Focus is run by a bunch of Indians who don't know what they're doing.
Posted By: Offshore QA Editors for US transcription? I don on 2008-04-23
In Reply to: I work for them and always on time nm - ME
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Ha - we're a bunch of nutters . . nm
Indians
you understand each other because you care to, there is the difference. Have a nice day!
LOL-they are probably all Indians.
.
Indians
The company I work for sends all of the easiest work from each account to the foreign freaks --- leaving the hardest work for the American transcriptionists, who are expected to still maintain greater than 98% accuracy, and the American transcriptionists who were sending too much to QA were fired!!!!
not just Indians
One company now is going to train Vietnamese, another Chinese (just what we need, a communist country with our information). I frankly would trust the Indians more than any of them, including the Filippinos. The Indians have been our allies for years and years. The Filippinos are dreadful to work with. The company I work for only uses them and they are absolutely horrible with errors that could kill somebody. As a QA we try to teach them how to do it right and all we get back are incredibly rude emails from them. They even say they don't have time to spellcheck, nor will they, and their QA only opens the files and sends them on. At the risk of losing the accounts, my company tells us now not to anger them, we need them. They used to get points deducted for mistakes, now they don't, but the domestics sure do. It's like we are THEIR employees. They are the worst MTs and the nastiest people I've ever dealt with. I would any day rather work with Indians. They were polite, respectful, always answered emails, always made attempts to do better. The others are cocky and could care less what we think or what we need. Needless to say, I'm trying desperately to find another job. I don't work for offshores, nor will I. This company now is just pushing through the files without QA because they don't want to hire even though we keep telling them the files are horrible and they could come back on the company legally, but it's all in the money. Less QA = more money. I would NEVER go to a hospital or clinic my company does the transcription for, NEVER.
Indians by far!!!
x
We have been taken over by the Indians!
PROOF POSITIVE. I am outta here.
East Indians
Tell me about their arrogance! The apartment house I live in is loaded with them. They are dirty, they are loud and arrogant. It's terrible.
Can still do that and not help the Indians earn our money.
nm
Yes, I've seen many pictures of all those Indians and their
nm
That's why AHDI just LOVES them Indians!
.
Enjoy your 15 cpl until the Indians underbid you at 3-4 cpl...
z
THE POST IS NOT ABOUT INDIANS BUT ABOUT AMERICAN COMPANIES
that want to send their work overseas and train them to transcribe it. I want to know why the moderators feel it is okay to post jobs from spheris and healthscribe and others that were mentioned in the article when they undoubtedly hire us in the US until they can train more transcriptionists overseas and then leave us high and dry.
Yuck !!! Will take Pakistanis and Indians over Asians any day.... nm
ss
Weren't the Indians given a reduced rate to get CMT?
p
To me they are harder than Indians, Spanish or anything else. Strange.
nm
I get it. They are paying the indians 1 or 2 cents a line,
which isn't much to us but it is to them, and then they just pay QA people a few cents more a line to edit the crap that comes back (probably no worse than correcting some ASR) and there ya go. $$$$$
Not many. A lot of Indians use Canada as a crutch to gain US business and
for processing. You'd probably do better at MTGab since it is a Canadian MT site.
better or worse than the Indians saying womting, wenous insufficiency...
Cannot stand hearing the *w* unstead of the *v*!
They recently got rid of all their Canadian MTs, guess to make room for more Indians. nm
xxxx
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.
Don't focus on them. Or if you do, move your
mouse up and down really, really fast to see if it gives you motion sickness. LOL
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 ??
Still happy at Focus?
Hello-
I am a newbie who is supposed to start at Focus and was wondering if you are stil happy with them? I am also going to be doing IC status, not employee. How much work do you usually get per day (hours?) Thanks for your help!
Amanda
Escription/Focus
I also work for Focus with Escription and I love it. I started as a newbie with them and I have received great training and because I have never been a super fast typist, I prefer VR over full transcribing, so I have a mix of both. My experience with Focus has always been good; there was low work volume at first, but there was a limit to the accounts I could do since I was a newbie. Now I have some experience under my belt and there are plenty of accounts to train on and they do not constantly switch you like some companies do. I still have the main clinic account I trained on a year ago, along with picking up some acute care accounts. I plan to stay with Focus/Escription for a long time.
