There is a new, larger account coming on in Dec. (sm)
Posted By: sm on 2008-11-16
In Reply to: WebMedX - Mimi
I would imagine they are hiring in anticipation of that. Work flows vary anywhere, but these people go out of their way to try and keep us all in work on a steady basis. Benefits good, you are treated well by management, pay on time, accounts pretty good, platform is such that you can actually make money.
Ups and downs are the name of the game, but I would highly suggest you at least talk to them. Hiring on with them was one of the best things I ever did for myself. I will ride the waves of feast and famine gladly with this company.
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They have a big account coming on and SM
are storing people away until it comes on board. Supposedly many people are out of work. I suppose things will improve when that account comes on board.
When they have a new account coming they
overhire. They want to have the expected number of MTs needed trained and ready to go on day 1. What really sucks is that if there is a delay for some reason in the account going live then they stick them on an existing account, which if that happens to be your account you are SOL. Not only does the newbie not have enough lines, but you don't either, which hardly seems fair. This was the case when I worked there and I complained and was told that they had to allow for people quitting/being fired, not working their schedules, etc. I only worked about 5 months before saying screw it and only 1 pay period did I get all my lines in, despite flexing my schedule to work my weekends and getting up at 3 a.m. to try to get some lines. I tried to make the most of the down time and clean out closets, catch up on my personal paperwork, but when I was having to take money out of savings every month to cover my mortgage payment something had to change and WMX wasn't going to.
New onco account coming on soon
nm
When they have a new account coming on-line
they way overhire and they hire too soon so that the new hires they stick on various accounts until their account comes on-line, so then there is less work for the people who have the account as a primary. I left a year ago, after 4 months with only 1 paycheck where I got in 40 hours. Even with 3 accounts and sitting in front of the computer for hours in case a job came through, and working my days off, I still couldn't get in 40 hours. They had so overhired that even when the account came on-line there wasn't enough work for everyone. I think 6 of us quit within a month and there still wasn't enough work for everyone, although some of the more challenging accounts had OT most every week, but despite asking to work on one of those accounts I was told no. For me quitting was the best thing I did. Now at least on the rare occasion there isn't enough work we get paid downtime.
if the account is just coming onto the VR platform
then it needs time to get smarter, which means you leave AS out of the picture. It needs to learn to type correctly what is being dictated. It also makes the dictators more responsible for their dictation (I know, a whole new argument in that statement). Anyway, that is why. The engine needs to learn, the dictators need to learn. You just tweak nuances like weather/whether while it learns. From QA's POV, they need to stay on top of which reports come through as straight versuses VR, but they are in their own learning curve.
Did they say a new account is coming on board and they are training the
xxx
Well, I was happy for that overflow account coming on board
It is helping out some. No, I don't work on that account, but I did put in a full shift today.
In fact, the work is picking up on the account I work on as I had a total of 3 full shifts this week. Sure feels funny to work a full shift lately. 
sometimes you'll hear that there's a new account coming on board ...
sometimes that happens, sometimes it falls through ...
I'm not saying that they absolutely don't care ... but particularly if you are an independent contractor, it genuinely is not their problem.
Either way, the people who are willing to sit and wait for work will stay ... I've been one of them ... not ready to switch companies, need the lines to pay the bills.
I remember when, first of all, work was often backed up (and ALWAYS out of TAT -- the first 7 or so years I did MT) these were hospital accounts being done done by local companies who had history with each other ... The national bought out and underbid the smaller companies and one of their big selling points was TURNAROUND and they agreed to penalties into their contracts ... IMHO, many turnaround times I've heard of are silly -- ER reports and STAT H&Ps/Consults do affect patient care and could justify a 2-4 hour TAT -- most other work types could easily fit a 12-24 hour TAT with the option to flag as STAT.
It was great to be able to work any hour of any day -- now it's much more iffy and harder to make up lines if you have an unexpected down time. JMHO.
Larger squeeze. .
