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Strictly Indian-ran, low pay, and difficult communication to say the least.

Posted By: Let me tell ya!! on 2006-01-02
In Reply to: Sorry, that is 'Focus Infomatics'... Thanks. - checking

The only high point I used to be able to say is that they paid on time. The strange thing was that every other month OR LESS.. they would change a pay day on you i.e. your last day on the pay period is Saturday and you plan to work that so you have an another day to get a decent check, and then on Friday, you get an email telling you that the pay periods have changed and the cut off is that day.  I am not sure the idea beyond that other than they are really tight sometimes making payroll so they try to get creative. Was not my idea of fun. I QUIT..


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DONT DO IT.. STRICTLY INDIAN RAN

You will get IM'd to death by your supervisors in India. Your line count never quite adds up, say you work 8 hours, your lucky if you make $50. The worst part ever is that your work is penalized for errors. It is very convenient that the people doing YOUR QA are located in India, nice switch huh.. You work like a dog to get a whole $100 a day, which takes like 12 hours only to find out your whole check was penalized 10% based on what the QA person in India says. So, basically on one check you have lost a whole day's pay. It is truly not worth it but to each their own.


They are strictly Indian-ran with a "front" place of business in Mass.

If you like getting low pay and badgered everyday by people either A. Do not understand English or.. B.  Do not WANT to understand English, then finish their test.


The only positive is that they pay on time, but they do move paydays a lot so that you would count on having so many days in that pay period and a day or two before the pay period is to end, they move that day of the pay period end so you'd end up with a day cut off your check that you expected. It seems very odd to me why the pay period would change so much. Also, your line count never seem to match up. You will work on a 5-page report for an hour and somehow you only end up with $8.  The other down side is that you will have Indians quality checking your work, which is bad enough.. but then your pay is docked according to what accuracy rate they give you. As you can see... too many red flags. The best word I can think of to describe them a company is.. RIPOFF... 


 


You'll regret it. Indian techs in India, late pay, lack of communication. nm
b
MDI is strictly
statutory. Set up your own benefits package; I did. I would rather be SE and have control of my schedule. All of the other stuff you can get through insurance companies, brokers, etc.
Strictly TAT
I am a relatively new graduate and am looking for companies that have TAT. I am applying to a lot of places but most say Flexible schedule which in my mind isn't really TAT. What companies let you sign in and out as you need to? Ultimately I can work 40+ hours but not necessarily with a strict schedule.
Strictly TAT
I am looking for an IC position. I have come across companies that let you pick your schedule. That's not really what I want. I'm more trying to find companies that say, You can work when you want as long as you achieve your line count or number of hours. I really don't want to test with every company with that says Flexible schedule unless this is what they are actually offering.

I know there are some out there somewhere, right?
they are (or were) strictly overflow accounts
so it was feast or famine. Private or paranoid?? QA person was so nasty. The overall manager had such a flat affect - never sure if it was just to keep us away or whether depression played a big part.

Games?? Did you ever try to verify your line counts? My accounts were typed with set margin and supposedly they were adjusted to come out to 65 character lines, but you could never come up with the right number of lines, no matter what line count program you used. I think they count part of the report with one margin and use a different margin on others. We had no support - technical or managerial - on weekends, evenings, or holidays. You just fly by the seat of your pants and hope you don't mess too much up.

I also did not like having to buy all the expensive equipment you had to have, like only a Cisco modem, at $350 or more, etc.
I work strictly through internet; they have some accounts
that you work off phone lines but not many. If offered a position, state you only want internet work and nothing to do with phone lines.
Do they offer any overtime or strictly 40 hours?
You can email me if you like.  Thanks for info.
Doesn't Keystrokes have strictly OP accounts?
I thought they posted not too very long ago for a position that was strictly ops. I don't work there so I don't know first-hand, just sorta recall seeing it on the job seeker's board.

