First of all, you did not come here looking for constructive advice. SM
Posted By: FedUPMT on 2008-10-03
In Reply to: One last thing - frustrated
You came here to whine and moan about QA and you wanted people to pat you on your head and said "poor little MT, you were right." When you didn't get that, you started throwing a tantrum and telling everyone what big 'ol meanies they are.
By your own admission, you have been an MT for three years. You are in no way qualified to tell QA or the QA supervisor that you like or dislike changes made, account specs, or anything of the sort. Your job is to type according to the account specs and according to whatever other BOS rules QA imposes. Like it or not, this is the job! MTs are called upon to be flexible. Personally, I abhor the BOS, but I like money, I need money to live and feed my kids, so if my employer says do by the BOS book, then that's what I'm gonna do.
I going to go out on a limb here and guess that since you said some of the mistakes you made were "stupid mistakes" you shouldn't have made, then you probably look inexperienced to QA and aren't going to be taken seriously when you complain. When you've become a seasoned MT who makes very few mistakes and then want to complain, you might be taken a bit more seriously.
I have 20 years under my belt. My last QA score (which happened to be yesterday) was 99.5% and that is my consistent score. If one day I get a QA score say below 98%, then I may question it diplomatically. I probably have more experience than the QA person proofing my work, but being condescending is not the way to go. Here you are 3 years experience and you are condescending and go above your QA's head to her boss. Good thing you're starting a new job, sounds like you're going to need it.
That's my 2 cents.
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Would it kill you people to give constructive advice instead of insults and insensitivity?!?
I understand your frustration. I think you just need to sit down and have a talk with your employer. Find out exactly what they want your status to be. As an employee, yes they do have the right to dictate your hours, where you work, etc., but they do not have the right to jerk you around. If they want you to work at home, then they need to provide for that, not you! Anyone who says otherwise is wrong! In any industry, if a company wants you to commute, they pay for gas/mileage. If they want you to have a cell phone/pager, they either pay for it, or they provide an allowance for it. If they want you to work at home, they provide equipment. It sounds to me like they want way too much and are giving very little. Just because a person/company is the employer, it does not give them the right to treat people like dirt, sending them on wild goose chases, interfering with their life, schedule, expenses, etc. I am sorry you have received such critical and insensitive comments. I hope this works out for you. Blessings!
Constructive
No one likes being corrected, even in a nice way, especially if doing the same thing the same way for years. Us QAs out here are just like you, employed by a company, we are not the almighty rulers of the world. We are employed to do a job which is not easy and many feelings get hurt along the way. Many MTs just want to be left alone to do their work even if it is incorrect. Thats not an option these days, the work must be correct and quality is mandatory, not an option.
Can anyone please tell me what constructive
I have been following the discussion below about impolite QA and some of you have mentioned receiving constructive feedback from QA and/or mentors. Would someone please tell me what this constructive feedback looks like? Where I work they just fill in the blanks, but I never receive any comments. I often ask questions but receive no response. What am I missing? I hope for some sort of feedback from the QA people and/or my manager but it never happens. Maybe I have been spared the rudeness that some of you experience because they never comment. Which companies offer feedback, tips, constructive criticism? What does the feedback/mentoring look like? Thank you for your responses and help.
If you have nothing constructive to say, then
xx
The answers have been constructive. sm
What I don't understand is why you think they're not. People are stating the truth--the employer calls the shots, not the employee. Just because the truth isn't as comfortably "warm and fuzzy" as you want it to be, doesn't make it less true. It seems that this point is missed very frequently on this board and to try to convince this person that it is the employee who decides the working terms is both cruel and non-constructive. (There are so many cliches that I could use right now I'm not even going to start.)
There have been several posters who lament the loss of jobs to overseas competition but instead of laying blame at the feet of workers who want to call the shots, they instead try to blame the people who are hungry for jobs and are willing to work at getting and keeping jobs that are "too demanding", "too demaning", "not family-friendly" for US workers. Employers are also to blame when their biggest concern is the bottom line and not upholding the society that allowed them to become employers in the first place.
