Wall Street Journal article, October 2004
Posted By: bin_swanson on 2007-12-10
In Reply to: Outsourcing - Why are companies so secretive about - Proud American
A friend sent this to me. UCSF heard from an overseas MT who had not been paid that if she did not receive the $$ owed her she would publish the reports on the internet. There was a lot of followup to this which I will not go into here, but why wouldn't this sort of thing still be possible.
Later that year there was a report of a group of MTs in Bangladesh who tried to force a change in their local management by threatening to make transcribed documents public.
After that California was supposedly looking at a bill to disallow sending confidential medical reports overseas as they are not bound by HIPPA. Never heard what came of that.
I still tell these stories to anyone considering sending work abroad. I just wish some of them overseas would be stupid enough to actually pull a few stunts like that and then see how much work we lose.
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Atlanta Journal Constitutional Article - this link works
May 22, 2008 - Atlanta Journal Constitution article:
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/georgia_100/stories/2008/05/22/georgia_100_transcend.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
Spheris sent journal/day planner. Blank
xx
You know, you could take somebody off the street
and that person would be doing the best they could possibly do. They wouldn't need QA? So someone who has been around for 30 years, and has been QA'd by the supreme QA, and now is doing the best they can possibly do...so what? They still make mistakes. That's what QA is for. Maybe the best they can possibly do just isn't good enough. Maybe they haven't instituted the changes that have come along. Maybe they are slipping. I would assume that for the most part we all do the best we can possibly do, but from newbie to old-timer, doing the best we can do doesn't excuse us from having our work checked out from time to time.
7% a 2-way street
What is the percentage of reports that are exceptionally difficult, dictated by ESL, fast-talking dictators. Less than 7%?? Otherwise, if they want you to keep your QA submissions to below 7%, then they are giving you permission to guess, which is dangerous. It doesn't make any sense.
I think that it's a two way street, after all see message
when you are dealing with employers in this field you know relatively little about them. You don't even know what wages you will be earning when you accept work from them. There are so many factors, such as how they count lines and the quality of the work you will be getting. I know relatively little about this company and they wish to know everything about me it seems--my work history, my abilities transcribing abilities (which I had taken two tests) and now they want to get inside my mind. I'm sorry but that's just too rude. I have received form letters from them that are just probably a standard they send to everyone. They have never called me, just sent me generic letters to take their tests. I called and spoke to a person for a few minutes and that was it.
It's a two-way street, in my opinion
When I need to flex, my employer cheerfully accomodates my every request.
In reciprocation, I cheerfully accommodate my employer on the few occasions I'm asked to do so.
As in all things in life, we get as good as we give, IMO.
They count people in the street
Nothing is going to change until Americans put down the remote and put on their walking shoes.
It's the only thing that really gets their attention: Peaceful people in the street.
The handwriting is on the wall
Granted, some people aren't being affected YET. But they will be. I understand people want to hang on to the benfits that come from longevity, and won't leave until things get too hot for them personally. But reading the situations of those miserable folks on the forums there should be a wakeup call, and the forums are the tip of the iceberg. There were at least 6 teammates of mine who were as miserable as I was, and none of them ever posted on the forums about anything. The sad thing about the forums is many of the people there are desperately seeking help from each other, as they cannot get answers OR help from tech support or their supes.
Writing on the wall
I think its time for us all to think about different careers...the writing is on the wall. In NY state every hospital and doctor has to be on EMR by 2008...and I'm sure more states will follow.
The writing is on the wall
If you truly believe what you say, then don't stay another minute. Run, FOR-REST run!
I saw the writing on the wall a month or so ago
When my primary was consistently out of work I hesitated to go to take work from my secondary accts because that would take away from THEIR lines. I got a rather snippy email from my liason saying that of course I should gobble up secondary work, that's what they are there for. But the work was all gone by the time I got to that point. Can't win for losing. I agree w/previous poster; the more accts you cross-train on the more the work is going, going, gone.
I saw the writing on the wall and got out sooner after the buy out SM
It made me sick to see TransHealth become WMX! I loved, loved, LOVED working for TransHealth. I thought management were good people. They even flew their QA staff to TN for Christmas parties, but then that last one was when they announced the buy out. It was disappointing, but at least I got nice weekend trip out of the deal and a few good meals!
I miss the old TransHealth. I would give my I-teeth to find a company and job like that one again.
