I think MQ has lost a lot of very experienced MTs along the way since Philips bought the company and
Posted By: sm on 2005-08-04
In Reply to: Wish I could afford... - Elizabeth
I think they are hiring a tremendous amount of new and inexperienced people and that is a very good way to lose accounts which they are. MQ has some very difficult and very technical accounts in the big universities they deal with and they are very challenging for experienced people let alone new ones. It takes many many new people to accomplish what an experienced person can do and not to mention QA involvement until these people get trained and then many leave anyway.
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philips 9750 vs philips 9850 transcribing equipment
Has anyone had any experience with either the Philips 9750 or Philips 9850? My existing system is proving un-reliable; it has been down all day. Considering the Philips systems.
I was hit by all 3 that summer, I lost power, I lost work, I lost savings...but..sm
NEVER did my employer in any way imply or threaten or dare even mention that my job was in jeopardy because I could not work immediately following a trifecta of natural disasters! My jaw agape is not at your concern about working, but at your concern that you would lose your job because of it. Companies have to have a heart in some situations. You're one MT, your company won't go under without you working for a week or 2 or 3.
Company I work for was recently bought
The MTs weren't notified about this. I just got my check and noticed it was from a different company, signed by a different person. I looked up the company and saw they were Indian and wasn't sure what was going on but suspected. Then today I saw the post on the company board with the link to the article about the purchase. I've been with this company quite a while, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just put in my notice. For one, I don't like the way this happens and nothing is communicated to us. Also, it seems to me it's just a matter of time before the US MTs are phased out and replaced by their Indian workforce. And for me, even if that doesn't happen, I don't think I want to work for an Indian company responsible for US MTs losing their jobs. This is just really upsetting.
I recently lost 20 pounds. That means I lost 80 sticks of butter.
    
Go for the best! Sony, Philips - anything over $50.
Minimum $50 for a good pair. It never ceases to amaze me that MTs spend under $10 for the very thing that makes or breaks their work - Everything is based on what we hear. The difference is phenomenal between a cheap $10 headset and a good $50 and up one. Treat yourself well and go for a good set - again anything Sony or Philips over $50 - wireless are great - Sony makes a great rechargeable wireless. I prefer the Philips regular set that runs around $50. I can hear anything and everything perfectly, while my coworkers struggle and struggle. Invest in yourself and your career - you are WORTH IT!!
I doubt your brother has won more than he's lost. To win that much he's probably lost 3 times
So he probably has more bills than money. Otherwise the casinos would go broke.
What's the difference between a C-phone and Philips
I see one has an actual phone piece. My Philips doesn't, but I call in to get work using the number pad. Can these work the same? If a job says I need a c-phone, should I say yes? Thanks.
will be using Philips. Yikes, I'm terrified now! LOL nm
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Experience with Philips 9850?
Has anyone out there had any experience with the philips 9850? It is expensive and I would like to hear your experiences, before spending a lot of dough for it.
We carry the Philips 9850
We carry the Philips 9850 you are asking about. Please click on the link below to go to our company web site. For more information about the Philips 9850 please call (800) 644-9525 ext. 101.
Philips Transcription Station and Vonage
Years ago, I used a Philips Digital Transcription Station to get my MT work. It would plug into my landline jack and then I could dial in to get the jobs to transcribe. This week, the machine has returned since I am trying to help out someone with their work. Unfortunately, I no longer have a landline. I switched to Vonage over the summer. When I try to connect, it dials the phone number, I hear the computer voice that tells me to enter my ID # and then when I do that it is supposed to validate my number and show me the available jobs. It starts the validating process but then times out and hangs me up. Has anyone had problems like this and if so have you been able to fix it.....help please!!!
If it's Dictaphone or Philips, you're stuck
If the unit is Dictaphone or Philips and has a proprietary headset with weird prongs rather than a standard RCA plug like you can use with a Discman, then there is no adapter. Those companies want you to have to buy your headset from them or their authorized vendors. I've been through it with both. It's not enough that you've paid big bucks for the unit, they want every last cent they can get, including for the headset.
Trouble with Philips foot pedal....
I just installed the Philips foot pedal and configured the pedal about 30 times but still in order to play an audio clip I have to press the fast-forward pedal. The Play pedal is the rewind and the rewind is fast forward. I was told that I needed this pedal as this was the only pedal that worked with "the system" but I have the same issue if I try to use my wav pedal. (My wav pedal works fine with other applications). Not sure what in the world is going on....DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS??? 
Anyone have that Philips new ergomonic foot pedal?
