Totally. Stress of less and less money. Stress
Posted By: of QA's daily rule-changes. -SM on 2009-06-01
In Reply to: Does this job stress you out? - MT72
My health is starting to slip because I never have time for exercise anymore. I can't afford healthy, fresh foods (they spoil too fast), and I can only go to the market once every 2 weeks. I'm depressed. I'm over-snacking. I have headaches. MT work makes me feel completely hopeless. I work for this invisible, omnipotent being that affects my life so adversely, and I can't even confront them in person, because the MTSO's all exist in that netherworld of the internet. They're nothing but evil electronic impulses that chain us to our computers and ruin our lives.
Stressed? Oh, yea - you better believe it. And an entire nation of people feeling exactly like I do? That's pretty da***d scary.
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You don't need that stress..
or stick with the radiology. Who needs that? You must feel so degraded! What a poor ethic that company has... I feel sorry for their clients!
Does this job stress you out?
I do love so many things about being an MT, but does it stress anyone else out knowing that you HAVE to type a certain amount to get the bills paid? I try to explain that to my husband. I seem overly stresseed a lot because like I tell him, if you have a NORMAL job and one day you just aren't feeling that great, you can still get your paycheck because you are clocked in. A foggy head or drained feeling doesn't affect your work. Being an MT, you are pushed to type or you don't get a check. You have a slow day and your paycheck is affected. It's staring to REALLY stress me out!!!
Stress at Amphion!
I left Amphion for TT, too, and I can sure relate to the stress there. Sheesh. I was on the big university account, which I really liked, but I stressed over the QA reveiws every single month, and I absolutely hated the mandatory overtime. Granted, Amphion is the ONLY MT company I know of that pays true overtime for working over 40 hours--and doesn't quibble about it--real overtime as in time and a half per hour over 40--plus your lines, which is why I will not work over 40 hours for anyone else, not as an employee, unless I get true OT. I also miss the no major holidays on that university account and I HATE the 2 weekend days per month at TT--because on those 2 weekend days all I get is crap, BUT my stress level is a lot lower now--that's a good thing. If I were on a better account, I would have absolutely nothing to complain about. HAHA.
Fortunately, we have insurance through my husband's work and it is great. I don't get these exorbitant MTSO insurance prices either. My husband's company has about 200 employees and they have BCBS and the family rate, including dental is $250, a month!
No matter where you go it is always something.
You got it!! Not to mention that the stress of
have to use our PTO for sickness rather than fun. I also never got anything of substance approved as far as days off, so my PTO time was useless, just part of the games of no work and getting sick over no work. I feel so sorry for those who stay in that situation, thinking they are going to lose out on PTO by starting over. Its your LIFE at stake, right? We are so worth more than PTO at MQ. 
Still Stress-Free...
Some of us still enjoy stress-free living w/o a care in the world.
We never had kids! (LOL)
More money + more peace and quiet = Stress-free living forever!
Does it stress me, nope but tell you what I would do if it did
I would not sit here complaining about the lack of work, no decent salary, not enough to pay bills on and so forth. I am sure most on here lot younger than me and I can almost assure you this profession is not getting better, in fact seems to be headed the other way. Why wait on some job that stresses you, not enough money to live, cannot make it, why not find something else to do? Is it that important just to stay home and not be able to live on this pay now? There are jobs out in the world. Why not train for something that maybe would not be outsourced and make a decent living. Lots here sound like the passengers on the Titanic. Someone fill me in on just why everyone is stressing just waiting around.
Not worth the stress...move on...I did.sm
I went with a co. started on 10/25 and turned out the platform really sucked..too much stress. I quit..got hired two days later..move on. Your home is your life..you don't need to be stressed out over your work when your work is at home.
Not enough for the stress they're putting me through . See msg
From what I've read in the past, and my experience, they pay anywhere from 7 cpl to 10 CPL (I personally make 8 CPL with 10 years experience, no raises since I started there despite numerous requests for one). THIS IS FOR STRAIGHT TRANSCRIPTION. Most of us work on ASR now (voice recognition) which pays 70% of your pay (example, I make 0.56 CPL for ASR). I have lost a LOT of money since ASR began. I average around 150 lines per hour for ASR. I averaged around 250 lines per hour with straight transcription. In other words, I made around $20/hr before ASR, now I make $8.40/hr, just above minimum wage in my state.
I only work flex-part time now for MQ and work full time somewhere else that pays fairly with NO ASR and NO outsourcing outside of the U.S.
It is my strong belief, after 10 years of working for MQ, that we will all lose our jobs soon now that the board of directors is Indian based. Believe it or not, they can pay Indian workers even less than they pay us.