I feel for you ex-TH-ers who have weathered the WMX storm only to now take pay cuts. It sucks!
I once saw an Indian error where he/she changed the name of a famous street
which was mentioned in a report, just because he/she didn't realize it was a street name. The Indian MT changed it to say something real romantic and inaccurate, like The patient was on the street where the lovely sun sets. It took me just a moment to realize from the context that the dictator just mentioned the street name, Sunset Blvd. No way an American would change that!
But she had time to email pics of deer she saw on her street nm
nm
Thanks. I felt like bashing my head against a wall
.
It is time to read the writing on the wall and get out NOW!
They are going down and real fast!
Anybody into scrapbooking?(LOL).
Get out while you can. Major changes on the way.
Sage Street Staffing - South Florida transcriptionists
I have been trying to respond to people from south Florida who applied with Sage Street Staffing for traveling transcription.
The emails are kicking back as undeliverable. I have tried from multiple email addresses, and they are all kicking back as undeliverable.
If you sent a resume from the email address *********** please send an alternate email address so that I may respond.
thank you
Focus likes to get these little holes in the wall and then kill them.
look at STP and oh heck, what is that other one that wanted me - Lartech - that's just 2 of them.
I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago. Sorry for those who stuck around!! sm
I sure hope you find something soon......my heart goes out to you. Lesson learned, I suppose. When people show you who they really are....believe it.
Been on it since May 2004
Still struggling. I have never gained back to what I was typing before.
Others have though, so it can be done.
Good luck.
Info from 2004, sm
I did a search, only info found was from 2004. Could you list the possible 3 companies that does this?
STEDMAN'S 2004 PLUS -HELP
Hello, I need some help loading this program onto windows xp, MS word 2000. The dictionary demo loads and works, but I can't find the spellchecker??? Any suggestions, thanks. 
I worked for them 2004 and here is sm
I was hired to MT. I had little training on the platform they used. I worked as an MT for about a week and they asked me to be a QA at $14 an hour, to also be on-call at least 1 weekend a month for stats (that is 24/7) and to take overnight calls like 1 night a week. I did that.
I had to make an out of state move. I was told to take all the time you need. I thought it would take about 5 days to get back to work and I told the MT manager that. After 2 days, she starts calling all hours of the night and day, on my cellphone, and harasses me about when I will be back. I said 5 days and I need 5 days, which was rushing it anyway.
Guess what? She told my MTs (I also lead a team) that she had fired me, but neglected to tell me. She called each and every one of them asking if I had been hateful. I am never hateful!!!! Especially with my MTs! They deserved my respect and they got it. In the end, they still owe me nearly $600 and have refused to pay me.
Now, couple that with the fact that they had a HUGE teaching hospital in Alabama. About 2 or 3 weeks after she fired me, they lost that account. Furthermore, they would hire ANYONE who had every touched a keyboard. I had to QA that mess and it was an ENORMOUS mess. A cute angina. A cute appendix. A femaloral artery. A cesar's ansection. A right hammered toe. And on and on and on. I was not allowed to complain about the lack of capable MTs, nor ask for anyone to be fired or even to give individual feedback.
I lucked out really. I landed on my feet 3 months later and it has been MUCH better since then. I heard from a gal at that big MT head hunter employment agency (you know who) that she had once had her own company and my SG MT manager was the ONLY MT she had ever had to fire for lack of knowledge and quality, and subsequent insubordination when confronted with errors she refused to correct in subsequent work.
WHAT A MESS. What you all say fits right in with what I know of them.
Sorry. It has to be me. I did exactly what you said and all it has is 2004 and 2005.
Thanks anyway. Maybe someone will still enlighten me, but obviously it is not looking too positive so I probably won't waste my time with them.
Sorry..that's supposed to be "from 2004"
xx
Spheris took over Healthscribe in 2004.
nm
That is what they paid me in 2004 1st shift BUT
Times have changed. I'd do it. I get $16 anytime I QA for a small regional company. I take it. I make double that MTing, which is 90% of my job.
I lost an ER MT job to EMR in late 2004.
Loved that account!
Have been with MDI-MD since the end of October,
and to my knowledge they only hire MTs as Statutory Employees.
Any new info out there on Medware. I archived and everything is from 2004. nm
Thank you!