A very good book to read for more on this subject is The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It is a long book but if you're really interested in understanding what is going on in the world today and being prepared for the reality of tomorrow, it's worth the read. Of course, it also requires a mind willing to see the problems that both workers and employers have created.
Constructive feedback is ...
providing commentary and suggestions on improving the MT's work process (i.e. 'hearing' ESL's better or maybe a more refined search process, etc.) in a professionally worded fashion. Most times when an MT leaves a minefield of blanks in a report it's because he/she because of their lack of experience wasn't able to 'hear' what the dictator was saying.
A true QA person of excellence can recall their own journey on the road of transcription, remember that type of frustration and lack of experience, and translate solutions and suggestions to the MT in a manner that the MT can draw upon that experience and going forward incorporate the QA's suggestions into their work process, correcting any deficiencies they may have in putting out a quality document without a lot of blanks.
In the case of where you work, sometimes constructive feedback is as simple as just filling in the blanks. You can use the document that's been returned to you as a sample for training your ear to better hear what that particular dictator is saying when you get him/her again. In this way, you continue to improve and are more autonomous in the work that you do.
I hope this helps.
EXACTLY! Constructive input is always welcome;
nm
Constructive remarks in message
I have a couple of constructive things to say. First take it to a blog where you can whine to someone who cares. Where you can all wallow in your self-pity while your bills add up and your kids starve and nothing changes the situation. Next, get another job. Stay at MQ if you must, but get another job, be it MT or whatever, that will pay your bills while you whine. Third, get some ambition and help yourselves. Whining to each other will accomplish nothing. Why would I be MQ management when I am offering suggestions to help your plight. I am sure MQ management is very happy with the way things are. They have you whiners that are still there for them to scrape their feet on and not doing a thing about your situation.
LOL. I told you, it's a pet peeve. It was constructive
Personally, I don't like to have errors in any of my writing, personal MB or not, and I would rather have someone tell me on a MB than make a fool of myself elsewhere. To each his/her own.
FWIW, I was not proofreading, just reading. After seeing it the incorrect way umpteen times, I felt compelled to mention it.
Take constructive criticism and LEARN...
I worked for this company and the only reason I quit was I needed a job where i worked 4 hours and that was it. I absolutely LOVED my job with them. They were encouraging yet at the same time made me aware of what I needed to correct, as quality is of utmost importance in medical dictation. I made notes and reviewed the corrections sent back to me in order to undo my errors. The Editor (Rose) taught me so much by giving me these corrections cause it has helped me become a better MT. It is so important in this field to be accurate and have good grammar and spelling skills. Maybe this field isnt for you, but definitely even look into getting perhaps a used grammar/english textbook or the AMMT Book of Style to review, as that might be less expensive than going back to school. I have talked to other MTs who have been in this field for 35 years and said they STILL learn something new every single day. Keep an open mind on this job and learn all you can. In the long run you will be a better MT for it.
Yes, thanks for a thoughtful and constructive comment. SM
Much too rare on this board. I'm shocked by how many people still don't use Expanders and use them very extensively. People need to understand and accept that today's much higher standard of production is set by those who do.
Yeah...let's not try to do anything constructive because everybody is contributing to the problem
I think most of us hear this all the time...let somebody else clean up the mess.
THAT is when constructive feedback helps, not being a jerk about it.
QA should remember how it felt to be MT and struggling to get it right.
I have found no matter how constructive my feedback is... SM
most MTs either don't read it or read and immediately send it to the recycle bin literally and figuratively. So when I send feedback, it is basically a list of their errors, my corrections, and quoting chapter and verse from the BOS if necessary.
Quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing MTs gripe. I used to try to educate and mentor MTs, but it is a thankless job. Someone below said that QA people try to insinuate their egos, but in my experience it is the MTs ego that is getting in the way. So many MTs think they are "excellent MTs" and so many of them are not. At one point, I decided to keep a running log of unacceptable errors that even the most remedial MT should not be making and start posting it here because I'm so sick of MTs posting that QA is unreasonable or big meanies.
So here is a very unacceptable mistake I've seen this morning and I've only been on the clock for an hour...
