The purpose of "nm" is so we don't have to look inside.-->nm
Posted By: MT on 2006-01-23
In Reply to: All W2 must be distributed to employees by dealine of Jan 31. - Introvert
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I think there are numerous "nm"
that come on here. How do we know who is who?
What does "sm" and "nm" mean?
I have seen it for so long and still cannot figure out when someone posts and they have an sm or NM at the end of their post, what do they stand for? Thanks.
FYI, the initials "nm" traditionally stand...
for no message on this board...meaning no point in clicking on the message link...so if you have comments inside the link, you would be better off to use something different as your signature! 
There is a message in the above post. Forgot to delete the "nm."
:+
lol, that was on purpose.
I'm not that dumb. 
What is the purpose of your post?
nm
What's the purpose of them wanting
you to log everything? Like country below, I always just jot down as downloading, but it sounds like maybe you are doing something a little more extensive? If they require it to get paid, I guess you don't have much choice...but if you're talking major log keeping, that would take up a lot of time  I've just always done it for my own peace of mind, actually did have incident of DQS some time ago not counting a report I did, had to contact supervisor and got it corrected. Also many years ago with MQ in the old days before DQS, there was some glitch happened, and I was very luck to have the job numbers, as I had to tell the person calling me late at night what jobs I had done...
I thought the purpose of this site was
to be informative TO MTs and not AGAINST MTs. If you are an MTSO who is getting bashed, well, don't you have the same right as the owner of this site to go out and form your own site/blog to bash anyone you want? That's off topice anyway and wasn't what I meant when I posted.
People can say negative things about MTSOs (and the other way around) without it being bashing. For example if someone asked about company X and I had worked for them 2 years and I'm in the process of leaving, I could perhaps say (as an example), I felt the initial account/platform training I received was inadequate and that kept me from meeting production minimum until my ? pay period. That isn't bashing. That's honest and if I say it was 2 years ago, the reader can inquire during the interview process about the company's current training procedures to see if it has improved during those 2 years.
Wouldn't that hep both the MTSO and the potential MT be successful earlier in their relationship?
I can't help wonder if that e-mail was accidentally on purpose.nm
nm
That is so NOT the purpose of medical insurance. nm
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Raises were not the purpose of the meeting.... sm
Did you not hear it said that prices are down 25% overall in the industry over the last few years? How can a company give you a ____ cent-per-line increase if the industry prices are down?
Did you not hear about the technology they are implementing to help the MTs increase productivity?
Increased Productivity = Increased Paycheck.
Overall, I came away from the meeting with a very good feeling. I'm sorry if it was not the same for you.
Sorry to offend, but the purpose of this board sm
is to ask questions and discuss things about the different companies we work for without getting our supervisors or leads involved. If I would have wanted to ask my lead I could have, but the reply would have took a lot longer given it was late at night on a Sunday, and I was wanting a reply right away.
I sorry you feel it is inappropriate to discuss what day we get paid on a public board, but I don't. Oh well everybody has a different opinion. Maybe I should write a letter to Emily Post to see I have broken some ettiqute rule, lol. Sorry MtMommomyof2, but seriously get over yourself (don't think I am bashing or anything, though) This is a public board, where the public (and yes even KS'ers) can post any question they like so long as doesn't violate any posting guidlines set forth by MTStars...not you.
I specialized for years, not on purpose....
... it just happened that way. I spent the first 36 years or so of my career doing strictly clinical; only moved into acute care 8 months ago because my beloved oncologist boss of nearly 28 years closed his practice, and I still needed to eat now and then.
In addition to the oncology practice, I did (and still do) orthopedics for many, many years as an IC. So I have well over 20 years in both those subjects. When you work with few docs, you get to where you can do their work on autopilot, very, very quickly.
I got paid more but that's only because those were local accounts, with the pay commensurate with the cost of living in our area. In fact, if I didn't still have that one local ortho account, I wouldn't be able to live on what I make on my acute care job for a national.
I think I made a valid point. What is your purpose in
My point was that a lot of recruiters will talk up their company when people looking into them inquire about them. They're not supposed to do it, but it's done all the time. Anyone who is seriously looking into a company will know exactly where to contact them and TO contact them. Someone asked a legitimate question and got a rude reply from you. You got called out and you don't like it.
