Working from home/office work
Posted By: Aubrey on 2008-12-21
In Reply to: Something I don't understand - Me
I feel I need to speak up. I understand that the industry is going backwards in pay and for all of the more experienced MT's this is really degrading from what I hear from some. I understand and I would probably feel the same way. This is a craft. Not everyone can do what we do. It is a very hard craft. We should be paid what we are worth. There is no doubt about that but I also know how it works in an office in this industry. Being in an office is awful! I did it for 15 years. I worked at 2 different companies and both took advantage of the hard worker I was. I had MULTIPLE jobs and was not compensated for it. When I hear MT's complain about how bad they have it I want to scream. Yes, the pay is an issue. Yes, the belittling emails from managers is ridiculous. I completely agree and all of those managers should be let go but you do not know how awful it is to be in an office setting dealing with those belittling managers.
Trust me everyone in the company you work for or wherever that is not a VP or CEO is going through hell on a daily basis and not getting paid for it. You are making a lot more money for the time you put in than the people working in the office mostly. The people in the office are probably working on salary. When you figure the hours they work and the amount they are paid that are probably making about $5.00 an hour or less. They also have to work nights/weekends etc. from home. They also are having to listen to all of the MT's daily when they have a problem, they call in giving a excuse as to why they cannot come to work and trying to scramble to get the shift filled when the MT is really not sick as she said, problems dealing with the clients and their complaints about the work or turn times, problems with MT's and editors fighting via IM or email, problems with the Sales guys telling potential clients...oh yeah, we can do that...when we CANNOT.
I could go on and on. Being in an office is a lot more work than you would think. I would be greatful for what you have. I am not bitter at what I have gone through in an office setting. It got me to where I am today. I just want to let you know it is not easy working in an office and it is a lot harder than being an MT when you can type and then stop for the day and not have to answer to others and deal with their issues. Being an MT is a craft and it is hard...just be thankful!
Have a HAPPY HOLIDAY! Be joyous! Feel Blessed!
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You can work in the office or at home....
if you dislike the office, or find it tense, you should ask to work from home. There are only about 15 people that work in the office, most are not transcriptionists, and my experience is that they would rather transcriptionists work from home.
Life's too short, go ahead and make arrangements to work from home. Why would you want to work in the office, especially if you dislike it so much?
"People are quitting" -- who? I work in the home office
and no one has quit in the last month.
I realize we work from home, but where in Ky is their base office?
nm
In the early days, MedQuist said working at home was a benefit, therefore at-home sm
employees did not receive as many benefits as those working in-house. As I believe, it was something like at-home employees got 3 days off a year versus 10 days for the in-office employees -- WHAT?!!! I told them it made no sense to me, since by working at home I was saving them money -- no need to provide office space, equipment, references, utilities, etc. -- yet I get shafted. I was only part-time when they took over the previous company with their great policies, and I told them to kiss where I can't.
May have a home office in tn
But definately is affiliated with the Phillipines, know the person who runs it.
Home vs. office
Well, I've done both but did billing in between. Each has benefits. Our local hospital pays more per hour if you get over the req. amt. of lines. Pretty cool. However, they're small and don't often have openings. They have a good starting wage too.
OTOH, I like being at home, working in my sweats, and having my 3 cuddle babies (my 3 pugs) at home with me. We are trying to breed our 2 black pugs (just once to carry on the line) and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had still been doing med. billing at an office. I had a TAH last May and had to use all my vac. days. I have to be home with my female if she has puppies in case something goes wrong and with the puppies in case she abandons then litter. Home trans. allows me to do that.
So, I guess, to each his own. At first, when I left an hourly paying job, I wanted to run to the local hosp. and beg them to hire me. Now, I'm more secure in what I can do and I feel comfortable at home. :-)
PS, I was a supervisor in the home office
That is how I know for a fact that it is done this way.
Transcend has their home office there,
don't they?
