Thanks ... I was thinking of a friend of mine who is unhappy sm
Posted By: curious on 2005-12-10
In Reply to: Spheris and MQ but you won't get the radiology sm - Rad MT
with her current job, doing radiology transcription at a local hospital. I was going to suggest she send her resumes to some of the national companies, but did not know which companies out there had radiology accounts. If Keystrokes is the best, then I'll suggest that to her. Thanks for the tip. :-)
As for me, I've been doing acute care since Moses was a baby, but doubt I could pass any kind of radiology test. 
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I am asking actually for a friend of mine
who has also received responses, tested, and the sound file was horrible. I certainly remember testing myself personally and the sound file was horrible, but she's asking my friend to spend money on different programs, which I think is wrong. I only saw one old post from 2007 where she did not pay after a few weeks of this MT performing services. I personally felt she was sending me too many different e-mails to respond to as she is doing to my friend right now. I just don't want people to be taken advantage of, as her last company name she was going under was called Digital Transcription Services, so why would she change her name, if not to hide from the ones she has not paid. Just be very careful!
Not accurate. Must be another company your friend is thinking of.
x
According to a friend of mine in management - sm
A potential employer can ask questions, such as - Would you hire this person back?
K
This happened to a friend of mine -
She still does not know the reason 3 years later. I think it is way too easy to dismiss someone these days with an e-mail and not return their calls because you have caller ID and see they are calling rather than just tell them the real reason. If it is because they do poor quality work or whatever I think at least being told that is better than nothing at all. Just plain rude to leave someone hanging if you ask me!
A friend of mine works there...(sm)
the pay rate sounded a little on the low side to me (I'm thinking around 7 cents, 65 cpl), but she really didn't have a whole lot of experience when she started, either. (We had worked together for about a year and I trained her as a new graduate before we both quit the company we were with.) She really likes working for them; it seems like their trainers/QA people are really decent folks who give pretty good and fair feedback, which is something she really likes.
I do know they have benefits for both FT and PT people, which is pretty rare these days.
A good friend of mine
who has been an MT for 30+ years had to quit Trans Tech because she was not making enough to pay her mortgage.
A friend of mine worked there
One of the accounts they have came from a hospital I worked for here in Ohio. A good friend of mine went to work there when they outsourced the radiology side. She got an e-mail out of blue with them stating they no longer needed her services. They did this to ALL of the 2nd and 3rd shift MTs. The reason she wants YOUR line rates is so she can the very least she has to pay. If she has this information up front, then she will not contact the MTs with higher line rates. They used to only pay 9 cents per line radiology and 8 cents per line acute care. They have also changed the way they post jobs as they used to post the amount of line rates for each specialty. Horrible Company!!
A friend of mine works for them
She's on a radiology account and the last I heard she loves it. Always plenty of work, pay always on time and accurate, and nice people.
Hope that helps.
A friend of mine worked there over 9 years
She loved it, but lost her benefits for some reason and is moving on to a different profession completely. She wants to get out of the house, after 17 years of transcribing. She did go to NJ to train, but that was way back then. They treated her like royalty while she was there though.
Friend of mine applied and she has not heard yet either - sm
It is legit as far as i know. It is an SBC global job, and they are known for hiring at-home people.
I work there, and a friend of mine just started. It took RO
about a week for her to hear back. Good luck! :-)
Two years ago, a friend of mine signed on with them.
Her big complaint was that there were so many ESLs that it was hard to make any money. Another friend signed on with them as well part-time and he had no complaints. There is plenty of work. They are very flexible. I think they use a Dictaphone platform. I did talk to the owner a couple of years ago and they offered me 8 cpl with a bonus weekend every month where I make 10 cpl, more depending on how much I produce. Again, this was 2 years ago.
A friend of mine worked for Spheris
and she said they really sc***ed her.
Friend of mine cleared out pool for incentive - never got it
and now theyve bounced her fourth or fifth check. She's been gone for months and they're STILL messing with her
friend of mine worked in their office in Annapolis - sm
Two of her checks bounced. Owner flies off to India every other week to check on offices in India. His sales force is US, but 90% of work goes to India. Apparently the owner takes care of the India people and sales force first and foremost before he takes care of the US MTs and editors. This was a year ago - I don't know if things have changed/
A friend of mine has satellite and went to Precyse recently
nm
Same happened to friend of mine. Carol had pets.
x
A friend of mine very recently started working for them
I'll try to get ahold of her and see how it's going so far. She just started about a week or so ago.
