Accounts, companies, platforms differ...sm
Posted By: TechSupport on 2009-03-01
In Reply to: I don't like by the hour. - mtmtmt
To my mind, the only true barometer of compensation (aside from benefits) is one single number: What do you make, on average, per hour of labor? By "on average", I mean, for instance, as measured over a period of time such as a week or more.
Think about it: This one number takes into account all of the variances that we see between accounts, companies and platforms when it comes to nonproductive "clerical" demands, dictator variances, quirky site specifics, technical level of the content, sound quality, the usability of the platform, and even work availability.
I've found that those who wish to be paid by the hour are often being overburdened by nonproduction requirements, challenging site specifics (for instance, in one case, over 100 different worktypes with the need to listen to the first part of the report before you knew which template to choose!), or by platforms that are not "transcription-friendly", while those who are happy with production pay are more fortunate in one or more of these regards.
It is so difficult to compare the variables among accounts, companies and platforms individually that you need a single number like this to bring things into focus. That means that an essential question to ask any prospective employer is this:
"On average, how much are people in your company who have my level of experience earning per hour once they learn your system?"
You'll get one of three answers:
1. One that sounds knowledgeable and frank.
2. One that sounds "hedged" or questionable. Probe further. "How sure are you of that number?"...etc.
3. "I don't know." I would run very far and very fast from any company that is so poorly managed that they do not know how their production numbers relate to hours of employee transcription time. Such companies are likely to overhire and to make errors in creating their client teams, and they don't have a handle on the basic business metrics that apply to this industry.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
I beg to differ. That is what the companies want you to believe. Not all clients are paying Less!
The companies are lining their pockets more and more. AccuStat-Carolinas is not a "good" company to work for anyway. Read the archives!
Any companies with platforms that allow using Vista? How about a Mac? NM
Any companies have VR/Speech platforms, i.e. Dictaphone, Escription ?
Any companies have VR/Speech platforms, i.e. Dictaphone, Escription ?
 Thank you. I will look there.
Same accounts at 2 companies for 3-1/2 and 4-1/2 years.
..
Absolutely better now - own accounts. No more companies for me! nm
x
So dump the companies or accounts that won't compensate. (nm)
x
I think poster mean have backup accounts with other companies.
I beg to differ
When you do those awful dictators, do them consistently time after time, the supervisors see this. Therefore, they assign you those jobs, knowing you will get them out. They know its not good for the company to have newbies, lazies, greedies, getting these reports, because they will either guess and make tons of mistakes, or bypass them anyways. So they figure, give em to the gals who can do them! Therefore, they look good to their boss, everything is nice and tidy on their end, and we're all happy.
Except those of us stuck with the horrible dictators. No matter how good you are at them, if you get them over n over n over, it will reflect on the amount of lines you do because it takes time to not only decipher what they are saying, but also research on that one word which he "might" be saying but your not sure. The cherrypickers and whiners and lazies are the smart ones, they're making the $$$$
I beg to differ
It that your reasoning behind your accusations of who Barney is and who she isn't.
That is pathetic.
It seems as though Barney has not responded lately and you know what, I don't blame her. I am outta here as well. Good day!
Beg to differ!
This board DOES allow this company to advertise here, although it admitted to offshoring once it got caught. There are ads here all the time posted by this company.
Is is this the email you are talking about from Mr. R?
"Whether we think offshore labor is right or wrong, it has become a fact we cannot escape from. XXX will not actively pursue offshore labor contracts, but we have made the decision to experiment with using some offshore labor to save this large XXX client from going elsewhere. We believe this is the best decision for our employees assigned to this account and the company because this account is growing and we can assign the offshore part to the future increases and not have to reassign any XXX MTs. XXX is committed to continue using US MTs for the majority of their work and we will continue to resist going offshore."
