Focus Infomatics - they assign work or you pick from database
Posted By: cm on 2008-02-06
In Reply to:
I wanted to know from anyone who works at Focus if you are able to download work when you want to or is it assigned to you? I thought I heard that you can go onto the site and grab dictations when you wanted to instead of being assigned.
If anyone knows I would greatly appreciate !!
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Focus Infomatics Inc.
This company has offered me a job. I have never heard of them before. Anybody have any info on them??? Good/Bad.. Thanks.
Focus Infomatics
Can anybody tell me anything at all about Focus I heard they are a good service to work for. Anybody  ??
Focus Infomatics
Has anyone else had trouble collecting their paychecks from this company?
Focus Infomatics QA?
I was just hired by Focus Infomatics for QA. I'm coming from an entry-level job where I make a lovely, lovely 2 cents a line, whereas I've been told that with proper accuracy and shift differential I'll be making 7-8 cents a line at Focus. Any other QA for Focus? What's your average paycheck like? How's the workload?
Thanks so much.
Avoid Focus Infomatics!
I worked for Focus for a couple of months, and I absolutely hated it! They offshore their QA and tech support to India, and you can never understand a work they are saying when they call you to train you on their software, which is the worst program that I have ever transcribed in. It was always freezing up, losing connection to the VPN, and it cost me so much money because I kept losing work that I had done. Their tech support would take forever to respond when I IM'd them, and they were hardly ever very helpful at all. It is also true that they deduct pay for mistakes. I now work full-time for Cymed, and I am so much happier!
Focus Infomatics Job Posting
I thought I read something on this board at one time that a job ad for Focus was taken off because they are headquartered in India. Just curious because I saw they have a new job posting on the Job Seeker's Board.
Focus Infomatics has another ad on the jobs board
again
Anybody know anything about Focus Infomatics training period?
I received an offer for an internship of 2-3 weeks from Focus Infomatics....just wondering if anyone has worked for them and what I should expect?
I hate to admit this, but the one good thing I learned Focus Infomatics
was the Escription platform. Trust me, that is the only good to come of it. I think even if you get a few months under your belt, you'd be better off for it.
Focus Infomatics hires transcriptionists with NO experience on the Escription platform? Anyone else
/
Yeah.. I work TOO much. I know I could work less if I could just sit there and focus..
I know how you mean in NH.. and we'll leave it at that.. You mean you actually take vacation when your on vacation LOL..I also am going on vacation in July (Disneyland..yippee) but will be taking along the computer to work while I am on vacation..pretty sad.. but I cant afford just to not work. For me, I just need to refocus. When I do focus, I average $30 an hour, I just find it's hard to sit there 8 hours, but it's worse when I realized I could be done in 8 for what I drag out to 12..It's my goal...to work my 8 hours and stop for the day. 
Looking to pick up some prn work, about 10 hours per
week. I have Word 2000 and Transnet or can use FTP. Acute care or clinic. Email me for details if interested.
I pick-up and drop-off work too.
You can probably get 12 cpl (65 characters w/spaces). Do not limit yourself to per page at this point. Start your bid at that, and then depending upon what you see come your way, you may want to change that over to per page, but I seriously think you'll do better at 12 cpl and paid production. I just picked-up my own account about 3 weeks ago and am charging just that, so e-mail me if you want more info, but the doc is fine with the 12 cpl. Congrats! And, ENT should be a breeze if you've done other specialties. Also, don't forget to ask for samples!!!!!
the work first goes to the supervisors (if they have to type too) and they pick the best. Then filt
If I work during the day I get junk dictation, if I get on later or after midnight the work is normal. These people you call "leads" have to type too and are at an advantage to get the best dictation. I guess they feel this is a bennie. They can't see our face so what do they care, we are like a number in Auschitz to them.
I pick it up, shake it, and dump the crumbs out. If that doesn't work sm
I email my company and they overnight a new one. I go through keyboards about every three months. They take a beating, but I produce a lot of lines.
let's do it, pick a day, nobody works, pick a busy day
nm
Searchable database
There's a product called ScriptXSearch, new on the market, that will allow you to easily provide your clients a searchable database. You can find it at www.scriptxsearch.com, or write to rob@reynet.net--he's developing it specifically for ICs and small MTSOs.
The EHR is coming. Physicians offices are going to be the last to move to the EHR, I think, but I'll bet more money will go that way now that the Democrats are in power. Bush proposed it but never really funded it, so it's kind of stalled. Except that it's such a good idea that it's picking up its own momentum.