Since medical care is 24% of our gross domestic product (1.9 trillion)and electronic charts has been made law, a small MTSO could not pay for a VR machine or an $80,000 dictation retrieval system. Smaller is better, but bottom line always speaks. 1000 lines a day is achievable working in one hospital, familiarity, normals. Unfortunately that standard carried over to MTSOs, with MTs transcribing eight accounts at the same time. No money!! Pay for your own computer, $$high-speed internet and/or phone line. Unachievable benefits based on production. What a deal!
What better/larger companies?
I have noticed that all of the better/larger companies that everyone talks about are all going offshore. Spheris is already there and so is MQ. We need to stick together on keeping our MTSOs HOME where they belong!!! If they want to send work offshore, let those MTs from there transcribe their own medical reports!!!!!!!!!
I would imagine all the larger ones do, whether
ss
I keep my font at 100% (not larger), and I also have to
nm
...and Easter. Wonder if any of the larger ones do this? nm
a
Larger companies are doing this...........
I have become very angry when my husband has told me this is happening, as I too believe it is nothing more than age discrimination, BUT on the other hand, there are younger employees who have major medical situations and any company's insurance could be greatly affected by this.
Most of this is practiced by companies who pay high range salaries. I believe they are checking to make sure if they put that kind of money into an employee, that employee will be around for the long haul so to speak and not out sick all the time....
Either way, if all the hooplah about discrimination against handicapped, gender, etc. is out there, why would this even be legal. It obviously is legal but I really don't understand why it hasn't been brought up in an age discrimination case myself. The employer can always just say that candidate didn't fit the bill and it had nothing to do with their health but of course, companies used to say the same thing about race and sex, so who knows!!
Opinion: Small company vs. larger one?
Just looking for opinions on the positive side and/or negative side of a small company vs. a larger one. Help me out here....please!
The larger companies are squeezing out the smaller ones, so they
probably do have 3 new hospitals starting. I have been letting my accounts fade out naturally, not renewing them when contracts come due, not replacing people that quit, etc. I am down to 3 of us, and will be looking to work for a national soon. No more headaches, no more worries about keeping hospitals happy, no more worrying about the financial well-being of my employees. I am done kaput. Finished as an MTSO.
Who do you think will still be around? I am looking at Medware, Execuscribe, Keystrokes, SilentType, Cymed and MDI-MD. Any others? Do you think these will be around and survive? I lost two accounts to Keystrokes and one to Silent Type. Neither was cheaper but the hospitals all felt they were bigger so better. What's up with that?
Correction: They owned the other one and built this which one which is much larger. sm
I just read this in one of the magazines and asked my lead if they were moving far. She said it is literally across the parking lot from a small office to a huge building, taking on the whole building. I am thrilled to be part of a growing company instead of the sinking ship I was on!!!
I'd be afraid to jump from a larger company to a
Sometimes these smaller companies seem great, but then the contracts run out and they lose accounts. Also, the smaller companies do not offer as many benefits. Don't feel left out. All of these people going to Keystrokes could be in for a rude awakening and then have to go back to MQ. JMO.
I think they are making a much larger profit on the backs of MTs...
Think about it. Do you think it is costing the clients any less for their transcription. How would they even know it was VR? If the MTSO charges the same, they are making more money (half of what they used to pay the MT).
The requirement is 50% participation. It is actually harder for a larger company sm
than a small company if they are national to get good rates. Once in, they will have it easy after that. I dealt with it personally for another company and it was a nightmare. Insurance is crazy and once national, it is harder to get the insurance. They should have gone with BC/BS when smaller but chose Unicare for some reason. Now they are regretting it.
Most larger companies do not close for holidays, this is a 24 houra day/365 day a year job. (nm)
x
This hospital started in July after WX lost another, larger acct.
Currently, the acct is always out of work. Perhaps they will be sending more work WX's way now.
That account in Texas was not a MQ account. They did not use DQS on that account until KS started.
They are moving 3 other accounts to DQS between now and January 1st. I asked. The MQ accounts they have gotten in the past did not go to DQS. I followed my old account, which is how I know, and it was Meditech. The account is still run by KS and is a big account too.
I saw this coming!!!