If I hear anything, I'll let you know :-)
A friend of mine is a male and owns a transcription company. sm
He has no problem getting accounts and is quite wealthy from it. So, do not let your gender deter you!
His company is RX Transcription in Newtown Square, PA. Give him a call and maybe he can help you.
Okay, here is how a recruiter who is a friend of mine explained verbal tests to me.
Verbal tests are to give the recruiter a feel of what that MT knows off the top of their head. Not all people get nervous at verbal tests but a good recruiter has the insight to know if a wrong answer or lack of an answer is from not knowing or is from just being nervous. A verbal test is done just to get a feel for the the off the top knowledge of an MT plus you know that MT is taking it. This recruiter is also an MT and having gone through so many tests the long hard way decided this was the lesser of the evils. She did tell me though if she felt that MT knew their stuff and just could not respond because of nervousness that she noted that and just by a general conversation based on experience would not flunk someone like that. Lenghty tests prove very little except that an MT has been working for companies that all have different ways of style and that she felt that was not right to an MT; as well having to take tests that are hours long after an MT has been working long hours is also not fair to the MT. And my friend told me that in many cases there are MTs that literally have other MTs take their testing for them and you would not know it until that person starts the job. It depends on the recruiter and their knowledge of the industry. Each recruiter or company has their own way and usually they find the way that works best for them. I personally find that many recruiters just have no knowledge of the industry (inside knowledge) and it annoys me that someone like that is allowed to even have the opportunity to interview and test me. I can remember one with a company up north and their idea of punctuation was way too much. It should not have been an issue unless it changed the meaning of the report but had they gone by the Book of Style they would not have added those 20 or so commas throughout the 4 reports that they had me transcribe. I passed but when you have been in this industry for over 15 years and are being judged by someone that has not and who has not been in your MT dancing shoes then something about that just does not seem right. Anyway I doubt there really is a best way to do anything, but if I had my choice, I would prefer the way that is the shortest. Time is precious and for the rates they pay nowadays those tests are just too lengthy to go through that for a whopping 7 cents a line. No thank you. I'll chance my nerves over all that.
It has been a couple of years but I tried to work there and lasted 1 day and so did a friend of mine
The ESL were AWFUL.. It was all I got and I could not understand anything they said. They were out of California so had a real mixed bag of ESL but none of it was doable. Things could have changed, who knows.
A friend of mine works for a hospital that has hired a director from one of the hospitals in
Pittsburgh and she wondered if he outsourced a lot of work or what he did when he goes into a new hospital. They have all at home employees now. I believe it was Allegheny Hospital.
At first I was thinking that you were being unrealistic, not thinking about taxes, benefits, etc. bu
surprised to find that you are not asking the moon. Let me clarify a few things: Rates charged are not as high as 0.25 per line, but no one that has U.S. employees goes as low as 0.115 or they would not be able to pay their bills. A more realistic range is 0.125-0.165, and that top end is hard to find, most falling at 0.14-0.15 per line.
The rates of pay you propose are very reasonable IF the following is true: These are seasoned MTs who do not need a lot of hand-holding, QA or blanks filled in, unless a very difficult/impossible doctor.
How about a scale based on experience and accuracy of 0.09 - 0.105 per line (acute care), and $1.15-$1.30 per report (radiology)?
The VR one is tough as everyone, MTs and MTSOs and facilities are still feeling their way on this. As an MTSO who was an MT, I feel that VR editing is as difficult to do as regular transcription. I don't think that it should be substantially less pay or charged less as the end product is still the same.
Funny thing here? My company already follows that scale. We should work together, not at odds, to reinforce this industry and bring it back to where it should be, right here in the U.S.A. with a decent paycheck.
I bet you 1 million $$ you won't find one on mine. Mine is
2 years old and it does not have a 9-pin serial port, nor does it have a game port. I have used both ports on other computers so I know what both ports look like. I also have a company provided computer and it does have the ports on it.
Why do all the unhappy MTs at MQ
stay? I worked for MQ a long time ago and after 2 months with them I knew they were crooks! With all the legal issues pending and the drama that seems to linger with every passing day, why not go somewhere else? I know many MTs are happy there and that is great. But really people life is to short to be so unhappy with your jobs. There are better places out there to work. Good luck to all of you.
unhappy with VR too
I hear you on that one and just wondered if you ever found anything else. It seems to take so long to make up the money --- even the double amount that you have to make to make the same amount as typing. It is so dull. Please let me know if you can. thanks much.