"pressure ulcer on the left heal"
Of course, when I sent feedback to this MT, she emailed me saying "ha ha, oh it's just a typo." Problem was she did it repeatedly throughout the entire report -- not just once but every instance the dictator talked about the left heel ulcer, she typed "left heal ulcer."
Now, MTs, tell me that I'm not supposed to roll my eyes and be a little irritated that I had to spend fifteen minutes listening to her entire report because such a basic error sends up warning flags, when I should have just had to fill in her blanks.
Thank you, that is certainly constructive. How about 17 years, you want me to just change to accomm
nm
She didn't say she put "no-no" in her feedback and used baby talk in her constructive criti
I wish she were on my QA team. She sounds wonderful!
Advice to YOU..1st learn to spell before insulting poster and trying to give advice...sm
Sound advice from a fellow MT if you want advice or support (sm)
I have been an MT for over 10 years. I also am getting burnt out, tired of my job, day in day. However, I do love transcription and make excellent money at it, have grossed over $50,000 per year the last 5 years. I decided to go back to nursing school and am very happy with my choice. However, over these 10 years of transcription I have had my ups and downs. My biggest issue with being at home working is lack of socialization, being home day in and day out with just the kids and the animals really gets to a person, sure hubby is home at night and thinks working from home is the easy life, thus the return to school and boy has my overall enjoyment of life changed once I realized I was the problem, not everyone else and I needed to find myself again.
Anyway, my biggest advice to you three-fold:
1. Get into counseling for yourself, find out who you are and what your needs are, whether or not you think you need to, I sense you are feeling overwhelmed and need someone other than your family to talk to that can be nonjudgmental to your feelings and needs.
2. If you're only making $100 after you pay preschool you can either keep doing it and be miserable, or quit because you are lucky enough to have a husband who can support the family without your income. (See how fast his mind changes just by losing the income you do have as to whether your job means anything.) Or look for a different company or office that you like more and are more productive if you really want to do transcription (lots of fish in the sea as far as companies).
3. Find a local "mom's" group where you can get out and socialize. MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) is an excellent one that is nationwide, they have a website. Also Mom2Mom is in a lot of areas. They provide a once a week time for moms with kids the same age to get together, socialize, (some offer spirtual guidance some don't) and each week a different mom takes a turn watching everyone else's children at the facility that hosts it so the other moms can talk about things they have in common. Every stay-at-home and work-from-home mom needs to socialize with adults, without their kids, or they will have a nervous breakdown eventually no matter how much they love their kids.
Sorry so long but it does get better but you have to take the first step at making yourself happy.
my advice
would be to get an MT job that pays by the hour until your experience and accuracy come together well.
I believe that MQ will pay by the hour until you reach "production" -- but i am not sure if there is a time limit on that. I believe i've seen where other companies do this also.
I admire your refusal to quit -- i believe that is one of the essential traits of a transcriptionist. Hang in there. Very little worth attaining comes easy, you'll make it.
Need some advice
I know this isn't MT-related, but it has gotten me so upset that I can't work, so maybe it is MT-related after all. Anyway, if anyone has been in this situation, can you please tell me how you successfully handled it? My son wanted to go away for the weekend and asked to use my credit card to secure a hotel room. We went online to Hotels.com and found a nice place. I put in my credit card number and was given a room confirmation. I then received an e-mail from the hotel telling me there were no rooms available. I called the hotel and they told me I would have to address it with Hotels.com since they were the ones with my credit card information. I called Hotels.com and they told me that my card had been swept for the entire amount of the stay ($276.00!) but since there were no rooms available, the money would be credited back to my account. I got my credit card statement yesterday and they only credited back $71.00 of my money, causing me to incur and over-the -limit fee of another $29.00. I don't know where to turn to get this problem resolved. Do I call Hotels.com and ask them to reimburse my over the limit fee? Do I call my credit card company and tell them that it was Hotel.com's fault for hitting my account for the whole amount when they said they weren't going to? If anyone has been through this kind of thing before, I would really appreciate your input. Needless to say, I will NEVER use Hotels.com ever again!! Thanks in advance for your help!
Well said! I will take that advice.
Here's some advice from another old MT
Give Medquist a try. I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding MQ, but there is a lot positive about the company, too. The transcription platform is very, very easy to learn and quite MT friendly. Set your boundaries about the number of accounts you are willing to do right from the beginning.
