economy trickle-down effect hit me hard
Posted By: worried on 2008-11-13
In Reply to: I am seriously worried about it - - Amanda
company i was working for filed BK and no one new. Two unpaid invoices later, out $5K for October. I new there would be an October surprise.....I just thought it would be in the presidential race.
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Line trickle
Yep happens to me all the time - usually not very accurate for a few days but then it catches up and by the end of the payperiod all is well.
I've had a steady trickle today. nm
nm
does it say when this all goes into effect?
It went into effect 6/1. nm
nm
When does the pay cut go into effect?
Sorry to hear this, Daniel...I knew they were going to be implementing VR for at least one account but didn't realize the pay cuts would go into effect so soon.
Did you at least get full pay during the transition period?
Think the law goes into effect today
about mandatory overtime. Not allowed anymore, but they don't say anything about MTs. Mostly nurses, nurse's aides, etc., and probably wouldn't apply to us. Try to look it up on the 'net.
Wish Donna could see what effect it has sm
on our workload when she's typing away off shift. Too bad we can't come on during the day and snag all her work.
What's it to you when or what she does?? How does this effect your life??
nm
Assume everything in effect as of Jan 1
xx
The changes have no effect at all. I never talked to QA anyway. It is the problem with sm
solcen that is at issue. The are assigning jobs and rearranging job pools. That is the problem.
Has she posted anything to that effect, or is she letting testing continue?
I dunno, this whole situation sounds a bit peculiar to me. I like to give everyone the benefit of a doubt, but this one just seems peculiar for some reason (or for several reasons).
I hope whoever bothered to test for this and landed it posts how their experience goes.
Hurricane having effect on MTs? Are any companies preparing for problems or solutions for Katrina?
I suspect some will be off the grid for a while. Wonder if this board will have a way to help with transcription usually done by MTs in La, Al, and other areas?
I got a pay cut for the economy
Now I make less than 3 cpl. Really! Don't think I'm not looking for something else. I might even give the company the same retro-notice they gave me when I leave, which was an email saying effective two-weeks ago, your pay is now lower than snake dung in a wagon trail. And they sent me such a nice Christmas card too!
Sure, I would work for two companies. Clearly, it doesn't pay to be dedicated. Whose to say they even need to know about each other anyway?
I believe it is the economy ..
Many MTs got fed up and left the field but now as the outside jobs dry up, they seem to be coming up. It is definitely a good market for the MT companies and a horrible market for the MT. Competition is horrendous!
I have had the same experience but now work for a great person. Would like more work but it's not essential. Working for a super ethical, honest and fun person is wonderful and, sadly for me, a rarity.
economy
It's not just the MT industry. People around the country are getting laid off right and left and many others are being forced to take a decrease in pay and/or benefits. Even nurses are being laid off in my state (with a nurse hiring freeze). Over a year ago, one of my sons was laid off and the other had to take a 35% pay cut several months ago. A good MT friend of mine also had to take a pay cut and is averaging $4 less per hour than before. My friend's husband also lost his job to to downsizing and the economy. I'm make a little less myself than I used to, but I still have my benefits and have a job with a company I really like. I thank God for that because I'm on my own, 1 paycheck, and have no one else to rely on.
Right-on. Normally, in an economy such as ours, you'd
a saving grace. Something that people who were rural, or in small towns where the mine or the mill or the GM plant closed down, could do that was good American work, that not only benefitted American citizens who were patients of American doctors and hospitals, but also that paid money into the tax system. And if the hard-working American workers earned a living wage, they might be able to buy houses, or GM cars, or support all the other businesses that have died. But when the work goes offshore, and little to no American taxes get paid, and the system further hemorrhages money to pay for buying to support those of us who are now displaced, whether it be out of a job, or out of a home, things just spiral out of control. Look at GM. They just plain got too big, as did many of the banks, stock brokerages, and other big business. Bigger is not always better, and what better example of that than the MT business.
The economy
Evidently the economy is starting to show its ugly head for us now. We really were the lucky ones in the beginning, but as more people got laid off and lost their health insurance, I feel that we are now seeing the effects. Hospital censuses are down, MTSOs are losing volumes, etc.