And if you do this, deleting the report defeating the purpose
of VR being taught how to do a report so you would just have to keep it up, not a wise thing to do. Delete at 4 cents, type at 4 cents. I would think most places would not be accepting of this practice.
I cannot imagine what purpose you intend to serve by this post?
No wonder companies want to go overseas. I wouldn't hire the lot of you anyway with these ridiculous attitudes, slamming, and incessant back-biting.
It is apparent that US MTs are just not worth the trouble. The overseas MTs will do this work WITHOUT COMPLAINT.
The purpose of this board is to share info about MTSOs...
I simply don't understand why MTs post all these negative things about a company but will not divulge the name of the company or even give us a hint! What are you afraid of?!?!!? They are already screwing MTs over and probably you too if you're angry enough to post! You can post anonymously, that's the beauty of this particular site. No one need know who you are.
I, personally, keep a list of MTSOs and things I've heard about them. God knows I've been through enough bad MTSOs, I want to save other MTs the heartache of going through the same crap I've gone through!
Besides the best way to get these MTSOs to change is to post their name on a PUBLIC forum. Word of mouth can be a powerful thing!
Here is a list of companies I have worked for and the problems I have had, starting with the most recent:
JLG --> paid payroll practices, LATE pay checks, and discontinuation of direct deposit.
Focus Infomatics --> they offshore the majority of their work, they lie about offshoring the majority of their work, they lie to their employees about pay, hours, and job status and breach contracts left and right.
TransHealth --> I have nothing bad to say about them. Pay always on time, people nice (they have since been bought by Webmedx).
Precyse Solutions --> Nothing horrible to report. If I recall, they didn't pay for templates, but they told you that up front.
Medquist --> horrible people in supervisory positions, very cliquish company, bad dictators on all my accounts!
Webmedx --> The account I was on was completely and utterly horrible! Other than that, nice people, very organized.
Accutype --> complete embecil in charge (when I worked for them) who knew nothing about transcription or the needs of MT, again very cliquey with friends giving friends the best work.
Diskriter --> ran out of work frequently
I also worked for several small MTSOs that were either bought or went out of business, and I will say it usually was the smallest MTSO that I enjoyed working for the most. I did work as an IC for a company out of Arizona doing radiology a few years ago for a while (I can't remember the name, but I don't think they are around anymore). Also I worked as an IC for Administrative Advantage out of Pennsylvania were pretty decent, easy accounts and easy to make money, used DropChute to deliver dictation and reports back and forth and you just typed in one big docment per dictator in Word. Simple, straight forward, and always on time. If you ran out of work, they would try to put you somewhere else, but never made any promises. I like honesty and they were honest.
See how easy that was. You try!
professionable -- thats cute- did you make this mistake on purpose or really think that is a word?
I have never heard professionable before. lol
see inside
As I mentioned before, the best thing to do would be to send a resume directly to the medical records director. If they are in need of a transcriptionist, chances are they are going to walk that resume right down to HR and have them get in touch with you for an interview. And it also lets the MR Director know that "hey, there are people in the area, and we don't have to outsource overseas or out of the hospital."
I can't say it enough - I wish I had lived in St. Louis because I would have taken the job in a heartbeat. Some people did work at home and others worked on site.
See inside...
I love the fact that there is always work (except on a few occasions around holidays, etc). I love that I can generally get an answer to a question when I ask it. I love that my pay is always on time (as the previous person said). I love that they do not outsource to India. I agree, there have been some changes, but I really love MDI.
There are some minuses too, but I have worked for a few other nationals after working at a hospital, and really, MDI is the best I have seen.
sm inside
I was in a simlar situation once. I didn't want to burn my bridges, just in case the other job didn't work out so I told them I could not commit to full time as some personal issues came up but that I would be able to help them out 1 day a week. They allowed me to do this, and it ended up that I went full time with them later, as I actually made more money in the long run... better dicators, etc...
Look inside for what
Rolling On The Floor Scaring The Cat Laughing My @$$ And Other
Body Parts Off. Teresa, they may have an opening at OSi or SoftScript for you.
