You hit the nail on the head! Main reason why MT went to production pay.IMO nm

• Employee status........sm - annoyed
  • I understand the annoyance.... - sam
    • You hit the nail on the head! Main reason why MT went to production pay.IMO nm - CrispyCritterMT

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It's what I said all along.  There isn't a shortage of skilled, qualified American MTs.  There is a shortage of American MTs who are willing to work whenever/however for what little is being offered.  Have you ever looked at the job classification of a medical transcriptionist?  It falls under the category of administrative/clerical.  It DOES NOT fall under the category of clinical.

In the pre-NAFTA days, the weekend transcription was covered on a rotating basis and there was NEVER a problem getting coverage because coverage was paid at a higher rate.  New hires often worked weekends and would earn the seniority to work Monday through Friday, the same as all the other hospital administrative staff.  I worked as a transcription manager for years in different hospitals.  I never had a problem getting coverage when we had a fully functional transcription department.  It was when the work started being shipped offshore in an effort to save money that things started to break down.  In fact, if you look at most hospitals that still have in-house transcription, the ONLY work that is outsourced to MTSOs is the overflow work and weekend work. 

The MTSOs are the middle men.  They stepped in an gobbled up all the independent MTs clients.  They are getting the pay that the independent MT used to get.  The owners of the MTSO don't work on weekends.  The clerical staff of the MTSOs don't work on weekends.  But the MTSOs charge the client a much higher rate than what the MTs are being paid...AND they expect the MT to conform to the changes to cover all the promises they make to the clients in order to keep business and be competitive while consistently dropping the rates they are willing to pay the MTs.  So, when you squawk about not being able to find American MTs willing to be flexible about their shifts or their workdays, you are forgetting that it is the MTSOs who made this industry the way it is today and it is the hospital/clinic administration looking out for the bottom dollar that have used NAFTA to undercut the MT profession. 

The real problem coming into play here is the fact that when clients started using offshore outsourcing they started changing the direction the medical transcription industry was headed.  The MTs just worked their jobs and handled their responsibilities with professionalism...until they started seeing their jobs disappear and whole transcription departments disappear.  They were FORCED to work for MTSOs and MTSOs could name their terms.  Now that clients are starting to see that offshore outsourcing doesn't deliver the same quality, they're requesting domestic transcription again.  Now the MTSOs are running into the problem of finding domestic MTs willing to conform to all the demands and changes that the clients/MTSOs created for the LOW RATE that is being offered. 

Your last sentence was extremely offensive to many, many skilled professional MTs who have put in years of training, education, and experience to their field.  Their knowledge and skill qualifies them as MTs, NOT the fact that they are willing or not willing to conform to the needs of the MTSO.  The MTSOs made their beds, now let them lie in it and stop blaming the MTs for the direction this industry has turned.  This isn't India.  The cost of living here is much higher and it's an insult to experienced MTs to offer them pennies higher than what the offshores are making and expect the same devotion that used to be given in the pre-NAFTA days.  It all boils down to what I said in the beginning.  There isn't a shortage of American MTs, there is a shortage of American MTs not willing to drop their standards of pay and quality or sacrifice their family life for what little the MTSOs are offering.  The MTSOs and clients are starting to reap the consequences of NAFTA.  Just quit blaming the American MTs for wanting to keep what they had in the first place.

When I first started VR, there was plenty of work; in fact, always above and beyond the lines expected. Then I started noticing the work getting slower, pays going down, and now a tooth-and-nail fight for work lately....but let's not forget, the hospitals are loving it, just as much as TT management.

They are a great company.  I have been there 2 years and I have never worked for a better employer in 14 years of transcribing.  Management and editors are wonderful to work for.  They treat us with respect.  Even high management is very nice to us.  We do get a card and Christmas gift every year.  I remember one time I got a $25 gift card with a thank you note.  I assumed it was working extra when they asked.  They pay us for our experience.  The platform is great and easy to use.  They offer good, affordable insurance.  I could go on and on. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

I kept asking for backup accounts and for weeks couldn't get any, despite there being several accounts with OT on them.  Talked with upper management and finally got 2 backup accounts, neither of which had any work on them.  I was getting tops 20 hours a week and that was having to sit in front of the computer for 12 hour stints and check every 5 minutes to see if a report came in. I was working 7 days a week and trying all shifts to get in lines, so it wasn't a matter of me not making an effort.

Enterprise has lots of bugs in it and despite promises that the most current update would take care of the problem it never did.  I would lose jobs, the system would freeze up and I had to reboot.  All the while you are clocked in so your line count goes to heck.  The system was so slow most days that I would sit a minute in between reports, which affects your line count because you're on the clock and not being productive.    They have nice incentives but because of the above there was no way to reach them.

They denied overhiring, but they did way overhire and they lost several good MTs about the same time I left because there wasn't enough work.  Lots of people were frustrated and posted on the boards here and then we were reprimanded for doing so.  The internal boards were so heavily monitored that anything the least bit negative was deleted.  Talking to my STM was like banging my head against a brick wall, so basically there was nowhere to go.  We also got several e-mails with the threat of having to go to India and I wasn't going to have that dangled in front of me all the time.  I was doing my part.

I cried every single day I was there I hated it so much. 

What also makes me almost ill is the careless/thoughtless dictators who are dictating in the ICU and all those bells going off, banging their pipe on the table, their cells phones ringing right in my ear, the overhead paging system louder than the dictator, and on and on. I will be so very intense on hearing/interpreting what this horrible dictator is saying and those MONSTROUS NOISES hit me in the ear so loud that it literally gives me a headache. It seems that every night I am working with a terrible headache caused from the dictators. I am totally in a stress wad during my entire shift. When working inhouse, the supervisors will go to the dictator and call them on the carpet, but not these nationals. They are SO afraid of losing an account or irritating someone at the hospital, that we MT's catch all the flack.

I know, I know, I am obviously in the wrong profession now. BUT when I started in this field, the profession was not like this -- and I have been in the field for many years now! Other suggestions welcome.

I can Google until dawn and still not find John Smith in NY - you know the neurologist...  Cut me a break!  I've now learned to ask my online company for a list of referring physicians (since none of the accounts are in my state) and also ask for websites for the hospitals, but I still don't take more than 5 min of my own time to find referring physicians.  I send it right through with a verify cc:... 

As far as making an educated guess, I would only do that if it was my own account and I know the dictator well.  For the online company, it is their responsibility to make that educated guess as it is their client, not mine.  I leave that up to the company to make assumptions; this way it is on their back, not mine when it comes to the legality of the report.  Ultimately, the physician is responsible when signing that report or there should be clause on those reports that state dictated but not read.  If that clause is not there, then it is the physician's responsibility to know the content, not the MT.  An MT can only transcribe what they hear and really should not be making educated guesses on anyone since we live in a world of sue-happy patients and their malpractice insurance is so high.  If there is a question, it needs to go the dictator to resolve.

JMO - been doing this for over 20 years.