For all those looking for a job or unhappy
I read the board quite a bit, post sometimes. At times I agree with topics or points of view and say so. Other times, I disagree, and say so.
All-in-all, though, I want to say to every MT who is unhappy with their work, their particular company, their paycheck, that for 2009, make this a year of healthy change for yourself.
Sometimes that healthy change can come by just changing jobs to a different company. Remember that every company is not for every MT. There is no company that is 100% great nor 100% horrible -- some MTs will always be happy and some will not be at every company.
A healthy change can also be deciding to go into a different branch of MT work, such as QA or even a team lead or supervisor position.
Sometimes healthy change comes from making a step out toward a new profession, if you feel you need a complete change of pace.
It may include taking on the new challenges of voice recognition (editing) or a new platform, etc.
Whatever your situation, I hope you will join me in making sure that we actively do something for each of own situation. It doesn't require banding together nor attempting to overhaul anything - just a simple decision, a simple plan, followed by a deep breath and taking that first step.
I already have and I hope you will join me.
Here's to 2009 ...
Me
To All Unhappy MTs s/m
I have been screwed, glued and tattooed by several MTSOs. Now I am  !!! The only difference is the last one has broken new ground. I feel sure the big boys are waiting to see if this works as the ultimate club to keep you in line. Courthouses may not be able to prosecute criminals because they are so clogged with SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) lawsuits or legally known as slander and libel. All of you are opening yourself to this by posting your experience with companies you have worked for on a public forum (unless, of course, you can give glowing reviews). The one I am in trouble with is no worse than any of the others. I am shocked that apparently ALL MTSOs feel they must monitor what their employees are saying about them. What's that old saying? The guilty flee when no one pursues.
If all of you want to change your lot in life then do it! It can be done. Needless to say, because I have been placed in a position to HAVE to defend stating my experience and opinions, I have learned many things that I did not know before. I will not share these things on a public forum.
The first thing you should do is organize a means of communication that is not viewable by your adversaries. You also need a leader, one who is not afraid to stand up and fight. If fatcat declines, perhaps Topaz or cj might be willing. I don't know any of them but they all make very intelligent posts.
Good luck to all of you.
Dear unhappy, is that IC or FT
is that MDI Maryland or what. I can't seem to find their web site. I would also apply. Not too happy with the way MQ is headed. I am happy you got your raise. I do feel sometimes the lines are jiggled a little bit, but not sure.
Unhappy MDI-MD MTs - any idea where you will
look if there continues to be no work? What are some viable options?
And a few months from now you will be unhappy there too!
tsk tsk tsk
So you are unhappy with what others posted
your post better in some way? Okay.. yada, yada, yada.... I'm sure she'll do just fine whatever she decides. 
Happy vs unhappy
That is true, but like a lot of forums, it's the unhappy people that are doing most of the posting. Spheris has happy and unhappy employees, like most companies. There's a lot of change going on that's stressing a lot of people. Not everyone is affected, though, and there are people that are happy there, including me. I know others who have been there for years who have no plans to leave. Just trying to give the other side.
I agree with unhappy.
I am no longer there. I had 5 accounts each with different styles, and you MUST know them or it is taken off your QA, thus your pay is decreased. They woudl run out of work or have mandatory overtime as the week went. Seek someone else.
SO WHY DO YOU NOT QUIT IF YOU ARE SO UNHAPPY??
?????????????
I am thoroughly unhappy too and here is my beef sm
I echo everything you have said! You are on target (typos or no).
SOmething happened at TT in March of this year, dunno what, but something slipped out of sync all right. Since then, I can't make 1500 lines, which I need, in anything less than 10 hours, no matter how much I try to do. My shift is 8 to 4 days, but I have been working 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. trying to get work. I am sorry, but duplex scans are NOT worth my time and that seems like all I get. One of the leads was kind enough to take care of me and assign work all afternoon and evening and I was doing better, till they told her not to. Now I am back to slim pickins and it doesn't matter when I am on there trying to work.
Flexing ASSumes we having any down time at all, which most of us are not. I don't call working 7 to 11 flexing, I call it slave labor and I call it illegal. I mean, their base rate is pretty poor, but if you can make numbers you can do much better. There is no longer a way for you to get those numbers!!!! Not anymore.
