What season is THAT? Late spring/early summer? .. sm
Posted By: Southernbelle on 2009-06-12
In Reply to: Well I don't work for TT and my co. is low on - work too because of the season (sm)
or the figment of some MTSO's imagination or latest line of BS??
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I have not run out of work, except for about 2 or 3 hours late in the summer. sm
While I am NOT management, I do know both sides of this story...that of the MTs and of management. The side I pick? MY SIDE! The side with work in the queue, the side that I get paid for. So, even though I know both perspectives, I am not picking sides or defending management.
I will only observe that those who come here to bash a very nice company could be producing their lines. Given that I have consistently gotten over my minimums each and every day for the year I have been with TT says to me (remember I am on my side) that the work exists. If I can have it, so can you. Of course, every hour you are here spreading your ill-considered opinions could be, should be spent doing your job.
I am here, it is my day OFF!
DD is usually 1 day early. If holiday falls on payday DD may be a day late, but
never more than that. S/L company could be having $$ issues is problems with DD.
Started early 2004 and left late 2006..nm
nm
We people? If they want to put it in early, that is fine, but payday is payday. If it is late sm
many of us are in deep trouble particularly folks like me that live from payday to payday because I am the sole support of my son and cannot afford a company that does not put the money in on time. Those companies that do that should be run out of business or banned from the MT community. They give MT a bad name.
I bet you are an MTSO who does not pay on time....you people? Gives me an idea as to the part of the country you are located too.
I know my company would die before they put it in early and heaven forbid if you complain because it is late! You are lit into like a light to complain if it is late by the owner. It will never happen that it is in there early and I doubt seriously that it will happen that it will ever be right either. It is never right and yes, I am looking for another job because there are too many good companies to work for to put up with bank charges in excess of $50 for paychecks that are not in there on time or are wrong.
I think its the season - sm
I work full time at a hospital and our work has also slowed down a bit - but when the winter comes we will pick up again. Its a seasonal thing, happens every year. I've done this for 15 years so I am speaking from experience. The break is a nice relief actually. Perhaps you can ask to be added to another acct as a backup.
This is FLU season.
Hospitals are packed. I don't see how it could be the slow time of year. March has always been one of the busiest seasons and I have been transcribing 15 years.
For all the 4 Season bashing, just want to say ower
x
This is normally a slow time of season
in this field. No one wants to be in the hospital during the holidays, a lot of doctors are out, etc. Also, I think many companies are just overwhelmed with the responses they get to an ad.
Not a spring board to MT
You won't get experience to get an MT job from CS. You will, however, get used to working from home, working on production, dealing with feedback, digital dictation, and different dictators, all of which is very valuable if you eventually want to pursue MT.
Just Google work at home moms and you will probably find it.
That happened to me last spring from
TT. I received an e mail stating I was being let go because I never returned a call when they tried to reach me by phone. They said I could be rehired in 3 months. I wrote an e mail back saying I never received any phone call, nor did my husband. And, if they needed to talk to me, why didn't they e mail to begin with on the same e mail they were sending this let go notice to begin with? I think they had overhired and then wanted everyone on VR, and I was doing straight typing and I was not a cheap asset. I don't know what happened, but I certainly did not reapply in 3 months. It seems to go in cycles with that company, they hire lots in the fall, with a lot of great posts on the board, and then lots of turn over in the spring. Wondering if it has anything to do with benfits kicking in, etc.
Another way to let someone go is when you are a contractor, and suddenly your account is pulled and you have no work and they don't reassign. That happened at 1 company I worked with. Apparently they lost a clinic I was typing, and when I asked the owner, she said there was nothing wrong with my work. She gave me no answer as to why I did not have another account. I sent numerous e mails, and they said nothing was wrong, yet I never received work. I eventually stopped logging in and checking. I guess they were stringing me along, or I was stupid and took a long time to get the message.
No matter, I work employee at 1 great company and 1 IC in another and turned out to be in the right places after all. Sometimes you just run into companies with bad policies/communication and turnover, and you have to move on anyway. Good luck to you!
Not at all. It tends to be a slow season but I have plenty of work.
..
I also do that. I nearly always get a response if I send it "off season."
Good luck!
Too little, too late? It is never too late. I am one person, true, but together
Let me tell what this ONE person achieved on her own and then you can imagine what many of us can do if we stand together.
Two years ago, I was working as an MT for a local hospital. One day, we were told that our overflow was going to be outsourced to one of the nationals, just the discharge summaries and not even all of those. Two months after they told us that lie, they called is in one by one and fired us because they were outsourcing the entire dept because it was cost effective. The service they were using was a very large national who I happened to know had a reputation of offshoring. And I just knew because our little hospital had easy as pie dictators with maybe 4 out of a staff of 200 that were ESL, our work would most definitely be one of the accounts offshored.
