To all my fellow MDI'ers: Things to ponder...

Hi all

I have been with MDI for over a year now (part time) and really like it! Most times my accounts have work. I am going through some changes at home and am really trying to make some serious life changing decisions so would like to get a few opinions:

My husband and I separated in April. I have been home for 6 years with my youngest child, and he is in first grade this year and absolutely love being home for him. Summers of course are the most difficult, I do not send him to day care and we do more things together in the summer, love it!  However, as of last year I have been trying to get into a local LPN nursing school here and have succeeded and am scheduled to begin September 8, but here is my dilemna, I am having second thoughts!  I now don't know if this is something I really want to do and why I am having these thoughts. I do like being a medical transcriptonist, but feel a little burned out at times. Plus, I am not sure if I can afford to go to school, my first loan installment (cost of living) will not come until November.  I have a little money set aside, but it is going quickly. I am trying to determine if I can support me and my son on just an income from MDI or if I should really change gears and go to school. I love the flexibility of working at home and am sure I will miss this, but nursing school is very demanding and the job itself once I am out there. Like I said, I love being a mom and able to have the freedom of doing this from home. So, how many of you support yourselves or your families on the income from MDI and is this something I can reasonably expect to be able to do? I have been doing this for 15+ years so I am definitely experienced. Plus, I do not like the idea of worrying about taxes, but if I go to work as an employee I will lose more of my freedom. I like being an IC. I did work for Medquist for almost 7 years and left them to come here and there is a world of difference between the 2 companies.

What would all of you do? Stay with MDI or go to school? And if I do go to school, I would keep MDI very part time at least until I was through with school. But, do you think with all the changes going on in the transcription world we will eventually have no jobs or our jobs will change drastically? How can I decide what is best for me and my son?

Please any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!

• To all my fellow MDI'ers: Things to ponder... - steph1
  • Thanks!.. - steph1
  • Not with MDI anymore but going back to school sm - HappyFlaMT
    • HIM degree here too...sm - Gone Like The Wind
      • Oh boy, did you just say exactly how I feel! sm - HappyFlaMT
      • Same here... - MT
  • Steph1 - Danny Boy
  • Faced similar situation some years ago - NorCalMT
  • going back to school - pumpernickel
    • Did anyone at MDI - Red
  • in response, - sm
  • I've been pondering a career change too - choices
    • If you can afford to go to school, learn something else. nm - MT777
      • Switching career paths - Mom
        • how much of your utilities have you been able to claim? - curious
          • curious - fatcat
        • good point, keep MTing - sm
          • Going back to school - Future RN

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I am an instructor at a local community college teaching transcription as well as medical records and coding....my question is this.  This new stimulus package that Obama is proposing talks about funding $20 billion to computerize medical records and make them more efficient.....how do you see this affecting our jobs as MT, or any part of the medical records portion.  I would love to discuss this with my students and would appreciate any feedback all of ya'll out there might have.

Thanks in advance

I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.

I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I.  I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.

Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals.  The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.

It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.

Hey have had my first talk with TT.  Checking out hardware issues.  May be coming on with ya'll.  How's it goin'

P.

While the message board here at MTStars is a great portal to spread the word, at the same time, this is a public forum that allows anyone access. 

We've decided to move our discussions to a PRIVATE forum solely for former D&L employees and ICs involved currently in the nonpayment situation.

This is a private group created for us.  It is a moderated group, and you will be asked to prove your identity before you are permitted access.

D&L'ers please join here:  http://groups.msn.com/FormerDL

I have just been contacted by MDI-MD for interview.  I could sure use your imput esp if you are an old MQ'er.  If you would like to respond, could you please E-mail me?

Thanks so much!

Question.

I am getting used to some ESL guys and have to go back to listen to blanks that I have left.  Could you E-mail me with any tricks of the trade where I can book mark or note where, timewise, I am in the report at that time so I can go back more easily and find my blank area?

Thanks.

This is addressed to all the MDI-MD MTs who are still spinning from the news last week of the merger with Transcend.  I am nobody special, but just someone who tries to find the positives in any situation.  WELCOME ABOARD to what will hopefully be a great next stop in your career. 

            I know many of you loved MDI and are leaving for greener pastures rather than seeing what Transcend has to offer.  But things were obviously not all red roses and rich, dark chocolate or the Transcend/MDI-MD merger would never have come about.  Nobody just woke up one day and decided it looked like great weather for upending hundreds of lives with a corporate merger. 

