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Signed up for second session. Dying to hear what percentage of cut is. (sm)

Posted By: sm on 2009-09-23
In Reply to:

Hopefully people will post as soon as they find out.  I know we are lucky to have been kept at the percentage we were.  MQ cut us 10% one year and then 10% again.  Have a feeling they are going to skip the gentle repeated insults and just hit us with 20 or 30% right off the bat.  I hope I am wrong.


Good luck to us all.




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I hear Medware just signed large chain of Hospitals
Should be hiring many MTs in next few weeks, heard from the recruiter.  I am testing with them now, what they offer is alot better than the National I am with now.  Good insurance and line rate, hope to get on with them.
Hard to have a satisfying gripe session with management
on the board. If we had work we would not even have time to be here.
Or dying of
aa
Tell that to my dying fingers.
x
Sally, actually it is not dying out
I know several companies where it is indeed possible to make 50K a year and without killing one's self. And yes, those companies are highly selective, but they do exist and several of us work for them. I only say this so others will not think it is impossible. You have to not give up.
LOL! And I bet your *wonder* QA staff are dying to get off your team!
Funny, I was a QA manager too, and you probably took the crappy job I got rid of. LOLOLOL! I'm on a high horse? ha. That's funny...!
OMG! I'm dying for benefits too, but not at that company.
xx
That is the darned truth. It's dying. Trying sm
to find the perfect company, just like the one from 1985 or 1995? They don't exist. THEY WENT BROKE. So quit trying and get the heck out now. There are so many careers out there that any MT is more than capable of pursuing.
She can get better help at Spheris, but this field is dying. We all need
NM
most companies are dying for even just warm bodies
most of the time if you suck, but are trying, they will keep you. They would rather pay you garbage to type at least SOMETHING than have the work sit. It's a pathetic business these days... sickly and pathetic
Against. Dead/dying for MT now days for sure(30+ years MTing
.
Percentage of tax
My account told me a good way to judge how much money to put back was to go off the previous year. If I made 30k - take 30%, 15k-15%. If however you find you are making more money than the previous year and will continue the trend take off what you think your yearly total will be, 50k - 50%.
what is the ESL percentage there?
I heard it was high.  Is it bad or bearable? 
ESL Percentage

 


What percentage of ESL's do you do on a daily/weekly basis?  Which ESL dictation do you find the most difficult to do--Spanish, Indian, other?  Do most companies reward you with a better rate if you tell them that you are comfortable doing ESL dictation or not?  I have been thinking about this and wondering, since I am paid the same line rate to do the difficult ESL dictation (granted, not all ESL's are as difficult as others) as I am to do the clear and easy dictators, why in the world would a person ever tell the company that they are happy to do their part in transcribing ESL dictation?  It is like a person is penalized for doing the difficult work by being put in the difficult dictators work pool and it really doesn't matter if you have 5 years or 20 years of experience, most places just want the work turned around immediately and it doesn't matter how horrible the dictation is--just do it!  


 


I think that the next time that I apply for a transcription position I will say that I am not comfortable with ESL dictation (something that I have never done in my life) in order to get put into better pools of dictators.  Instead of being paid more for doing this kind of work and not complaining, I feel we are penalized and seem to ALWAYS get the hard work, which is not fair at all! 


 


As if it isn't hard enough to be an online medical Transcriptionist these days, having to learn the different styles of a bazillion different dictators on however many different accounts you work on (so as not to run out of work) and all of the hospital specs (plus learning their local terminology--city data, names of popular places in the area, etc.), the experienced are put into pools of hard dictators and the poor MT's” (boohoo!) who claim they can't do this dictation make the good money.


 


So far in my transcription career, I have never played games with companies about things like this and have always told the truth about my strengths and weaknesses as a transcriptionist, but it's dog eat dog these days, and whatever an MT has to do or say to make the $$$ seems to be the name of the game.


 


Thanks for letting me vent tonight!  


