MS Word platform--who are the good companies?
Posted By: Smartype User on 2005-11-02
In Reply to:
I have been applying for and training for jobs for weeks now. I have been accepted by a number of top companies, but I have found their word Expanders to be a big problem. I have trained on a couple of sites already and ended up turning them down because of this.
By now I have thousands of entries into MS Word/Smartype, and if I have to start with a new Expander without the ability to import my words, phrases, templates, etc., from Smartype, I just cannot afford the time for the learning curve.
The technical aspect of transcription has always been my weak point, so this is perhaps a bigger issue with me than it would be with others.
Right now I am willing to take even a mediocre line rate, providing it is an employee position with benefits and it is in MS Word so I would have some hope of making a living.
Is there any hope for me? Does anybody have any good companies to recommend who work in MS Word?
We are at the point of losing our house and land. This is serious!
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do they use MS Word platform? NM
x
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Dolby platform, MS Word Help
I've never worked on Dolby (???) but a local hospital I'm talking to is using it with Word as their word processor. The MTs who work there tell me they still have to write down all the job numbers and dates. Back in the old days (after the IBM Selectric days LOL) we used Word Perfect and would make macros that would make an electronic log for us. Anyone know how to do this in Word or within a Dolby system?
Thanks!
I am using my first Word-based platform and am using autocorrect
to add my short cuts into because my other short cut program is attached to the other platform I use so I cannot use it or convert it. I am having trouble entering things into and not getting the results I want. My headings I need bolded and I am not sure if those can be added bolded into short cut or if I have to keep going and bolding them mannually. Also, I am getting an extra space when I put in "yo" and want it to come out -year-old. The extra space is between the age number and the first dash (-) in front of year so I have to keep going back and taking it out. Also, I can't figure out how to Center without having to use the mouse. If somebody could help me, I would appreciate it. If anybody out there has a cheat sheet they can e-mail me I would be forever greatful. THANKS SO MUCH!!!  
If the platform the company uses is Word-based,
then it's on their end and I don't see how you can change that. If by chance their stuff opens and uses your copy of Word, then you should be able to find Word by clicking the Start button (left bottom corner of screen) choose Programs, then look for Microsoft Office and then choose Microsoft Word. If you have it, then once Word opens, choose Format, then Font, then choose your options there (12 is a decent size for a typical font), click on the Default button and Click Yes to apply to all documents.
If you don't have Microsoft Word on your machine, then it's on their end, and again, you can't do anything about it.
Hope that helps!
I don't know anything about Emdat, but if it is not a Word based platform
xx
If it's a Word-based platform, you can move your...sm
entries from Word by going to:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=8842
Use the "AutoCorrect Backup" and save it to your desktop. Then you can run it again to restore it to your Word in the new platform. Hope that helps.
Question for all who type on a Word-based platform.
Does anyone else use F3 to go from expansion to expansion? For instance, I have gent that expands to gentleman, then I hit F3 to go to gentamicin, F3 again to go to Gastroenterology, etc., etc. My question is this: I am typing on ExText, and I have been making these entries, but in the morning when I turn the computer on they are all gone and I have to start over again. In ChartScript they "stick" and in ExText they don't. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get them to stay? TIA for any suggestions anyone may have.
Smartype should work in any word based platform - sm
If Emdat is a web based platform, then it won't work. Fighting that (on Chartscript) myself right now and hate it!
Good platform
Much better than some other platforms out there. Once you get used to it, it will go very smoothly.
EXText itself is a good enough platform, but all
What the MTSO sets EXText up to pay MT's for lines is what determines how many lines you can get, and also as you said, the dictators. You can only get as many lines as the MTSO allows you to get with EXText. They control those ropes -- tell the platform how to pay and for what to pay on each report from each facility that you transcribe for. That is the way MTSO makes their money.
My VR platform is sooooo good that
some reports are almost 100% correct, very little editing required. I have noticed, though, it gets he and she mixed up and also does not know its numbering so usually watch those carefully. I am so custom to editing now that I see words everywhere that someone should have "edited."
Webchart MD -- is it a good platform?