I saw this coming when they first started us on this new platform, and eventually, ALL the accounts will be editing. These MTs really don't care because it is not happening to them right now!! My opinion is that EVERYONE will eventually be editing and not typing and at the 40% lower rate per line. When that happens, all of these Transcend cheerleaders will be just like me, sitting with their mouths hanging open in disbelief that it is happening to them. I used to be one of those cheerleaders and now feel bad that the 2 people I referred to Transcend have now had to go get other jobs because of lack of work, timeouts, downtime, etc., etc. Why would they want to pay 8 cents per line when they can pay for those same lines at 4.8 with editing. OF COURSE, everyone possible will be editing, and it will not take long to do it either. We had about a week's notice when we went to editing, which I felt was also inconsiderate, and they will do everyone else that way too--just watch and see what happens!!
Like I said before, TRANSCEND SUCKS!!
Ex-Transcend cheerleader!!!
Where do they keep coming up with
these numbers? I have been an MT for 15 years. I am 35, starting my MT career at 20! Do they know exactly how many American MTs there are, if so I would like that number. I have a hard time believing our average age comes in at 59!
I think that is coming up soon, at least by
the letter on the new MT/ME Rewards Plan.
!!!!
I know where you are coming from Glo
I applied at Spheris. The lady called me, and then called back a few minutes later to find out why I left a certain position. She was real shady sounding on the phone. Then, she proceeds to tell me that they have no positions at the current time. Really strange? I usually just see the writing on the wall so to speak. If they call me, I'll flat out refuse to work for them as they were very unprofessional in my book. JMO! And again, are still advertising like every day. ???? I don't get it or maybe I do?!?! 
I just don't see where you are coming from....
EVERY email that I have sent, I have received a reply.
And I think it is great that the QA person explains the blank because that is maybe why you had the blank in the first place - that maybe you did not understand the exact nature of the word and could not find it anywhere. I would rather have more information versus not enough information.
There are a lot of difficult dictators but if everyone did a few of them then the difficult dictator(s) could be shared and one person would not get bogged down with them. That is what they have tried before - one person sent an email asking everyone to take ONE job of a particular dictator so it would not be all on one transcriptionist...Now come on, that is fair - ONE JOB for ONE BAD DICTATOR. I know it cannot be like that all of the time but that just shows that they do try.
I really have not had any of the problems you are talking about. But I can only speak for what I have seen and from my own experience.
Their pay is ALWAYS correct and ALWAYS on-time. And they do pay better than most places. They have an A+ in my book!
I still believe the day is coming when MTs
nm
know where you both are coming from,
got laid off myself and I did resent them and MYSELF for all the times I never took off, short-changed my kids and events for them, stayed even off the clock a few times because no OT, while the same 3 people were always the ones not coming in for one reason for another. But you know what? I would probably do it again. To thine own self be true, is that how it goes? I have to live with myself and they are all on their own. Fortunately, I have just enough time to get to bed before I fall asleep without medication. Some people can't help it and have to take something, but that's a condition, not guilt, keeping them awake. This was not aimed at those people. Good luck to all of you.
Doing VR, know exactly where you are coming from
Others who talk against it, never tried it have no idea how it is as far as a piece of cake. I saw the other posting about when it gets so good to replace you BUT having worked on the same platform for several years now mine does not stay letter A perfect month after month, always a need for an MTer to come in and be there for reports that need to be cleaned up. I have said some platforms surely are better than others but if you have a bad 1, then you need to find a good platform. There is so much bad and forth on this subject, the ones hating, like I said, never done, bad platform or only see that the salary is dropping (for a short time as you and I know) but that is what is pushing these postings against. I was never totally against, like you up in age and glad that the hands/arms had not worn out as much as I worked. Glad you are liking.
That is too funny coming from you!
Darlin....I quit OSi a little over a month ago along with everyone else!
Would not surprise me in the least. Something is coming not sure what.
:
You keep coming back though right?
Obviously, you love it.
knew that was coming!
Three things are for sure - death, taxes, and that you'll start your vendetta the minute anyone mentions OSI!