I got up after transcribing for 4 hours straight and I nearly fell on my face! My foot/ankles hurt so bad from constantly pressing up and down on that foot pedal. I couldn't even put ANY weight on my foot and had pain shooting up my leg.
After transcribing for about 10 years, I always thought I might have to deal with carpal tunnel syndrome but not this!
I'm hoping someone has tried this new pedal. It's called a Royal Philips ergonomic foot control. Says you only have to make very, very small movements with your heel to start and stop. Here's a link to see what it looks like below. I've seen it cheaper elsewhere. I'm hoping someone who has used it can tell me if it's worth it.
Thanks so much in advance!!!!!
I bought a wedge at Michael's for about 59 cents. Bought one for my SM
Lanier station so I could see the display and one for my keyboard.
Royal Philips ergonomic foot control
I have one of those foot pedals and I really like it alot. It is much easier to use that the other one that I have from years ago. You might consider it to be defective and contact the manufacturer for help.
Is a C-phone like Bytescribe call-in system or Philips digital transcription
My 2 stations don't have the actual phone piece, but I can make calls to the place where I get work. I'm just curious because I want to take a test that requires C-phone, and I'm not sure if my stations will work or not. If anyone can give me some background or information on this, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
I think $.07, $.075, $.08, or $.085 are all way too low for experienced MTs.
I truly love interviewing with these companies, then trying not to spew coffee out my nose at the line rates offered. Some of those rates were even for IC with no benefits or tax withholding. I'm about ready to quit MT and let them offshore because rates have dropped so much since I started. It's wonderful being offered the same rate to do ESLs and upper level work as what I made 10 years ago as a newbie. It's getting to the point where you can't make a decent, honest living anywhere any more.
Well, that's what MQ does. If are not an experienced MT,
nm
If you are experienced and don't have to SM
look a lot of things up, then the answer is macroing the daylights out of you machine. Macro just not large words, but medium and small words, such as "n" for "and" and "w" for "was", and so on. Try not to type anything out, if you don't have to.
I have also experienced that.
Did tell her that she might not have realized it but I felt there it sounded condescending and as our goal was to put out as perfect a product as possible, it was not helpful. Also told her that I appreciated constructive criticism as that would help us both.
Things did change. Sometimes I don't think they realize the importance of the way they phrase a sentence.
new MTs vs. experienced MTs
Dear MT Pundit,
Thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts about experienced vs. new MTs. I think you're right-on. I see myself in the set-in-my-ways attitude sometimes. I'm not speaking for anyone else, of course. I can only speak for myself. Change isn't easy for me, but I've tried very hard to adapt and think I'm doing okay. This industry is changing fast and furiously, and if I want to stay in it, then I need to be able to go with the flow. Otherwise, my job may well end up in India.
Too experienced? sm
Looking for a little advice. While applying for MT jobs recently I have been told I am too experienced to "just transcribe" because they see that I have held supervisory and other positions in the industry - along with many years of actual transcribing experience. I realize these days about 8 cpl is the going rate and although I wish it were higher, I wouldn't apply to these postings if I wasn't willing to work for that rate. Just looking to supplement my income. I would hate to leave all this experience off my resume, but maybe I should? Any ideas for a different way to spin this?
If you are experienced, you don't need to
look at the keys, whether characters are there or not.
Experienced ICs, please help.
I am an experienced Transcriptionist but I have always worked as an employee. I now have the opportunity to pick up a side account as an IC.
I really need some help and guidance on how to create a contract and what needs to be in that contract. Can someone please give me some advice?
Thanks In Advance!!
Even the most experienced MTs can
have trouble with new accounts. As long as your company has not said anything to you, don't sweat it.
experienced MT
Companies tend to want to hire newbies with the mindset that they can pay out cheaper. We all have to start somewhere, of course. Experience needs to continue to be worth something, including a deserved pay to go with it, and this notion seems to be whittling away...
In this profession, we all learn something new continuously.
I have experienced this...
before. There are many clients who operate in a similar fashion. If that's what they want, give it to them. After all, they are paying for our services, right?
yes, dnh.... I am experienced
I have been doing this for 15 years. Did my time in the office before going home and still learning every day.
I feel that I am above average at what I do, in the past 11 years on my current job, not one QA audit below 98%. I also have a 2nd job to make ends meet and in the past year, my monthly QA audits have been above 99%, twice at 100%. The 2nd job is OPs only and paid less than the 1st job.
I work a schedule at both! I do not complain and take pride in what I do. Of course I look things up. I do not abuse QA.
Thanks for you advice about trying to find a job like yours that never posts ads because no one leaves. That should help a fellow MT find a home.
