not a difficult transition
Posted By: winnie on 2007-08-21
In Reply to: Extext - anon
Having trained MTs from DQS to ExText I can safely tell you that it is not a difficult transition. There are many similarities and it is doable. Never be afraid to take a leap of faith, it could change your life. It changed mine.
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I'm in a transition from one to another...sm
so now only work for 2. My full-time and my part-time. I don't like giving up a sure thing until I have time to try out the new job and their platform. Once I am sure things are okay I then give notice and move on. Since becoming an MT I have always had to have 2 jobs, just because you never know if you are going to have work, downtime, etc. It has been a crazy two weeks trying to float all 3, but as of this week that is over. Yea.
Transition
I printed off my account specifics and the style guide and highlighted the important points, then reviewed it several times. I also pasted the style guide into MS Word and usually keep it up in the background while I'm working. The style guide and specifics for accounts can be accessed within Bayscribe as well. Bayscribe isn't hard to learn. It is missing a few features I'd like to have, but also has some features my other platform didn't.
I also use post-it notes to help me remember key formatting details, etc.
I had problems with my Expander transfer as well, possibly because I had entire reports in my old expansions and it just didn't transfer well, and ended up rebuilding my Expanders on my own, which did take a little time. Like the other poster said, I do know several people who had no problems with the expansion transfer, and tech support will help you with this.
Change is always scary, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of support you'll receive from MDI.
Regarding MDI-MD and transition to VR
Yeah, it's a big change; however, it's called keeping up with the times. We're in the 21st century, the age of technology. As much as I enjoy standard transcription, I've done VR on a decent system, made decent money with it, and don't mind it.
MDI-MD resisted this as long as they could, until it no longer became practical what with every decent-sized account switching over to it. I knew it was a matter of time before MDI-MD really had no alternative, short of potentially losing many large accounts, to make the transition.
It's called progress. It's called keeping up with the times. *Shrug* I'm going to put on my 'big girl panties' and deal with it.
MDI-MD is a wonderful company with which to work. I've no doubt they will make this transition as seamless and pain-free for everyone involved, from the client to the MTs. They have a great reputation because they've EARNED it.
The way I see it, either suck it up and accept it and do your best with the transition, or start applying to other MTSOs that have no voice recognition.
But be prepared. Eventually everyone will be utilizing one VR system or another, so it's better to learn it now with a great team like the people at MDI-MD than wait until you're possibly stuck at another company that perhaps isn't so great and you're without a life jacket to drown.
Flame me if you wish. I intend to progress with the times rather than become expendable.
There's isn't a transition....
It's so funny because I worked in a hospital for 17 years and did anything and everything that came across. I landed two clinic accounts on my own simply because the doctors knew I did a good job. It's that simple. There is no clinic vs acute care. Clinic is just usually shorter files and the headings are a little different. Clinic is usually in letter format, but the terminology is all of the same across the board. Acute care can be many different dictators where clinic is whoever happens to be in that practice. It is basically all the same.
What is it like to transition to VR at TT
Does your pay decrease much at first, even with the training pay... what can be expected regarding short-term impact, and then long-term impact. Need to know from people who have already gone through this process, or are going through it now. Have to make some major financial decisions and need some reality check. If it is all good and no worry on finances, great... if pay decreases immediately, need to make some adjustments ASAP. Serious answers only please, this is a sensitive topic and a very important question to me and my family. Thanks in advance.
MT in transition
I have worked as both an IC and employee since 1968. (I'm an old grandma.) The smartest thing you can do is see a CPA before you switch to IC. S/he can give you information you need. Before you think you cannot afford a CPA, I say, you cannot afford NOT to see one to get set up. They can set things up so you get maximum tax advantage, etc. and so that you run your business like a business, which is what you will be if you are an IC. I consult with my CPA once a year and it has saved me enough to pay the CPA fees and have bucks left over. I personally would not IC it for under 11 cpl (which was what I was getting at MDI). Am now an employee for about 1 cent under that, but have terrific bennies package that more than makes up for it, not to mention lack of the ESLs. Make a list of the specific questions you have, book a session with a CPA (you want one who specializes in small business, not someone who is the accountant for huge corporations), and he or she can set you up. I wish you the very best of luck.