Good luck with that search :-)

Focus is Indian run and you'll be editing Indian
work, so seriously doubt you'll make a bunch of $$ on editing.  99% of the MTs love KS.  If you'll just scroll down the page you'll see dozens of posts about them. 
Probably not - I believe they are Indian run or Indian based company. nm
x
Go to their Indian website or other Indian websites
xx
Strictly IC, good company, hard accounts, good platform.
Good pay, always on time, no direct deposit though.
They have at least 1 very difficult

account that is hard to get lines on.   They also have a weird platform.  There are 3 files for every dictation, 2 of which you have to open.  They supposedly give you a percentage of lines to allow for that, but I think it is a bunch of garbage.   I currently work where there is no platform, we type in Word or WordPerfect 5.1, whichever we are most comfortable with and we have a macro to put in all the demographics - all we have to type is patient's name.   I don't understand if my company can make it simple why the others can't.  


You didn't ask, but Precyse offshores, if they tell you something get it in writing because there is little truth in it.  Communication is very poor. 


Not too difficult
With someone with your mentality--like shooting fish in a barrel. (Do try to get over it.)
Very difficult to say unless
you know what the system is like, the dictators, the quality of the MTs, etc.  3.5 is not a great line rate but you can make some money if you are only filling in blanks and can get in and out of the reports pretty easy.  I was offered 5 cpl once but the dictators were so horrible and the MTs so horrible and the system so slow I went broke immediately and quit.  There is a learning curve obviously but sometimes you know immediately it won't get much better. Good luck!  The very best way is an hourly rate but most companies not willing to pay that.
I did it! It is not that difficult...
a lot of it will probably come back to you. Allow yourself a week or so to pick up speed, but I think you will be fine.
Of course you mean No communication.
x
Don't do it! Bad communication there.

Bad platform and bad pay.


Communication
Ha-Some would beg to differ.  Was told we were going to get  ShortHand page to help new employees create shorthand dictionaries as this was new to us, haven't gotten, told we were going to be reimbursed for Shorthand, haven't seen that either and this came from the top, not a lead.
TT pay and communication
About the pay issue I don't float checks or set up electronic transactions because, who knows the bank computer system could crash in the interim. When I SEE it I pay bills. Anyway it's due on Monday so I don't count on it before then.

About the communication, I don't see why they need to communicate anything about this, they already informed us they were taking it in house, they did not say they were changing the pay date, so what's the big deal about this anyway? It has to be up to the bank because they pay everybody at the same time, but it hits people's banks at different times, anywhere from Friday to Monday so it HAS to be the bank reponsible for tht.

About the communication they answer only the emails they want to answer and ignore the rest which is about 75% of them. I don't email them much and I also don't get an answer much.

Still Transtech is the best company I have ever worked for.
communication
Case in point - when some of us were told we were going to start doing VR (at a lower pay rate) I think many if not most of us got jittery and nervous. Some were on here wondering if they should look for another job. Then we got a conference call in which the owner talked to us about what was going on, why we were starting this VR, the cost breakdown, her concerns but also hopes for it, heard experiences of those who had tried it, and I think most of us felt a lot better after that call. The owner didn't say she was excited about the new VR or promise that we'd all love it or make a ton of money on it. She was honest about her concerns about it and about why we were doing it and that's what we really needed to hear to steady us - honest communication about the situation.
Same here. It's very difficult to get anymore than 200 lph
Am considering quitting also. Have averaged 300-400 lph at any other place I've worked. I also agree with you about the emailing bit. After every update about how much work is on the system, it's ALWAYS followed by an email from the owner about a minute later telling you to either stretch more or threatening you with their PRN Program or that you'll lose the work to offshoring, etc., etc...