Saw JLG hiring SE and IC. SE can take home office deductions, right? (sm)
Any other pros/cons about this or the company in general?
I'm an employee and can take home office deductions. You
have to have a $$ amount equal to a certain percentage of your income to be able to claim expenses if you are not an IC. I don't claim home office because it only made about a $50 difference in my report and I'd rather not claim it than worry about an audit since my office isn't 100% office use, my internet service isn't 100% work related, etc. HR Block does my taxes too.
Link to home office info
xx
Does Diskriter still photograph your home office?
I have been wanting current info on them, also. Anyone out there help?
working from home is awesome but working for DSG is not...
horrible dictators, sound quality is bad, no answers to emails and they run out of work consistently...that is just my experience though...
That is the owner's home. Office is in Ahmedabad, India. It is deceptive sm
to advertise otherwise. All of the work is sent to and comes from India.
MTSO gift to their at-home MT's who make their living for them and all the office staffs' livi
Why is it so hard to share their profits with the at-home MT's? ? ? Give me MONEY for Christmas because so much has been taken throughout the year -- I won't it back -- or at least some of it ! I will buy my own gift or pay my light bill or buy my children/grandchildren a gift with it.
In general, the top echelon is getting so greedy at most MTSO's! They would have nothing w/o the MT's constantly tapping those keyboards . . . and I mean it gets more and more difficult for us MT's as with each passing year to make a decent living . . . I dare say a living of any sort. Only those MT's who have husbands to support them are happy with whatever few cents they are offered, because it is only play money for them anyway. Hubby pays all the bills. I guarantee you that if a poll were taken of the Happy MT's with their at-home job, it would either be hubby making living for them OR mommy not having to pay a babysitter to work outside the home. Those in HR/management, with a little research, can easily see how our paychecks are dwindling month by month due to lower wages because ASR/VR is taking away the decent dictators and leaving only the horrible dictators (who take lots of time to transcribe a quality report), lack of cost-of-living raises, rising electricity bills at home that the MT has to pay, high-speed internet/phone bills higher and higher and loaded with taxes, rent/mortages/taxes/insurance continuously rising.
The office staff don't have to think about those at-home costs, as theirs are paid by the MTSO during their working hours/shift, nor do they have to worry about the lack of raises, etc, because in-house employees get raises automatically with tenure or with a 6-month or annual review or at the discretion of management at any time.
Personally, my line count continues to decrease; I don't know what the reason is because in the past many years, I could transcribe 200-400 lines per hour, and I do good to transcribe 100 or 150 an hour with the horrible dictators sifted out by the VR machine Dictaphone ExText.
Please don't yell at me -- because I am thankful for a paycheck -- but why is the burden put on my fingers to WORK HARDER AND HARDER to earn that paycheck. Don't say try ASR/VR because it will double your income, because I have tried that and know better and have proven that theory to be wrong -- at least on Dictatphone ExSpeech you can't !
The other thief of a good line count/wage for the U.S. MT's is the majority of our work going offshore because it can get done CHEAPER ! Who is all that extra money saved by offshoring our work going to ?? Not the at-home MT. That is exactly why I request MONEY for my Christmas gift from my employer, rather than some promo gift that is handed out to any and everyone.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL US MT's in the good 'ole USA ! ! !
Thanks. I am used to working at home
and not having to deal with this. This hospital has opened up a new surgery center which is its own entity and that took away a lot of our transcription plus a good majority of our radiology has gone to templates so in other words we are now very over staffed. They pulled some of us in-house to work on other stuff when transcription gets low which it frequently does so when I work on other things I get paid an hourly rate. I make more typing. Some of the other transcriptionists refuse to do anything else but type and one of the supervisors made a comment that that is not the right attitude to have. I have considered the nationals mainly due to my pay cut and gas prices and of course this coworker doesn't help, but am afraid of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. I have read horror stories on this board. Its hard to decide what to do. There is little opportunity for transcriptionists around here. The ones that have a job are holding on tight. One of the local multispecialty clinics outsource to India  and another one of our big multispecialty clinics do voice recognition and templates. They still have transcriptionists but let a lot of them go. I live in a remote area also and never thought I would have to worry about India, templates, VR since big city people claims we are soo far behind but it has happened. Oh, well thanks for letting me vent. I feel like I did this on the wrong board though, probably should have been on the main board. Sorry.
