Competition is driving prices down. Companies are not making
Posted By: more each year. They can't keep paying more an on 2007-06-12
In Reply to: outrageous - MTing
Sooner or later you will have to face facts that this industry is in a freeze hold due to several factors.
If the companies are not able to raise their prices to customers, they cannot raise their payouts to workers.
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- outrageous - MTing
- Competition is driving prices down. Companies are not making - more each year. They can't keep paying more an
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It would be interstate driving, he and I driving as partners so we can
drive hard. The company we are talking with will give us the sleeper truck. I am envisioning MT while he is driving. Obviously, not full-time, though. I just hate to lose my grip with the contract I have - gravy work.
How would I get the internet access? Satelite will be available across country? Can't put any permanent receivers on the truck.
I remind you, this is not MY midlife crisis. I'm trying to work things out to accommodate him.
COMPETITION
How long have you been with this client? Is is offshore they are talking about? Be tactful and supportive of their concern, BUT FOCUS ON THE PROFESSIONAL QUALITY OF YOUR WORK. Start off by a brief review of your business relationship together. Review with your client, all the fine points of your business - your professionalism, TAT, your availability and your thorough knowledge of their particular needs. Then taken the client through a scenario - ask them point blank who is this other service offering such low rates? Ask your client about the other service's background? Are they offshore? Bring attention to HIPPA and security of their patient's records. If you get no where, you may want to consider meeing your client in person for review of pricing and offer a perk such as a discount per month or if you have to, lower your rate a little. The more you keep your wits about you and stay professional at all times, the more impressive you will remain to them. I have lost hospital accounts at times to lower rates, but I kept my cool at all times even though it killed me, and just once or twice, I got back the accounts and you know what? The first thing told to me was how impressed they were that I was so professional and helpful through the process of letting go. As it turned out, the other services were lousy and I got my accounts back. This doesn't always work though but it's worth a try.
This is not a competition.
see "I think it has to do with"
below.
I don't feel as such competition with $$$, sm
As I don't believe they settle for the pay that the Indians do, and as such not competing with us as much ...
Well if it's a competition, I guess
the experienced ones could stop being so generous with help on the Word board, which they do FOR FREE.
Sorry, but I've found another industry that pays by the hour and gives actual holidays. I will drive to work and work with real people, where I will actually feel like I count for something. I'm over the feeling of "privilege" of working in medicine. Let the newbies have it. I'm tired of the docs think we're idiots because we follow a book of rules that has no basis in their reality. I'm also tired of docs that don't want to pay, but would never consider changing their ways and standardizing formats and phrasing or gathering everything they need ahead of time before they get on to dictate (think ESLs and their long, drawn out, time-wasting sentence structures and pauses).
Irish dance competition.
x
LOL. And some kind of comedy competition soon too!!! nm.
.
Y-City Star competition - like AI
Fellow MTs and American Idol watchers,
I made it to the top 20 in the local Zanesville, OH competition similar to American Idol. PLEASE HELP A FELLOW MT!!! You can go online and vote tomorrow for me. PLEASE!! go to www.whiznews.com or www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com and cast your vote. You should be able to hear me sing for about 90 seconds. The public vote is only a portion of the scoring. I will be judged on vocal quality and performance as well. The first night of actual competition is July 15th and then again on July 29th if I made it to the top 8. I appreciate each and every vote. There is some stiff competition ahead of me. Lots of talent in OHIO!!! This is gonna be fun!
You can "thank" the offshore competition...sm
Like it or not.... it's driving the prices down in our industry. We have customers now demanding price reductions as contracts come up for renewal and tell us that if we don't meet their new pricing they'll send the work offshores and pay 4 cpl for transcription, 1.5 cpl for editing work.
More and more clients are willing to take the risk of sending work out of the country for the cheap labor and getting the work done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The overseas companies truly work 24/7/365 and their English skills have improved dramatically.
Gone are the days of high line rates for everyone. Stinks, I know.
Thanks for that information! Competition should bring price down
dd
It's called competition in a buyer's market (sm)
or vendor's (hospital's) market, not low-balling.
sure i was. i'm making fun of the people who are making a case for background checks, etc
to do medical transcription at home as if they may do something AWFUL with the info they receive. So if you want an invasion of privacy let's REALLY invade it and make sure fat chicks don't transcribe because they are so busy eating they can't get the work done, they mess up the keyboard with food and if they are provided health insurance they will raise the rates for the company sky high because their health risks are higher than others. Then there are the psychological issues overweight people bring to the table. After we eliminate fat people, we can go on to eliminate diabetic people who may have low blood sugar while typing and go into a spell and type the wrong thing. I could go on and on through the process of elimination. How about prescribed medications that may cloud your thinking? So you take Ambien to sleep but you have an Ambien groggy hangover when you are transcribing? Should they transcribe. How about your teens are on your last nerves and you take a Xanax? Should you be allowed to transcribe?