Have nothing against anyone there, but I very rarely ever break 200 lph working on their hospital accounts. Bayscribe definitely gives low line counts.
If you only do 100 lph cause of a difficult doc then its a whole 8.80 an hour...
tt
Difficult dictators?
So MDI-FL and WebMedx both have decent health insurance for a decent price? And what do we have to do to get that? Are they all ESL? Or do they truly have decent dictators where you can make some money.  I have done very few ESL. What typing speed are they looking for?
it's difficult, but it comes down to self-discipline
Like you, I started at MT when I had my first newborn in the house. He's 18 now. All told, I have three boys, ages 18, 17 and 16 living in my house, and my husband. My home office is in my walk-thru pantry. We have a straight-thru house, so one has to walk through my work area to get into the kitchen, and all those growing males have to visit the kitchen often. In addition, I apparently have the hang out house, and there are usually a good number of other young people at my house most afternoons and weekends. That is one thing that I love, though. It's good to know what my boys and their friends are up to.
Over the years I've worked hard to establish boundaries. It WAS hard in the beginning to let the phone calls go. It was difficult to turn friends and family away from the door, but it had to be done. I had the same problems as you. I was up all night, production was low, etc.
I didn't resort to renting office space, I just got mean, I suppose. My answering machine message said that I was working and would return personal calls after business hours. These days, I have caller ID, so I can check the number of incoming calls. I answer calls from school, work or from my children and husband. That's it. Other calls go to voicemail. I changed the locks on the doors, and did not give keys to my family or neighbors. I had a few arguments with them, and used a very stern voice. I'm busy. I'm working. It's no different than anyone else who works in an office away from home.
I do, however, get up from my chair fairly often to avoid edema problems. I will throw in one load of laundry, wash a dish or two, run the vacuum in one room, or even scrub a toilet. But I get up and do only one quick chore at a time. No t.v., no radio, etc.
It's difficult, and it takes some perseverence and certainly self-control to establish boundaries and good at-home work habits.
Good luck with your new office. For me, though, I would not want to work to pay rent for an office when I have free office space at home.
I agree with you. It's not that difficult IF - sm
you TRULY are an experienced MT.  I am not talking about the I have 20 years doing neurology or I have been doing op notes for 15 years. MT.  I mean the MT who can, no matter what comes up next, DO THE WORK and do it well.  Everyone has to leave a blank every once in a while, but I believe there are a lot of people out there doing this job who cannot turn in even 1 job without a blank in it.  They have limited experience, trying to pass it off as acute care/teaching hospital experience and when they get the actual work, boy does it show.
I find this very difficult to believe.
//
I am with Axolotl. There is nothing difficult sm
about using Notes. They also have Speed Type with it for an expander.

Please apply! We have so much work! Seems so many places have been slow since Christmas and New Year, but it has been the exact opposite for us! The account I am on used to just be discharge summaries, but we have now taken over their consults and ops as well.
They are difficult accounts, and they have not
been able to hold anyone on these accounts for some reason. They've had these accounts for quite awhile, so I'm thinking that in order to keep the client happy, they must be offshoring the account again. They will do that from time to time. I'm glad I'm off of it. I was not making my lines on the Michigan account.
VR and difficult dictatoirs
I saw your post and would like to tell you and anyone else, do not get your hopes up high that VR will not work because of difficult doctors. I know for a fact. I work on VR and some straight and I would have never believed it but I personally think VR works even better sometimes with most of the difficult ones than with our better speaking dictators. Why, ? who knows. I myself was under the same thought when we were told were going on VR, oh, it will never work with so and so. It does and very efficiently on the VR I work with.
98.9% QA is NOT that difficult to attain -
Nor should it be if you are a quality-minded MT. I don't understand the negative about this company just over the QA. Their rate may seem low, but the 7 cpl rate is for clinic work, which in my opinion is much easier and deserves a lower rate! The acute-care rate is comparable with other companies nationwide.

I must point out that there are pros and cons to every company nationwide and that no company is a fit for all MTs. Compared to other nationals, however, this one is way above average, in my opinion. I'm sure I'll get bashed for this, but that's okay - I'm hauling money to the bank each and every paycheck!
not a difficult transition
Having trained MTs from DQS to ExText I can safely tell you that it is not a difficult transition. There are many similarities and it is doable. Never be afraid to take a leap of faith, it could change your life. It changed mine.
How difficult is it to get 100+ reports
for radiology on Meditech with ShortHand Expander in one shift?
I would think pretty difficult

IMO..... I think it would be pretty tough, unless the reports are very short (then hopefully you would get paid per report).  I used to work in Meditech and I spent more time filling in the demo screen than typing the reports!  I don't think MediTech is Radiology-friendly (IMO) unless the reports have some meat on them!  Also depends on the version of MediTech, some have the autofill and some you have to fill in every blasted box. 