Working at home
If you compare working at home to having to get up and go into an office somewhere, rain or shine, that is a big plus. The only drawback to this profession is the declining line rate. Guess thats really up to the MT I guess. They will pay what you are willing to take. Just have to keep shopping around until you get what you want. Much better alternative than getting all nasty about the company you work for, there are plenty more out there, and they all pay different.
working at home
I work for a local hospital that has been promising us to go home for 7+ years and still be employees of the hospital. We have Dictaphone and recently got speech. We are in the learning phase. We were told they (hospital) cannot decide if we will use their equipment or your own equipment. I and another co-worker also work for a service. That threw up a red flag for us both. Our own equipment - independent, no benefits or possibly every thing outsourced and then possibly lose the job. We both figure with the speech recognition coming and possibly having to use our own equipment, it would be easier for a service to take over. Any thoughts to that?
This is why I like working at home - ALONE. nm
x
Why are you working from home?
If it is so expensive, why are you doing it? Some people will complain that the sky is blue. No wonder you can't make any money with that poor wittle me attitude. Boooo hooooo!
Happy working at home
I love working at home for a hospital. I don't have to share work station, books, equipment with anyone. You have to teach family and friends that you are really and truly working, and to leave you alone during work hours. It's easy to allow intrusions but set rules from the start.
I had to work in the hospital med rec/MT department for a month and while I enjoyed the people, I hated being there in a windowless dingy room. At home, you create your own work environment. My two coworkers at home are two cats who keep me company. Good luck!
Exactly! When I first started working at home
with only 2 years clinic experience (no acute care at all), I was offered .075 cpl. Six years later, with that much in acute care experience and with the very same company, I was offered .0725. Something is just so wrong with this picture!
working from home question
I have been working acute care hospital, clinics, and doctor's offices for the past 7 years. All done from the same hospital, which handles it all. My favorite thing to type is op notes, but can and do everything.
I would like to work from home, but live in the wilderness with no possiblity of high speed except satellite or dial up. I have heard that dial up is impossible to make any money.
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to use dial up and make good money and how good is satellite?
What is the best way to go about finding a good work from home job?
Is it safe to put a resume on the internet?
Any other suggestions?
Working at home is very important to me
But keep in mind we HAVE BEEN working at home in this industry and making GOOD money for years now. It is only recently that this downslide has occurred. It is as much a benefit to the employer as it is to the employee to work at home. Think about all the money they save in office space and utilities and more and more of them do not supply equipment anymore. They want us to keep thinking the way your post reads and forget that we benefit them by working at home too. The working at home is a wash when it comes to which side benefits so we need not even go there
Interruptions working at home
You have to be very stern with everyone, especially family.
I told mine long ago, This is my room. I work in here. When the door is shut I am invisible to you because why? I AM WORKING. hehehee.
I don't answer the phone. Let them leave a message. If it is too tempting to stop and answer it, unplug it.
Put a note on your door for ding dongers - Day Sleeper. No Solicitors. That keeps them away.
The problem is MTs because we work at home have this wonderful life of freedom. Sure. It means that we can pick up everyone else's slack, or have them angry at us because we don't do it. Or we end up doing for everyone and working while those 8 to 5 folks are sleeping to make up for what we could not get done during the day. Or for those who call and ask you to pick up their kid from school, or take grandma to the doctor/pharmacy - call them once at work and ask them to do the same for you. They think it's ridiculous. That's when you can point out to them how untrue that is.