You will never have to worry about not getting paid on time. If you need no benefits, go with the statutory employee status. There's flexibility with that.
There are apparently many MQ haters on this board, but there are many more who are happy with MQ. They just don't happen to spend a lot of time posting here.
Whereever you land next, may it be a great fit for you. :)
Need advice, please --
My 15-year-old niece has confided that she has met a boy through an over 21 chat room and has been emailing him (supposedly, he is 18). He has been to her house, and her parents have met him and they think he is a nice boy, but they have no idea how they really met. I have serious reservations about this and feel I should tell her parents, because even if this one is very nice, he is still too old for her, and what about the next one?
Advice
Learning a secondary account can be challenging but it also makes you a more well-rounded transcriptionist. The more accounts, the more doctors you work on, the better off you are in the long run. If its hard at first, work that much harder to learn it. You can't have to much experience!
Need advice
I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice to give.....I have been debating changing jobs. I currently make $15 an hour doing transcription in office. The delima I am having is that the whole reason I started doing transcription was so that I could work from home. I have been doing transcription for 4 years and my job is really easy and I am happy with the money, there are however other down falls with the company and I am not able to have the flexability of working at home, therefore dealing with the stress of not being able to always be there for "home" things. I have three school age kids, and they are all very active. My question is....Do I have a chance of finding anything else working at home or do I just try and suck it up where I am at??? I really have not started looking, so I am not sure what is actually out there. I hate changing jobs, but I also don't want to settle.
Just need some outside help and opinions! Thanks, KL
RE: Need advice
Don't forget your taxes. You can really wind up in a mess if you don't get on top of that right away.
Need Advice! What would you do?
Want opinions about something which has come up at work and need some advice. I am the lead Transcriptionist in a department with three other people.
Last year, one of our physicians in the practice was fired and rejoined another practice in town. He currently has a lawsuit against the company about the firing.
Today, I saw letters typed by one of the girls in the my department for this particular doctor. (because this patient switched physician groups). Apparently she has been working for him on the side since October of 2004. I am not sure if she is still typing for him or not.
My question is this, would this be something you would bring to the manager's attention, talk to my coworker, or just let it go.
On one hand I feel she is being dishonest and not loyal to our current company. I do not know if she is saying anything about our practice to the other doctor or not. Also at looking at the letters, she set them up exactly the same way we do. Isn't this considered a conflict of interest?
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!
Re: Advice - sm
My question - is she using YOUR company's equipment to do this typing? Is she doing it on YOUR company's time? THAT would be a NO-NO to me, along with the other points you mentioned, it doesn't seem quite the kosher thing to do.
Thanks for the advice!!! nm
nm
Thanks for the advice!
That does sound reasonable. Anything to get my foot in the door would be helpful.
need advice
I worked for a multispecialty medical center for 6 years that shut down and sent all transcription out to a service. I got a job with spheris. I love the company itself, they are great. But the problem is money. This is my first experience with production pay. To make what I made by the hour, I would have to produce 1500 lines a day. I am now producing about 1000 a day more or less, depending on how much research I need to do, if my cable or power goes out or if their server goes down or is slow.-- I do ER, consults, admit and discharge summaries, no operative reports. Cant really use a lot of expansions, only for simple phrases or individual words, no macros, mostly straight typing. I figured once I got used to their system and compiled all my provider samples and got my Expander glossaries pretty much built I would improve, which I have, but I really cant see myself ever doing much more than 1200 a day, and that would be with no "P" breaks. I am still having to stop multiple times during the day to enter drug names in my drug glossary so I dont have to look them up all the time to see if they are generic or brand names-their spell-check doesnt have automatic caps, which is another problem for me because I am having a hard time training myself to hit that shift key, I am constantly entering text into my expander. The terminology is not a problem for me.
I am reading that a lot of you guys are doing 400 lines an hour.!!! My previous job didnt have a word expander, so I know I need to utilize that better. How do you do it, what am I doing wrong, what can I do to improve, do I need to just forget it and apply at Home Depot? I LOVE transcription!!!!