Thank you!!!! Please sm inside
Thanks for all the information! Did you feel that you were able to get yourself on some sort of 'schedule'? I just left somewhere because I had no idea from day to day when I would get work or how much and ended up waiting around all day long sometimes and either getting very little to nothing or too much at once for the TAT. Did it seem pretty manageable? (I would also rather work during the daytime hours...) Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your help!
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I worked for them recently (within a year). They had software changes earlier to that, so if you see negatives about technology problems, it was before that. Evidently they did have lots of problems back before they were on their current system. Still some occasional bugs.
IC only. Good accounts. Put you on one account, and you stay on that account. If you have a similar experience to mine, you won't run out of work on your account.
Software getting dated. Not written by/for MTs or with requests for MT input. Hence, you have the programmer(s) doing really strange Keystrokes that are not productivity-friendly. They fix one thing and break three others. Need to fire the programmers and invest a bit more in getting decent programmers.
Office staff--THE best, hands down. QA will leave you alone unless there's a problem. You don't get QA scores sent to you or nitpicking. You either have good quality or they'll be contacting you about it.
Hours--THE best, once again. You have a quota to get in every week, and you give them a weekend day. Other than that, you're free to get that time in when you can.
OTI is also the company in my experience that's come closest to actually treating ICs as ICs.
I have worked for many nationals, and OTI remains my best overall experience. I had to leave because of needing benefits. That's the only reason I left. I would recommend them to anybody who's got at least five years of acute care experience in the Basic 4.
See inside. sm
SoftScript pays up to 10.5 cents a line with full benefits.
JLG, I believe, pays up to 9.5 with benefits (or at least they used to).
Be sure and watch the job boards for hospitals hiring for at home workers. Good pay and full benefits at a great price. Don't settle without checking all options and best of luck to you.
See inside. sm
Their ad on MTJobs says 7 to 9 cents a line.
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I used to work for them. Is this transcription or editing? Is the patient name not there, or are you having problems getting the template? Is there a button with three dots near the patient info on the screen? If the patient name is not there you need to listen first and then input the first and last name on the screen. It is hard to know exactly where you are. Hope this could help some.
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Pay rate - range is 0.7-0.9 depending on a lot of factors (for clinic). Includes spaces.
Flexible - for clinic and ortho - YES!!!!
Weekends - I do my Friday work on Saturday but not sure if required.
Word - some accounts yes, some no. I type in Scribe, which is Word-based and very easy.
In fact, flexible has hurt me today. I have not started yet. Queen of the game shows today!
No. Inside is what you said in your OP.
I just completed an interview process with JLG. The owner presents herself as an MT who understands our situations
You are wacked and definitely not someone that any co would want
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Then I guess Scribes/Nightingale lowering their rates (without notice) from $1.05/minute to $.80 or $.85/minute sucks even worse than I thought.
Please see inside.
This is my first time doing IC work. I imagine it will eat up some of my profit, but I am just having my other job hold out a little more.
You only do as much as you want. She will send an e-mail out to the P.R.N. pool of transcriptionists stating, I have 60 minutes of Dr. Mickey Mouse available. His speciality is ENT. It is due back by noon tomorrow (Pacific standard time). Does anyone want all or part of this? Then (based on whoever responds first) she will assign the work. Let's say you want 30 minutes of it--you would e-mail her and state, May I have 30 minutes of Dr. Mickey Mouse's work? If you're the first to ask, she will assign it to you.
You don't have to take work...only e-mail her when you want it. There is not that much work. She e-mails maybe 1 to 3 times a day. So the work volume is pretty minimal, but it is something to fill in slow periods with another job.
Hope this has been helpful.
Chickadee
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I usually get what I need.
inside
www.advancedtx.com
See inside.
SPi Transcription - web site is:
http://www.spi-bpo.com/web/spi/text_page.jsp?fldr_id=199
I read some of the MT Stars archives entries that gave the impression they were now an American company.
After reading more, you may be right. I think they may be foreign-based. They acquired an American-based MT company several years ago and set up their corporate office in Nashville, TN but sounds like they are still pretty much an overseas company. Kind of confusing. Anyway, check out the web site for more info. 