They're in transition
Some are still on DOS, and some have been converted to their internet platform called Apex. It's a platform developed by Transolutions. I'll be on it in the next few weeks, so I can't give any first-hand feedback. DOS has been good to me (although it's very archaic), but I'm looking forward to the change. Otherwise, they're a great company to work for.
major transition
I just stopped working for them a couple of months ago and there is a lot going on. It is true that a lot of American QAs lost their jobs, but now the Indian team leads are losing their jobs and they are bringing in all American tead leads and management. I do not believe they are headed for bankruptcy, but just going through a major transition.
Can I transition successfully from
My rad account has left. I typed ER H&Ps several years ago. Medical Records I did 20 years ago. I am being given opportunity to go to account that is H&Ps, OPs, DSs, and everything else, it appears. My pay for the last five years was based on exam.
I will be going to per line, though the amount was not mentioned. It is my concern I may not be able to do enough work to keep my job (as I will be spending so much time acquainting myself with the phrases via internet searches) and as a consequence, have a considerable decrease in income.
How difficult is acute care, I guess is my question. I would hate to fail at this point in my old age.
Thank you.
Gotta transition
It sounds like they are just setting up the transition to EMR. In theory there isn't much work that needs to be done except you don't have to print the reports and put them in a physical chart. This sounds like you are helping the company put all their old records into the EMR and get the new ones up and running...phrases like: cross training of new staff assigned and work with EMR implementation team with suggestions or changes; indicate you are helping them transition. It will be interesting to see how the MT job changes as EMR is more implemented - I'm scared as it is how VR is completely ruining the job!!
Transition to acute care
Is there anyone out there has transitioned from radiology to acute care transcription?
I was hired by a company (I won't name) recruiter and was told that the account manager would be aware that I had not done acute care in a while and help me with the transition. I typed maybe 5-6 reports after 4 hours training on a platform I had never used before. Because I made mistakes on those 5 reports, I got scathing emails from the account manager and she wouldn't send me any more work and virtually fired me!!! I sent her an email telling her how there was some kind of misunderstanding!!! I thought there would be a period of training and positive feedback to help!!! Formatting was the only mistakes I made, no major grammatical or spelling errors!! Anyway, the recruiter finally answered my email and wanted me to call her...I feel so burnt I don't know if I want to fool with this company again. Opinions??? Anyone else have this happen???
As part of the transition team
you should be concerned. There are lots of MDIers with no work, too. WHERE is it all going?
I started the transition to KS before "mass exodus" sm
but just before and it sometimes required a bit of a wait before I got answers to certain things or equipment that I was supposed to get, etc. and sometimes it only happened after a follow-up email or call. However, I would usually get a pretty quick response from the followup. I don't know how big the staff is but I picture it as maybe medium-sized and I thought they were doing an excellent job of covering for each other during the move, vacations, and I believe someone even left the company. It is a 180-degree difference from what I had been used to with the Mega company I left.
I'm having a hard time believing the MDI-FL transition
was all that smooth. From the looks of it, there were lots of problems and people from MDI-FL felt the same way the current MDIers do.
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/32857.html
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/23136.html
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/23058.html
http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/35759.html
If this is what
We will be adding that feature back, we are just in transition of migrating over to our newer
version of the forum software. We appreciate your patience.
They have at least 1 very difficult
account that is hard to get lines on. They also have a weird platform. There are 3 files for every dictation, 2 of which you have to open. They supposedly give you a percentage of lines to allow for that, but I think it is a bunch of garbage. I currently work where there is no platform, we type in Word or WordPerfect 5.1, whichever we are most comfortable with and we have a macro to put in all the demographics - all we have to type is patient's name. I don't understand if my company can make it simple why the others can't.
You didn't ask, but Precyse offshores, if they tell you something get it in writing because there is little truth in it. Communication is very poor.
Not too difficult
With someone with your mentality--like shooting fish in a barrel. (Do try to get over it.)
Very difficult to say unless
you know what the system is like, the dictators, the quality of the MTs, etc. 3.5 is not a great line rate but you can make some money if you are only filling in blanks and can get in and out of the reports pretty easy. I was offered 5 cpl once but the dictators were so horrible and the MTs so horrible and the system so slow I went broke immediately and quit. There is a learning curve obviously but sometimes you know immediately it won't get much better. Good luck! The very best way is an hourly rate but most companies not willing to pay that.
I did it! It is not that difficult...
a lot of it will probably come back to you. Allow yourself a week or so to pick up speed, but I think you will be fine.
Same here. It's very difficult to get anymore than 200 lph
Am considering quitting also. Have averaged 300-400 lph at any other place I've worked. I also agree with you about the emailing bit. After every update about how much work is on the system, it's ALWAYS followed by an email from the owner about a minute later telling you to either stretch more or threatening you with their PRN Program or that you'll lose the work to offshoring, etc., etc...