Hi there,
Can anyone tell me if WebchartMD is an efficient platform? I'm thinking about subcontracting with someone who uses it but would love to know beforehand if it's a good platform before I commit.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Peacebug
I have an extremely good platform,
and like I said read extremely fast and just easy. My VR is apparently not like others on here because very few errors and we have to catch them, cannot just do half. One will not be able to do the basic amount for work on VR IF they do not have a good platform and are not fast. I always go fast forward on audio 8 hours a day. That is the way I work.
iChart...is this a good or bad platform to work on?
Any info appreciated. I have never worked on this platform. TIA
I would like some information about the ExText platform, good or bad. Thank you. nm
/
companies want you to have Word 2003
It's not her/his fault that she needs to get Word 2003.
An excellent platform and a good line rate with plenty of work -
Then leave me alone and let me do my thing! :-)
Emdat platform?? Good, bad or ugly? Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advance. NM
/
good companies
what makes Proscript so great?
Just curious.
Good companies.
Stay away from Transolutions. They still use the DOS-based program to work in. They mail you 70 POUNDS of books and equipment and just finding a doctor in the books can take a very long time. They pay based on production, which they say gives you an hourly rate. The good paying hourly rates are nearly impossible because of the time it takes using the antequated system. The spell check is horrible, try an 1980s version. They give you more than one account (I had 3) and the QA varies from account to account. Once the regular QA gets done with you (that part wasn't bad), it goes to the head QA lady and she deducts for absolutely everything. They take off 0.25 just for where she feels a comma should be! My QA from her rated me at 88% and I swear to you it was where she didn't want commas and where she did. Absolutely ridiculous. Of course the lower the QA score, the less you make. They spend a tremendous amount of time trying to take from you. If you get a difficult account, which I had, nearly all ESLs, you are screwed because if you take the time to look things up, you lose lines per hour and lose money. If you don't look things up and send to QA, you lose money based on the number of reports you send to them. It's a no-win situation.
Etransplus has wonderful accounts, good pay, and good benefits, but you must be a self starter. There is little to no communication from anybody. You don't get reports back that you send to QA and ask for a sample. You don't hear from your supposed team leader at all, even if you ask a question. You don't get all the account information you need, so you really need to know somebody else who works there who can send stuff to you. If you can tolerate that, the accounts are great, little to no heavy ESLs and a good variety of work and so far no accounts have run low.
Transcription Solutions seemed like a wonderful company with good benefits; however, if you work nights, you still have to train on day shift. Would have liked to have taken this job but couldn't for that reason.
OSI or whatever they go by now, their QA is like Transolutions. Every QA person had their own way and it was not consistent at all.
Precyse has decent benefits and average pay WHEN you can get work. The few accounts they have run awfully low and it's hard to make a living.
CBAY has what sounds like a good salary, but they are based on 65 cpl without spaces.
I'd like to know myself who is out there who has decent pay, good and consistent QA, and a steady workload.
As far as flexible scheduling, Transolutions gives you the option of starting one hour early or one hour late, but that's the extent of that. The others let you set your hours but you have to stick to them ridigly.
PLEASE, somebody, who ARE the good MT companies?
I have 20+ years' experience, and I am looking for a good MT company who will employ me full-time. We are losing our current job because we just moved and our current hospitals can't work with our satellite connection (which is high-speed, business-grade Direcway). We are suddenly without jobs and need help fast!
Who are The Good Guys?
Good companies
I think what it amounts to, is there people who like and dislike every company. In reality they all have good things and bad things and good people and bad people. I think lots of your success is based on your attitude. If you are a good MT you will have success wherever you go.
Are there any good companies?
That will hire new grads? I've been an RN for 6 years and type over 100 wpm, but can't seem to get my foot in the door anywhere. :(
Good companies for IC
I can recommend two companies - one is Keystrokes - check their feedback on this board, and the other is Global Transcription Network out of Arlington, Texas. I do not know if GTN has a website. I worked for them for about 10 years as an IC and enjoyed the flexibility, the pay, as well as the work. I was given the opportunity to work on many different accounts and learned a great deal while working with them. Most of the ICs worked on only one or two accounts, but I was pretty new out of school when I went to work with them and was eager to learn all that I could. Neither of these companies off-shore their work. Hope this helps.
Need the name of a FEW good companies
I have been reading this message board for a couple of weeks now, in preparation for going back to work as an MT. I have gotten some offers, but I'm scared to death to accept them for fear they are one of the bad companies, and if I do accept one, which one? I'd just like some names of some really upstanding companies for employees. Please help me, if you can.
any good companies????