I totally understand the frustration and desperation that is on this board, but I think that the issues are a lot broader than a bunch of suits sitting around with cigars laughing at MTs or MTSOs coming together to fix prices or to push all of the work offshore.
I honestly feel that this is a result of the recession and everyone is feeling it... not just MTs.
That's my 2 cents worth.
ENOUGH WITH THIS ECONOMY CRAP --- sm
True, the economy has taken a whipping for the last 3 quarters or so -- recession as of last fall, less than a year, so how do you blame the continuing DECREASE in MT salary since the last 10-20 years? Or maybe figure we dumb MTs can't add or put 1+1 together. You middlemen/suits/MTSOs have been making a FORTUNE off of the back and sweat of hard-working, underpaid MTs or years and years (otherwise, you'd be in a different line of work, wouldn't you?) and you darned well know it. So stop blaming the current economy! What was your excuse 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years ago?
They have not helped the economy of the masses
in India who need help. They have helped to deepen the rift between the classes, - the rich get rich, etc. The poor in India cannot even consider moving to get work now because the cost of housing in cities has escalated since we have created jobs for those who really did not need jobs. And those who need health care are really suffering and why? Because the trained doctors and nurses are the ones who have become the transcriptionists, since the transcriptionists make more than a doctor does in India. Check your facts on India. This one-sided trade agreement with India is not helping anyone but the big companies in America who can get work done cheaply. The companies HAVE increased their rates for the hospitals, have decreased our salaries by this farce they call voice recognition and reduced their costs even further by offshoring the work.
A call from the CEO? I do not even know his/her name, nor the names of any of the corporate officers. That is how much they care about me. Yeah, I got a mouse pad, a 1x12 inch glue down calendar, and a pen. I got more than that from the Golden Arches when they gave me a chicken sandwich when they opened up a new line 2 months ago. At least everyone in my family got a free sandwich.
Blame the economy not libbers. sm
Actually I could have written your post, except for the women libbers part and the SAHM. I've been doing this for 32 years. My ID says it all. The economy makes it almost a necessity to have a 2-paycheck income if you have kids. I'm single with no kids and trying to make a living with MT with no second income. Its tough.
Women wouldn't have the opportunities they do now if it wasn't for the libbers and the suffragettes. Its great now we have more choices than ever. Do you realize it hasn't even been 100 years since women had the right to vote? And we came close to having a woman president! I think about all the sacrifices the women before us went through to get us where we are today. One reason I make sure I vote is to honor their sacrifices.
Yeah. Why is it everyone forgets economy was
nm
In this economy, lots of places (not just MT)
The ground-level people usually are not cut during a sale, but if mid and/or upper management start making an mass exodus, that could be a sign.
For the most part, you won't know until it is a done deal.
I thas nothing to do with the economy...it started before that (sm)
It has to do with the fact that they are over-staffed and in order to get your lines met, you have to rush through every friggin report in order to get to the next one in hopes that you can make your line count.
JMO.
Frontline Episode on the Economy
I watched this on PBS last night and found it very interesting. There was a lot of commentary on behind-the-scenes kinds of things that gave far more insight to the situation and how it was handled than came across in the news at the time.
The difference is - when economy improves
And what has been the excuse for the steady decline prior to the economy being the new, improved wage cutting excuse?
Chiquita, I see you like to play devil's advocate and defend the indefensible. I think the sky is blue...ready to argue that also?
MT companies competing in global economy. Best
xx
Economy affecting work load
Is anyone else out there who may be struggling for lines thinking like me; that it may be people are just not going to doctors or electing for treatment they can possibly put off because they cannot afford it? My accounts have been pretty slow over the past 6 weeks or so, and when I hear that some people, especially the elderly who lost or suffered a huge reduction in their retirement when the stockmarket went down the tubes, are forgoing medical care in order to buy food or heat their homes, it makes me wonder how huge an impact this could eventually have on our jobs as MTs.
