And the platform matters

• QA Pay Preference -- hourly versus per line? SM - anon
  • Depends on if doing 100% edit or not. - lp
    • And the platform matters - tnmt
      • I can tell you this - sa

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If a MTSO advertises that the MT works in MS Word and sends dictation by FTP, does this usually mean there will be no demographic/doctor database and the demographics will not be autopopulated?

I got into a mess with a small company (got out real quickly too).  I was required to print out daily email copies of the doctors' office patient schedules (which were barely legible) and type in all information.  I spent more time hunting for the correct patient through pages and pages of these schedules.  Then I had about 25 pages worth of doctor's names that I would have to go through to find the attending, referring, etc.  A total waste of time as I didn’t get paid for that. 

I wish MTSO would give more information as to what platform they use (if any).  Proprietary software is such a generic, totally useless description.  Would they buy a new car that listed, "Car has gasoline operated motor?" 

And for Pete's sakes, why so secretive about the pay?  Give a ballpark figure.  Just say, pay is between 7-12 cpl depending on skill, testing, etc. Tell me if you pay for spaces, headers, etc.  It would save them time because I wouldn’t even apply for a 7 cpl job. 

Before I spend an hour or two testing, I need more information from a company to be sure it is compatible for my needs.  If the MTSO would spend a little time on their website detailing their platform, how they send/receive files, pay rates,  how line rate is determined (spaces/no spaces) employee/IC/SE status, minimal line count, whether work pools consist of 100s of doctors, or smaller pools with 25-50 doctors etc.   Having all this information on their website would save them time and the MTs time.   Phoenix Medcom has a really good layout describing pretty much everything an MT would want to know before testing with them.  I am just tired of testing with a company and then finding out the job wasn’t exactly suited to my needs. 

And you're miffed her E-mails are horrendous? Big deal!  She's paying you; you're not paying her. 

Where exactly DO you get off? 

She's entitled to fire off horrendous E-mails every hour on the hour if she wants to, and under the circumstances, she should - they don't have to be correct with every 'I" dotted and every "T" crossed, but the work she's paying you guys to do needs to be correct to the "T,"  so be thankful she was gracious enough to give those who do a substandard job notice and that she just didn't up and clean house. 

And you're miffed her E-mails are horrendous? Big deal!  She's paying you; you're not paying her. 

Where exactly DO you get off? 

She's entitled to fire off horrendous E-mails every hour on the hour if she wants to, and under the circumstances, she should - they don't have to be correct with every 'I" dotted and every "T" crossed, but the work she's paying you guys to do needs to be correct to the "T,"  so be thankful she was gracious enough to give those who do a substandard job notice and that she just didn't up and clean house. 

the ability to see an opportunity and make it work. As an MTSO you will need to be able to find a way to have transcription done and delivered, accurately and in a timely fashion. So you will have to have something in place in case you get sick or go on vacation, or your computer goes down. You will have to choose a file transfer system. You will have to have QA in place. You will have to have the ability to walk into a physician's office, know what data you need to make a proposal, then go home and put something together that has every step covered. You will need to anticipate problems and be ready to solve them (trouble shooting is a must). You will have to have an idea of what is going on in your field, what the going rate is, and how to use variables to your advantage. By that I mean, as above, things like don't print for the doctors! You don't get paid for any line you print, just the ones you type! Let the office secretary do that. She is paid by the hour, not you.

You will have to be ready to get the work done, no matter what, with no excuses and no compromising quality. And you will have to be resourceful and flexible to deal with things that come up.

That being said, it's a bunch of fun to run your own business

I am a college educated and certified computer technician who has been in the technology field for 20 years now.  FWIW, Atomic Clock Sync has rave reviews from PC Magazine, but merely synchronizing your computer clock doesn't fix the underlying problem.  If the battery on your computer's motherboard goes completely dead, your CMOS settings will go byebye, which is a royal PITA to fix.

http://www.decosystech.com/Techsupport/Batteries.htm

I've been working for MTSOs for years now, using their templates which sometimes cause productivity problems (macro issues, etc). I'm wondering if productivity is increased when working on a structured platform, such as one that a national company provides for its transcriptionists?  I've never used a platform, but it would seem that all one needs to do is straight type onto the screen and the platform program takes care of margins, page breaks, etc?

Any thoughts (as well as companies who are hiring who use platforms) would be appreciated.  Thanks

I am bored, and trying to get aquanited to the boards, so I am posting a little spree here. 

What platform do you use?  I use Extext by Dictaphone.  Like it so far.

I started on a new platform about two weeks ago and am finding it HORRIBLE!

I normally get between 130-170 lph, depending on dictators.  Today I worked four hours and had 200 lines

It is a word-based platform.  To put in a QA marker you put in spaces, highlight them change screens, use the mouse (no shortcut keys) click add, save, and then back to your screen.  To remove a QA marker, you have to change screens, use mouse click on QA marker number, and then click delete...  You also have to do this to look up or edit doctors, patient info...

In all honesty from anyone who has worked on such a platform, WILL I GET FAST ENOUGH TO KEEP MY CHILDREN FROM STARVING?

Thanks in advance

Is anyone familiar with a platform called Medquist Cquence?  The service I work for has a client who uses this.  I am having a particularly difficult time learning this system.  Would you care to share what you think of it.  Is it worth the time spent in learning it, and once you do learn it, do you get a decent line count?

TIA