MQ's "daddy" underwrites them so they can undercut competition. They aren't
And if you aren't MQ Rosie then I guess I'm not calling you stupid now am I?
Going on a school trip for childs chorus competition--sm
in March to New York. Went to a meeting with school/parents and told the school board will cancel the trip if the terrorist threat level goes to red--understandable, but also we would lose our money ($1600 for four of us to go). Does anyone know of an insurance company who underwrites trips or tours? One of the parents said they heard of this but did not remember the details or company.
You're asking for part of their market! It'll be a competition
You go ahead though. Keep us all informed.
Nice marketing too..a bogus statement about US MTs to discredit the competition nm
nm
It's like when you are driving.
You are so used to it that it's just automatic.
Thank you ALL so much!! This has been driving me...
Gas prices
Last saw between $2.36 and $2.43 at the independent stations-- name brands a lot higher.
Gas prices. sm
Regular jumped from $2.58 to $3.19 per gallon today.
This is ridiculous!
Gas prices
Subject: Gas Prices
I went into the Shell gas station this morning and asked for five dollars
worth of gas.
The clerk farted and gave me a receipt.
Gas Prices
Wow, I need to come to Georgia. Her in NY they're still close to $3.00 a gallon, although I think the last time I checked it was down to the $2.50-$2.80 range.
Gas prices
Gas prices here are up over $4.13 a gallon. It is definitely times like these that I am glad I work from home.
Gas Prices
It is no mistake. I live in a little town called Carmi, IL which is 1 hour from Marion. All towns around us went up considerably last night. Carbondale IL was $5.29 a gallon and McLeansboro, IL was $4.89. I do not know how long they stayed that but I do know there went up there. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY
Must be nice! 58 and only for driving? sm
I've been wearing regular glasses for nearsightedness since 3rd grade. Of course vanity put me into contacts many years ago and suddenly, about 3 years ago, I began wishing for longer arms when trying to read something like the side of a Childrens' Tylenol bottle while I was wearing contacts. I told the eye doctor they were making the print smaller and smaller.
It went downhill so fast from there that I either have to wear my regular glasses to see the computer screen or put on the magnifying dollar store glasses over my contacts. Yes I know, time for bifocals, but who can afford them? 
Truck driving
My friend and her husband drove as a "team" before he passed away. She said it isn't as easy as it looks-- especially if you are a woman. She said she had to back the trailers into the loading docks and all the "macho men" would just stand there and stare at her-- apparently they are too "manly" to have their jobs taken by women. Anyway, she said the driving part was fun, but the company monitors you every second via some kind of tracking device and it isn't like I thought-- that you could stop in various parts of the country, etc. There is a lot of technical stuff you have to know about the truck, maintenance, etc., as well. She said she wouldn't do it again.
Dictating and driving
Can you hear me now?? I have a physician who dictates while he drives,and by the way, his dictation goes in and out so unable to get really what he is saying.
How about while driving home - sm
I used to have one who dictated while driving in his car, I could almost see him with the file on the passenger seat flipping through it while trying to drive and dictate at the same time. I could hear the traffic and his signal light going on and off. I am glad I moved to a different doctor before I got to hear something like him having an accident... Do they even know that there is a person on the other end of the dictation???
Thank you so much, it was driving me crazy
nm
This MD is driving me crazy!
Have you guys ever typed for a doctor who instead of saying period at the end of a sentence, he instead says "full stop". I am about sick of hearing him say that. I have never heard of that. Where do these dictators get this crap from? Please let me hurry and finish typing for this man before I have my hair pulled out!!! 
MD driving me crazy
How about the ones who dictate discharge summaries and they don't have their thoughts together before they sit down to dictate and they are flipping through the patient's chart pausing, eating, and carrying on a conversation with another resident in the same room with them. The dictation ends up being 20 minutes long but you get 400 lines out of it. Drives me nuts!!!
Driving directions...
Why am I not surprised?
Our prices went from $2.55 to $2.99 this morning. nm
x
Gas Prices Shooting Up
Ours jumped 23 cents yesterday. Ouch!
lovely gas prices
2.99 in West Texas .... and I have a hundred mile rnd trip to get to work *sigh*. I wonder how much longer I can afford to GO to work! LOLOL
with the gas prices going sky high and, therefore, (sm)
the prices of food and other items more than likely going to skyrocket, what is everyone doing to plan for this?