I am an experienced transcriptionist, and have no more need sm
to proof every word of every report that the doctors have a need to actually listen over to their own dictation. Speed and quality go hand in hand in making a good MT. If you don't have both, then you will never make any more and never have any confidence in your skills. I think I already told you, above, that I have a QA score of 99.4. Good enough for me.
Everyone must pay their dues....we experienced MTs sm
worked in the office in the beginning of our career. I am not as old as one might think, 38 years old, but I started MT while still in high school in the 10th grade on a typewriter. I paid my dues many times over before I could have a career at home. I have to tell you, the experience and knowledge gained in that time is priceless. Yes, we learn something new every day, but in the office you have the doctors, nurses, OMs, and other MTs to offer their assistance. If you don't know a word or can't understand it, you go right to the doc himself. So, the next time you hear it, you know what the heck he/she was talking about. That is how you learn. Sorry to say it, but an office job or MT job in one specialty is where you should start. These schools tell you that you can work at home after you finish their course. That just is an outright untruth!
Just had to give my 10 cents worth.
Experienced MTs Needed
AccuStat Carolinas is seeking experienced MTs to work on many multispeciality accounts. All MTs must have high speed internet acess to apply. All MTs must reside within the US. NO OFFSHORE NEED APPLY!!! Each MT will need to have a 9-pin (serial port) foot pedal. The client will provide all software needed to perform work. All work must be 98% or above in accuracy to remain with our company. AccuStat offers statutory employee or IC status with no restrictions on scheduling for either status. Pay is sent via mail or direct deposit twice a month. Pay is 7.5 cpl per line for all transcribed work and 2.5 cpl for all edited work. The program that you will work with is a VR program so you will have both transcribed and editing work. Please cut and paste resume into email. Only eligible MTs will receive response.
unbelievable... 6.5 to 8 cpl for EXPERIENCED ONLY
that was an ad in the job seeker's board. UN-freakin' believable.
Experienced MTs, please see New MT/Student
.
It may be pitiful but consider how much experienced MTs are
making. Not much more. 8 to 9 cents per line, maybe 10 if you agree to transcribe heavy ESL. Yeah, it's sickening, but then service owners have to edit newbies reports and still show a profit margin without losing their shirt. It's a quandry.
And they always saddle the experienced with these. sm
And then wonder why few really experienced MTs apply for the jobs.
Anyone experienced with ExText? (sm)
This is a new account and we're still on dial-up, and don't have the help function. I have 2 questions: 1) How can you bring a normal you have made for yourself into the document without having to go through the entire list? 2) How can you stop an expansion from expanding on a 1-time basis. Let's say you have PT as prothrombin time, but you need just "PT" -- how could you get it to stop at PT? Many thanks!
That is the norm from what I have experienced - sm
this gives the bride and groom time for pictures, etc. between the wedding and the reception. Every wedding I have ever been too, it's been about 90 minutes between the 2 events. Unless the reception is at the same place as the wedding, I'd expect some sort of gap between the two.
I have experienced all of the postings
below and they are my pet peeves too, but I have one doc that sometimes will not use the call in system, but uses his tape recorder to dictate and he does it while he is in a train station waiting for train, riding on the train, and leaving the train with his wife and kids talking right beside him, not to mention the noise from the train station, whistles and all. I get two 30 minute tapes a week of this guy and I seriously have a headache when I am done listening to it. Wish he would STAY HOME!! lol
I have experienced similar.
When I was working in a physicians office using a tape transcriber, if someone drove by the office using a CB radio, it came in loud and clear. I have never heard a regular radio through mine. I just assumed the ear phones were a type of receiver.
I think for me and what I am reading, these are mainly experienced MTs and ....
I have been doing this for 17 years and what causes the burnout is the stress, not from the job but all the changes in the last 5-6 years, with major companies having people just to figure out how they can make more profit and the constant changes with line counts, different platforms to the company's advantage, dictation maneuvering, on and on and on. I worked for one company that gave me a secondary I fell in love with, told them I wanted it for my primary, it reminded me of the hospital dictation I was used to, it wasn't a week later that I was doing almost 95% ESLs, that was bull - then to be making less than I was 5 years ago and working more hours to make less, VR that is not trained and takes longer to change than to type and make half per line, all these things contribute to burnout - sometimes I work sporadically all through the day to get my lines in because I am so discouraged of such a skilled profession making less than minimum wage with some companies. Yes, I agree it is great to be good with ESLs but it does slow you down and if you want to work 2 more hours a day or more because you are on an accout that is mainly ESLs, then you are doing it because you are lowering your standards, again, and again and again. That is the nature of this profession anymore.