Looking for advice
Hey, anyone in the Portland/Beaverton area I could speak to about the "real deal" in MT work in the current environment? I'd really appreciate it. Off line at moosefeather at msn dot com :)
My advice to you
You are doing just fine. Trust me, having kids makes it more difficult to get more work done, but you will soon find a good schedule that works for you. I work for Medquist as an SE and am able to work WHENEVER I want which makes it much easier for me, considering I have 3 kids, ages 7, 3, and 2. Your average of 500-700 lines a day is really good for just starting in July. Don't fret, this is one job that you only get better with in time because you become more used to the doctors and type faster, and don't forget to keep adding to your word expanders.
Another tip I can give is to only work when your child is sleeping, otherwise it becomes too much of a distraction to have your child awake and running around while you try to concentrate on your work. Not to mention, it could also be dangerous if you can't see or hear them like you should.
I appreciate your advice and will certainly
take it to heart.
Just wanted you to know though that I already know the information you posted. I had an MT business for 5 years. I've done MT work for 25 years.
I may be new with MQ but I'm no where near new with MT work. This isn't my first time to do IC/SE work either.
My rainy day money isn't going to the govt. It goes for what I want it to. I've been self-employed for a few years now. I know what I'm doing.
Thank you for your advice though!
Advice to MQ.
This advice is given too late, but for future reference...
When you have a new program, just send the information out.
Telling people a month in advance that you are going to send the information out is just upsetting. Calling people on the phone to tell them they will get information next month but you cannot answer any questions just makes everyone more agitated.
If you think you were offering a teaser to get people excited, I am sorry to say that it backfired. As you can see from reading this board, everyone is just nervous and upset. Some people are out looking for other jobs because they think they are going to lose their SE position.
Big mistake......
advice
I quit over 3 years ago. I decided that I couldn't just slack off or use something to help me, I just set a date and totally stopped forever that day. You feel really bizarre for a few days and I still wanted one for probably a year or more, but that was the only way for me. Just stop. Also I chewed lots of gum all the time. I think I probably did gain weight but I got pregnant right after that so who knows what the weight is from.
But it really does make you feel better in the long run and I have a friend in her early 20s whose parents are both already dead because of lung CA (she still smokes, not a big lesson learner).
Anyway, good luck and just stop!! Just make your mind up right now!! Just buy your last pack and don't buy anymore!
Need some advice
Wanting to change from Hospital to working at home and a little confused about what some services are looking for as far as experience like what is basic 4 experience?
My advice to you
HEY BUTT HEAD - SIT ON A POPSICLE STICK AND SPIN
Advice
I think the best plastic surgery that you could get would be to have your pie hole permanently sewn shut so that no one would EVER have to hear your disgusting voice again. Also, as an added benefit to us, get your hands sawed off so we wouldn't have to read your posts! Then you would be really attractive. Kind of seen but not heard. WOW that would be GREAT.
You need some advice yourself
What is so deranged about Barney? You guys attacking right off the bat are making it less likely for people to post because of their fear of being attacked. I don't get it. Why don't you just let BARNEY alone and move on. If people want to respond let them, because if you can pull up a post that Barney is attacking, being nasty, threatening, or being down right obscene, then please share it with us.
If we all are going to be compared to Zipper and MQLOVER and so on, then you are going to see less and less responses from people and that will be thanks to you MQx4. 
Advice
If you want to work for a national, go to one of the major schools, Andrews or M-TEC. Don't go to a podunk internet course that is cheaper, but will make recruiters immediately toss your resume. We do that. We also tend to not get real excited about "hometown" courses, because we don't know the program and don't have time or interest to do the research.
You are selling yourself to the recruiter, so do whatever you can to catch their attention. Good school, good test scores, literate communication. Also--be professional, not cute. No cutesy backgrounds in your emails, etc. Put your experience and/or MT education at the top. I don't want to know that you worked at Gussie's Gas and Go, have experience in parenting, and own a rescue dog. I really don't. Just give me the absolute basics that will make me go "hmmmm!" and, even if you don't have a ton of experience, if you've gone to one of the top schools, I'll look at you.