My old company that I quit to go to TT asked me back in the last month. They are willing to work with me to do whatever hours and work types I want. So, it is some mornings for OPs and then late afternoons and evenings as much as I can, and weekends, but I don't have to work all of every weekend, only if the work mounts up over a certain level. Heavy ESL account, but 10 cpl IC. Almost work as much or when I want to.
Today, I put out a resume and something happened with mtstars...the posting I saw was not connected to the right email, but it is a happy accident. I got a call to do ER work with a ton of templates at 8 cpl and I can set any schedule I want, but she would like weekend coverage, and I can have 2 days off during the week. I said I liked certain work types and she said she had the capacity to find that work for me, if I wanted it.
It does mean going back to working 7 days a week, which I am not sure I want, not exactly. Then again, I'll probably be working less in the end for more money. My days off with TT means I have 2 whole days to catch my lines around my life, not the other way around.
The account status emails are driving me up a wall.
Really unhappy at Webmedx, but don't know where to go (sm)
Webmedx keeps buying up new companies but the employees aren't seeing the $. It's a good company in many ways, but there's no where to climb and they're not trickling down their earnings to the employees that are keeping them afloat. I'm not an MT. I guess I've gone as high as I can in this company. They rarely hire from within. You work your tail off only to see the rewards (promotions) go to people who don't work here. It's very demoralizing. My pay isn't climbing (yes, I've begged for a raise). For the first time I'm starting to hate going to work every day.
I know it can seem like the grass is greener elsewhere so I don't want to jump ship too soon. I just don't know about timing. How do you know when you've reached burnout with no return? I guess it's time for another job or maybe a second job so all the things wrong with this one don't bother me so much. I would love to just have an IC position where I could just transcribe or QA documents based on a requirement of lines per week, work your own schedule. I only know of one company that does this and leaves you alone, which is Oracle Transcription, and they're not hiring. If anybody knows of another please post or email me.
I hope everybody else is in a better situation. I'm on the edge of putting in my notice, but I'm hesitant to leave too soon. I've been waiting for a long, long time for things to get better, though, and they haven't.
Unhappy Z'er
My experience with ZyloMed, if this is the Z out of Naples, Florida, was not a good one. I was on a large radiology account they acquired and I had numerous bad dictators, hard to get lines with different doctors constantly (advertised exclusive for one doctor or a small group). I had doctors from different locations/states. I stayed about two months. I figured I lost around 1,000+ dollars in those two months.
Be warned that they pay by a 65 character line. Make sure you have a good counting program. If they offer a bonus for “catch up” work, document it. Without knowing what your lines are, you will not know if you got your bonus or not.
They IM a lot, including mass IMs. I keep a log of my IMs and had more than one “group IM” of when are you going to start working etc.” I was already logged in and proofing one of many of my bad dictators- so figured this was to others that were signed on and not working. It really did not seem like IC work to me.
My QA was decent to me. I never had any issues with her. I’ve heard that some of the QA is snappy and rude, but like I said, the QA I had was okay.
Read your contract!! If you quit without notice, they can keep half your pay. They take away lines from you from the demos- Emdat Inscribe program- and I believe (I may be wrong) they charge for direct deposit.
This is just my own personal experience with Z. Others may be/have been happy there. It was not a money maker for me and I was very unhappy.
I am very unhappy with Softscript and
am not sure I can articulate why, exactly, as I'm not that good explaining. I've had 7 years as an MT, and worked for two MTSOs in the past as well as in-house. Recently started with SS because I was so desperate. Started me at 7 cpl (horrible), and it is the worst system I've ever used. It is NOT MT-friendly and am constantly having delays for things I cannot control. No support system to contact that doesn't take 15 minutes for a reply, nothing. There is flat nothing to help the MT make better production. I've never felt this way about an MT company before, so don't think it's me, personally moaning and whining (at least, hope it's not). They have work, but most of the dictators on my account are terrible ESLs--get about 30% decent dictators overall, and 70% just rotten. I'm putting in my 2 weeks notice very shortly. I could never make a living with this company alone...never. Well, guess if I worked 16 hours a day...could maybe support myself.
Her message is obviously that she's unhappy with TT
So she should move on already. No one is holding a gun to her head to stay there against her will, right?