My favorite expression when I am interrupted is, OH SURE! I CAN DO IT, I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING!
It makes them feel bad and away they go with their interruptions.
Lasty, if you have a headset on when folks try to talk to you, pretend you can't hear them. :) I heard one of my nephews tell the other one who was trying to interrupt me, Don't bother, she can't hear you she has that head thingy on. hahaha.
I love working at home...
I agree that there are those out there that think being an at-home MT is a piece of cake and anyone can do it and they are sorely mistaken...I have an 8-1/2 year old and a 14 month old and I take great pride knowing that I am able to do my job and take care of my children....I have never used my children as an excuse not to get work done and I don't plan on it...my job as an MT is very important and I do it to the best of my ability....I do wish people would take more pride in their work but we don't all have the same work ethics unfortunately...
HOW IS WORKING HOME A BENEFIT???--sm
Like Judge Judy said in her books, Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. Who benefits the most (financially) from MTs working at home? Who doesn't have to provide an office? Who doesn't have to provide a PC (except for a fee)? Who doesn't have to pay the electric bill to use this equipment? Who doesn't have to pay the MT's phone bill? Who demands the MT have high-speed cable internet connection? Maybe your definition of benefit is different from the rest of the working world, but I/we count a benefit as something we can take to the bank, i.e., insurance, PTO, etc. (FT only, yet). 
Yes ago I was working for a home health
care agency and they tried to initiate EMR. This was 15 years ago and I didn't know what EMR was at the time. It was a no go. Recently had an appointment for my son with a specialist we saw for the first time. He was so busy filling in the blanks, that he barely even looked at my son and sort of having a limb missing or having green skin I don't think the doctor would have noticed any issues. If they want EMR I don't have an issue with that, but why not just have an MT transcribed document uploaded into a databank?
I hear ya! When I first started working at home...sm
I felt pressured to the max, but what I finally did was to put my bills in date-due order and placed them where I could see them at all times while working. It sounds silly, but it caused me to discipline myself like I had never done before - and after awhile, it became habit to work as if I were in house and actually helped me to increase my income! It is really nice not to deal with the office politics and a supervisor at the next desk, too! Good luck to you!
I make more working at home that I ever did on site
the most I made as an MT on site was 8 bucks an hour.
I figure working from home is worth at LEAST sm
an extra $5/hr for me right now (maybe more). Had offers to work in-house. Ability to work from home is the ONLY reason to do MT. Absolutely no point in leaving the house to do MT work.
What is your problem with moms working from home?
It sounds like you have some kind of bias against moms working from home! What is wrong with that? Just because an MT is a mom working from home does not automatically qualify her as someone who puts out crappy work. I am sure there are tons of moms on this board who put out quality work. I put out quality work now and once my baby comes I will still put out quality work. Quit bashing moms working from home.
FB no different than working in office
*I am far too private of a person to put personal information on a webpage.*
Online connecting requires same common sense and professional approach that is done in an office situation. Don't discuss personal information in an office environment, right? My experience has been you do that it comes back to bite you.
FB is cyber-breakroom. :)
Do any acute care hospitals still have MTs working from home? sm
Back in the day (which was a Wednesday... in case you are curious)... I started out working for a huge acute care facility, then went home for them. Any of them still do that?? You can e-mail me if you want.... I'm sick of working for nationals.
I hate it when people tell me that working at home is a benefit (sm)
Benefits are something that the company pays for. No use as MTs. If it was a true benefit, then they should give us the money to cover the costs of what daycare would be, because if you have kids, generally they stay at home with you, right? So, they should be compensating us for daycare costs on top of what we already make. Now THAT would be a benefit!
I don't work in the office and never claimed to. I am just saying that since the new office open
October with everyone of the admin staff in one place, these problems do not occur any more.