OH! Also, don't use that silly line about "I have 2 years of experience" when all you really have is two years of schooling. Big difference. I'll toss MT's resumes from one particular internet school just because they dare to try to get that one by me. Don't know if the school promotes that angle or not, but it doesn't fly. Experience means that you're out on the job, without a net, making money--not that you're having every report scrutinized by a teacher and you're paying them to do it.
Wow, I guess I've gotten a little off course, haven't I? Would just like to see you head in the right direction (according to me, of course) right off the bat.
Best of luck, and enjoy the process!
Here's some advice....sm
don't wait until the first of the year to get away from this maniac. Since you said he can be violent at times how do you know he won't seriously hurt or kill you before then? Every case of domestic homicide always has had a history of violence before the violent person killed the victim.
There are battered women shelters and homes that you can move to until you can get on your feet and get your own place. If you can't afford getting your own place now please pick up that phone and call for help. In a lot of cities if you call 211 that will connect you to someone who can give you this information, and if 211 doesn't work in your area get the phone book and look on the front cover.
Be sure that you and your child receive counseling for dealing with this fool. I would personally never put up with anyone that lashed out at my child like that and your daughter needs to know that you really are sorry by showing in your actions that you're breaking away for good as well as getting her some counseling to deal with it. If money is tight there are usually counseling services available for a sliding fee scale.
Lastly, when you move don't let this idiot (boyfriend) know where you have moved to as he may start stalking you. It happens a lot. The folks working with battered women can help you get moved and obtain additional housing without him being able to track down where you're at easily. Since you mentioned working at a hospital you can also put security there on alert that he may try to visit you there and to be available to kick his butt out and have him arrested if he breathes towards you in the wrong direction.
I applaud you for deciding that enough is enough - now be sure to followup on your plan and don't let him try to sweet talk you with crap like "I'll change." Rarely does an abusive person like that change.
Good luck!
took your advice
I did much better today. Thanks for the advice. I was able to get over 1300 today
Need some advice
I got a job offer finally for a full time medical transcription job...I have had a part time job for about a year and I just took a full time job in another place (not Medical) being an Senior Closing Coordinator for a title company (pay is not bad) and I love my new job.. but the drive is long and I am married but I do not have kids so its not like I have to be home... anyway I love my new job.. hmmm the struggle with all of this.. getting paid by the hour not having to worry about a line count is not bad along with a 401 and medical benefits.. Its a shame the industry does not treat us better.. I guess I just stay part time and work as an IC it is best
Thanks for the advice; I appreciate
I wondered if the bigger one would be better, too, so your post confirms it for me. I think I will get the programmable one as well. I can think of times it would be handy. Thanks again.
advice...
No, you are not out of line. Yes, humans make mistakes - but that is why they make spellcheckers, and why we proofread.
You are very nice to offer more money, but really, the reports should be perfect anyway if she has that much time, has done the same dictator for over a year. I would look for someone else - she doesn't take her job seriously.
Advice
I have tried both OSi and just finished up with Transcend, they both are horrors from hell. Transcends working platform is totally screwed up and you have to look all the demo stuff up, very hard to make money. The people/sups and all, so-so. I am now looking again myself. Wish there were a really decent company to work with. I am so fed up with the misrepresentations of these companies, etc. They want to make AL of the money and pay the MT peanuts is the way I am beginning to feel. Anyway ... good luck. HANK ...
would you like some advice from me?
Need some advice from other MTs
I have been working for a hospital full-time during transcription. Due to an employee quitting our schedule is up for a major change, which will be requiring MTs to rotate shifts day to night on a weekly basis. I determining whether to transfer out of the department and maybe taking a secretary job working set hours or may be applying full-time as an employee or IC with an online company where I can set my own hours without interrupting my life, make the same or more money and not having the headache. Someone please point me in the right direction. And, if you know of any companies that provide stable work, let me know. THANKS!!! ALLTYPE, FAST CHART, TRANSCEND, KEYSTOKES, etc.
advice
Thanks, that helps alot.
advice
It’s really frustrating because us MTs have children and other family priorities and then all the sudden everything changes and so does your family life. You are hired in to do a certain shift that you desire then it changes and we have no say so.
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