Have nothing against anyone there, but I very rarely ever break 200 lph working on their hospital accounts. Bayscribe definitely gives low line counts.
If you only do 100 lph cause of a difficult doc then its a whole 8.80 an hour...
tt
Difficult dictators?
So MDI-FL and WebMedx both have decent health insurance for a decent price? And what do we have to do to get that? Are they all ESL? Or do they truly have decent dictators where you can make some money. I have done very few ESL. What typing speed are they looking for?
it's difficult, but it comes down to self-discipline
Like you, I started at MT when I had my first newborn in the house. He's 18 now. All told, I have three boys, ages 18, 17 and 16 living in my house, and my husband. My home office is in my walk-thru pantry. We have a straight-thru house, so one has to walk through my work area to get into the kitchen, and all those growing males have to visit the kitchen often. In addition, I apparently have the hang out house, and there are usually a good number of other young people at my house most afternoons and weekends. That is one thing that I love, though. It's good to know what my boys and their friends are up to.
Over the years I've worked hard to establish boundaries. It WAS hard in the beginning to let the phone calls go. It was difficult to turn friends and family away from the door, but it had to be done. I had the same problems as you. I was up all night, production was low, etc.
I didn't resort to renting office space, I just got mean, I suppose. My answering machine message said that I was working and would return personal calls after business hours. These days, I have caller ID, so I can check the number of incoming calls. I answer calls from school, work or from my children and husband. That's it. Other calls go to voicemail. I changed the locks on the doors, and did not give keys to my family or neighbors. I had a few arguments with them, and used a very stern voice. I'm busy. I'm working. It's no different than anyone else who works in an office away from home.
I do, however, get up from my chair fairly often to avoid edema problems. I will throw in one load of laundry, wash a dish or two, run the vacuum in one room, or even scrub a toilet. But I get up and do only one quick chore at a time. No t.v., no radio, etc.
It's difficult, and it takes some perseverence and certainly self-control to establish boundaries and good at-home work habits.
Good luck with your new office. For me, though, I would not want to work to pay rent for an office when I have free office space at home.
I agree with you. It's not that difficult IF - sm
you TRULY are an experienced MT. I am not talking about the I have 20 years doing neurology or I have been doing op notes for 15 years. MT. I mean the MT who can, no matter what comes up next, DO THE WORK and do it well. Everyone has to leave a blank every once in a while, but I believe there are a lot of people out there doing this job who cannot turn in even 1 job without a blank in it. They have limited experience, trying to pass it off as acute care/teaching hospital experience and when they get the actual work, boy does it show.
I find this very difficult to believe.
//
I am with Axolotl. There is nothing difficult sm
about using Notes. They also have Speed Type with it for an expander.
Please apply! We have so much work! Seems so many places have been slow since Christmas and New Year, but it has been the exact opposite for us! The account I am on used to just be discharge summaries, but we have now taken over their consults and ops as well.
They are difficult accounts, and they have not
been able to hold anyone on these accounts for some reason. They've had these accounts for quite awhile, so I'm thinking that in order to keep the client happy, they must be offshoring the account again. They will do that from time to time. I'm glad I'm off of it. I was not making my lines on the Michigan account.
VR and difficult dictatoirs
I saw your post and would like to tell you and anyone else, do not get your hopes up high that VR will not work because of difficult doctors. I know for a fact. I work on VR and some straight and I would have never believed it but I personally think VR works even better sometimes with most of the difficult ones than with our better speaking dictators. Why, ? who knows. I myself was under the same thought when we were told were going on VR, oh, it will never work with so and so. It does and very efficiently on the VR I work with.
98.9% QA is NOT that difficult to attain -
Nor should it be if you are a quality-minded MT. I don't understand the negative about this company just over the QA. Their rate may seem low, but the 7 cpl rate is for clinic work, which in my opinion is much easier and deserves a lower rate! The acute-care rate is comparable with other companies nationwide.
I must point out that there are pros and cons to every company nationwide and that no company is a fit for all MTs. Compared to other nationals, however, this one is way above average, in my opinion. I'm sure I'll get bashed for this, but that's okay - I'm hauling money to the bank each and every paycheck!
How difficult is it to get 100+ reports
for radiology on Meditech with ShortHand Expander in one shift?
