But labor intensive. They never weigh the
Posted By: It is expensive initially. on 2008-06-13
In Reply to: Expensive - Simplyme
operating costs either against what they are saving. And of course they do not realize that there will always be upgrades down the road to pay for.
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I don't. It is just as labor-intensive and-
you end up fixing things like changing "were" to "are", "a" to "an", that kind of thing. Easier in my opinion to type from scratch, not to mention that you are usually making half what a normal line rate is to do VR.
High pay for labor-intensive work is not always better
I would make more money, taking less money, doing work that I really loved and could do in my sleep (figuratively) than taking more money to do work that really was not my preference and was very labor intensive (crazy hard dictators, a field that I might not be as proficient in - so spend a lot of time looking up things - VA or teaching hospitals for instance - with so many dictators and different "ills" that come into there - high pay is a must because its going to take a good bit of time to get your chops down) then I would rather take the lower pay and work I looked forward to.
Also its true - if they do not outsource the work - *and the client does not care who they use - just that its at X cpl* then it might be the only way the company can employ stateside help and still be profitable.
*shrug* I dunno - transcription is what it is. The whole thing has gone downhill *I know, dead horse beating* and I am not sure what is going to pull it out of the dumps.
But I do know I would rather do work I REALLY liked and get paid less and therefore make more money, than more money to do work I had to talk myself into wanting to do every day.
I mean - if you have your druthers. Often you do not and the work you get is the work you need to do, but its nice to have a choice, if you can.
Labor Stats from Dept of Labor for MT inside
This is quite interesting...it is too long to post here but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the statistics. Thanks!
tp://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:eGxrU1X5lOEJ:www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm+how+much+to+become+certified+Medical+Transcription&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
It's a knowledge-intensive field which doesn't pay anywhere near enough..
Try an inhouse position for more intensive mentoring
I typed my first 3 years as an MT at a hospital and I found the mentoring I received from seasoned MTs, and being able to talk to the doctors and other staff, a really big plus. I also found it better when you're at the beginning of the learning curve to have an hourly position vs a production position.
You might want to consider inhouse as well to help you see the big picture as to why the doctors won't dictate more clearly, why nobody has the manpower to scruitinze every report, how sometimes the mistakes found in reports have been edited and put in there BY the doctors, and the low respect in general MTs get compared to the rest of the health professionals out there. This might help you gain some perspective as to some of the "whys".
You might ponder that MTSO's are not going to scold their clients to learn better dictation habits in order to make the MT's job easier - that would just alienate the client. Inhouse, should you personally want to scold the offending dictator, they will often laugh in your face and tell you to deal with it. In general, doctors do as they please and our jobs exist for their convenience, not the other way around.
You don't know why they weigh you?! sm
I hope you're just trying to make a point. You must know that they want to weigh you for the same reason they want to take your vital signs - it gives them important info. about your health. If you've lost or gained weight, that could be a sign of illness, obviously.
Years ago, I lost about 15 pounds from one visit to another, and my doctor noticed and asked me if it was intentional. (It was.) I liked that she noticed and asked. Weight gain or loss can be a sign of so many things: thyroid problems, depression, eating disorder, just to name a few.
Of course, I suppose you can always refuse. I'm sure that's your right. Just like you could refuse to have your BP or temp taken, but... why would you?
I will say, they don't need to weigh people "out in the open" so to speak. My new dr's has the digital readout of your weight up high, where it could conceivably be seen by other office staff, which I thought was a little odd...
Hopefully others will weigh in. ?? SM
Hi, 135. My first thought is that you may need to figure out what else might be contributing to your low line count. I say that because I'm a slow typist too but with an Expander quickly improved beyond that. So, sorry if any of these are ridiculously inapplicable, but here go some thoughts for anyone trying to get faster:
New to typing? Butt in chair typing away as many hours a day as you can stand until speed is good enough, tiring though it is.
New to medical language? Same as above. The more hours each day, the faster you get good (but the progress in this is obvious and exciting to see).
Use reference books instead of computer references? Books take way too much time to get out and thumb through, and you can't do wild-card and most associated-word searches. Get computer dictionary and medical language programs and get in the habit of constantly googling for terms, often even before the programs.
Type and then go back to adjust punctuation? I saw people do that on my first job, and my heart ached for them because I knew they were doomed to do poorly or fail outright if they couldn't learn to punctuate as they went, continually putting more words on paper.
