Some advice for the Transtech gripers
Posted By: TT'er on 2008-02-09
In Reply to: I'm paranoid about not being able to get my correct - line count at TT. Has this always been an issue?nm
Transtech's MT's are paid for every line we type in the document - period. We are not paid for the preexisting headers such as facility name, address, even - God forbid - the patient's name that we might have to search for occasionally but not on every single report.
The ctrl-I count is the one that is WRONG because it includes the headers that we don't type to begin with. Maybe you do have to search for a name occasionally but certainly not on every single report and the name is not the only thing that populates in the header anyway. That includes facility name, address, etc. that you don't have to type in.
The ichart line count is the correct one. It may be slow - too slow - but we are paid correctly no matter how slow it is. I have never been short on my paycheck because of line count. I spend my time on the massive amount of work that is available for me to type instead of going to ichart every 5 minute to see if it is still slow.
We ARE paid for normals that someone else has typed and added to ctrl-R AND we are paid for our expansions.
We are allowed and should type 2 spaces between sentences unlike only 1 space which is very hard to read and looks stupid but from my understanding some companies are so stingy that they make you leave 1 space between sentences. At TT you are cheating yourself if you leave only 1 space.
My advice for people who don't like not being paid for preexising headers by TT is to find another company that does pay for preexisting headers, which are few and far between, but if that one thing keeps you from being happy at TT, just leave then and good riddance.
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
Pretty funny. OSI gripers burned up the board with sm
their complaints. None of the posts match when you click into them.
Good advice, and advice that I'm giving real thought to ...
If I had known that they offshored before I accepted employment with them I never would have gone there to work. I've been here long enough now though to not want to lose my benefits.
Still ... making a DECENT PAYCHECK and making a living without being stressed out over the type of work that I'm doing is just as important as good benefits.
No. TransTech is out of Texas TTS is in New Hampshire. TransTech
s
Well I don't work for Transtech and this discussion isn't about Transtech...
and that is not age discrimination....give me a break...
bit of advice - sm
I have worked in many hospitals over many years, and after a bit of trial and error, I have found that this approach has always worked in my favor -
I STOPPED sending resumes to HR departments. Why? Because I would inevitably end up with a computer generated letter "thanking me for the resume ... on file ... should a position come up ... blah blah blah." I would contact the hospital and say I am responding to the position that is open, what do you mean you don't have a position??? The response would be "Oh, well someone should get in contact with you soon then."
By the time an HR department got off their butt to start calling in people for the position, chances are the transcription department was into overtime and overtime meant loss of $$ and next thing you know, it was being outsourced.
So I cut out the HR department, and would find out the name of the head of medical records and send my resume to that person. The person would either go to HR and say "contact this person for an interview" or would contact me themselves and set up the interview.
I would even send a resume to the head of medical records even if there was no opening because you never know. Hospitals may have onsite transcriptionists as well as outsourcing. But if the hospital realizes that there is the possibility of another Transcriptionist right in the area, they may be able to utilize me. Hence, I would get a phone call.
It's just a bit of advice - don't always rely on the website for transcription positions.
my advice is ask MQ for more than that...
if you have the experience and are 'seasoned' you should start out at least at 9 or 9.5. be firm. they must need MTs. if they say they do not pay that much say you are sorry to hear it but you have other offers, and everybody is paying at least 9 now...(IF you are as good as you say and you tested and passed, etc.)
men do this- they push back a little...
even if they simply will not give you more than say 8.5, they will at least know you are not stupid. if you take it at 8.5, tell them you want a review in the near future and expect to make more than that...
geeze, I started at 9.5 there a year ago...?
if you are good, demand to get paid what you deserve.
Thanks for the advice - sm
It's not a lot of money, but since I was courteous enough to send the equipment back immediately, I just don't understand why they aren't paying me. I am not going to drop it though.
Thanks again!
K
Here's my advice sm
If you are on your own and don't have a spouse or a second source of income, this isn't the job. You've really got to have some backup with Webmedx. This is not the company where you'll be on one or two accounts and have all the work you can do. This is scraping for every bit of work you can get some days and bouncing around on lots of accounts.
However, the benefits are very good. I'm not sure if they take them away, though, if you can't make your lines. Surely not if there's no work, but if there is work and you have trouble, don't know.