I worked for them years ago, back in 1994. No one was working from home then... SM
Well, if you were working from home, you were coming in and picking of tapes. It was a pretty good place to work. I was just starting out as an MT so it was really good experience for me. They paid me hourly, but I was in house back then.
I have a friend working in a hospital and she is looking for a company from home as an employee.
Would anyone care to recommend a good company?
Also depends on what office you're working under
Not sure how that's going to change after the buyout, but I've heard widely varying reports depending on region.
Hmm....working on the holidays, PMS, kids home from school, wanting to find a better job but can'
s
Can anyone working for the Ohio MQ office tell me who they are and are the accounts decent to do or
are there a lot of ESLs. Thanks for any info you have.
Or try working for a local doctor's office in your area as an employee
That's one of the reason I wouldn't/couldn't work for a National MTSO. I wanted a more flexible schedule as far as days off and vacations. I get six paid vacation days and 5 weeks paid vacation. I don't think I could ever find that with a National.
Can't get paid in the office if you don't work in the office.
JLG has MT's working at home, not in the office, not to mention working out of state. The mail is the only way to get paid since they have temporarily suspended direct deposit. The only ones getting paid on time are the ones that do work in the office, like the management and people answering the phone.
I love doing pathology, but it is hard to find a position for working at home. Gross pathology is
easy, descriptive typing. Microscopic is a little more difficult, but once you get the terminology down, it goes really quickly. I also found it easy to get lines in with pathology. If you've done acute care, you should not have a problem with the transition, IMHO.
A majority of at-home MT is overflow work with in-house getting the bulk of the work. If they clean
s
Ever thought of a home health care aide? Usually paid training and start work right away. Can work
m
Like I said - it depends who you work for. I work for a hospital at home - not a company. nm
x
Used to work for them at home--sm
You don't work for any certain facility. They now have the MTs working on all their facilities depending on the region you are in. They have heavy ESL.
You would not be sorry to work for them. Like any @ home job, it is a job and to be taken serious (
The pay is good, it is based on a line rate and bonuses for tier levels. You would not be sorry. A good group of people, excellent technical support and communications within the management!
Work from home
Does anyone work from home doing anything other than transcription? If so, can you share what your doing?
You are right, I DO WANT to work from home (sm)
and I chose this profession so that I would not have to send my kids to daycare. Money saved.
What is wrong with expecting to make a lot of money. I am in a profession that requires schooling, continuing education regarding medicines, their spelling; continuing education in operative procedures; computer knowledge, program education and yet I do not get paid top dollar, because the MTSOs are running a business and are in it to make money. What do you think I am in this for? A hobby? Ummmm.....no. While I love this profession, I do this to pay bills, get ahead and provide for my family.
Plus, let us not forget the MTSOs who want you to be an IC and then dictate when you will work. How is that right/legal. If the company I am working for cannot provide the work when they want me to work, I should be paid no matter what. I do not get paid to sit at my computer waiting for work to come in. In case you have not figured it out yet, that makes it impossible to schedule anything, even doctor appointments for yourself. Should I take my laptop with me to the doctor's appointment and transcribe while I am sitting there and during the exam? No. That is what I mean by having a life.
The offshore companies are willing to do it for a lot less money (and there will always be someone willing to do it for a lot less money), is because they are a poor country. I personally know of women in Costa Rica who work 10-hour days and only make 60 bucks a week. I hate to tell you this Toto, but we are in America - not some third-world country.
I have always worked extra and helped out when needed, but that does not mean that should be my regular schedule. It does not mean that I should have to change my entire family's schedule around to fit what an MTSO or a doctor wants just because they are having a power trip. They can wait 8 hours while I get some sleep.
It is just amazing to me that it is okay for doctors and MTSOs to have appointments, take their kids to soccer, dance, or piano lessons, but us - the low ones on the totem pole, are not afforded that option. We have reports to transcribe and every single one of us should be sitting at our computer typing all the time. I don't think so. And if that makes me a prima donna, then so be it. I am one.
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