Slow reader, and maybe slow punctuator? Practice reading. For weeks until you're faster and written-language patterns become second nature. Reader's Digest has a nice crisp minimal writing/punctuation style that's good to absorb, but any books or magazines enjoyable enough to read a lot will help tremendously over time.
Killer high standards? I also worked with a woman who focused on every report as if it was her critically ill mother's. Another major production and income killer as there are drastically diminishing returns on time spent achieving perfection, and no one will thank you for it, neither hospitals paying by the hour, nor production-pay outfits. I suspect a few of the people on this forum who say they cannot make a living have this problem. Most companies require 0% critical mistakes but are happy to accept 98%+ overall accuracy. Over 98% is the goal. And in editing, punctuation corrections are made as needed for reading clarity, not for pretty. This also can be hard emotionally, but it's something else we aren't thanked, much less paid, for. A lot of us have our personal obsessions we can't stop fixing, but settle on a couple of indulgences and relax the others to industry standards.
Problems with a bad work platform? Get another job as soon as you can find it.
Set a goal of $150 for 8 hours now. Once you have that you can start paring your shift down to 6 hours, then even less, to achieve it.
Nothing else is coming to mind right now, so if none of those apply, head straight to productivitytalk.com with notepad in hand. There are lots of InstantText gurus sharing away over there.
And once you bump that production up a bit, definitely find someone who'll pay you a higher base rate AND offers a good incentive pay scale. The incentive pay for higher daily production should get you handily to your $150 goal.
Best wishes.
I used to be 235.5 pounds and now weigh 115.5 (sm)
I am in the process of registering with the weight loss registry. I couldn't believe there was one! I did the yo-yo dieting forever. My recommendation to you is to scare yourself into the weight loss. Go get some labs done, etc., and find out how scary some of those numbers are. I personally had a scare, and that's what led to my weight loss. I've kept it off for a year and a half, including through a pregnancy. The weight loss registry has found that those who lose weight and kept it off have been essentially scared into it.
Good luck!
Please be sure and weigh in on the survey, thanks. nm
nm
I weigh 290, am 5ƍ" and totally comfortable...sm
with my body. I've been overweight since I was a child. I've lost the weight several times over the past 30+ years but didn't maintain it long because I do enjoy eating. I work out at the gym 4 times a week. I got married this summer to a wonderful man that loves me for who I am and doesn't care that I'm fat. I have no problems with being naked in front of him. He is about 15 pounds overweight so he's basically at a good weight.
I have yearly physicals done and my labs always look great. I've read many articles/research studies showing that it's actually safer for an overweight person to stay at their weight than to go up and down the scales because yo-yo dieting isn't good on the body. I'm quite content with the way I look. I do anything I want to do. I don't get it while some people think that if you're fat you don't have energy. I have tons of energy - and each time I've lost weight it didn't increase my energy. I basically do whatever I want to do and enjoy life each day.
Weigh all aspects for opportunity
I am making $14/hr QA with national and that was supposed to be "starting" pay over a year ago..still waiting for my raise to bring me equal to my peers who are making just a buck or 2/hr more. I don't know about in-house QA but I am a 30-year veteran MT and when I see you say you've been 9-year MT, I am seeing for YOU what I would call an OPPORTUNITY which is something that is hard to put a price on when you're 'relatively young' in your career. I'm just trying to think about when I had 9 years under my belt as an MT in-house and yes, as you say, you still are learning something every day and even at 30 years, I am always learning something every day. In this business if you're not willing and eager to learn each and every day, then you're going to be lost real quick...There are many other factors you should weigh beside pay when looking at this. You need to consider benefits and long-term possible advancement that may be there for you. You have already impressed these people and this could be your chance to get beyond the MT aspect (which, I might add, is becoming more and more of a losing prospect IMO). I'm just saying that you should weigh ALL factors other than pay and see which one offers you the most for your future in this industry and don't miss an opportunity here...you can always go back home if it doesn't work out! Good luck to you.
I am heavy by society's terms. I weigh
about 210 and am 5'6" tall. Every single female in my family tree for generations had the exact same body habitus. We are all German with big bone structures. I cannot lose weight - period. Been there, tried and done that save for gastric surgery. It is genetic in my case. Seriously, it really can be. I am totally comfortable with my body and how I look - I even love clothes, shoes, jewelry, until....I have to go to the doctors for anything - a hang nail, and its because I'm -- OBESE -- you name it, a cough - its because of that. And THAT makes me MAD! My cholesterol is normal, I don't have high BP and am 50. I am what I am what I am, and am happy with it until the med profession makes me feel like pond scum. All my relatives also lived into their 80s and 90s, the old healthy as a horse body types. I am super strong and in shape. I guess you get the picture. I have no arthritis, either, or any of the normal problems of mid life. I also drink milk - I LOVE MILK. I would probably lose 10 pounds max if I eliminated milk, but then I feel sick and run down. Its been a long time until I did get happy and satisfied with my body structure, but I still honestly hate doctors for their bias. And sometimes it is bias.