Oh, OK - see inside
I work for Cymed (now SPi) and no change at all as of yet. Hopefully this will continue.
See inside.
It's an Indian company, run by (India) Indians, but they hire Americans and the accounts are American hospitals/doctors.
They have both straight transcription and voice recognition editing, I believe you have to do both. Mostly hire ICs.
What they did was ... (see inside)
Suddenly, with no warning, cut people's salary by a huge amount. I had worked there for almost 3 years, and the cut took me back to the starting pay they had given me when I was fresh out of school. This was despite being able to do absolutely any kind of work they had, plus working on weekends and holidays with no extra pay or compensation.
They were originally Scribes Data, bought out by Nightingale. We were assured absolutely nothing would change regarding the MTs with the buyout, but they lied.
I really miss some of the doctors I transcribed for there, but I couldn't take a huge cut like that, especially without notice, it was a real slap in the face, in my opinion.
I did learn an awful lot working there (acute care of all types).
See inside...
The present job may be sending you tons of work, but if they're not paying you, you're not making any money.
I would do minimal work for them, and maximum for the new place. Old place can't complain about you not working if they're not paying. And the only way to see if new place will work out is to try it.
Good luck!
Sad see inside...
First let me say I am not paid by the line, but by the report. Secondly, my lead has been wonderful. I keep in close communication with her. I also let her know that if extra help is needed I am available. I honestly feel like me keeping busy is related to the two accounts that I have as well as my lead. I was adamant about getting a second account.
I am sorry that your best day this pay period has been 175 lines, but you really have to question the variables surrounding this. Do you work on a large account, what about your scheduled times. I know that with radiology, usually the doctors are very active first thing in the morning taking care of the films from the night before. This is a good fit for me and I will continue to voice that. Even if things were really bad, I would be ringing the phone off the hook with my lead and the office trying to get resolution. Jumping ship is not always the answer as we change and find ourselves sinking.
In the past I left one company that I had been with for 6 years and it took going through 3 other companies before I found one worthwhile, which was not KS. I hope things work out for you and you can pick up more work because no one can survive on 175 lines per day. Good luck!!!
Looking for a job? See inside, please
MTStars provides the most extensive listing of job opportunities anywhere. Our Job Seekers forum is free and the job advertisements are usually very descriptive.
We also offer a free resume bank for you to post your resume on.
If you have questions about a specific company, please ask here on the Company board.
Please: Do not post job-wanted posts. Do not ask what are good companies.
Otherwise, you will have to search for your position through the job ads and the application process like everyone else.
If you have questions, feel free to email me.
Goldbird
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Granted, there are many, many Americans who do not use the language properly even a little bit, but these people typically do not become MTs either!
Oh, if only this were true! Some of the work from India I have seen is MUCH better than some of the American work. Way too many poorly-trained Americans with terrible grammar skills, and many of them can't even spell grammar!
More inside ....
I know now that they pay by production and that the minimum per day is 1350.
I'd have to go in house for training but only until I'm comfortable with the system (it's a new platform for me) and they are comfortable with letting me go. The transcription manager told me it would probably only be a few days. The hospital is about 45-50 miles from my house so I'd want to come home just as soon as I could.
All their employee MTs work at home except the manager, and she has been there for I think 13 years herself.
The other thing that I didn't mention is that I have done work for this hospital before, but I usually do ops and I probably wouldn't get those from the hospital as obviously they send those out.
I guess I'm just not sure whether to jump ship now since this particular new position is open (if I could get it), or wait until I actually have no job.
Inside...
Do a search in the Company Board forum (make sure that's what is selected) for Focus and/or Focus Infomatics. That should give you plenty of resources.
Their pay is 8 cpl standard transcription and 4 cpl edited.
Amanda
Look inside....sm
They require everybody to be at least 20 hours a week. I work 25 a week and make the 6000 minimum line count (for part time) in the 2-week pay period. I'm usually at least 1000 above that so I could probably work less than 25 hours a week and still make it. I have been working at least 30 now with extra hours during the time they need extra help, so I'm easily beyond and don't have to worry. The account instructions aren't so bad if you stick to your primary most of the time. It's just flipping back and forth that makes you pause and think it through when you come to something that you know can go either way. They are awfully picky on some things. For the demos, a lot of things fill in but not all, so you have to take some time to do that, depending on the particular account. It's not hard, just time-consuming.