So far they are fine and not that difficult

Definitely the worst at communication!!
If you have problems, oh well.. If you have a complaint, oh well... If you check is always penalized, oh well... If you have realized that the line counts NEVER add up with ANY program, oh well.. Now, you get the idea.  They could care less. There is a reason why people from other countries should not run an American business. They have no idea what your saying or care and you cannot get through to them in PLAIN ENGLISH because they do not understand that language. They only understand "PENALIZE" that is their favorite word. I am sorry but I had to vent.
Communication and concern
xx
True ... I got more communication from them
than I ever DREAMED of getting at MQ, and I loved it. What is the most difficult for me is that I trained on two hospitals of a very large account, and loved them, but then I was transferred to another hospital within that same account, and it is much harder. Not the worktypes, etc. - the docs are harder. But, some days are good, some are bad. Other than the account particulars, I have no other complaints with Transcend. They've been very good to me, and I like the platform, communication, TIMELINESS OF GETING PAID (they're REAL on top of that - my check actually arrives a couple days before payday). And, at least for right now, they have a lot of work - no worries about running out, at least not in the immediate future.
Don't go there. Bad communication, bad pay, India. nm
nm
No communication -> MTs wander off (sm)
when work volume dips.
All I want is better communication and more feedfback..sm
I never get feedback yet I got a message from the boss asking me to stop making the same mistakes.  How do I know what mistakes I am making if I'm not told.  That's all I ask. 
They pay higher than most and their communication
I though they were very professional and the Beyond TXT platform was not half-bad.  They treat you like a person and not someone from far, far away.  LOL  - They have my vote as well!     
I have never seen such a lack of communication
within a company.  It would be easier on management and keep the MTs working if there were better communication and being able to put it in one place would be a win/win situation I would think.  I've learned to not hold my breath for things to happen though. 
No but they can be blamed for bad communication
They knew today that the checks would not be pending in the bank as usual. They knew 2 weeks ago this payperid would go in house. Wouldn't a little e mail stating that the payday will not be as usual since things are in house now? At least common courtesy to those people who do not expect things to be different than every week for a year or more?
Yes, I agree they need to have better communication on almost everything.
nm
lack of communication
is usually a good indication there is soemthing you do not want others to know. 
Lack of communication? sm
What, exactly, do you want them to communicate to you that they have not already? They have sent emails and posted newsletters with the latest developments and they are holding a teleconference to discuss those developments.

Did it ever occur to you that not every worker is privy to all the internal workings of a company, not just in medical transcription but in most brick and mortar companies as well? We have a job to do at Webmedx, and that job is to transcribe accurate medical reports in a timely manner.... Period! Our job is not to concern ourselves with the latest acquisitions, mergers, or other business/financial developments that may or may not occur. They have people who are paid to do that, so we should do what we are paid to do.

If Webmedx is that intolerable to you, you might consider changing something you are able to change as I suggested below, or if you cannot or will not do that, then perhaps it is time for you to find some place where you would be happier.
The only problem I have with TT is communication (sm)

It seems like my email messages don't get through sometimes, but they are always quick to try and fix it. I even had support look into it. It turns out that management gets so loaded down with emails during the day that they can miss a few.


The only other problem I have is the ones that don't work their schedule during the week and then go whole hog on the weekend, leaving low work for Mondays. That irks me to no end (not the low work, the MTs).  They should work their schedule.  It throws everything off when they don't. 


I've been there for 2 years and am still happy. Work is low once in a while, especially around the holidays and Monday as above, but it always picks up after about 3 hours. I do enjoy the break and always make up my lines and time when necessary. I try to do it during the week, but sometimes must do it on the weekend.


 


Get used to it. Communication has always been an issue. Also....
be forewarned that one of the bigwig frequents this board. Not that you care, but they will figure out who is saying what. Overall, when I worked there, I liked it but hated the communication issue.