In bowling good bowlers have a handicap for less experienced bowlers but that is a game, this is not a game. I do not like being handicapped in this profession bacause companies have to handicap the more experienced transcriptionists to be able to have less experienced transcriptionists do the work. Too many experienced transcriptionists are getting out of the profession because of that stress, not the stress of transcription, that is not the stress. The cherry pickers are the team leaders having to get their lines in and doing the easier dictation, they can do that, I don't think they have favorites they give it too, most are faces they don't see or know - they give the more experienced MTs the hard dictation, take the cream for themselves, and maneuver other dictation for the more inexperienced transcriptionists, and probably for not much different pay.
Is it hard for an MT experienced in - sm
general surgery or radiology or to transcribe neurosurgery/neurology? The EEG studies seem okay. What are the nuances of neurosurg? Any info you have would be great.
i have experienced the same thing you are. sm
some will "get it" in the MT world and some just won't because they lack the dedictation and care it takes to produce quality work. i had it happen not too long ago to me. i gave a month to get the act together after a year of working for me. it didn't happen. same mistakes over and over again even though i did compare documents and sent it back to them and then long expanded emails with every mistake. i am talking DOBs wrong, pt spelling wrong (when given pt lists), just complete nonesense typed. i had to let them go. why pay someone to do the work when basically you are doing it all anyway so you are giving them "free money". don't put up with it. move on to someone else until you find someone who takes pride in their work. there is a difference in not knowing and researching to figure it out just like there is the pride in work and wanting to do it right. some just don't have that. they want easy, work from home, money, but not putting in the effort to do it accurately. i think you should have done something long before you let them slid by for five years!! has it happened for five years with quality or just gone downhill recently?
Experienced versus New
I have to admit that even though I have 19+ years of experience, this article is strikingly true. I am not saying that a new MT has the experience in that they can make a decision in an instant as some of us with many years, but they are trained now to follow AAMT, which I had never heard of until I set out on my own and came online to find work. I also have seen posts on this board of people that have worked in a clinic setting for 10+ years and have no idea about what else is available to them online or how to set that up for themselves. How many times have we seen posts that someone has worked on one platform and never anything else. I don't think that article is a plug for that school. I think that article speaks for what is going on today in the MT industry. I think someone who has just finished school has been shown a lot more than what we all have had to learn on the job. I could probably type faster and know more about terminology than any new MT, but a new MT should know BOS and be more computer savvy than I was starting out.
Agree with Experienced MT
This is great advice and probably the same I would give. This is definitely a career where the skills and knowledge it takes to perform the job well are not commensurate with the wage scale in most instances. Being in the field myself for more years than I can to mention, there is never totally smooth sailing. Rough waters ensue almost on a daily basis. Eventually with a lot of hard work, you can pretty much do the gamut the industry has to offer but I don't ever think you ever get to the point where you call it "easy."
Even experienced MTs are slow at first with a new
company. It takes a while to adjust to new formats, new software, new doctors, and usually a new medical facility that does things a little differently, including dictation.
Just because you're terminated does NOT mean you have no right to receive your back pay. I'm not sure what the legal timeline is for when you are supposed to get the pay you are owed when terminated, but I would recommend finding out, and once you know when the cutoff date is for receiving your final paycheck from them, if it's even so much as half a day late, I would pursue it very aggressively, starting with a call to your state's Labor Board.
Question for the experienced
Do those of you who have been at this awhile (but not burnt out) feel that MTing becomes more enjoyable as time goes on?
I am still pretty green at this and am hoping as I gain more experience and knowledge it will become more pleasurable and less wearing.
What has your experience been?
Just because YOU haven't experienced it
doesn't mean it's not happening. I lost my last THREE transcription jobs in the past 18 months to VR. The companies or hospitals decided they could make more money by putting the decent MTs on difficult accounts and letting everything else go to VR. I used to consistently make $28 an hour, and that is no LIE! I grossed $3,000 a month working part-time, 25 hours per week or less. Then my pay was cut back to maybe $6 an hour doing garbage dictations that the machine couldn't handle, such as ESL, oncology, static, mumblers, cardiology. Forget that! Sure, I didn't technically get "laid off," but I had to quit because I could no longer make a living wage to support my family. McDonald's pays more than $6 an hour! I would have taken it if I had been offered a position as a VR editor. I can't find another part-time job in MT. Instead, I've been job hopping through nonMT, minimum paying jobs and am now going into debt again with student loans to retrain in a different career field.
It can even happen to experienced MTs...
I want an experienced MT to email me please - I have questions for someone who has been there, done
nm
re wanting experienced MT to answer q's
go ahead and e/m me if you want. I've been at this since 1975; will help you if i can.
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