I was angry! Oh, they offered us jobs at the service and told us we would definitely be working on our hospital, but I'm no fool and I knew it would be a matter of time before we were forced to take secondary accounts which would eventually become our primary accounts and our little hospital would just disappear from our queues.
I refused the job with the service on moral grounds. I refused to work for a company that offshored. And then I decided to channel my anger and outrage into something proactive. I wrote letters to every newspaper in my area. Every small farming community newspaper this hospital served, and the big city newspaper in the big city close by. I never dreamed that anyone would pay attention at one woman's rantings. But a funny thing happened. My letter was printed in more than one of the papers I sent it to, and reporter from one of the larger newspapers called me and asked if I would do an interview. I said absolutely.
Long story short, they did the interview and then interviewed the administrator of the hospital. They put him in the hot seat and asked him about offshoring health information to India. He had no definitive answers to give except that he would have to look at the contract and make sure that it was stipulated that his hospital's work was not sent over seas.
It was a small triumph, but I took some satisfaction in it. Two weeks after that and just when I thought all the hoopla had died on my little letter, another letter appeared in the newspaper -- from an HIM director at another local hospital who said as a result of reading my letter and interview, that she had received a number of calls from concerned people asking if their medical information was being sent and transcribed overseas. She wanted to write the letter just to set the record straight that her hospital employed their own MTs and did not outsource to a service nor did they offshore any of their work to third-world countries.
And I'm still not done. Still a few weeks later another letter in the big city paper was printed from another HIM director assuring the community that her hospital employed its own American MTs and did not outsource or offshore.
Now, everything has quieted down since then, but I managed to ruffle some feathers and make a point, and if I (one person, one middle-aged work-at-home mother of two) can cause that much ruckus -- think what a whole bunch of us can do.
I think we, as a group, need to take control of our industry and our career destiny and do something. Maybe march on Washington DC protesting the offshoring of American jobs -- not just ours, but ALL American jobs that are being offshored. There are more Americans out of work and losing work to third-world countries and corporate greed than just MTs! Our government needs to hear our voices! We need to MAKE ourselves be heard!
Instead of sitting back and pasting little smiley faces in our posts and saying good luck with that we need to come together. There is no room for MTs willing to accept lower wages, no room for MTs whose hearts bleed for our third-world counterparts, and no room for MTs who want to sit back and do nothing, but reap the benefits when the strong win the battle. We've reached a critical turning point and it's time to take up the cause and change the future.
Yes, last week was not too hot. Spring Break sm
I have 4 accounts I can work on and I do about every day of the week, right now. We have new accounts coming in the near future too.
This is not permanent. I have changed my shift hours so I get a sort of a peak time of plenty of work on a couple of my accounts. I hope that change is not going to be permanent, but if it is, I am okay.
My STM says it was spring break in the Pacfic sm
Northwest, where lots of our accounts are located. I see today already work has significantly picked up on 3 of the 5 accts that I work on.
Just a fluke, I think.
Yes, I have 3 accts now, started the end of the spring.
They are willing to cross-train you if you are willing and good in order to keep you busy. You start with 1 account and after you are let off QA and type on that for a while you can get a secondary, etc. This has been my best job in years.
I will take one with a skirt, preferably spring colors. nm
nm
They were bought by Nuance in the spring of 2007.
And apparently they feel that stating that fact makes them sound more respectable, I guess. Nuance also owns Dictaphone and Escription.
I heard an interesting segment on NPR this spring ...
-- quote -- Many health care professionals agree — but there is growing skepticism among doctors, administrators and computer specialists who say the costs of implementing a comprehensive tracking system will outweigh any cost-saving benefits. -- end quote --
=========================================================
It's important to keep in mind that doctors dictating most hospital reports (pathology, imaging are different) are NOT being paid for their time and effort ... the transcription is paid for by the hospital in order to provide the HOSPITAL with documentation THEY need for JACHO ... yes, the doctors do get a copy for their records and some reports are used by those doctors to justify billing for services (surgeons) ... but except where doctors NEED these reports -- Radiology/Pathology/Cath Lab -- most often in contracted joint venture based services -- the doctors often already feel exploited (not to mention being on all sorts of committes gratis as well).
For many private practice doctors, as you can hear in their voices, the time they spend dictating is the longest private quiet time they get all day.
Apparently (another NPR segment I cant find) even Doctors Offices -- which have paid out of pocket for EMR to enhance their practices -- are not properly using it -- to much trouble and bother
(Don't know but I would quess the same old same old military-industrial complex types are the heavy investors in this new technology)
=========================================================
link to article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102481028
other article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102360638
Why is work load at Webmedx suddenly low during peak flu/RSV season? sm
Accounts that were on OT for a couple of weeks now have single-digit jobs pending, not all, obviously, but most.