IF you have benefits through a spouse, I would go elsewhere and be an IC. I would not be here if I didn't need the benefits.
Good luck making a decision!
I appreciate the advice, but would like something a
see my advice
If you have been working for someone else, take a document, do the word count and the line count and see what you would need to charge per word to equal what you want per line. I also worked for someone that did that and lost a lot in letters and consults as I charge by gross line. She paid 1 cent per word also. In medical there are more longer words than shorter one. I would not do it for less that 2.5 to 3 cents per word as I just looked at one of my documents and it would have taken probably 3.25 per word to make what I did off of that document. Good luck. With words no spaces are counted.
I need advice
Does anyone out there know about Entente Health Care. Has anyone ever worked for them? I have been offered an Editor position with them but I was wondering how they are to work for. I hope I am posting this in the right place since I am new to this. Any comments appreciated.
Thank you...I did take your advice SM
to heart. It wasn't an easy decision as I heard just as many negative comments as I did positive comments. After careful consideration, I decided to give them a chance. I think I'm better off having heard all the negatives and positives as I was able to make a more informed decision. I really hope I'll be happy there. I'm not naive enough to believe it will be perfect (what company is?), but I want to start off giving them the benefit of the doubt. Everyone's different. I worked for Spheris and hated it (others I know love it there). I worked for Medquist and liked it (lots of people hate it there). So it's my hope that I'll find my niche with TransHealth.
I really do appreciate your advice, though. I hope that you have found a job that is better suited to your needs.
Take care,
Chickadee
That would be advice. nm
x
Thanks for all advice given sm please
That is what I would love to happen in the long run, but I am pretty certain that at this point I could not handle the potential daily workload myself, and I would not want to mislead them and get myself in over my head... New advice??
My advice to you
Right now things are slow, probably on all or most accounts. Get yourself a backup when it's busy. Then you have it to fall back on at times like this.
Thanks for the advice (sm)
One of the jobs I had in Ophthalmology was at a medical school, but, of course, only in that specialty. I know the job that fits me is out there somewhere, that is, if I lose my current one in August (I really do like the office for which I currently work). Thanks again for your input.
Same advice here, but
I might add that nursing is also emotionally and mentally exhausting. When I worked full time, I basically worked and recouped from work. Not much energy left to enjoy life. I'm glad I learned everything I did, but don't want to go back.
looking for advice
Approximately two and a half weeks ago I accepted a job offer for IC status. It would be another full week before I would hear from them again, and another four days before I was able to train on the platform. As I sit here now, I am losing money, because I still do not have a password to begin work (this being yet another four days after training). It seems like a good job - a job I would like to keep. However, I am getting very frustrated with the lack of communication. I email and do not receive responses. I call and leave messages, and do not receive a call back. I have considered doing overflow work for someone, but if I ever get going on this job I am afraid that I may be spreading myself too thin to do that. I do not particularly want to name the company, but if you would like to know you are welcome to email me. I will, however, let anyone that may come on here asking about this company know.
Thank you for letting me rant.
My advice.
Thirteen years is a lot to give up for the unknown. The current Transcend employee below basically said as much about her own situation, and she makes a lot of sense.
Why don't you try it on a part-time basis? Then if you find it's a better place for you, you won't lose anything.
When I worked at TS, the platform was down every other day and tech support was virtually nonexistent. Maybe things have changed for the better. I hope they have.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Thanks for the advice
x
Need some advice...
Hi everyone,
I just need some advice here. When put on a new account is it common to make stupid mistakes while getting used to how a doctor dictates? Does QA to some degree expect that these little mistakes are going to be made when starting out on a new account?
I was recently added to a new account and I am not making many mistakes, but the VERY FEW I have made make me want to kick myself--HARD. They aren't big mistakes..just something that when I see corrected I say WHAT WAS I THINKING  ...(though, it did make sense to me when proofing at the time)... basically the hear one word and it turns out to be another scenario, regular English words, not medical...the ones that make you feel 
Don't get me wrong, my QA is wonderful and doesn't try to make me feel belittled because of that or anything. She is excellent. I just really beat myself up over things like this.  I certainly don't want to look sloppy!!
Is this the norm for everyone just starting out on a new account?
Thanks for listening and for any words of wisdom.