JLG - searched archives and only found 2004. I
could swear I have seen recent posts on JLG, but am afraid they must have been deleted. Any current info at all? Anything would be appreciated. Don't want to go from that BIG OLD FRYING PAN into the fire, if you know what I mean! 
When I searched, the only replies were dated 2004
NM
Precyse info. Only found 2004..
 2005 on Search. Any latest info on pay, platform, benefits, etc.? Sounds like they offer a lot. Good/bad appreciated as always. THANKS!
I have been with Keystrokes since October....
I love it...wonderful supervisors and they truly appreciate their MTs...would recommend it to anyone...
Six years this October.
nm
October is close enough
You don't have to be to the letter, to the day, to the exact moment. It's October in 3 months. Four years and 9 months is just as good as five years.
Been with TT since October. Came from MQ. TT is the best company
I have ever worked for. The work is good and plentiful (I have only run out a couple of times and then I have had plenty on my backup). Tech support is good. Communication is great and I really feel like they care about making this a good place to work. The owner used to be an MT and so she knows what it means to do this job. I say go for it.
Been here since October and love it! :-) nm
And Chicago CSC is closing also as of end of October...nm
nm
Dear KS, problems since October, oh yes
My experience is very recent.... still waiting to hear from ....... who said I passed but she is too busy to talk to me for the past 3 weeks. Told me to be patient. I am glad my patience paid off in that I got a better job than KS was offering.
Knew this would happen !!! Did it in October, too. nm
x
I heard back the next day, but that was in October
Guess it just depends on the recruiter and how urgently they need MTs.
Net search shows they had a job ad here in Dec. 2004. Their website is www.pdajc.com. Good
m
Started early 2004 and left late 2006..nm
nm
People seem to forget it was Pres. Bush pushed EMR in 2004. sm
Try googling 2 words: EMR Bush.
Found this article. Hope links are allowed.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-05-27-bush-medical-records_x.htm
Yes it does. MQ bought Lanier in October 2003.
..
Not when I was hired (October). Great company. :-) nm
Same thing happened at TT the year before in October, too.
For those of us left with TT for 2 year, there is hardly ever sufficient work to work your negotiated shift. Always asked to flex and move right into the weekends to get enough lines, if possible to even on weekends for everyone trying.
Actually, my hire date was October 9 last year
but since it was my first new job in almost 28 years, it was a BIG thing. I left the old job because my beloved boss closed down his practice to join another one, and the other group declined to hire me. Their loss. I was hired by a medium-sized national that just got acquired by a large national. We're 1 month into the new regime (so if we want to get technical, I actually have started a new job in the last 30 days) and the only thing that has really changed so far is the pay period is now twice a month instead of every 2 weeks. I still work the same shift, the same accounts, the same pay rates, the same supervisors and QA people, the same platform, everything.
There's been some grumbling on this board about the new company and how they lure you in with big promises and then you always seem to run out of work, coincidentally just before you achieve the gross pay required per period to be considered full time and thus eligible for benefits. Of course I can only speak for myself, but I haven't seen any such thing, and the only times I have run out of work (briefly) have been on or around holidays. If the work is coming in slowly at any other time, our people actually call the clients and ask them what's going on. (And then they send out e-mails to let us know what's happening.) I work a 32-hour week (by my choice) but probably at least 9 days out of 10, there is enough work that I could work a full 8 hours if I wanted to. (And this pay period I came in at 25 percent over the gross minimum--and I know for a fact my own pay rate is actually on the lower end of the scale, so reaching that minimum is NOT exactly difficult. At least not for me.)
We don't get a lot of extraneous e-mails, only necessary announcements and requests, and we're all on IM so we can always find somebody to help if we have a question. We are also not only encouraged but strongly urged to send ANYTHING doubtful to QA, even if we have to leave 100 blanks in a report. They'd rather have a QA blank than a guess. And QA has NEVER gotten the least bit snarky with me; even when it's been a real duh! mistake on my part, the worst I might get is a smiley face with a gently-worded note pointing out the error.
I have a co-worker who was hired the same day I was, on the same account. She has a neighbor who works for the company that just acquired us, and LOVES it; in fact, she was encouraging my co-worker to jump ship and c'mon over, until we all found out we were all comin' on over anyway, as of April 1.
Any current info on Med-Scribe? They're hiring and all I can find on here is from 2004. Thx!
.
Did search on Futurenet and got mostly 2004 and 2005 stuff. Anybody with newer info? nm
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