Unless her emails and resume to prospective employers read like her posts here. Then I can see where there might be a problem.
Not unhappy with my job Right Now, but I would be will to research it.
I love my job, but I feel like the future of MT in general is very insecure. I would and I have investigated other possibilities.
Unhappy MDI-MDer
It makes me wonder how people can sell others out? I wish that all of these people who worship at the Shrine of Fort Knox would think of this little story I once heard. A wealthy man died and his friends were at his wake. One of the friends turned to the other and asked How much did he leave? And the other friend replied, All of it.
They can't take it with them. I have never seen an armored car following a hearse......I hope it is worth it.
Always unhappy people
there are always unhappy people at every company. Why are you asking these ladies to give more credence to an unhappy worker than a person who is reasonably happy with their job?
Are you the same unhappy employee with no work?
What's up with all the slamming.. People say negative things but never back it up with any proof or clear up what they mean.
Okay! Sounds like you are an unhappy person.
wow!
I agree! I was very unhappy working for them.
You ought to get your resume polished up and look elsewhere. Lots of better MT positions out there!!
RIU has had some very unhappy campers with them if you search. nm
s
Management. From what I hear, many MTs are also unhappy (sm)
with their pay as a result of the implementation of ASR. Management has a pattern of taking a myopic view of limited data, then applying that to a larger picture. That's adversely affecting processes and job satisfaction in many positions throughout the company.
I was told that everyone in QA starts at about $16 an hour. Sounds like they can't even be honest about that.
Very unhappy with responses to your post
Saw your post from the other day -- have some other suggestions for you. Why not start investigating other ways to transition yourself from where you are to where you think you want to go. Below is a link to bookseller that offers a tremendous college level transcription course text book you can purchase on your own (includes practice dictation CD or tapes too) and for a small investment learn the way to do MT (which is a lot more than just new words. You do need to learn the body--and the formatting style. That's what medical transcription is really all about). But, you can do it on your own. There are services that will hire you part-time as a new MT while you keep your present job. That way maybe you could transition without losing your income. It's a tough way to go but can be done. If you go with Career Step you're months away when you start from even getting you started on the actual transcribing practice, as I understand it. Lot's of time spent in the beginning on ethics, work types, etc., and learning anatomy and physiology (though very important) but you will still always be using reference matarial no matter how much A&P you ever study. The way to go is get this book (which has all that preliminary stuff you can read in the first chapter, including the true-blue formating and editing guidelines set by AAMT (have you checked out this link too? www.aamt.org) and move on! Start learning what you really need to know (you must do the terminology part which is also first or second chapter). That will set you on the path. After that you will have a better feel for what MT really is. Also after that, I'll bet with 3-6 months or so of self-practice (obviously you know how to type) you need to decide where and how you want to work as an MT. (In the meantime you'll learn about how to make money doing this). Do you want to work at home or ouside the home? If you're going to work for a service or look for a local MD office. Or, do you want to work for a hospital? Many times hospitals have entry level programs that with a little experience and skill they will take you on as in-house employee (but, good luck finding one of those these days). If you want to do acute care (hospital) for a national service working from home the requirements are totally different. You do need 2+ years experience with hospital work. Either way, you can make the change. Many times an MD's office doesn't give a hoot about your training (they would like to hear about your experience). They want to see if you know the work, and how cheap they can get you. (Maybe) you're in the ballpark though at around $25,000--which is pretty good for transcription in most parts of the country. Email me if you need more tips about this. Not every MT is classically trained. Depends where you want to end up. And, I don't think MT is dying out quite as quickly as many may say. Here's the link for the book. Email me if you want to discuss this further--have been where you are, extremely possible to do. Best of luck to you--don't let anyone shoot down your vision of giving something else a try--you sound pretty ambitious. Expanding your skills and pushing yourself to something better is never a bad move.
http://www.emcp.com/product_catalog/index.php?GroupID=111
MDI-FL is the one most people dislike/unhappy with. nm
nm
I agree...move on if you are unhappy, sm...
you have to expect there to be times of little to no work, it is called TAT, plan accordingly. While I don't like down time either, I find something more worthwhile to do than sit here and complain about the company. Spend time with your kids, read a book, clean the house, the options are endless! If it is a money issue, have a little saved up for just those occasions when work is slow. Better to be prepared and calm than unprepared and stressed! TT is a great company to work for, IMHO.
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