Yes, and new accounts coming on...sm
constantly.
Of course it is coming from your check, just like an
employee, but they are submitting the $$ to the IRS instead of you having to do quarterly filings.
I was just coming to ask these same question.
I hope somebody here knows more info for us.
You are coming in super-low SM
as far as salary....you should be getting MINIMUM $10,000 more a year and more like $15,000.
We should have seen in coming in November
Remember when we partnered before and there was no work because another company did it all? And no notice, either.
I got the call, too but haven't gotten an e-mail yet about how to view this conference thing tomorrow.
One thing: We have some accounts that REQUIRE that the work by done by U.S. citizens and we be accountable under U.S. law/court system. How are they going to get around that? Some facilities absolutely refuse to off-shore. I myself refuse to go to a facility that off-shores and I ask who does the MT work before I make appointments. I don't know how an India-based company is going to be able to keep those accounts.
Hummm, nothing is coming up
In archives
I understand where she's coming from
and it's a big company too. I have put in a 2-week notice for many reasons. Maybe the OP used to work for my company and is just glad to be out of there.
Exactly. Why can't the masses see this coming? S/M
It's already started IMHO. Why the sudden panic to stimulate the economy. And that, my dear friends, is the most idiotic thing they've come up with yet. It's sort of trying to borrow oneself out of debt. Giving rebates with borrowed money!!! Totally absurd. You can bet payday will come.
Are all of the accounts coming from MQ ?
x
Not that bad at all. Coming onshore
Accounts are onshore now with American TLs and MTs. No Indian MTs/QCs at all. This has occurred over the past month. And no I'm not management! Give it a try. I'm happy!
Diskriter coming along
I am currently at Diskriter, I like the AME/Transriter platform now that they have upgraded - that is right UPGRADED, and they are really trying to focus on working for all the MTs to keep it friendly. The VR platform is far better than Dictaphone/Extext platform - but they still have some work to do on that (whose platform does not?). I think all VR is crap personally, after 24 years of typing - just let me TYPE! I have read a few threads involving the worfklow and that is an issue there right now, but I think once the system is fully functional and all the accounts are brought on board it will level out. I am willing to put in a little time for people that appreciate it, unlike where I worked before OSi...enough said.
Yes, Layoffs coming
Red Team teleconference yesterday advised us that company-wide layoffs were imminent, not only for the Red Team, but all teams, including corporate staff. Word is that 27 were terminated today.
My STM said 3 accounts are coming in.
I don't know anything about the accounts, but I LOVE the enterprise platform. It is soooo easy. You don't hardly ever spend time pulling in pt information or other demographics. It all automatically populates. This is the best out of 5 platforms that I have worked on.
Congrats on the new hire. I started June of last year :)
You honestly never saw this coming?
Seriously, in all your years of MT work and witnessing the inception of VR, you honestly remained in denial that this day would come?
VR does not invite lawsuits unless the MT is asleep at the wheel. It's no different than standard transcription regarding the finished product that goes into the patient's chart. If you're a good MT and carefully proofreading as you edit, there's no excuse for something potentially life-threatening to the patient to go into their permanent medical record. The fault is with the MT, not the VR system.
My account is 95% VR on Escription, and I love it. I took no cut in pay; I doubled my production on VR and bring home an almost identical amount as I did doing straight transcription, without the exacerbation of carpal tunnel symptoms.
Feel free to remain closed-minded and sign up for disability; however, if it's a cut in pay you're concerned about, having you considered how much of a cut you'd take going on disabiity versus doing VR work?
I love TT and I love VR. It's a perfect match for me. The other MTSOs that do not implement VR as part of their services will slowly find themselves being forced out of the business.
It's the 21st century, ladies. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Oh, I saw this coming alright
I just refuse to be ripped off and refuse to compromise patient care. You all can go ahead and try to convince yourself that you are not being ripped off and you are not compromising patient care with this nonsense. That's fine.
When the chickens come home to roost, we will see who actually smelled the coffee, won't we?
Yes, they definitely are - new accts coming on sm
and there was a referral bonus notice put out a few weeks ago.
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