 


 


What is your QA percentage? sm

I started with a company last month whose account is extremely picky..  QA is even more picky with their constant nit picky corrections..  I have never had any trouble with my QA.  Always 95% or more.  But this new job has me at around 85 to 89% and it just makes me angry because one person corrects a dictation one way and then another one does the opposite, removing commas that are supposed to be there, adding in them when they aren't and its all counting against me.  Anyone else experience this????????


It is not so much the percentage...
of what they do now, but it is in their company forcasting goals and desires to continue to increase the usage of overseas markets.

It just reminds me of the great linen/towel factories we had here all up and down the east coast that are now no longer because labor was so much cheaper than in Southeast Asia/Asia.

We are the great consumer market of the world and prices have to be kept low so that the market keeps being driven higher and faster to keep the global economy ever profitable and everyone keep their job.

Looked what happened last summer when the Americans stopped buying cars. I rest my case.
I can figure out the percentage, but...
How does one go about figuring their estimated tax?

According to what I've read on the IRS site, we have to pay estimated taxes. Well, great. I can estimate my income at what I'm making now, just starting out, but I don't see my income staying this low, so I would eventually be underpaying. I could estimate it at a higher amount, but what if I don't make as much as I think or hope I will? I can see where getting a refund is a good thing, but I'm more worried about underpaying.

Do you pay the tax on what you've ACTUALLY made in a quarter (it kind of sounds like it) or do you go about estimating your income, say you figure you'll make $20k a year, and put 25% of that away?

Confused.
I don't know the percentage number, but I'd say
there were no more difficult dictators on the accounts I'm working on than on any other big city hospital that I've worked for over 20 years. And I say difficult dictators versus ESL, as ESL seems to be a negative; people think that foreign-born dictators are difficult to transcribe. There are a good deal of dictators on my accounts who are foreign-born, and if you look at the list of names in the physician's list, you'd think you'll be slogging away all day for very low line counts. That's not so. Most of the dictators are very good. As anywhere, there are a few really horrible dictators, both foreign-born and good old red-white-and blue Americans.
I have absolutely no complaints about TT.
They do some ASR but a very small percentage, something like less than 10%
of all their work is ASR. I am not sure what the pay for it, as I only do straight transcription.

They do pay shift differentials. I think it's a half cent for second shift and a penny for third shift.

They are wonderful people to work with and for. Everyone I have ever spoken to has treated me well. Even the President of the co. has been wonderful to me and will take my call anytime I need to speak with her (which has only been twice).

I would go for it. I am so glad I did.
Percentage and be very careful

how you fill out your return.  We had an accountant who was under investigation by the IRS which led to our being audited and we found that much of what he said was allowable was NOT.  i.e.  You cannot deduct a room for an office unless that is all the room is used for.  A guest bedroom with a bed in it is not an office.


I only know about my accounts. Percentage of

ESL relatively low.  There are maybe 4 that are very challenging, a few USA born that are very challenging, but I don't have any of them on a regular basis.  


Someone else answered your other questions I believe.


ESL percentage is definitely account

specific.  However, my personal experience has been that I was only given 1 account, thereby allowing me to get used to the dictators.  Secondly, my account has been broken down into specialties, thereby allowing me to get used to the lingo of that specialty.  Thirdly, I fully believe that MDI does try its best to make sure that the client understands the need to speak clearly.  I'm not saying that's how all accounts are or that that's everyone's general experience at MDI.  I'm only commenting on my experience. 


I think the ESL question is a standard with any company, too. 


Only a small percentage...sm

They do not off shore a lot of their work, only when the client specifically requests it.  I believe the percentage is like 12 or 16 (can't remember which).  They do try to get the clients to keep their transcription here, but if the client is adamant about sending it off shore, that's what they do.


I've been working OT lately due to someone leaving and not being replaced yet.  There's always a need for good US-based MTs at Transcend.