I've been totally swamped throughout the season, worked yesterday, doing double shift,,,,sm
tomorrow, working weekend, no slowdown here, I actually wish there was, I worked lots over OT to make $$ for the holidays and now can hardly find the time to enjoy with my family....oh well, THANKFUL FOR A GOOD STEADY JOB!
It's neither. It's ALWAYS slow this time of year, between Spring Break and Easter.
By the week after next we'll be drowning in work.
Not too bad. It's spring holidays and people are on vacation. Should pick up anytime. nm
nm
omg-heat of summer
I meant heat of summer!! not head--sorry
Last summer? see inside
They do not keep anything that long due to privacy. Their recruiter was let go a few months back, so it definitely is no longer there. I would send it directly to them at KeystrokesHR@aol.com and let them know that you had sent it before. I know that the process is smooth now, based on talking to a few new MTs, so if you are interested, that is the way to go!
thank you - I'm hoping by summer to
nix the Q alltogether, unless by some miracle things get better. I think my biggest peave with the Q is that stupid time clock. I never wanted FT or benefits, so I don't see why PT with no benefits has to punch a clock. Give me IC any day!
The new company I'm going to only requires me to meet my daily quota on the days I say I'm going to work. If I need off, I just let them know I won't be working that day. No more holidays, no more cesspool and no more TIME CLOCK!
I hope things go well for you at KS. I've heard a lot of wonderful things about them on this board, especially if you want FT and benefits. Good Luck! 
There is no summer slump at MDI. Its a
permanent slump situation, as its been going on for a long, long time. Something is way not right about this company, and I'm not sure what's going on, but its not good. Look below, and you'll see more eager new hires ready for training, every single day. I was bored the other day and browsing other MT sites, and I was shocked to see a thread and battle, just like here every day, of MDI-MD MTs with no work, MTs who can't get the 5 training jobs a day, yada, yada, and I saw the EXACT same letter from the recruiter and also from the tech person, whom many claim does not set them up at the agreed upon time, etc, and does not help with tech issues. The shock to me was that all were dated from Spring of 2007. That's how long this exact scenario has been happening, and it was creepy to read what looked like sincere posts here, as they were copied verbatim from a year earlier, and probably more before that had I wasted my time looking. There is something WEIRD and wrong about this company, and why anyone would waste 1 minute of their time with them is beyond me. And it was so hurtful and hateful a few months ago when those who posted that they had no work and something wasn't right were bashed and flamed for it being their fault somehow. Inferior MTs or whatever. There is a boatload of BS going on at MDI-MD, and I have personally experienced that boat, and its not gonna float for anyone. I truly believe they have their original staffers who get work, but forget the rest, and they are always, always hiring more and more, and with no work. If I were with them now, I would be MAJOR pissed and demand work. But there isn't any? I would also be demanding to know why they keep hiring. They have no answers, and they have no work either.
I was mid summer this year.
I used IType.
TTS - When I applied last summer
nothing more than an insulting subcontractor rate for 30 years' experience. Are you making at least more than 6.25 cpl?
Here's a review from last summer.
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/74751.html
Anyone else running out of work this summer?SM
I have been with this company for quite some time, and this is the first time I have run out of work. It has been slow since June, but pretty much the whole month of July has been hunting for work and getting lucky if there's any there. We've been told it's just an unusually slow summer. Anyone else with this problem?
I was with MQ for 11 years and left last summer.
The changes after 1/1/06 were not to my taste. And from what I can see over on the MQ forum, it hasn't gotten better. I started with TT last October and have really liked it. I've only run out of work a few times, and have had work in my backup. The office staff is wonderful. It was a very good move for me.
They added several new accounts this summer
so I don't know which one you are talking about, but I have been out of work for 2 days too and despite asking for a back-up account I have yet to get one. I do know that another account is coming on-line next month, though they have hired people for it and those people are probably working on the other accounts in the meantime, taking work from the estabilshed MTs.
How do you know new accounts are coming on in the summer?
I have not received any email saying such to us MT's. I hope so, because work is really low during the week, a little more on the weekend usually. More and more of our work is going to voice recognition, leaving low volume of transcribing left to do.
This is an excerpt from a press release by Transtech management that I saw on the internet. Maybe those 20 MT's love the system, but the other 280 must not. I know I hate Dictaphone ExSpeech editing platform (and hate the pay that goes alogn with editing on that platform).
We started using the Enterprise Express Speech System in late October of 2007 and have already seen a 500 percent increase in speech-recognized drafted
reports. While just 20 members of our team of 300 transcriptionists
are using the system now, we plan to expand its use significantly. In
only 60 days we've seen dramatic productivity climbs and our team
loves the system.