OMG!! Just focus on the issue -
pay her the $100.00 which, by the way, is not measly to many people, especially if they worked for it. Two wrongs don't make a right!! MTSOs have to understand that you must pay subcontractor MTs on time, especially if you have a signed agreement, even if they have a 50% error rate in reports and the client doesnot pay until 2010.
And I agree with the other poster, what was your subcontractor doing with your client's contact info? Did you have her sign a non-compete clause in your transcription agreement? If so, and she still contacted your client, then you still pay her the $100 and let her know she is in violation of your agreement, too, because her contacting your client is interpreted as competition. If not, this is a learning lesson for you.
as a newbie with Focus,
I have not been docked pay because of poor accuracy. If you have any questions at all on your jobs, you send to QA.
Focus QA questions
I was offered a 100% QA position with Focus at 6 cpl and have been sitting on the fence because most of the prior feedback regarding this company has been so negative. A big concern is that, according to what I've read, the trainers are in India and the process of getting trained is extremely challenging. Can anyone currently working there comment on this? Also, is it true that the majority of the work you edit comes from India, and if so, how does that affect your income/lph?
Focus Infomatics
Has anyone else had trouble collecting their paychecks from this company?
Focus has definitely improved
since Nuance bought them out. I don't work there anymore but I had a pleasant experience and made money while looking for a place that offered benefits regardless of line count (they found me, actually). If they aren't your first choice, apply with them as well as any other company you can find. Good luck :o).
I started with Focus
I was hired by Focus within a month after graduating and had a good experience with them. I know work for another company, but I think sometimes it is a matter of luck and being able to pass the test to get hired. There are some good companies out there, but also a lot of bad ones. If I had it to do over again I would have started part-time and held on to my full-time job until I gained more speed since I almost went broke in the process.
I wish you the very best and do not give up if this is what you really want, but it is a tough industry, even though I love it!
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.
RE: Focus Informatics!
Beware of quality-based deductions!
Tips on how to focus, would
Posting this because I want to get my line count up. I work as an IC and can work anytime I want to... when I type I do about 200 an hour so it is not the company line counter, as reason why my lines have been pretty low. I have been in this business a long time though and find it hard to sit and focus. If I could just even do 2 hours at a stretch and do that 3-1/2 times a day it would be great. I just get so tired, bored, I don't know what that I cannot seem to tolerate the length of time needed to sit. I am making a fine line count for part time and meeting my contract, but I sure would like to earn more money and the work is there. Anybody having the same struggles? Any input would be highly appreciated. BTW: I tried setting a timer, giving myself little goals, even long-term end-of-pay check treats for myself, but the boredom or tiredness or something is just too strong. Thanks again for any ideas.
Focus place
It always seems that that Focus infomatics place is hiring. I know nothing about them,except what I read here which is good and bad, but they always seem to be hiring.
You are exactly right. Beth is full of herself and her focus
is not where it should be. It's time to sit down and shut up and let the professionals do their job. She is in no position to criticize because she doesn't have all the facts.
Focus on finding the one or two companies you
really want to work for instead of many. That way you're not testing 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!
Need tips! I have LOST my focus!
I have been working as a Transcriptionist since 1999, always from home. For the first 5 years I could pound out the lines and sometimes work 9 or 10 hours straight and get an awesome line count. About 2 years ago I started losing my focus and would get sidetracked by other things in the house, but I was able to meet my line goal most days. Last year I decided to rent an office away from home with a neighbor who also works from home and I was a little more productive there, but still distracted. Now, I am back home again and I feel like I would rather be doing anything than transcribing. I don't want to give up on it because I LOVE the flexibility it gives me! I am currently transcribing for two different clinics (not working for someone else) and I work as an IC for a national part time.
My distractions are: Internet, housework, sometimes my family although I'm working on re-training them (and I invested in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones so I don't have to hear them when I'm transcribing )
I know I'm not the only one who has gone through this so if you have and you have any tips that workd for you, I would love to hear them! I need to get out of this rut!
Thanks in advance for your advice
Focus stands for Foreign
Focus is an Indian company, you know. Most who have been there were not happy, and many MTs only go there because they are fresh out of school and find it hard to get the experience they need. Just FYI.
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.
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