Recommendations for late night PT

• Recommendations for late night PT - SM
  • Try TransTech. I know that they are really flexible for hard to fill slots. - TTecher

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Call blocking instructions are in your phone book.  These vary from company to company.  Check you phone bill and see what numbers they are using (probably more than one line there).  If this fails and they keep calling (imagine how many lines they actually have) then send them a formal letter stating your problem with their phone harrassment and the exact days and hours of their callsand cc it to all their clients.  Maybe they are hurting for transcriptionists and hope you have changed your mind by now or that, gee, now that you're awake you might as well type?   If anything, this should cure you of them forever and everyone who read your post will remember!  I once had a friend (actually a really nice lady) who had a similar problem (although ot with SPi) that went on for a year.  They woke up her kids and husband, her dog, her cat and she looked so bad from lack of uninterrupted sleep.  That  was in the olden days before caller ID and call blocking.  She finally had another friend convince her to hand out THEIR numbers to car salesmen and insurance salesmen, etc.  That was really harsh, but the calls she got soon stopped and it was apparent that because they stopped that all along they were consciously and deliberately calling her.  Another tactic might be to change your phone number.  Good luck. 

This is the company board, and I was asking for company recommendations from other MTs with good experiences.  I mentioned my background so that someone who might be able to get a referral fee would know something about me and be able to feel comfortable referring me. I was basically under the impression that the whole point of the company board was for networking to find out about other companies, and I was hoping to get some good information here.

Hi Everyone, I'm new here!

I have 11 years experience in the transcription industry.  Done some editing and training etc.  I'm currently looking for a new job, and have a few offers.  I wondered if anyone had anything good bad or indifferent to say about any of these companies, as I am trying to make a decision here.

Does anyone work for Transcend, Spheris or Softscript?  And if so, what kind of line rates are you making and how do you like it.  These three companies have showed interest, well so did Shapin but after reading here and hearing about rates I won't be going with them.

Can anyone help me out here.  Im totally sick of changing jobs (two jobs changes in two years for small companies) and I would like to stay put for a while.

And nice to meet you, btw!

Let me tell what this ONE person achieved on her own and then you can imagine what many of us can do if we stand together.

Two years ago, I was working as an MT for a local hospital.  One day, we were told that our overflow was going to be outsourced to one of the nationals, just the discharge summaries and not even all of those.  Two months after they told us that lie, they called is in one by one and fired us because they were outsourcing the entire dept because it was cost effective.  The service they were using was a very large national who I happened to know had a reputation of offshoring.  And I just knew because our little hospital had easy as pie dictators with maybe 4 out of a staff of 200 that were ESL, our work would most definitely be one of the accounts offshored.

I was angry!  Oh, they offered us jobs at the service and told us we would definitely be working on our hospital, but I'm no fool and I knew it would be a matter of time before we were forced to take secondary accounts which would eventually become our primary accounts and our little hospital would just disappear from our queues. 

I refused the job with the service on moral grounds.  I refused to work for a company that offshored.  And then I decided to channel my anger and outrage into something proactive.  I wrote letters to every newspaper in my area.  Every small farming community newspaper this hospital served, and the big city newspaper in the big city close by.  I never dreamed that anyone would pay attention at one woman's rantings.  But a funny thing happened.  My letter was printed in more than one of the papers I sent it to, and reporter from one of the larger newspapers called me and asked if I would do an interview.  I said absolutely.

Long story short, they did the interview and then interviewed the administrator of the hospital.  They put him in the hot seat and asked him about offshoring health information to India.  He had no definitive answers to give except that he would have to look at the contract and make sure that it was stipulated that his hospital's work was not sent over seas.

It was a small triumph, but I took some satisfaction in it.  Two weeks after that and just when I thought all the hoopla had died on my little letter, another letter appeared in the newspaper -- from an HIM director at another local hospital who said as a result of reading my letter and interview, that she had received a number of calls from concerned people asking if their medical information was being sent and transcribed overseas.  She wanted to write the letter just to set the record straight that her hospital employed their own MTs and did not outsource to a service nor did they offshore any of their work to third-world countries.

And I'm still not done.  Still a few weeks later another letter in the big city paper was printed from another HIM director assuring the community that her hospital employed its own American MTs and did not outsource or offshore.

Now, everything has quieted down since then, but I managed to ruffle some feathers and make a point, and if I (one person, one middle-aged work-at-home mother of two) can cause that much ruckus -- think what a whole bunch of us can do.

I think we, as a group, need to take control of our industry and our career destiny and do something.  Maybe march on Washington DC protesting the offshoring of American jobs -- not just ours, but ALL American jobs that are being offshored.  There are more Americans out of work and losing work to third-world countries and corporate greed than just MTs!  Our government needs to hear our voices!  We need to MAKE ourselves be heard! 

Instead of sitting back and pasting little smiley faces in our posts and saying good luck with that we need to come together.  There is no room for MTs willing to accept lower wages, no room for MTs whose hearts bleed for our third-world counterparts, and no room for MTs who want to sit back and do nothing, but reap the benefits when the strong win the battle.  We've reached a critical turning point and it's time to take up the cause and change the future. 

and you might make some cashews along with those peanuts.  They are also delicious covered in chocolate, but that may require you get a few more lines in. 

Hey, don't be bitter, reconsider!  Some of us have learned a lot of from this board. 

Chillax!  Life is waaaaay too short!  

P/S:  Bubble baths and a glass of wine can also cure this kind of demeanor....  Try it some time.  You might like it.... 

I realize you're only talking about evening into early morning hours here, but there are some things you may want to consider:

If you're not used to staying up late, at first you may find it easier to fall asleep as soon as you get home because you'll be exhausted.  But once your body becomes used to this schedule, I would count on 1-2 hours of unwind time before you fall asleep after getting home.  Been there; done it.  Then add 7 to 8 hours of good, sound rest before your daughter needs you. 

Breaking up your sleep pattern will not be good in the long run because it will take its toll on your health.  Naps are okay for short-term use but you really need deep, undisturbed sleep to function well, stay healthy, and not be irritable all day.  This advice comes from my college Psych class and personal experience over many years.  And as I'm sure you know, a special needs child takes extra care and that in itself draws on your mental and physical resources before you even head off to work. 

If you're someone who can't stay up past 10 or 11 now, your production is going to suffer while you fight sleep.  It's going to take time to try to re-program your body and using stimulants like coffee or caffeine to get you through your shift takes a futher toll on your health and might make it harder to fall asleep once you get home. 

If you think of yourself as a night person you might be able to make this work.  If you're not, I'd think twice.  You can't really change your body's programming.  The best you'd be doing is compromising it.  I really don't think the money is worth the trouble you're headed for if this would not come naturally to you.  If I were you, I'd look for a schedule that works WITH my body's timing so that the whole time is spent producing when I am physically and mentally naturally at my best.  Your increased production during this time could meet or exceed the $17. 

Hope this helps some! 

Thank you for the clarification.  It is apparent that one of two scenarios is happening here.   You are either charging too little of your client, undercutting all competition, or you are keeping too much of the profits for yourself!! 

Since you have direct contact with this client, why not train them to train the horrible, ESL, fast-talking dictator!!

BTW, I work the night shift, so the time I spend here is my own time, as if that is any of your business.