Rising gas prices
I am currently paying $3.39 a gallon up here in NY. Heard it may go up to $6.00/gallon possibly before it lowers in price again.
not sure of the prices in your area
..but gas here is $2.73 (cheap stuff)
Home prices have gone through the roof here. We sold our home last year for 250, and we bought it 2 yrs prior for 170. In our area, homes sell before they even make it to the MLS listings.
I am an IC and have no problem finding work. I have actually turned away 2 offices last week.
Oh, health insurance, may not want to hear this one--we pay 200. per week for a family of four.
I live in the Tampa area.
Best of luck,
Sunny!
European prices.
Taxes are the main reason gas prices are so high in Europe. The taxes are used to provide things like outstanding public transportation and universal health care. I'd be glad to pay $6 a gallon if health care was covered and I could ride excellent public transportation anyplace I needed to go. That's a bargain!
hair cut prices
Just curious, how much do you pay for a hair cut and how long does it take? My stylist just raised her prices quite a bit and without notice. I'm sure it varies quite a bit. I live in the Midwest (small town) and now pay 12 bucks. What do you pay?
haircut prices...
Wow...12 bucks is not expensive at all. I'm in the southeast and pay total about $40...that's for shampoo, cut, blow dry, and tip. As far how long it takes, I am assuming you mean to get a hair cut? Mine usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much I get cut off, stying, etc...consider yourself lucky!
hair cut prices
I live in the Southeast as well and would love to find someone for $12! My stylist is $45 for wash, HC, blowdry. It takes 45 minutes to an hour.
Hair cut/prices
Well after going to high priced hair salons and paying 30-50/cut/blow dry. I found a great stylist at yes - SuperCuts, costs me 15.00 cut/blow dry and she actually cuts my hair the way I want it instead of the way she wants, and it is only 5 minutes away from my house and I call ahead and make an appointment with her, so I am very happy. I have tried so many different places and now color my own hair with Loreal Preference and get my hair cut at SuperCuts and it works for me. Guess you just have to find the right person to style/cut your hair to your liking.
Not with current gas prices ...
I wouldn't. And you are talking about a total of 4 hours of driving per day, 20 hours per week, that you don't get paid for. You don't say where you live, but do you get snow, ice, etc. in the winter? That would be a nightmare.
It's good money, but personally I don't think it's worth it.
True about prices. sm
You are correct; services are competitive right now. I was very explicit about the services I offered and gave her a competitive price. It is her right to go to someone else and to shop around, but she seemed to know enough information to have made a choice. She also said she had a few more calls to make. I'm just curious because I get sometimes get calls from offices asking around like they're looking for the cheapest price. This one sounded so promising. Guess I can't keep my hopes up and move on.
slashing prices
I would just have to charge for the extra ink. Tell them that printing letterheads for them cost a little bit more. So I could cover the ink costs.
food prices
They certainly are! If you have a salvage grocery in your area, you can save quite a bit. We are blessed to have three. Some cans a bent - I only buy the ones with a ding, and boxes are bent. You have to be selective, but can save quit a bit. Also if you have an ALDI store, they are less expensive and their products are good. Hope this helps someone.
OH YEAH I love the whole CD while I am driving!!
x
Help. Can anyone tell me what the song is on the commercial on tv where the guy is driving across
the US to San Francisco for a cell phone commercial and he pulls up in front of his girlfriends house in SF and calls her on the cell phone and she comes to the door and there he sits in his car. It is the cell phone commercial for the cell phone with the bars on it. This is driving me nuts. I cannot remember the name of that oldie song.
Oh, yes, I hate driving on the freeways
To think I used to do it everyday. I do think the traffic has gotten worse though, not just at rush hour anymore, and people have gotten crazier. DH says it's because I don't have to do it anymore everyday, but I really think it's worse. I go out as little as possible on the freeways, and with the price of gas, I try to combine as much as I can, and stay close to home anyway. It's hard not to become a hermit.
You think there are no responsibilities involved in driving a bus? sm
What about all the lives they are responsible for in the bus and on the ground? Most bus drivers are considered "professional" drivers. They must study for, pass tests (written and driving), and maintain a CDL license (commercial driver), pass regular physicals. This also entails no drinking, etc., on time off work as they are subject to random testing. Very insulting. That is the pay scale in NYC, everybody there makes more money.
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