I do have to differ
My doggie DOES go to the bathroom in his crate. I had always read that dogs won't go in their crate, but this one DOES and he just lays in it until we get get home. That's why I stopped putting him into the crate, because every time we would leave him in it and then get home, he'd have to have a bath because he had "whizzed" all over the crate. He's a little pill, but I love him so! :)
I beg to differ
I also was in court reporting school 15 years ago, and even I know that the court reporting machines automatically translate the ShortHand into English, so what you are saying about having to retranscribe it into English, you must be mistaken, and not to be mean, but I can't imagine going through a 3 year course that has an 85% drop out rate passing the exam and then saying you were burned out, unbelievable, but then I am not you, so I can't really know.
I beg to differ here about...
My dad and my husband's dad both make an excellent living driving a truck. My parents raised 4 kids on a trucker's pay, and we lived very well. Now, as far as couples trucking, I don't think I could do that, just because I wouldn't like being stuck in a truck with my husband for days on end....although I love him passionately...enough is enough, know what I mean???
Good luck, though, with whatever you choose to do!
I beg to differ -
The labor board will get involved in certain situations, check your local office. Also, there are many other government offices that will support a independent contractor - and non payment of services, considered theft of services - I ask that you review the news regarding A&B fuel in PA, and look into what is happening with D&L Typing. The Transcriptionist is a business owner, independently just as a plumber, electrician, or other service professional - time that the transcription companies start remembering that. And time we start to treat ourselves that way too.
Beg to differ
I was paid by the minute of dictation - it's actually the fairest system - depending on of course the rate per minute...
Sorry but I beg to differ on this on
Phillychick was not bragging. Simply stating the way she lives. There are those of us out there who choose not to live beyond our means. Just because some of us do not have to work our fingers to the bone to pay the bills does not mean that we are bringing this industry down.
I have 3 teenagers at home presently so I do understand how tough it has gotten just to buy the everyday necessities, but what we consider necessities has also changed with the economy.
If you cannot make a living doing MT, then you need to get a job that you can make a living at, plain and simple. It amazes me the bitterness that I hear come through this board regarding this profession. If its not right for you then find what is and stop blaming the rest of us who have made a go of it, and succeeded.
Ah, beg to differ
What you saw was very one-sided and probably paid for by WalMart. I was not a bad employee. Never missed a day of work, always on time, good reviews, etc. They pay minimum wage, always changing your schedule around so you do not get enough hours to qualify for benifits, poor management, when you ask for a raise they make things very difficult to get you to quit, etc. Employee discount was 10% where I worked. The worst employer I have ever worked for and thank God I was only there long enough to graduate from school to do MT.
I beg to differ
I would like to know where one of those jobs is.
I beg to differ.
I do operative notes only but for every single account in the company. I never know where the next report is coming from. Good dictators, great dictators, mediocre dictators, awful and absolutely horrid dictators.
Again, really sound experience and lots of investment in my expansions combined with a positive attitude allows me to be productive, steadily, even though I am working on so many different hospitals and dictators.
Everyone will have good days and bad days in this work but it happens with all other jobs, too.
Please don't try think and try to make others think that everyone in this line of work fits into that limited box. It isn't true.
I bet to differ
When I worked in house in several facilities our desks were lined up directly in front of the charts. If the clerks were making a floor run, we had to answer the phones and pull charts, etc. I've never seen a facility where the MT department was totally separate, except for one hospital. They didn't have the room so they put all the MTs in a storage closet.
I beg to differ, OSi DOES offshore.
Or, trying to kid, it is a very well known fact that OSi offshores.
I beg to differ with you. An MT transcribes,
she/he should not have to translate/decipher what a rude person is trying to say. Doctors should realize, just as the MT does, how important that medical record is and that their dictation of that medical record is vitally important. Maybe they should be taught dictation and manners and grammar, etc.
I'm sorry, but I beg to differ -- my company would never
try to pull a fast one -- and, if that's the case, then there are tons of other companies out there doing the same thing, I see them every day on the Job Seeker's Board both here and on MT Daily.