Info about Wordz from this summer.
Wordz was not the job for me, but I have nothing bad at all to say about them. Here is some recent info from this summer, hope it helps:
Pay on time by DD.
I worked on 2 platforms. (Winscribe and Transnet) Both use your version of Word and your Expander of choice or autocorrect. The platforms were just for management of voice files and attaching/uploading documents, no demographics were filled in.
All demographics were manual, and you download pt lists (some in notepad where you can copy and paste names and some fax copies where you have to retype everything).
Provider/address lists were provided for letters.
Job lists come out 4x per day. On at least one platform you have to check the job list for your work and manually enter the dictator# into the transnet platform to download jobs (you are not routed jobs automatically on the Transnet platform).
Pd training. You get about 4+ hours of phone training your first day, 3 modules. The longest module of training is administrative, paperwork, file management that you are expected to do and the other modules are on the transcribing and audio platforms. The administrative/paperwork/file management is the longest for a good reason, you spend plenty of time wrangling voice files, job lists, and pt lists every day.
QA was outstanding and very helpful. Quick relevant feedback and even a good job here and there.
There are set hours - sort of! They do ask that you set range of hours they can count on you to be there every day (maybe 8:00 to 3:00 for example) in case they need to reach you for stats or whatever, but you do not have to necessarily be working all that time, and you are not monitored. You are just expected to complete your account assignments within TAT.
Pay is low (it was 7.5 cents), but they justify that by the fact that they match transcriptionists to doctors....no pools. (That did not turn out to be the case for me, I was up to 20 dictators with more to be added on, although I know many are assigned to a small # of stable dictators...just get as much specific info during your interviews about exactly what accounts you would be on and how many providers so you can make an informed decision.)
Good luck!
Grandchildren keep me young. I have had 2 FT this summer (sm)
and occasional trips to town for teenaged grandson who has stayed at home this summer. Sometimes it is hectic and I feel stressed getting my hours/lines in, but then I take my mother to the Senior Center and watch all those people with so little to occupy their time and I feel really lucky.
During school year the 2 youngest still catch the bus here and come here after school. I am able to adjust my schedule so I can attend school functions/lunches during the day if their mom can't.
There may be a lot of problems with MT work anymore, but these are the reasons I and many other stay with it.
Well, I left MQ after 8 years last summer to go to Keystrokes (sm)
so I would have to say Keystrokes. I have plenty of work and love my account and Keystrokes gave me primarily what I asked for as far as what specialty I wanted to type. I work in Meditech but there are other platforms there, it just depends on your account. MedQuist was a great place to work for about the first 7 years. In January 2006 they introduced what they called the Rewards Plan and after that my work dried up in a hurry and I lost a LOT of money by staying there. But there are still people at MQ who have plenty of work and like it there, the way I felt about it in the old days. Both places have positive qualities but I am happier now at Keystrokes. It also depends on what you are looking for as far as how large of a company you want to work for...MQ is a big national, KS is much smaller and more personalized. Good Luck!
It was slow on one of my accounts this summer but picked up. sm
If I were you, I would go to Karyn or Becky, not Martha. Both of them will help you. I think Martha is too busy with new hires but the other two are great with back-up accounts or at least getting the names in front of Martha. Just a friendly tip, not meant to offend or cause flames.
Talked to them last summer. Very nice people.
CPL depends on shift worked and how well you do on the test.
They have overhired for the summer. We will ALL be running out of work!
They thought they had a new account and it was not a go, so overhire again. They are just running this ship TOO TIGHT
knew something was up after the paycheck fiasco this summer . . . sm
this DOES not surprise me, and I am sure there is more coming in the future.
I have to second that statement. Wish TT would not overhire during the summer months, as we get so
low on work now -- it is frightening to think about the summer months and then the holidays that follow. Ouch !
Well, mine have even less today than yesterday. I don't know what is going on. I know summer te
to wax and wane, but I've only seen wane this summer, no wax. Usually it's up and down, not steadily down, in my experience. I'm becoming very concerned about being able to make ends meet.
It was during the summer, I think. Maybe you can access old stories from your local newspaper on
s
good point!!!! summer off plus 5 weeks during the year
if i had my life to live over.... a teacher has the best life
Couple of posts here on page 11 near the top and then back during the summer, you should find a
s
Yes, a day early!!!
x
Sorry about that, it's still early...nm
x
I have always been an early worker but now..sm
there is NO work and when it does come in it seems everyone is waiting like me to grab it and then there is NO work as there were only a few reports. I addressed these concerns only to be told I needed to be more flexible.
I was asking who the one who paid early is! nm
nm
To early riser
This is exactly who the posts are talking about. Gosh, wonder if this is the only 1 who apparently does this time after time because most seem to know who it is.
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