            I don't think there are many people out there in our profession or in any other profession who like change.  Change is uncertain.  It eliminates any sense of knowing what is coming next.  I do not handle change well.  It is for that reason that I began immediately scouring the job boards when I learned that my company was merging with Transcend earlier this year.  Transcend is a big company.  We were their second merger of 2009.  I believed BIG equals cold and impersonal, all about the profit margin.  They send work offshore.  I had only been on board with my company for 4 months, and my benefits had just started.  (Why is it you seem to need your insurance the most when you DON'T have it?)  I was scared because I had left a large MTSO and did not want to work for another one.

            We were invited to a conference call hosted by my company president and the president of Transcend, Larry Gerdes.  I was not prepared for the warmth nor the sense that what we wanted and needed from our new employer was important to Transcend.  During the call, Larry gave nearly 200 people his cell phone number.  When the conference call was over, I called Larry's cell phone.  He answered on the second ring.  He had no idea who I was, but he answered immediately.  He was as warm and genuine one-on-one as he was in the group call. 

            Starting all over with benefits paperwork was challenging.  We do what we have to do for our families, however.  The Transcend HR team was prompt with calls and e-mails, explaining the process and making it more than bearable.  The benefits include dental, medical, vision, and flexible spending.

            The technical support crew was quick and responsive with software installations and continues to be very helpful.  I believe the technical support offered at Transcend is the very best I have ever experienced in my career.  They are professional and know what they are doing and they get the job done, even at 3 in the morning.

            There is a lot of training available for everything from logging the time you work to using text expanders.  We are called medical language specialists, not medical transcriptionists.  It took a little while to get used to MLS instead of MT but it really is an accurate description of this very specialized work we do.  The training is available ongoing, not just once with a followup call and then you're on your own.  For those who do not want to venture into new territory with a different platform and facility, staying with a familiar client and platform has not ever been discouraged.  Some of my coworkers and I were transferred onto BeyondTXT because our primary account had gone with another MTSO.  Those who have not thrived and are not happy are transferred back to prior accounts and platforms.  No one is forced to work on a platform or an account.  When work is low, we are encouraged to learn new accounts, secondary, tertiary, even quaternary for those who are brave enough to take on that challenge.

            The subject of offshoring was my biggest objection to this merger.  What I have learned is that offshoring is used only to cover the third shift and weekend hours where domestic coverage cannot be adequately obtained to keep accounts in turnaround.  Our profession necessitates 24/7 coverage, 365 days a year.  It is a challenge to find adequate coverage for the overnight shifts and weekends.  I worked second shift including Friday and Saturday nights for many years and I was thrilled to finally get a first shift.  I am working a weekend shift again, now, and while it isn’t my preference, it beats not having a job at all.  Recruiters report nearly every candidate wants first shift, Monday through Friday.  Hospitals unfortunately do not work only those hours.  Transcend has contracts which require them to write checks back to customers for failing to meet TAT.  Substandard quality is not acceptable from domestic MTs and it is not acceptable from offshore MTs so all reports done offshore go through an arduous QA process.  I like knowing that my employer is not having to pay back its clients because the work wasn't completed and returned in a timely manner. 

            It's not a perfect world we live in but it's up to each of us to play the cards we're dealt.  If you have decided to hang in there and give Transcend a chance, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  I did, and I'm really glad I did.

working on other private accounts....sheesh.......I spend half a week working for private mds and the other half working for MQ......what do you want from us PT'ers??????

Are you calling all PT'ers malingerers?  How unfair is that?  I work my arse off 24/7/365 and since I'm a young teen......so that's about 40 years!  The only YEAR I took off was to have a baby 25 years ago.

AGAIN, POSTERS, consider the source of the perps posting!!!

How rude!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I've reviewed the MQ board but I don't work there and I can't post on the MQ board, so I'm posting questions here.

1.  Is there any grace period about clocking in on your proposed schedule?

2.  What happens if there is no work when you're scheduled; can you make it up without hassle?

3.  Can an experienced MT consistently average 200 lines on MT?  What about ASR?

Thanks for your help.  E-mail me privately if you're more comfortable. 

Hi,

I work on 2 accounts and 1 starts with E and the other with H and they are both on the Escription platform.

of the fact that we're only allowed to work no more than 40 hours a week?  I always used to work more than that, ever since I started full time with TT.  Of course I never expected to be payed time and a half if it was my choice to work more than 40.  Then all of the sudden strict 40 hours and no more.  What do you all think is going on?