I beg to differ Hayseed
Ebonics is a term coined, originally intended and sometimes used for the language of all people of African ancestry, or for that of Black North American and West African people, emphasizing the African roots of the former; since 1996 it has been largely used to refer to African American Vernacular English (distinctively nonstandard Black United States English), emphasizing the independence of the latter from (standard) English.
The original poster most definitely was referring to a particular race here in her commentary.
You missed the point entirely.
Beg to differ on Heinz
Kerry's wife has no involvement in Heinz Int'l. Never has. Neither did her late husband, who worked for his father's company for a short time just after college. He inherited the Heinz fortune, as did she when he died. She does, however, have much involvement in the philanthropic organization with the Heinz name, also not related to Heinz Int'l. This information can be found and is public to those who wish to find it. A lot of people have been blathering for years about how Heinz "outsources," etc, ad nauseum without actually checking the facts. Heinz Int'l is a multinational company. Not the same as "outsourcing" by a long shot.
Beg to differ - Schedule C with your sm
business expenses - 100% deductible.
I beg to differ-EMR will take our jobs
I beg to differ but I know from firsthand experience that EMR can take our jobs. I lost a really good acct about a year ago that went to EMR, yes it was clinic work but I still talk to the doctor and staff and he said the whole hospital is on it and they have no transcriptionists at all. They even sent me a clipping of a story that was in their local news about it. Also my own doctor and the hospital system that was my main account when I was MTSO has been using EMR without transcriptionists for 3 years. I've seen it in my doctor's office, the ER and my friend is a manager of a hospital department and says they had to let the transcriptionists go. Sorry but hospital work can be done with EMR. Also just because EMR starts with transcription does not mean it will stay there. I have a friend in Texas who is going through that right now...they are phasing her out. So girls be afraid, be very afraid.
I beg to differ with your comment
When I worked in house MANY years ago, doc dictated in the "allergies" section that the patient was allergies to pencillin -- I then got to the "medication" section and lo and behold the patient was on GUESS what? PENICILLIN -- I went upstairs, pulled her chart looked through it and sure enough, the patient WAS allergic to penicillin -- I pointed out to the charge nurse who IMMEDIATELY called the doc and doc later came down and thanked me for saving the patient's life -- so yes, in a SMALL way we DO count!!!!
How about zillions of accounts. MQ has these accounts so overloaded even the new hires dont have any
work. I would love to read some of these reports and then they expect perfect QA and no blanks. Did they lose their minds completely.
I beg to differ - I love my company!!
I beg to differ - not all kids need medication....sm
Many with ADD/ADHD can learn just fine without medication as long as you break the tasks into smaller segments and implement visual aides.
No drug is completely safe. They all have chemicals in them. Ritalin, which you mentioned, caused my nephew to have growth retardation while he was on it and it was only after he came off that stuff that he started growing.
It's not the media afraid of drugging kids. There are many of us out there that don't believe that drugging a child is the correct answer. Sure there are kids that really need it if they can't stay focused at all, but asking a child to stay focused for an hour or more without a break when they're say 7 years old is extreme, especially if they're able to learn the same information if it's broken down into 3 20 minute sessions in the day.
Kids are now being pushed to learn more at a rate that for some of them taxes where their maturity levels are, and this can aggravate things like ADD/ADHD, especially when they don't have the recess breaks at school to give them a diversion from the classroom for a while. I'm glad that in my state some of the school systems have started mandating recess again - and those schools test scores have improved.
Beg to differ with the adding of words
to report if not necessary. That is commonly known as "line padding," especially adding "the patient" when it is not said. I know MTs who have been let go for doings things like that.
I beg to differ. I work 35-40 hours a week
FT and have an IC job I work maybe 3 evenings a week for 3-4 hours. I easily make over 50K a year. There are good jobs out there that pay wages one can live on.
Platforms are bad.
Microsoft Word is great. The company's platforms really stink sometimes. Not helpful at all and make it harder for production.
