saying, that's all.
If you didn't think it was fair....
you should not have taken a job with Keystrokes. You knew before you signed on the dotted line. It is fair because you knew the policy before you came and you accepted it. It is not fair that you complain about something that you knew about beforehand.
Very thorough and fair critique....
...I used to work there and had to sign a waiver that I would not badmouth the company on MT boards (which I believe is still the procedure for the UST employees). However, I do believe that it is the same for any company - the experience is not the same for any two employees, and if this sounds like your cup of tea, so to speak, go ahead and apply! (I had some excellent time there, although I and many MTs there had a different impression of the senior owner .... and I will say that much ;( ).
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