Apparently they're 'equilibrating for a global economy'. n/m
x
Global economy's grip on the short hairs
This is what happens in a global economy. I don't know for sure, but I would hazard a guess that the companies with the ads paying the miniscule amounts are not behemoth MTSOs. Sadly, they feel the need to try to undercut the MTSOs that do have the advantage of sending their work across the Pacific where 5 cents a line would be considered golden. Much like the Union Label we're told to look for on clothes, maybe the real American little companies would be better served to charge a little extra for the service, and pay the Transcriptionist a living wage, because I'll bet there are still some individuals/clinics/etc. that would pay for the security and skill that an American MT provides.
I've decided that MTSOs are sticking it to all of us and blaming the economy -
Here's my thinking -- they all have boats, or houses, or a lifestyle they love so they think HEY... LET'S SCREW THE LITTLE GUY... cut benefits, cut pay, cut jobs, just cut cut cut cut... so that MY life is sweet. In the process people lose healthcare, income, homes, cars, MARRIAGES....
so thank you, MTSO owner, for shoving it right up our southpole... we love you for always looking out for us... NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and MTSO -- the only reason we don't move on is because there's nowhere to move TO. Everyone has followed your lead and decided shafting the worker bee is a great idea. Well .. it's not. And someday you'll get it back 10 fold.
I'm thinking economy and people just aren't having elective surgeries or (sm)
going to docs and really think twice before heading to the ER. I put off my son's braces for a while and just made the appt this week after going for his consult a year and a half ago!! I know how you feel though; it's hard not to be paranoid these days!
Hard to say...
In my experience, one minute of dictation is roughly equivalent to 10 lines of transcription, so, approximately 180 minutes of dictation, and figuring an average length of a report at around 3 minutes, that's probably around 60 reports.
Hard to say
what the situation is. It is fairly common to have times here and there where there is no work in this business due to many different things. The company may have over hired and don't have enough work. Do you work on clinic or acute care. If clinic and you work on only one account, is it possible a doctor is out of town? There could be many different reasons, although I think it is somewhat strange that they can predict that there will be no work at all for you for several days (this might make me a little suspicious). Might not hurt to try to find another part-time position to fill in the gaps.
it is hard
to say that our profession is not going to exist. I see a high demand for experienced MTs. If you look on the occupational outlook handbook, it even says that there is going to be greater than average demand for MTs. I copied and pasted below what it says.
Contracting out transcription work overseas and advancements in speech recognition technology are not expected to significantly reduce the need for well-trained medical transcriptionists. Outsourcing transcription work abroad—to countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines, and the Caribbean—has grown more popular as transmitting confidential health information over the Internet has become more secure; however, the demand for overseas transcription services is expected only to supplement the demand for well-trained domestic medical transcriptionists. In addition, reports transcribed by overseas medical transcription services usually require editing for accuracy by domestic medical transcriptionists before they meet domestic quality standards. Speech-recognition technology allows physicians and other health professionals to dictate medical reports to a computer that immediately creates an electronic document. In spite of the advances in this technology, the software has been slow to grasp and analyze the human voice and the English language, and the medical vernacular with all its diversity. As a result, there will continue to be a need for skilled medical transcriptionists to identify and appropriately edit the inevitable errors created by speech recognition systems, and to create a final document.
JLG hard?
If you thought the JLG phone test was hard, you are in for a rude awakening in the MT field. They are standard questions you would know if you have any experience.
Trying hard
I'm trying to like Amphion, but the platform is awful. If I could ever get the chance to type, I could really get a good line count, but the filling in the DI screen and constant looking up physicians is killing me. I kept track over one hour, and I had to look up 14 doctors' names and numbers and cc them. And this is going into a separate window and then coming back to the chart, not using just a keystroke to look them up. I love the dictators. They're very clear, and the supervisors are adequate, not overly helpful, but pretty nice. Right now, I'm struggling to make $10 an hour.
Yes, hard at first but
you get used to it. I dropped 2 cents a line, but the company part of the taxes worked out equally. At least I don't have to pay in the quarterly taxes anymore! Not as much freedom but if you are with a good company it helps.
Not that hard
I do the acute care on 2 accounts. What I find with Keystrokes is the accounts I do are not 50/50 ESL. I don't mind ESLs but something is fishy with other companies I have worked for when I get over 50% ESL. I am not making a good living. I can't do it with 90% ESLs and I have 17 years experience.