Jess
advice
being a new myself, and getting an oncology account, which I know nothing about, makes it really hard, plus, my doc is ESL and talks like he's got a mouth full of marshmellows. I make mistakes all the time, dumb ones too! But, never, but never kick yourself. Just learn, if you spend your time kicking yourself, you're not focusing on the learning aspect. Just calm down and learn. Bec
Need advice
Can anyone tell me anything about Phoenix MedCom? I have a choice between them and a local physician's office with an hourly pay of $14/hour. Please tell good and bad, consistent work flow, easy platform, if its hard to get time off when needed. Also have always been an employee, so any tax info about ICs would be greatly appreciated as well. Please email ASAP. Thanks.
advice?
Can anyone tell me about Phoenix MedCom. Have a choice of them and a local physician's office with hourly pay of only $14/hr. Please tell good and bad. Also I have never been an IC before, so any tax info appreciated. Please email ASAP. Thanks!
Need Advice
Need some advice here. I have been doing transcription for over 8 years the old- fashioned way with microcassettes and regular cassettes and am now wanting to go with a national account, which uses things like .wav pedals and different updated equipment. I need to start testing with some of these companies, but I need to know what equipment I need so that I'm prepared to take this new step. I assume wav pedals are different than these outdated pedals that came with my transcription machines. Where do I start? TIA
I better take your advice
I am starting to have bad luck with this company. The workload is very light when I log on to type. I request more work, but they never seem to respond back. I think I better start looking somewhere else. Thanks for your advice.
My advice would be to look for a job
Take the experience from this other job and put it into a medical center and work onsite for a while to learn all you can, around here most let you work from home after 30 days of working on site. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't stay with this company as they don't sound very professional, and you deserve better. Good luck. :)
You mean some ADVICE?
x
Need advice!
I have been a very depressed MT lately working for a company who never pays me on time. The accounts are fantastic and the work is the type I love doing, but I do not get excited whatsoever anymore because I cannot guarantee my pay to be on time. I communicate with the manager this issue and she says she understands, but she is not fixing the solution. I told her I wanted to resign because I was offered another position and that I need to be paid on time. I have bills to pay and MTs or any employee at any company does not work for free.
My question is, if you were in this type of situation, would you just continue doing work for this company and start working for the new company and see how things go? I know it's not good to quit a job whether you are not sure about how the new job is going to turn out. However, this new company says they always pay their MTs on time and even have direct deposit.
What would you do in my situation? I am so nervous to give up this job I am doing now because it might not be like the new one, but on the other hand, do I just try out the new job for a month and work both jobs part-time and see how the new one comes out and if it is a match? Of course the present job is just sending me tons and tons of work to do, but I will not be able to do all of that work if I am concentrating on learning another job. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Need advice
Does anyone know of a company hiring part time (20 hours per week), who works via VPN using DSL or cable modem, provides equipment or requires little additional equipment other than own computer, foot pedal and MS Word and does not require you work weekends? My current full time employer's set up is that I dial right into the hospital's computer system and I would like to find something similar. Is there such a company? :o)
I need your help and advice please...
I have almost 20 years' experience with acute care and multispeciality clinic transcription and have been with the same company the past four years. Unfortunately, work flow has been slow the last six months or so, and I am having to check other options. I have taken several tests for various companies and have heard back from a few and have heard nothing from others. These tests were completed three weeks ago! The one offer I did get was 6 cents per line!!! I was shocked to say the least. I was told my testing was excellent, so what's with the rate? Of course I told them I couldn't possibly accept that position. Anyway, I guess my question to all of you wise transcriptionists is whether there are companies who are willing to pay for experience and quality? I have been working as an employee, but am not able to do the line count (1500 lines per day) to acquire benefits. I'm wondering if I would be better off being IC status. If so, what is a reasonable line rate for my experience? I'm sorry this is such a long post, I'm just terribly frustrated and needed to get some input. Thanks for listening.
Need Advice Please
 I am thinking about testing with Cymed. I know they merged with another company recently. Can anyone tell me do you type in Word or in some other sort of platform? I absolutely hate and cannot tolerate emdat. I wish to stay away from that program at all costs. Do you run out of work? How do you feel about the company? I am not at all happy where I am now. It is time for me to move on.
Advice
My sincere advice is to not to join Four Seasons Transcription as they don't pay on time or don't pay at all. There are hundreds of companies which are good, so be wise and don't choose this company.