Yes, they pay shift differential, 0.5 CPL more for evening shift, 1 CPL more for night shift.
A slew of workers have left since the news so it is my belief that's why they're hiring now. If you're interested in a short-term job, fine. Good luck though.
THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY.
Don't stress. Tell her you are nervous, and she will be very nice about it. sm
You can't ask for a nicer group of people. They worked with me through my husband's long illness, house problems due to his illness, followed by a few health problems of my own that I still think are the after-shock of dealing with his illness. He is fine now, I am fine now, and I will never again look for another job because Keystrokes treated me like family, not just a number.
I had been at the Q for 17 years in some form (company I worked for was gobbled up by them) and was very nervous but they were very gracious about and put me at ease. That was 3 years ago and I am grateful that I took the plunge.
Does anyone else feel the stress mounting?
I don't know if it's just me, a bad year so far, or what, but it just seems as though this job is becoming too stressful for me. I've been doing this for almost 18 years and I have never felt as stressed as I do now. I can't even begin how many companies I've switched after a 2-4 year period because they keep changing the terms of employment that were originally agreed upon. It just seems that they expect more and more and more and give less and less. At the job I work now I have a primary account and 4 backup accounts, yet I have to sit and wait for work on all of them.
They changed platforms that doesn't pay for what was agreed upon when I took the jobs. Used to pay for everything, including spaces. Now, it doesn't pay for patient information, which I have no objection to if the information is automatically entered, but it seems like we have to enter more and more information all the time. It doesn't pay for headings in a report any more.
Every new secondary account that they give me is more time intensive than the last one. I normally work on acute care accounts, but as a secondary they gave me a clinic. I thought to myself, at least now maybe I can get some better lines because it is clinic. On this account, we have to look at an email they send every week that lists all patients seen that week. We have to search for the physician dictating, find the patient he is referring to, take all the data from the email, and then enter it into the patient information fields (none of which is paid for) and it can't be copied and pasted because it is all in different fields.
I've been so afraid to look for another job because I'm being paid a good line rate, until we go to VR rate (within the next 2 weeks) at more than 65% less than my current line rate on accounts that haven't even been trained on the system. This is just getting so frustrating. I've sent my resume out and get replies offering me 8 cpl employee or 9 cpl IC.
I'm really sorry this is so long. I just needed to vent and try to network here. If anyone knows of a good company that will appreciate having an MT with skill and experience, and will pay a fair line rate for it, can you please email me? I promise I'll keep it confidential. Thanks for letting me vent!
Did not mean to stress you out! After all we need health insurance
have not met line requirement for insurance and pharmacy... did not mean to stir a kettle, just wanted a reality check... you sure gave it to me!!!
Don't stress over gifts at Christmas -
that is NOT what the holiday is about - haven't been able to afford gifts for MANY years now - and when I can again I will be VERY conservative about it.
We have been brainwashed to think we HAVE to exchange gifts.
The best year was when I cooked a really good meal for all and placed one small gift at each place setting.
Repetitve Neck Stress Injury
 Repetitive Strain Injury Advice: Bad Neck Pain-I have a lumbar support chair but I am still getting repeat shooting pain in my neck. Is there anything I can do to ease this? Better support while I am working etc.? Any advice is appreciated before I run to the doctor.
Good question! How to handle the stress.
Would be a good thing, but what does a person do?
You need to use them for production & to presvent repetative stress injuries. nm
s
Left end of July for a company paying more and I set my own hours. Much less stress too. (nm)
x
TYPO -- wow I am upset. It is causing illness due to stress !!! Does TT care? NO n/m
and inability to meet my payments that I have normally had no problem paying. It is so disgusting.
Don't send me a Happy Friday email. Send me some of your paycheck, mgmt. Nor do I want to hear you guys ROCK! If you mgmt people had no paychecks, you wouldn't be saying that, would you?
Your paychecks come from MT's -- NO ONE ELSE !!! And YOU want to pay us 1/3 or 1/4 of our line rate for your crummy VR dictation. What a disgrace !!!
I totally disagree, love VR and can make good money at it
I have been doing now for about 4-5 years and hate it when I have anything straight to type. I have done this for over 30 years, have excellent speed at straight but Escription is a bowl of cherries where I work. I would never want to completely straight type again, never.
If you want to make steady money then run away from FutureNet! Totally unstable workflow..nm
d
Yes, it's totally word based, but it's also totally slow.
I haven't had a very good experience using dictaphone EXText. I wouldn't recommend anyone work on this platform. I don't know how anyone can say this is a very productive platform in any way whatsoever. Actually, it is the worst I've ever worked on. I like Bayscribe, DocQscribe, and many others over this setup.