My thought is that if I offer doctors these small pieces of the medical record maybe they'll take us along in the EHR. A lot of vendors are advertising that their EHR is going to replace transcription. I don't really think that's going to happen, but it may be pretty lean there for a while.
We can't go too far, though, HIPAA says something about if you maintain medical records you have to make them available to the patient and you SURE don't want to get caught up in that. I'm a small serivce and I offer Rob's ScriptXSearch. AAMT had provided a HIPAA agreement that included a clause explaining that we don't maintain medical records, these are preliminary reports.
Think you need someone on their end to re-assign the
s
I do not think they had a database the doctors could search.
I think they just store the reports in a way that can be retrieved. As a subcontractor, in general I keep the files only until I am paid for them. When I complete a file, I send the reports to the doctor and to the MTSO. Some large companies do provide an electronic health record, but I doubt it would be feasible for an IC to provide this. I would say this is one of the areas we cannot compete with the big guys.
Meditech is a hospital database. sm
It allows everyone in the hospital and also physician offices remotely to view patients' medical records. There are upgrades but they are costly. It is not transcription friendly at all. I worked on it for years, and so glad that was on an hourly basis. You are better off transcribing in Word and cutting and pasting into Meditech. It is not user friendly. You cannot download it. The hospital or MTSO must give you a password and you either access it by VPN through the MTSO or directly into the hospital's server. When it goes down, you can lose reports. There is a recover feature, but it doesn't work all the time. Just be sure to save reports midstream. One more thing, there are a lot of screens and some require data be filled in before you actually get to transcribe. JMO. I'm sure I'll get flamed but I've been through upgrade after upgrade and you wind up losing features and having to put canned text back in, which can only be done by the Meditech people. NOT USER FRIENDLY at all in my opinion. It also lags behind your typing. You would be better off finding work that you can type in Word. 
Patient Database in MS Word?
We released MPLite less than a month ago, and most of the emails we are getting speak of how having a patient database is saving so much time. Another feature that many emails comment on is how the invoices give the details (patient, Job#, MR, dictator, MT, DOS, Doc Type and count).
If you missed the release announcement, perhaps a free 10 day trial of MPLite will ease your workday too.
Best wishes for a joyous Christmas!
Vann Joe
Emmaus
Medical Transcription Software since 1995
escritption database errors
It seems lately that I'm always getting database errors, either while pulling up updated physicians lists or problems with the queue. Sometimes it won't even get past the login screen and requires a reboot of computer because editscript won't shut all the way down, even though there are no indications of it running on my task manager, so I can't restart it without a reboot. At times it is only one account and I can login to another, others it is any account I try to login and pull up queue. At times this decreases my work time by hours. I've redone my whole computer hoping this would resolve the issue if it were my computer. From what I can tell there is no difference between now and whe Escript seemed to be working perfectly well, at least on my end.
Anybody else with this problem or any ideas?
Simply assign the job # to yourself...
and then hit next job.
assign key on Lanier-need help!
I'm trying to re-listne to a job I signed off. I need to find the assign key. My Lanier is not marked with that key. How do I find it. Thanks
Assign Key....Cindy
If you don't have an assign key, you may need to make one yourself. I can help you do this. Send me an email if you need further help.
You can assign any key combo you want to the
NextField command in the customize keyboard dialog box. You don't need a macro if you are inserting blank fields with Ctrl+F9. You can also assign a shortcut to the previous field command.
...should be new meds, colleagues not in the database, etc. Damn! nm
s
Talk to a real person! database
This web site has the listings for lots of major companies that we deal with every day. It includes the numbers to actually speak to a human being and not a computer. My daughter forwarded it to me, but I haven't actually had need to use it yet. Thought it might take away a frown  or make someone's day a little better.
It is: http://www.gethuman.com/us/
Form letters and database management
I would like to offer database management to my potential clients. Any notions on what to charge for this? I was thinking of an initial charge to set this up, and if I do their transcription no charge to maintain.
Also want to offer form letter creation and mailing. Has anyone ever done this and what did you charge? Any input is appreciated.
Phys database sorely lacking SM
and the rest of it is okay, but certainly not almost $200 okay.
If they assign the worst dictators (sm)
to only you, you will have the same problem. The only files you will ever get will be the bad dictators. The favorites are making a living while you have to work twice as long to do the crap. It is so not worth it and I am glad I dumped services like that.