What do you do when your wrists ache and your hands weigh a ton but you have to keep typing?
I know I have read posts on here before regarding this topic but I can never find them in the archives. Besides a different keyboard, is there something you can take like a vitamin or different foods that will help? I have noticed that if I eat potatoe chips, my hands are stiff the next morning. Is there a certain brace or splint you can buy that you can wear when not working or do you even wear these when working? I thought I saw some magnetic splint somewhere. I am not like this every day, just some of the time but when I am, it is very frustrating.
What are you doing for labor day?
xxx
Not til the Wed. after Labor Day ...
here near Rochester, NY.
I am, too, wonder if it's just because of the Labor Day holiday?
nm
No, its cheap labor.
x
7 or even 7.5 cpl is slave labor
I had a company offer me 7.5 cents recently and I said no, perservered it out, and found a great company that pays 10 cents a line and they actually care about their MTs, not treat them like a number. Hold out for what you deserve to be paid and don't compromise. A company paying 7 cents is looking for slave labor.
Slave labor
... sounds like someone is on their high horse in a third world country and expects American MTs to get with the slave labor mentality!
You can also go to the Dept. of Labor. (n/m)
x
They use overseas labor.
.
Need labor union
After 20 years in this industry I can't wait to get out of it - early retirement here I come...They want to pay highly skilled translators (which is more what we do) at rate of a typist.
Labor Board
Forget the state - go to the Department of Labor on website - I had to, my company "borrowed" from my IRA and although I got my money, I did not get my interest, cap gains etc. The labor board is helping me now, including filing charges against them for bouncing checks etc. The problem is if no one complains when the check bounces not much you can do. Bounce a check at walmart and go to court possible jail- bounce a paycheck and do nothing if they send out another to you, doesn't matter when they do, just that they do. If it happens often, don't request a new check file charges and then get your money. They won't do it again.
What you doing over the Labor Day holiday?
Happy Labor Day!
Speaking of labor, I am working today. Anyone else working this holiday? 
If indeed more co. using China labor we need
x
Why would it cost $140? inc. labor?
you can do it yourself, it's easy. I doubled mine for about $60, but I think I got another 512 MB or so, then got I think a $20 rebate. I noticed the speed. It's easier to keep multiple programs running and loaded and properly functioning at one time. Multitasking is easier. My work computer is 256, tell me that doesn't suck! I spend half my day waiting, it seems.
Yep, that is labor also and you gotta know
I am dumb when it comes to computers and such. I would hate to really mess something up to where I could not work. I might have to have some memory removed in order to go to 1.5 but my computer will go to 2. Wonder if I should go for that much? thanks for the advice.
Labor Board
For those of you who are not getting paid (seems like an epidemic) report your employer to the labor board in your state. A word on Gant Transcription - this being a company who either does not pay or sends checks with insufficient funds - be wary of any advertisements here or on any other board - it's a bad deal - remember you are not working for free - and this company does not pay unless forced to. Don't fall into Gant's trap unless you like spending your days and nights working for nothing. If your company is not paying - keep all correspondence and report them immediately to your labor board - they will straighten things out. The BBB is not the way to go - they can do nothing to get your past wages to you - but the Wage and Labor Board can and will.
I am an IC so labor board can't help
I will be filing a small claims suit next. Unfortunately this company is in Midwest and I am on East Coast, so I am going to have to look into the logistics of it. Thanks.
Labor laws
I think there may be some strong labor laws against such behavior. State labor laws obviously vary, but even Federal Labor Laws should prevent this.
I hate to hear about collusion like this against a person, who possibly just had the temerity to disagree.
Quig
It is not manual labor...
just another excuse by you
Department of Labor
Were you awarded a judgment in your favor and how long it takes?
Try the Department of Labor and Industry.
You can turn them into the State Attorney General's office, BBB, FTC, as well. And small claims court. I would send a certified letter demanding payment first with the threat that if they do not pay by XX date, you will pursue further legal action against them.
So I am the one doing the labor and get 8 cpl. Frank and all the managers
need a little something-something for all their "hard" work. We MTs are so 
Turn them in to the BBB and the Department of Labor.