Amherst so we make less money and they get more money for MQ and bigger bonuses. Our guidelines came
from Amherst.
The company takes the money out of your salary, before they cut the check. It is your earned money,
:+
It's about "money, money, money, mmmoonnney. Singing The Apprentice song.
:{
yep, gotta spend money to make money. NM
.
So does yours. Perhaps you need a basic money class to learn to keep money. sm
I am off today and appalled at reading the posts on here.
Are you always this bitter? Do you have a family and friends who are safe and healthy? Count your blessings instead of being so angry and you might see that this is not a bad field to be in. It has kept food on my table for 27 years and will continue to do so. Is it harder now? You bet, but it is not impossible to make a good living of $50,000. You just have to work hard, give it your all and appreciate the good companies that are out there.
If I were an MTSO, I would find out who all these people posting such bitter posts are and find replacements for them a.s.a.p. Negativity spreads like poison, and with the world in the state it is, we should bond together not make it worse.
Money is not the root of all evil, the LOVE of money is. nm
x
Totally VR?
Do you have any idea when that is supposed to take place and the effect it will have on the staff? They are doing a lot of hiring recently, myself included!
totally aside
I'd like to add that irregardless is not a word.
Totally!
I had the exact same experience. After five months, I left. I guess to each is own.
That is so totally what I'd do too!
....go in and edit the crap out of the thing and provide a phone number to my attorney, the state district attorney, and the department of labor for their calling pleasure.
I think these bastids count on the fact that this is a female-dominated industry...an industry of what they believe are just mousy housewifes who won't say boo and will just take it. Think again mister man. We brought you into this world, we can take you out.
You are totally right!
Every day, people have circumstances that are way beyond their control, i.e. illness, unexpected car repairs, laid off from job, etc. Just because someone's credit isn't the best is no reason not to hire someone. The whole idea of employers checking credit just sickens me. There is no need for it. That is why we have references! Our credit reports are none of their business!
Not totally 100% out but very, very low. :(
xxx
Totally
wrong for them to keep this information if it is the information that your pay is based on. When they send a check they don't send some kind verification for what they paid you? This is wrong and could possibly be illegal depending on what kind of agreement you signed with them if you are an employee.
If an IC, then not illegal, but still unacceptable.
how is that TOTALLY IC?
1000 lines M-F?
Actually, you just did totally help :)
Thanks.
I will be documenting everything I send to QA from now on (I don't care right now if it does drop my production a bit).
I am also going to be trying to the blank and then go back thing you suggested. I sometimes will spend 20 minutes on each blank the first time I go through the report (half the time only to get the blank filled in later because the dictator repeats it).
Thanks for the help !!!
IC Job? That's totally different
You are getting screeeewd!
Not totally true.
If you can prove an increase in skill, like learning op reports, or getting your CMT, you can also be considered for a raise.
Talk to your manager!
I totally agree with you!
Great bonuses, benefits, flexibility, love my supervisor and co-workers and have great communication! I'm sorry for those that are having a bad experience. I work out of the Dallas office and I love it.
please check this out totally!!!!
I am a former employee of this company. This company does not pay on time, bounces payroll checks, and the owner, Deb Garrison, is very unprofessional. She will hollar on the telephone, refusing to answer questions about payroll at all. At this moment, I am still owed one final paycheck. This paycheck was due to be released on 7/20. Last week I was told it was be mailed this past Monday, 7/25. Deb refused to send FedEx; my cost and as she has done for all other checks in the past, and refused to send via priority mail. I contacted her today and was told the checks were mailed yesterday. I would advise serious consideration about this company. They reason they are hiring 20 MTs is because no one is getting paid and they are refusing to work. I can provide you with a listing of all the MTs who work for this company if you want to verify my story.
Totally crazy
I worked for the Toth's. The are unorganized, not professional, do not pay for the work on time, and basically rude. I know several people who have taken them to court, won, and still have not been paid monies owed to them!
I agree totally.
If they were really on the up and up why not just state exactly what the rate is and SHOWING it instead of taking a regular rate and a blended rate, figuring a percentage, making 60% actually equal 67%, adding, subtracting, multiplying by your 3rd kid's birthday, and dividing by the company phone number and then putting it on your paycheck as regular lines, 13-15K lines, 15-17K lines, 17-20K lines, B lines, C lines, special 1 lines, OT lines, B OT lines, C OT lines, holiday lines?? It's ridiculous.