Some companies pay a percentage of your sm
regular line rate. Webmedx compensates at 70% of your regular rate - so if you make 10 CPL, you'd get 7 cpl for VR editing.
outsource overseas a percentage, which could go up...(nm)
xx
Just out of curiousity, what percentage of work was the
was it a percentage of your production or did they just pull say, 5 jobs per week, or something along those lines?

I left a company where I was doing almost 30,000 lines a month and they only did QA for my score on 4 (that is four) reports a month), so I agree, if you have a bad month, expecially if there is not a good QA ratio to productivity, the company can mess you over.
it's the percentage of reports from that batch

that random percentage number is the break-down of percentage of reports/pages from that batch that you had to have QA listen to a blank, that's all, not your QA percentage.  when you leave no reports for QA, that number remains 0 percent.  clear as mud?  sorry.  it's really no thang....


Yes it is, and ANY percentage is too large for my comfort
ANY percentage is too high. There's no excuse for it except profits for greedy American MTSOs.

There are literally HUNDREDS of US MTs more than willing to work these odd hours that Transcend and others claim they are 'forced' to offshore because they cannot get sufficient help here.

I strongly disagree. In fact, I disgree just short to calling it out as being a bald-faced LIE.

The purpose is nothing more to increase profits for the powers that be, while all of the time hammering down the pay of the American MT.

I hope I am not alone in my stand on this. I would rather somewhere else for less money who DOES NOT offshore and who respects their MTs. Respect is something MDI-MD obviously chose to cast aside when they began negotiating their moneymaking deal while we starved, lost sleep, wondered how we would pay our bills, and yet STILL tried to be loyal to these yahoos.

Nope, not happy and checking out before my work goes to India.

I've worked too hard and am too advanced in my career to be a sitting duck.
Those of you doing VR, what percentage of the report do you have to correct?
How accurate is the VR? Just wondering.
What percentage of American MTs are they using these days? (no message)
xx
It all depends on the percentage of the error assessed.
I have worked for a couple of companies who charge an extremely high amount of points for punctuation errors.  If this is the case, one can definitely dip into the 80s with punctuation errors.
Small percentage to India at night....
Transcend sends less work to India that most companies, and it is public record. Deventure also sends work to India. It is a fact of life in these times, some hospitals request it. Escription work with Focus doing the most of it, has been historically sent to India. From what I read, Transcend has the largest domestic staff on Escription.
Anyone that applied with Kathy Kirby hear anything yet? I am wondering how long it takes to hear a
response back
What is approx. percentage of ESLs at your company and who do you work for? sm

My company has SEVERE heavy load of ESLs, probably 85% if not more and they are hard!  I have this option of going with another company.  I want to try the new company but I don't want to get in the same situation I am in now only because if it is the same situation I would rather stay where I am at because I like the people I work for.  There is no benefits and a few things concern me yet they are good to work for, plenty of work and pay is ALWAYS ontime every time.  So this is just a poll:  What is the percentage of ESLs and where do you work.


Also, do you think I should try to go with this other company part-time and keep my current job to see?  The problem is I would have to get unlimited long distance and have their programs downloaded on the same computer. Would love to have any feedback for this tough situation.  Thank you! 


I wonder what the number or percentage of MTs that need insurance versus those that dont is. Which
is greater I wonder.
Oh, no. Think I may have just signed on
Can you give a general idea of the misrepresented positions? Frankly, I'm going into the thing expecting the worst.
I signed on for that
and I've yet to see any work. I check daily. They don't care either if you don't have any work.
Well when I first signed on

they had work comming out of their ears, when I left there was hardly anything.  I have heard they picked up again.  I had 2 different supes.  One on the training team, one on my team after traninng.  They were both great. 


They have 2 platforms, ex-text and Merit.  I worked on Merit (sp).   It had some good features and then some features EX text had that I wished it had.   It ran great on my 6 yo cheapo computer I got from Wal-Mart. 


The hospital that I am working at say they are going to ASR.  They have not said, but I bet that means we will be getting a pay cut.  They have already quit paying us for headers, footers.  I don't know but if things get too bad I will probably look back into Medware FT if that tells you anything.  HTH. 