Thank you for the advice.
I'm not going into that rabbit hole. I just got out of a bad situation with barely an ulcer and with your help won't get into another. I have a friend who works for MDI-MD and she also is very, very happy.
My advice..
Don't do it......look elsewhere...you'll thank yourself in the long run.
Some advice... sm
Most companies get a whole slew of e-mails and piles of resumes to go through and very rarely make it through each and every one they receive. It is very important to take the proactive approach and FOLLOW UP a few days later with a personal e-mail, or even better, a phone call if a number is available. It could very well be that they just haven't seen the diamond in the rough yet! A lot of companies also know that many people send out to several jobs and just hope to hear from one, so if they see you contacting them again directly it tells them you're genuinely interested. Do it!
Need some advice...
I posted on here about a week or so ago about being driven totally insane by SPI (formerly CyMed). I quit working there several months ago, and I cannot seem to get it through their thick heads that I don't work there anymore and haven't for months! I keep getting all of their e-mails even after emailing them back asking them to remove me from their email list, and for the past couple of months I have been getting phone calls from them VERY late at night (sometimes midnight or later) asking me why I am not working! It is always a different person who calls me. After the last call that woke me up from a dead sleep after midnight, I called the main SPI office the next day letting them know that I was getting all of these late night phone calls and that I had told every person that called me that I am no longer an employee there. I asked them if there was anything they could do to get them to stop as they are driving both my husband and myself crazy! They told me that they would pass on the information and make sure that the phone calls stop (the person I spoke with was not all that friendly). Well, tonight at 10:30 PM, I got another call asking me why I wasn't working. Any advice on what I can do to get them to stop? I have tried everything that I can and they just won't leave me alone! It almost seems to be getting to the point of harassment. HELP!!!
Thanks so much for all the advice!
It is all really helpful! I was actually wondering if there was a way to block their calls...at least block the numbers that I have gotten calls from recently. I searched my phone book to find out how to do it, but I just couldn't find anything. I have a friend who works in the customer service department at my local phone company, so I will have to ask her if she has any advice on how to go about doing this. Thanks again for all the help! It's greatly appreciated!
my advice
They do have direct deposit, they do pay on time. I always had errors in my pay, not big errors but never in my favor. I always had to call and go over the amounts and be put through changes to get the small amount. I was given good dictators and then terrible and I mean terrible quality dictation that was recorded and re recorded so that the quality was just blurry like a photocopy that has been copied several times only this time you are trying to listen. I was receiving constant emails every time someone made a mistake. It was downright depressing. My advice to you if you would really like to try it, do not sign a contract saying you will give them two weeks notice when you quit because you might want to quit sooner. If you are only worried about pay being on time, yes it's on time.
Thanks for the advice.
Thanks. I haven't been with this company long and just was wondering if this was something that was normal. I really like having 1 account with plenty of work, but realize that is only a fantasy.
I need some advice please
I work in the medical records department of a hospital and our transcription is going to be outsourced to an outside company. We have been told that our transcriptionists would be taken in by this company but it doesn't look very promising and we would definitely take a pay cut as well as lose a lot of benefits.
We have several options aside from going with the outside service. Some of us could move to the radiology department but they don't have room for all of us, and it would go by seniority in terms of who they would offer it to. But I am afraid that the radiology transcription could be outsourced too before too long. Since I have seniority I would have first choice to move to radiology but then I would lose my seniority because I would have to train from scratch there. I have never typed radiology before and would take a pay cut.
Also there is a small hospital nearby that still does inhouse transcription but I just think that it will all go out to the national companies before long.
I don't know what to do. Go with the company and take at least a 30% or 40% pay cut, apply with the small hospital, or start at the bottom in the radiology department that could also be outsourced in the future.
Can anyone give me advice about what to do?
Thank you for your suggestions.
My advice to you is
look elsewhere. I applied for their so-called onology clinic opening, and I was told that I had turned them down for a contract 3 months ago. I never heard of them before now, and I did not know they even existed until now, so I am wondering if they possibly are just out for personal-type information. Sorry I could not be any help to you. Just sharing my experience with them today.
Need advice on job
I got a phone call yesterday from a staffing agency. They want me to come in for an interview for a Transcriptionist position at the hospital on the Air Force base. If I don't need their medical benefits my pay will be $17 an hour. I don't know too many details because my interview is not until Monday.