DQS was one of first platforms (sm)
that pared transcription screen down to body of report, with all demographic stuff on UNPAID demographic screen. No matter how much time you have to spend searching for and filling in demo info, no pay for lines like cc's, dates of service, admission/discharge, names of consultants, etc. That stuff adds up when the reports are very short. If your new MTSO's account pays for such things as headers/footers, you should see better lph than you were able to achieve with DQS.
Yep that is low, though some platforms
are not MT friendly and if you have lots of horrible dictators it will slow you down. At most companies the FT MTs tend to get first shot at the work (usually, I know there are exceptions) and I know with my company if work is slow FT MTs get the work first.
Platforms
Platforms are programs usually provided by the company. Examples are Emdat, escription, or when you hear the term "proprietary software". Oh, I think another one, is Bytescribe, but don't quote me on that.
Express Scribe is considered a "player" for dss, wav files (digital recordings). The doc will dictate either directly into a microphone on the computer or he/she may have a handheld digital recorder. A lot of times these dss or wave files are provided to you through an FTP site. If you read this post, I have found that any word that is underlined and in a different color, if you click on that word, there is also an explanation of these terms. Very helpful indeed!
Do not feel that you are ignorant. There are still transcriptionists transcribing from tapes (me included). I only wish I knew about this board long before I learned about it. There are some nice people that will try to help you. Good luck in your "at home" MT'ing.... 
Platforms?
What exactly is a transcription platform and what are the best ones out there. On the Diskriter ad they say they use ChartScript but I also saw someone else say they used AnyModal Edit. What is the difference with these? Looking into picking up extra work at home and needs lots of info. Please be patient with me as I do not always know the answers or the right questions to ask.
platforms
I believe the platform is the software used to transcribe or edit the dictation. Some are more user-friendly than others.
Have you tried it with any platforms?
Have you talked with the tech people at the company about this? Even though they say it won't work, find out if you can give it a try and if it will work.
As far as changing the OS from Vista to XP, it can be done. However, in a case like yours, I would be inclined to spend the $$ and take the laptop to a guru/specialist that I trust for the sake of my sanity.
Platforms?
I have never heard of a platform many of you are speaking about. Could you please explain? Thank You!!
platforms
If each company has their own platform, why do they list "experience preferred in..." that platform on their classifieds? How could you have experience if you had never worked for them before?
Is MS Word experience recommended for most services?
platforms
I don't know anything about WP5.1 and FlashForward. Maybe I used them and didn't know it! But when I used a DOS-based program - or, before that, a dedicated word processor - I could rack up the lines in nothing flat.
Now we get yelled at to produce more, produce more, while they tie our hands behind our backs with the idiotic software they provide us with. What are we supposed to do in that position - type with our noses?
platforms
If you ever get the chance to use ChartNet, TAKE IT! It is the most awesome program I've ever used in the 38 years I've been at this. It is written for transcriptionists and is simple, amazingly easy to learn - an hour or two - and very rarely gives anybody any grief at all. A man in Hudson, Ohio, developed it and it's spreading and just the best.
MTS Platforms
For at home-transcribers, what is a good software platform - Express Scribe, Transcription Gear??? How about ExText - is it available for purchase to ICs?
Not able to do that with certain platforms.
nm
platforms
Can I get some opinions as to what you think is the best platform to work in? Does anyone think Scribe is slow? What is best, what is worst?
what platforms MT's like
I like just Word and then encrypted e-mail
It can be done both ways. There are platforms out there
that you can download the sound files, transcribe them, then upload the documents. This would be like an FTP site for upload/download and Word/Express Scribe (or another wav player) to type/listen.
There are also platforms that work "realtime" over the Internet with servers. Some places have you log into their secure system to listen to the sound files and type in a Word-based platform.
Transcend platforms
Any help you can pass my way on the various platforms that Transcend uses and how user friendly they are, bulky they might be , etc. will be appreciated. Can you use Expanders with them?
|