Tell them you signed up as an IC and will
work when you are able and/or want to. As an IC, let them know that they cannot hold you to specific hours as was agreed upon when you started with them.
Co-Signed!!!
I've even worked with *seasoned/experienced* MTs who refuse to change one single word of what a physician dictates, even when it is BLATANTLY an error and the correct word is obvious (calm down, I'm not talking medical lingo here, I'm talking basic English words). I've also worked with MTs who, if the dictator says *Discharge diagnoses, Same,* types precisely THAT, *Same*, rather than copying and pasting the admission diagnoses, even though she knows this is what she is supposed to do. *That's not what he/she said, he/she said 'SAME'.* I've seen those same careless your/you're, they're/their errors more times than I care to count as well.

I understand the faster we go, the more money we make but at the end of the day, I'm willing to make a little less in exchange for turning out an accurate, quality report.

Those are my initials at the bottom of that patient record. I couldn't sleep at night or look myself in the mirror if I knew I was shipping through a lesser quality report just to make a few more cents.

And if it was your mother/father/sister/brother/child lying in that hospital bed or terminally ill attending a clinic, would you want an MT rushing through their report at breakneck speed, accuracy thrown to the wayside?

Errors like this don't make the work of US MTs any better than that of the Indian MTs, I'm sad to say.


Yep she is the one who signed up

Ummm - we care about our interests too.  That's why we DIDN'T sign up.  Sorry you were fooled.  Did you already run out of work or something?  The ads say they have tons of work? 


Have you signed a contract with them yet? sm

I haven't even set up a time to train yet but I just faxed my contract in this morning and I am supposed to get my lanier sometime next week.  I guess I probably pestered her; I would rather say I was persistent : ).  I had another company with an offer standing and I didn't have time to wait around and let the other one slip by in case things didn't work out.  Luckily, they did and I am very happy with my choice.


Not much, but I'm all signed up to start there!
I think it's going to be great. :o>


Many have signed noncompete re:
You cant just make contact with a client of a company - if you have signed a noncompete / no contact - if they are money hungry / desperate they will sue for any contact with a client - however, if they go out of business - no competition there.
Even if you did not sign, I am sure they would find a way to tie up your life and be an annoyance.
When I signed on a year ago
I got an hourly rate for 3 weeks.  The pay depends on your cpl offered x125 (lph)  x 8.  
I just signed on with Transcend
a week ago and am getting their stats now although I have not officially started working.  The workload does look low.  I had also tested with another company one day last week called Precyse.  I received an e-mail today saying that I passed their test and will be contacting me so I will see what they have to offer.  I thought I was in luck because this local hospital ran an ad in our local newspaper saying they want a Medical Records Clerk, FT with excellent benefits.  That is all the ad read.  I went and applied this morning.  Fully steady pay with benefits sounds so good.  The hospital is a block away and I can leave my work there and not have it staring me in the face 24/7.  I am just afraid that the word clerk in the ad means minimum wage. 
You signed on with the company sm
based on what you saw on the board?  Didn't you ask all of this during your interview?  Just curious.
already signed up. its about time nm

nm


Hourly QAers may be a dying breed, but cpl QAers are the up and coming thing
Of course, as offshore MTs and Editors learn and produce better quality, US cpl QAers will be the next dying breed.
just signed on with weekly company
I just signed on with a company that pays weekly. Great people!! Very friendly. Paychecks mailed every Monday. No platform as of yet so a little slow in building up line count. But I'll stick around until they obtain a platform.
I signed the Acusis papers
I don't know what I'm legally allowed to say anymore. Is it a company secret to say I'm suddenly out of work or doing scraps by mid-morning or noon? (Treading carefully, since this is not clear.) It is a new time to be out of work, in June. What's an overly motivated MT? They push and push for you to produce more and when you do they slow you down?

I was told a completely different reason why we were out of work.

There goes pay and PTO (again).