When I was hired back in January they sm

• radiology sign on bonus - something new
  • When I was hired back in January they sm - Spheris Rad MT
  • Spheris sign-on bonus - cm
  • Then why leave? I've worked for Spheris - sm

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This is the normal situation during the holidays and January and then accounts usually pick back up.  It was that way when I worked in a hospital, that way when I had my own accounts and that way now that I work for a service.  It always picks up.

My husband and son are both in construction for the State of Illinois, working in concrete.  We know that they are always laid off for most of the winter, and we plan around it.  It is part of the job, just like it is in transcription.

Next year,  we're going to be smart about it.  We are both slow at this time of year so we are planning a vacation somewhere warm.  We'll spend on vacation what we'll save on our heating bills, not really but will save something, and on gas in our cars. 

In the next few months, these same people will complain that they have too much work and no time to do anything. 

It shows that they are taking out SS.  At the end of the year am I going to find out they didn't.   If they didn't.  Were is that money going? 

Is that what is going on.  They show that they are taking out and people are finding out that they didn't? 

In my opinion, from the 2nd conference call MDI has no clue what will happen with our pay and schedules come January 1st.  Seems like they would have asked Trascend about their pay scale, etc. but it appears they have no answers to those questions at this time (or they don't want to tell us).

You have every right to feel paranoid and betrayed.  That is exactly how I felt.  My employer, knew well in advance that they were going to outsource the entire department and yet our supervisor told us in a meeting that they were looking at outside services for overflow work only and that we should not be worried, our jobs were safe.

I was worried and said as much to the other MTs at the Christmas party.  Some agreed with me, but others said there was no way this hospital would even consider outsourcing transcription.  The doctors would hate it and complain. 

Next thing you know, we get an email saying in lieu of our quarterly department meeting, we were going to be scheduled for one on one meetings with the boss.  The first person went in and came back home, emailed us and said guess what, we're fired.  It was horrible, horrible, horrible!  I know that management knew months before that this was in the works.  They knew at our last meeting when they looked us in the eyes and told us not to worry. 

They acted like we should be grateful that the service that had decided to go with was offering us all jobs.  We went from hourly with incentive and excellent benefits to per line, crappy benefits, and facing the possibility of working on other accounts because ours kept running out which meant low production which meant a pay cut.

I refused to go with the service.  Maybe I'm too prideful or too bitter, but I couldn't do it, especially since the service they went with offshores.  So I channeled my bitterness into making it known to the community that their beloved community hospital was now offshoring medical info to India.  I wrote letters to all the local papers, had an interview with a local reporter, and put the hospital administrator on the hot seat for a while because he kept having to talk to the papers telling them he requested his hospital's work not be offshored.

They will not soon forget me and that helped me get over it.  Now, I'm working as an Editor and love it.  I've moved on, but as you can see, I still have bad memories. 

You have every right to feel the way you do and you should be very cautious whatever you decide.  I will never be lured into a false sense of security ever again.  I have come to realize there is no job security in transcription anymore. 

Hope everything works out for you!

in the U.S. by summer along with the QA team.  Come May, I was canned along with a bunch of other QA and management people.  Strange dontcha think?  Now they are singing the same tune to a different audience.  See ya at the unemployment office...

The accounts weren't too horribly bad.  The reason I ended up leaving was because slowly but surely they began to inch closer and closer to paying QA by production.  When I first started, the quota was something like 30 reports a day.   We simply had to make sure that we QA'd all reports that were close to being out of TAT first and then do the rest.  Then, my supervisor left and they hired a new one who immediately called a big teleconference meeting and said we had to up production to 60 reports a day.  Then, they started counting lines.  Which was fine because they were still paying hourly.

Next, there was an MT who used VR software because she was blind - yes blind.  Again, when I first started, I was told we had to edit her entire reports because she used the VR software and we had to make sure that everything was correct and made sense.  Then, we are told only check the blanks.  I wasn't comfortable with that and I continued to completely proof every word.  Then I was called on the carpet not because I wasn't meeting the production quota, but because I was ONLY meeting the production quota.  I told them I was proofing all of the MT's work that used VR, I was told that no one ever told me to proof every word of the VR reports and that I needed to fill in blanks and move on.  When I voiced my concerns, I was told that was my job, to fill in blanks and I should move on and strive to product above the standards.  Next thing you know, rumors abounded about changing the QA staff to being paid on production.  So I left. 

There just seemed to me to be too little concern for quality and more emphasis on quantity and I just didn't want to be part of company who would take money out of my pocket just to line their own and that's what they were doing by putting QA on production.  I also am not comfortable with the job of QA being thought of as a blank filler.  There is much more to the QA profession than just simply filling in blanks. 

I don't know if Transcend ever did start paying QA by production, but I could see that the idea was being floated there.  Maybe there was a enough protest that they didn't change from hourly. 

Good luck to you!

happier.  I am on a different account then the first time and it is as if it is a different company.  I have a great lead who leaves us alone most of the time but is there when I need her.  It showed me that you can have a different experience within the same company.

I have to say that in the few weeks since they have the new office, it is much more organized probably because there are a lot of people there all the time.  I had the pleasure of speaking to the new HR manager who was HR at a hospital, got my questions answered about insurance as I am going to full time and had a live voice pick up the phone.

Not all change is bad.  This is one company that has changed for the better. 

I would stay away.  I got the job and never started with them.  They want to charge rent for the footpedal.  When I asked about buying it, they said it costs $500.  When I received the pedal, it was no different than the $30 ones (seen on internet) that all the other services just give out and then toss when they break.  I felt like I was going to be ripped off. 

Sounds great, doesn't she? 

but haven't started working yet.  I'm still waiting for my paperwork, foot pedal, software, etc.  From what I read, they seem to be a great company to work for. They hire employee status only, no ICs. I believe there is an incentive program for full time (I'll be working part time, so I'm not exactly sure of what it is). They also seem to be flexible with hours worked (no strict hours or punching in, but it sounds like you have a window of time to get your work done).  I'm sure the recruiter can give you more information. The pay is pretty decent also.

Good luck!