They're scamming people. Somebody needs to stop them before they hose over any other new MTs. Parents magazine even had an article about TranScam.
Slave labor, I agree
His $10 bid was probably from China (or the company which MT's are not allowed to talk about here anymore).
Labor laws in some states (particularly CA) SM
are more stringent and some of the nationals won't hire from certain states because their laws are stricter than federal labor laws.
check with the dept of labor...sm
they might be able to handle it for free
according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics . . .
"According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were a total of 97,810 medical transcriptionists working in the US in May 2003, the latest period for which data was available."
http://www.globaloutsourcing.org/content/Processes/2005/105010101.asp
This is a lie. Go look at the labor board website.
Funny to me what people ASSUME is covered by The Government! LOL
No, not take over. Increase international labor use? Yes.
owning a US company but using international labor.
Two words: LABOR BOARD.
.
Regarding US companies using overseas labor
Maybe we can start by not utilizing their services and getting the word out.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/popups/exporting.america/content.html
Sweat shop labor
We can all clearly see the run around by various layers of quality control when work goes offshore, and what it really costs. But the thing is that as more and more corporations offshore their products, they are able to skirt strict regulations in the U.S. For instance, as we already see the advantage of India doing transcription while we sleep here in the US, they don't have labor laws as we do. A corporation here in the US dealing with American workers has to deal with lots of regulations such as labor laws, state compensation for injuries for employees, etc. These regulations cost money to the company. In countries like India, China, the Phillipines, there are no labor laws such as in the U.S. If a company says a worker must work 12 hours a day with no benefits or breaks, you can be sure these people will do this, and are sometimes grateful where no job existed before. If working conditions are intolerable, there is no agency that protects the people. You can see how American corporations are motivated to send work offshore and not deal with US regulations and laws that cost the company money. Yes, exploitation at its finest. However, I saw a documentary recently by Lisa Ling on TV where it showed that many women in third world countries are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with working conditions. The documentary followed different women and what they must do to have a job in the city. Many women leave their children far away in another city at home with the grandparents. These women travel and live in the city to work for a few dollars a day. They must work weekends, holidays, and may travel back home once a month to give the money they make to their families. These women were interviewed and were questioning whether having a job far away from a rural town was worth it with no time off for the holidays, and missing their children and families. So you see, these people are getting restless too, and want time off on their holidays and family time just as much as we do. I have no doubt in time there were be a rising in advocacy for labor laws in these countries.
Depends on state labor law where you are...
I live in a state where they have to have a reason, fully documented.
I have lived in states though that are called "right to work" which is probably a strange way to describe it, because they can fire you with no reason whatsoever whenever they feel like it.
But, were you fired or technically just laid off is the other question to answer.
Unfair labor practices
I'm an independent contractor and the company I work for is offering bonuses to some ICs, but not all. I know I could choose not work for them, but this is a pretty shady practice. I'm also routinely shorted on my pay, though they make it up the next month. I would like to do something about it if possible. Has anyone ever filed a complaint with EEO or Labor Relations for something like this? Thanks.
Two words: * LABOR BOARD * - nm
U.S. Labor Laws Don't Apply...
in India. Unfortunately , many countries don't have employee anti-discrimination laws. India seems to be one example. But , I have seen employment ads in the Philippines where they not only discriminate on the basis of age , but they do so on the basis of gender as well. Then there also issues of workplace health and safety (no O.S.H.A. there) as well.
Those who get these jobs there probably feel pretty fortunate , but we know better don't we?
Labor Board Denied
The Labor Board only deals with "Employer/Employee" situations. I only have and always only had Independent Contractors that I provide a 1099. She claimed to be an "employee". If you read up on the ABC and/or the 20-law factors of the IRS, you would understand more on this. She also claimed some other issues that did not involve the Labor Board as well. I have all the paperwork.
Need checks, not labor denial
The labor board only DENIED because it DOES NOT deal with this and not because she was INNOCENT. So I would want to see cancelled checks, front and back, signed and see what account they were deposited into for me to consider her innocent. Easy enough to prove. But if she proves that the labor board denied the claim that does nothing it just states that we don't deal with IC's and does not clear her at all. It is very simple, get copies of the checks front and back and then I guess you could ask the person who was supposedly have been paid to produce that month's bank statement showing that it either did not did not get deposited there. All the time she has spent arguing and defending herself, she could have proven herself innocent by now. This is one word against the other and one has to be right and they need to produce the proof.
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