It's like any job...some good...some bad...but overall it has been fine for me and I'm glad I tried it out. Of course I don't have any other national to compare it to since I've only been with local clinics before.
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1. No longer treated as professionals. **********I have never experienced this. I am always treated as a professional business owner. Maybe it is the way you carry yourself??
2. Just got offered 14.00 to 16.00 per hour to write a transcription training program for company in India. (yea, for that amount... it is not going to happen). ***********I would not accept $14-16 either. Is that the maximum you can get these days. I have been fortunate enough to have good accounts so the per-hour-figure has been good for me and others from what I hear.
3. I truly feel SOME MTs do not take the work as seriously as it was several years ago so therefore the more need for QA (added cost for companies) *********Not sure about that either. The work is now outsourced where as before it was done in the hospital, and the doctor could just pop in the department and ask for a correction (that drove me nuts but they did it). Services have to offer some sort of guarantee (second review by QA if necessary) to be competitive don't they??
4. People that work at home do not work the schedule they agree to. (this is a job).************ It is a job, but for some a subcontractor's job. That means work the hours you choose. If I agree to a schedule I'll work it, but I'm not sure what others have agreed to work and either are you. How can you presume??
5. I can't be grateful for not having to purchase clothes for work. I still have to have clothing to wear and that same clothing is what I can work in. ********Can't speak for everyone, but I am definitely not transcribing in heels :)
6. More and nmore people look at this job as a way to take care of young children at home. i.e avoid the cost of daycare, etc. Please!! It is still a job!! You have to work! **********It has been exactly that for me. I have been able to raise my children and earn a great living. I do my job so well I can do both. Sorry you feel you have not been able to or others like you could not achieve that.
7. Absolute thing worst about working at home..... there is no difference from being at work and at home. *********I don't know any other job where I could throw a load of laundry in, start the dishwasher, run an errand, or work at 3 in the morning if I could not sleep.
Sorry for the typos, but I am so tired of seeing/reading how great it is to work from home. It would be great if people took it seriously, but they do not! *********Maybe all don't take it as serious as they should, but honestly is isn't it that way everywhere?
5. ********Just my humble opinions :)
See inside please
Since when does a Transcriptionist have a college degree? Well I have had my degree for eight years now. And yes it is a degree from our local college, and yes it is in medical transcription thank you very much.
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be a high producer, be able to cover every work type on your account, be able to work more than one account -- and be very consistent in meeting line counts! My raises were for bribes to get my line counts higher. I've been on start up teams for several new accounts because of the versatility in adapting to different account specifics.
In other words, make yourself invaluable and the money will come.
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Dan,
I just read your post and I think it is great that you so openly willing to discuss your business, mistakes, strengths, etc. If only more business owners were like you who realize that everyone is human and mistakes do happen and would accept constructive critism. You sound like you would be a great person to work for!
See inside
It usually costs $15-$20 to do so and I would definitely charge you more, if I were them.
It takes time to process the info for FedEx or UPS deliveries and, if you've missed the pickup deadline, you have to go out to a dropbox, etc.
I'd definitely charge you past the cost.
See inside
Genius, what I said was the problem with your statement that a credit check tells how responsible you are. It DOES NOT tell how responsible you are - it reflects your financial situation, which is controlled by many, many outside sources.
You sound like a spoiled little princess who has a husband who gives her everything she wants and you work for extra money to spend on yourself.
Maybe one day you'll face a divorce, death of a spouse, prolonged illness, legal problems for yourself or a family members, that will tarnish your credit rating and then you'll see how real people have to face consequences that are not always a result of their own actions. What a little snit you are.
See inside
First highlight the text that you would like to copy to Shorthand. Once highlighted, hit cntrl and insert twice to copy the text. ShortHand entry box will pop up, add keyword and hit okay. You may have to do it twice for it to work. The text will populate into the text to type box when successful. I have added plenty of entries using this method and have had no problems. Hope this helps. By the way, I work for KS, so I know this method works with Meditech and Shorthand.
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