She's asking for advice, not someone to assign blame...
I really don't see how your post is going to help her find a solution to her problem. It is easy to stand up on a pedistal and point out other people's mistakes, but we've all made them. She needs advice on how to fix her situation, and "assigning blame" is just rediculous. I can't believe this thread even went in that direction.
I also don't think that it is right to blame someone for their spouse's actions. It is his fault for acting that way, not hers for marrying him.
I use / and record a macro which I assign
to an F key. Then I put / wherever in the template I need to input.
So moving around is as simple as pushing the F2 key as many times as needed...
I also use the macro record and assign to an F key functions like block and copy. Then if you have to move a whole section of words to another page, it's one key to block and copy and one click of the mouse to paste and you're done.
Most companies assign a point value for each
type of error and used these points to calculate your accuracy. My current company reviews approximatly 200 lines of transciption every quarter. Then there is a calculation of error points divided by line count, then they subtract that from 1, and multiply by 100.
Example - 3 points/200 lines equals 0.015.
1 - 0.015 = 0.0985
therefore accuracy is 98.5%.
Most companies I have worked for require 98% accuracy.
Our error points range from 2.00 (MAJOR) to 0.25 (minor).
Thanks very much, Pebbles. What functions do you assign to them?
nm
deduct for errors, infomatics
thatnks for your response. it's in the contract i got from them sat. i am supposed to start training tomorrow. my friend works for them and loves it. i'm a little bit more skeptical i guess. all type never called me back and that was me. i have applied to lots of cos. this weekend and will probably hear from some tomorrow. i had my own service and am technologically deprived. we had tapes and c phones, no internet voice. this is all new to me. infomatics does say they pay ins. now if you are full time.
deduct for errors, infomatics
Just curious but where did you obtain this information? I've heard there is another company, (who will deny it but the MTs swear it happens) who deducts for errors. I do not know this firsthand, however.
Did you take the job with Infomatics?
When I spoke with them about a year ago they were at 8 cpl and just in case - they do not have insurance coverage, which is something I must have.
Also, did you make a post earlier about a company All Type and the recruiter didn't call you back? If that is you, did they finally call you - would you consider working for them at this point?
I have always tried to research any company I think I would like to apply to, prior to applying. I even go so far as to check their Dunn & Bradstreet scores, because I want to know how financially stable they are or are not, if they pay bills on time, etc. But I'm a little OCD and AR...LOL
Well, I've rambled enough...BUT,,,,Please let us know what you decide and BEST OF LUCK :-)
DEDUCT FOR ERRORS, INFOMATICS
Do all big co. deduct for less than 989% accuracy. They deduct 5% Really leary of this company and am supposed to train tomorrow. Seems it stays at 8 cents forever with no differentials or anything.
They assign harder ESLs to slow you down.
consuming to type very difficult dictators. In the long run you're make less money per hour. What the poster means, I think, is they want the work done and don't care if you struggle for hours or all day on ESLs.
Assign shortcut keys to macro Wordperfect?
I have to switch to Wordperfect after working in MS Word for 7 years. I have figured out how to record a macro, but how do you assign a shortcut key to it?
What I am wanting to do is jump to the next * in my reports because that is how I move from heading to heading.
The help section in WP just confused me
Any help is wonderful
Thanks
How is keeping a patient database on your personal computer HIPAA compliant?
I would love an effortless line counting program too, but...
Just curious if anyone has investigated that issue with this software.
We see that you only focus
On the negatives! What about the children who were born into this poverty through no choice of their own?
You take the negatives only in this tragedy, what a very closed mind you have
Anything to help you focus?
I am very distracted by everything while I work. I don't think I have ADD. I hope not anyway. I just cannot focus for more than 20-30 minutes at a time. Is there an herb or over-the-counter medication to help you focus? I have tried Ginko and it seems to help a little. I just want to be more productive during the day rather than going back and forth to the Internet and taking breaks constantly. Thanks.
Focus
I have worked at Focus for just over a year now as an IC and I really like it there. Everyone is very pleasant and helpful. Any problems or concerns that I may have are addressed right away. I have plenty of work to keep me busy. They offer benefits if you are employee status, but you can also choose to be an IC. They also have direct deposit. I do transcription only, but they also have VR if you want to do that (you don't have to if you don't want to). I work on the Dictaphone ExText platform but I know they have other platforms as well.