Anyways, the schedule is from 5 p.m. until around 1 or 2 a.m. The reason I went into the MT field is so I can stay home with my special needs daughter and not have to put her in daycare. If I work the shift that was offered, we still will not have to pay for daycare, because my husband works days.
The problem is it is either Tuesday through Saturday or Wednesday through Sunday. In all reality, it would actually give me more time to spend with my daughter playing. I will sleep when I get home from work, wake up with her in the morning, and then maybe lay down for a nap with her in the afternoon.
I know this may sound weird that I am asking for advice, but I would just like to know what other MTs think.
TIA!!!
Thank you for your advice
I don't know all the details about the job yet, because my interview is on Monday. I usually don't go to bed until around that time every night (morning) anyways, and I still get up around 8 or 9 a.m. That is when my daughter wakes up too. I have been sleeping this way for years, and I am as healthy as I can be (except that I might have to have my gallbladder taken out, LOL).
Anyways, I really appreciate everybody's advice because that is exactly what I am looking for. Also, I don't and can't make anywhere near that amount of money working from home. Since my daughter has special needs she often has appointments that last at least 4 hours at a time. By the time I go to those, come back home, and start work, I am already tired.
I just think that if I can work this shift and get about 6 to 7 hours of sleep while she is still sleeping, it won't affect my work production at all. I like working from home so I can spend time with my daughter, but it just isn't working out that way. I'm lucky if I get to spend a couple of hours a day playing with her. If I take this job, I can spend almost triple that amount doing stuff with her.
Sorry, that this is so long. I just know I have a lot to think about.
Advice
If you are happy with everything with your current company except the work volume, I would suggest staying put. It is highly unlikely you are going to find all the things you are looking for. For one thing, you will probably be lucky to be offered an HONEST 8.5 cpl rate at a new company, seems the starting pay gets less every day. I know others will say differently but this is my opinion. If there are higher starting rates you can bet that if the grass is greener the water bill is higher. My advice would be to stay where you are and pick up a P/T gig. If you are as good as you say, then you should be able to juggle between companies and keep everyone happy. This is not the ideal situation but it's about as good as I can see to making sure you have the work you need these days. Sad but true. Good luck in any event.
Need Advice
Can good money be made doing only clinic notes or are acute care accounts better? I would also like to know your opinions about DeVenture and Transhealth. I know that TransHealth just got bought by WebmedX, so what are your thoughts on WebmedX? I would like to know what anyone thinks about these companies and if you had your choice out of these which would you choose? Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thank you.
Thanks for the advice, I will probably (sm)
send them my resume just in case they need any help from someone already familiar with the account. One never knows....
Thanks again.
TTS...need advice please!
I am considering a part-time position with TTS. The recruiter gave me two options: Dictaphone platform, which uses Extext and VPN, no VR yet, on an acute care account with 1000+ dictators at 9 cpl OR Escription that does have VR on approximately 40% of the dictation, multidisciplinary clinic which covers every specialty under the sun at 8 cpl for text, 4 cpl speech editing.
I am not familiar with either of these platforms, but was told they are both word-based. This may be a no-brainer for most, but I have never worked with VR and suppose I have that fear of the unknown. However, it does sound like the better of the two options.
If anyone can offer me advice on which they would choose, please let me know! Thank you.
Thank you both for your advice.
The thought had crossed my mind that the job might not be good as I hope it to be, that the start date might get pushed further back or that something might happen and the job falls through and does't actually happen. I'm going to follow your advice and wait a bit and possibly go part time in the current job to work both.
Again, my thanks to both of you. God Bless.
No with TT, need advice
I work for TransTech, was hired specifically for OPs but getting very few of them. Ad said OPs only, but get all work types. I thought maybe because understaffed, but after 3 months and many hirings, still not getting mainly OPs. Should I talk to someone or move on? Any others?
My advice
I don't know anything about them but I took a cursory look at their website. I'm assuming you're a new grad. If correct, you will cost any company more than you produce in the beginning. I don't know why you are desparate to find an MT job but it is not something I'd recommend anyone to get into now. Unless you're the exception, you probably won't make much money right out of the chute. It sounds sort of like you would be paying $99 for the privilege of working for free. I can't see where there would be much future in that. Look before you leap. Good luck.
|