If they actually hire you at 8 cpl wouldn't it be much easier and up-front to say you'll make 8 cpl for typing and 4.8 cpl for editing with 0.0025 cpl for each incentive level reached? I mean if they're really going to pay the incentive on the whole amount like they say they are, why do they need all these complicated, misleading terms like "blended rates" anyway? If you get other incentives on top of that, it's only included on those separate lines anyway, not the whole thing, so why try to make it look like you're actually making more on everything??
I totally agree..
It is really hard to get a take on a company from here. I have had my share of bad experiences with "nationals" but I choose not to smear their names all over the place. I just see it this way. They were not a good fit for me but maybe they are good for someone else. I have also proofed work for some "MTs" and I use the term loosely. Honestly, I wonder how some of them even got the job, yet they are so angry when they are fired for doing a horrible job. I live in Idaho as far as where I am located.
I am totally excited!
I can't wait to get my packet to see what this is all about. I will not be leaving MQ.
I totally disagree with you....sm
I've worked on other VR platforms and this one is far superior.
You are certainly welcome & I totally agree with you
There is always something new to learn. Nobody is born just knowing how to run their own business and being an MT doesn't just inherently provide you with the knowledge...the MT end yes, but the business end no. I have always heard that if you want to be successful at something then look for somebody who is doing what you want to do and doing it successfully, find out how they are doing it, and do it! Makes sense to me! I think its a great thing that somebody who did it wrote a book to help others so you don't have to learn the hard way by making mistakes and fumbling around until you get it all figured out. Best of luck to you and come back and let us know about your success!
I totally agree.
I get a check every 25 days from 1 company I work for (starts with a B, small to mid-size national). Another smaller company I work for takes 2 weeks to mail me a check, told me they would mail it in 8, and I get it 3 days after it is mailed. The third I will name because they get a total thumb's up - Medtrans Unlimited. Invoice processed and in my mailbox within a week.
I totally beg to differ......
I've worked in many pathology departments, referral labls, and the like. And I'm here to tell you that there isn't a single pathologist that I have met that is willing to go with VR let alone outsource their dictation. NOTHING will convince me otherwise. As for radiology, I am seeing too much of it being outsourced to ever believe it will go totally VR. Besides, VR is an absolute joke! Y'know that old phrase? Garbage in/Garbage out? Well, there are many docs who have already found out that's just VR works. Just TRY, and I mean just TRY and take out the human element out of the picture (meaning the transcriptionist) and you will have reports coming back that are even worse than what is coming back from India!!!!! A question here....a very serious one......don't you think that if VR was more effective in transcribing reports that all the companies outsourcing overseas would go with VR before they did that? Something to think about. I've been around since 1990 in this field and they have been saying that VR was going to replace transcriptionists back then. Well, here we are 15 years later and quite frankly, VR hasn't even made it past first base yet. The doctors, the naysayers if you will, the big companies, etc. will be trying to find anyway they can to save money, cut costs and so on and the bottom line it, it will NEVER HAPPEN. The Transcriptionist is here to stay. There is absolutely no way you can take the human element out of this picture and have the absolute best quality reports/charts/medical information system on the planet....PERIOD.
Totally can be self-taught
Yes you can teach yourself easily with the theory books, did it myself years ago, but didn't follow through unfortunately, regret that. What is hard is getting the speed up, but definitely give it a try, all you need is the machine and the books take you through it step by step lesson by lesson, anyone can learn it. Good luck.
off track totally....
And we have a Chevy with 300,000 miles been going strong for years plowing snow, blah, blah, blah....but all this is off track and is very unfortunate that it appears that many just simply do not care if the MT industry gets off-shored or not. But again, that is every individuals perogative to care or not to care and only someday when it affects you or someone you love personally will you ever truly understand!!
I totally agree...
I'm always amazed when I come to this board and see posts like hers. Is there some unwritten rule amongst MTs that when you have a concern about your work load, you don't ask the people who would know (supervisors at the company) you come to MTStars instead to gripe and moan?
This makes no sense at all to me. If my work is low for more than a day, I email my supervisor and try to find out what's going on. Sometimes, they are not aware that there is a problem. Why is it that most of you have ABSOLUTELY NO loyalty to the company that you work for? Why come to this board to fuel rumors and/or start new ones. You work for Spheris. At least TRY to resolve the issue with them before coming to this board.
Management can only resolve issues that they are aware of. Always let your supervisor know what your problems or concerns are. They are the people who can DO something about it....not us.
I agree totally. While I usually appreciate
warnings about bad companies (though some have been made in anger, which I thoroughly understand), the owners coming to defend the company so hotly (especially with all the spelling errors-lol) make me think more than twice about working for such a place/person!!
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