I am now making a GOOD living and enjoy going to work every day. I have ESLs but they are the average ESLs, not every other dictation and the accent so thick I despair.
I have some hard dictators but I am making a good living and I haven't for over 5 years. I am also not the fastest typist but I am picky, and I am still making a good living. I work on Ex-Text and the Control I is not blocked. That being the case I can check constantly if I want. I am averagin between 1500 and 1700 lines if I turn the TV off, concentrate and work. Like I said, I am not the fastest typist, but I can live with those lines.
Don't be too hard on yourself, we
spend a lot of time researching words/equipment, looking up CC docs, checking old reports to get proper dictation, etc. You have to figure that in.
It really is hard to believe...
I have been gone now for at least a month, and I cant believe how unaffected my life has been. I mean, I wouldnt leave MQ because I was afraid that I would have to start all over again and worry more about income, etc., etc. Well, stupid me, I shoulda, shoulda, ad. infinitum...
Hard to believe.
nm
not hard
The test was just a general test but beware. I took it along with two friends of mine and they told all of us we failed (we took it for QA/QC) and offered us by line VR jobs instead of hourly. Then a month later, got called back for an interview for QA, then the next week told they hired somebody else. Then I got an email asking if I was still interested in a position. I didn't even bother to answer. There's got to be a reason they are always hiring for every position.
I tried really hard to believe this, but SM
I'm still trying to get past why anyone there would spend all that time and energy doing something like this when they could have just let you go. They don't have to have cause to let you go.
Before you call me a cheerleader for All Type, know that I have my own not-so-pleasant experience with them. I just don't believe they (or any company) has the amount of time to do something like this. Bottom line. If you are as good as you say you are, then you should be employed by the beginning of next week. Don't waste any more time on this, just apply to some companies.
What is so hard to think out?
OP said people letting work go VR WITHOUT correcting it because otherwise they would be DOCKED. Again, I would not work at any place that wanted to dock my money and secondly you are not much of an MT to just let any and all mistakes go thru so you can make the $$. Oh, by the way hubby NEVER tells me or else.
It is hard!
My first two children, who are 11 months apart, made it very difficult to work at home. They are 8 and 9 now... and they are SO easy now... because they play with their neighborhood kids a lot and dont really bother me much. however, I just had a baby and she is very demanding, of course, like all babies are. You cant neglect them.... so you have to squeeze in your time here and there... Sometimes I do 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, as much as I can throughout the day. Then when my hsuband is home I will work a pretty long stretch... I also work at night to finish up my work for the day. It is hard, very hard. I feel like I am working ALL the time... Because even when you are not working, it is hanging over your head and you end up being stressed, wondering if you will be able to get the work done on time.
My first two children will always remember their childhood as their mom working all the time.. because that is how it feels.
My husband goes to work, puts in his nine hours and comes home and it is all over...
If I could afford day care they would definitely be enrolled.
Hard to believe . . .
I believe you hit the proverbial nail on the head there when you asked if Larry deliberately minimized the percentage to be deceptive . . .
Hard to get a job now, only very low sm
paying companies hiring.
It's going to be hard to believe this since they've already
Or they'll change it again once it suits their purpose.
Think long and hard.
Do you want to work for a company that doesn't pay any down time for a platform that goes down almost every day? Even when it's working, it has significant sound quality problems. Do you want to wait an entire year before getting even one minute of PTO? Account instructions that are pages and pages long, very confusing and poorly written? Do you want to do VR or transcribe? Did they mention their goal of getting most if not all accounts on voice recognition, and then they're going to pay you roughly half of what they promised you now?
A higher line rate is only good if you can get lines, don't run out of work and work a platform that's Transcriptionist friendly and doesn't go down every other hour. Unfortunately, you're not going to find those things at Transcend. Maybe they're hiring you to replace me because I couldn't take it any longer and accepted a job offer for what seemed like less money, but I feel I'll wind up making more if I don't have to deal with all the problems I just mentioned.
They pay every other Friday. How hard is that
duh!
A LITTLE hard to understand????
Did you ever figure out how much you would have been paid on the report you just edited and ALMOST COMPLETELY RETYPED compared to your editing pay????
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