I would think pretty difficult
IMO..... I think it would be pretty tough, unless the reports are very short (then hopefully you would get paid per report). I used to work in Meditech and I spent more time filling in the demo screen than typing the reports! I don't think MediTech is Radiology-friendly (IMO) unless the reports have some meat on them! Also depends on the version of MediTech, some have the autofill and some you have to fill in every blasted box.
So far they are fine and not that difficult
Yes - sounds like you are the one having the difficult time -......
must be you who got the axe! Maybe you should spend your time looking for another job and praying you get one.
Thanks for the info.. Is your account difficult?
I read some earlier posts about a high turnover and the hospital being too picky..what do you think?
Was the test really difficult? How bad are their ESL dictators?
x
I tried it also..platform too difficult to navigate..nm
Is this what you mean by difficult or high maintenance? lol
:+
How easy or difficult is it to meet your
line requirements with their accounts and typing platform?
Has anyone tested with DRC and is it a difficult test? Thanks nm
nm
What is the IC rate for doing very difficult ESLs. nm
:
FutureNet ... Very very difficult dictators
The people at FutureNet are nice and for the most part easy to work with. Their platform is easy to use. The accounts are the bottom of the barrel as far as dictators with thick accents, fast talkers, slurred speech. QA is nice but can't help you get used to these awful dictators. The quality of dictation just stopped me in my tracks, it was so terrible. Again, the staff are pleasant, but they aren't the ones who have to try to decipher the dictation to make a decent line count.
If you have the experience, the pay is higher than most nationals, and if you have an extremely good ear for accents, you can do very well. The dictation is internet based so you don't have to scratch around for your own unlimited long distance. The pay comes on time in my experience, but there's no Direct Deposit. The line counter is always accurate, I have checked against my own, and never any discrepancies.
The editors always seem able to fill in the blanks, so it is proof that some people can understand these dictators, but even though the folks at FutureNet were some of the nicest I have worked with, I could never get a handle on the accents, so regretfully I had to move on. Don't be fooled by the test reports, the actual dictation is much worse.
Obviously they were trying to unload a difficult doctor...
on you, and they got mad when you wouldn't take him/her. They were probably hiring mainly to find someone to do this lousy dictator.
... and give more to the MTs who do the difficult stuff. nm
x
How difficult is Escription to learn? nm
nm
Never said it was difficult to attain. I have never had QA issues. sm
But the idea that someone would fall under that level just twice in an entire year and get cut 1 cpl in pay seems a bit offputting. I normally do about 20,000 lines a pay period, so that would be a substantial cut in pay.
I am sure it is a great company for some. I'm not knocking them per se. I am just saying that the pay cut policy is enough to make me look elsewhere. No doubt they will not mourn my loss. (smile)
KS Testing? Difficult platform...sm
I haven't applied to them yet, but a family member has, whose test she had me listen to for validation and her own satisfaction. One test was easy, great dictator. The second test, and we believe it was made to be as hard as they can make it, could not, I repeat NOT be understood in any way or form. Ordinarily, I would have slowed it down and repeated it with my foot pedal, but a pedal could not be used on the KS tests, not can they be slowed down. Had my cousin known this, she would have chucked the lengthy written test, since the dictation part seem to be set up to fail. Why can't they at least make the difficult dictation compatible with a foot pedal and/or speed control? 
This is a difficult question to answer (sm)
You will find MTs here who can meet their required lines at any company, then you will find MTs who cannot meet their required lines no matter where they work. Also, within one company there are different accounts. One MT may be on an account with many difficult dictators, another may be on an easier account. As far as platforms are concerned, the only platform that I worked on and thought was absolutely horrible was Meditech, and there are even different versions of Meditech, some of which are apparently better than others  . In this industry, I think the only way to know how it will be to work for a company is to actually begin working for them and see what happens. It's called job hopping. I've done it a lot and it has worked for me...just leave in a polite manner, do not burn bridges - it's a small industry. If you are struggling currently, keep moving until you find a good fit .
It was really not that difficult, a lot of acronyms and abbreviations, though. nm
xx
If you can work through the difficult ESLs, that is...
x
It didn't help. Had 3 difficult reports by
same dictator. First job legitimately pooled to me, second I forgot to check, third report 1 other MTs cancelled the job so I ended up with it. It totally burns me up.
I don't remember the test being difficult. sm
But it is part of looking for a job. Unfortunately we have one of the only jobs that I know of that most companies make the applicants test before even looking at them. It does get time consuming looking for a new job.
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