The bottom line is that they are a great fit for me. I have had a really great experience with them. No complaints at all.
FOCUS-sm
Thanks very much for the info.
LOL!! Focus, focus, focus!! nm
focus, focus, focus--sm
and a strong work ethic that does not have you hopping up from your chair every other minute to do laundry, dishes, take out the garbage, or answer the phone. I have caller ID and use it constantly to screen any calls. If I do not recognize the number, I do not answer it. This saves a lot of time, as far as I am concerned. I know a lot of the work at home moms have kids and that has to be really hard, and I empathize with that. I don't have anyone at home, except my two kitties, to distract me from my work. I have no tv on and no music, nothing. I have had a lot of medical terminology classes and pretty know most of my doctors most used words, so I do not have to spend a lot of time researching. This also takes a lot of time, time we are not paid for. Then, of course, there are the two things you mentioned, staying in your chair constantly and shortcuts. I have pretty much the same doctors every day and know them pretty well. this makes a big difference too. I only use autocorrect as an expander, as I never could get used to IT or some others, where I spent more time looking at the bottom part with all the different entry options than I did typing. I also had many years of typing classes, as well, and I rarely need to look at my keys to know what I am typing. I watch the copy I am typing and can see any errors I make right away and correct them right away. I rarely go back and look through it again after I am done. I also rarely hear from QA about anything either. If I do, it is usually an address change or something. But I do have a habit of putting two periods .., at the end of a sentence. but I pretty much catch those too.
My last suggestion is that you have to WANT it, more than ANYTHING else in the world. Not having a spouse, or anyone else to help provide income is a HUGE motivator, as far as I am concerned. It all depends on how badly you want to pay your bills, eat, and have some extra for emergencies. It is all priority, as far as I am concerned, but that is just me. Everybody elses situations are different. but this works for me. JMO.
Focus
I also work for Focus, and I have to agree that they are the best company that I've worked for (or interviewed with) so far. So far, I've worked for 3 other online companies and one local hospital. Plus, I've interviewed with (and ended up turning down positions at) at least 10 companies since January of this year. Add to this number those who won't give me a chance because I only have 2 years of experience (it apparently does not matter that I've had between 99% and 100% QA ratings in every MT job that I've had so far) or don't live in the required state or don't own a C-phone, don't have access to unlimited long-distance phone service, or some other such thing.
The flexibility at Focus can't be beat. I don't have to get permission to change my schedule to fit my needs. Whenever I have a question, someone is available via IM, email, or telephone. The pay on my favorite shift (third) is better than I've been offered anywhere else. I also have 5 accounts, so if one doesn't have any work, I can generally find work on another. I am an IC, but they do offer the employee option, last time I heard, and the premium for health insurance for a family was less than $400/month.
My only fear is that they are sharing the work with so many other companies that I'm afraid of what is going to happen to the individual MTs like myself.
These are my experiences and my opinions, and are not open to debate. But, I am happy to share the good, the bad, and the really UGLY about any experience that I have had with any MT company in the past 2 years. Overall, it has been a true temporary nightmare, but I am very happy now at Focus, and have decided to stop searching for greener (USA-based) pastures; I'm not so sure there ARE any.
Focus
I've worked for Focus for 19 months now. I get 8 cpl for transcription and 4 cpl for editing. I much prefer the VR editing jobs because your hands don't hurt! You can also increase the speed of the voice file without it warping and there's this little red box that follows along with you and outlines the words as they are dictated. As far as average lph? I don't mark it that way because I have multiple accounts, etc., etc. For me, I work 8 hours a day and there will always be a little bit of transcribing because of new doctors etc. As an example, a good day I had last week, I did 140 typed and 2640 edited in 8 hours.
Focus
I just wanted to send you and anyone else a warning about Focus. I know they are advertising for MTs and QAs out the yingyang these days. I went to work for them a couple of weeks ago, and I have had very little to no work to transcribe at all. I don't know what is going on there, but I would not advise going with them at this time.
focus? What's focus?
Focusing and not getting distracted is my toughest chore. When I'm on point and working, I'm a great producer. It's the getting there and staying there that's an issue for me.
I found a clock chime program that chimes every hour. I initially got it to remind me to get up and stretch so I couldn't get so stiff, but it helps me stay focused, too. When I want to get silly and I let myself get distracted, I know that I'll have 5 minutes coming with the next clock chime, so I get myself back to work a little bit easier.
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