I am looking for a good company I can stay with and grow. I have 10+ years experience.
good companies to work for
Hi,
I am a recent M-TEC grad who is beginning the job search. Does anyone have any companies that they really like working for or have heard good things about? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Jen
Good companies to work for.
I have found Spheris to be an excellent company to work for. They provide you with the equipment and with on-line paid classes to teach you their system. The supervisors and help personnel are terrific. You set your hours and can have as much work as you want without ever running out. They have terrific benefits and fun things to do and an on line info system that teaches you whatever you need to know about medical transcription. I have been self-employed, and have worked in a clinic for 15+ years and find Spheris to be the best of all. Good luck in your search!
Dee
Good companies to work for
I disagree with Spheris being a good place to work. As a newbie, you should stick with a smaller company. Somewhere where you will get individual attention and not be lost in the shuffle of a huge company. If you are placed on the right team, you might be okay. If you are placed on one of the teams with incompetent managers or supervisors, you are destined for doom. Just my personal opinion.
Replies to who ARE the good MT companies
Hi, everyone, and thanks for the good feedback! I thought I should be as generous as everybody has been to me by sharing the feedback in a summary:
According to the consensus of most replies here is what I am getting:
GOOD - Amphion, MDI-MD (*not MDI-FL), Keystrokes, Silent Type, Phoenix Medcom, QT Medical, Digital Records, SPI, and eTransPlus.
Acusis was mentioned as a good one, BUT when I input "Acusis" into Google to find its site and also saw this one
http://www.acusisindia.com/AIP0302/Home.asp
I had second thoughts about applying. I have already lost one good account to India, so I don't wish to go through that again.
BAD- Medquist, Ascend, Transolutions, Transcend, Healthscribe, Spheris, KJM Trans., SoftScript, Superior Global, OSI, Zylomed, Medvoice, A to Z, D&L Typing, MedWord, Precyse, MDI-FL (although MDI-MD has had glowing reports).
I can add my own horror story to the Bad List: Voice Systems in Georgia. Don't work this account if you ever want to get paid! I worked for 3 months before I finally saw a penny, and that was only with multiple threats and refusing to type another word until they were caught up. And they were SO DISORGANIZED that it was a NIGHTMARE!!! It took weeks of small, incomplete checks for them finally to catch up with me, and the verbal abuse and language I got over the phone, fax, and e-mail were unbelievable! Very unprofessional!
Thank you to everyone who answered me and gave me encouragement. I have applied to everybody on the Good List but found out that I still have unsolvable connectivity problems with some of them, like Amphion. We have high-speed business-grade satellite, but that is not enough in some cases. And we don't have land lines, either. We live way out in the boonies.
Still that leaves a few good choices, so I thank all of you!!!
There are good companies that do not offshore -hopefully will never have to.
nm
What companies are good with newbies?
nm
The word aforementioned is a good word.
NM
BTW, what R some good companies 4 radiology pay-wise? nm
Any good companies that will provide a free computer??
Are there any good MT companies out there that will provide a free computer and the software, supplies I will need?? I am a canadian MT living in canada. They also must hire outside the USA. IF anyone knows of such a company (that pays at least 12 cents per line too!!)- please email. Thanks!!!!!
Jan Marquis
A good MT is hard to find. Check back with those 2 companies
io
MTSO with platform versus no platform (big message)
If a MTSO advertises that the MT works in MS Word and sends dictation by FTP, does this usually mean there will be no demographic/doctor database and the demographics will not be autopopulated?
I got into a mess with a small company (got out real quickly too). I was required to print out daily email copies of the doctors' office patient schedules (which were barely legible) and type in all information. I spent more time hunting for the correct patient through pages and pages of these schedules. Then I had about 25 pages worth of doctor's names that I would have to go through to find the attending, referring, etc. A total waste of time as I didn’t get paid for that.
I wish MTSO would give more information as to what platform they use (if any). Proprietary software is such a generic, totally useless description. Would they buy a new car that listed, "Car has gasoline operated motor?"
And for Pete's sakes, why so secretive about the pay? Give a ballpark figure. Just say, pay is between 7-12 cpl depending on skill, testing, etc. Tell me if you pay for spaces, headers, etc. It would save them time because I wouldn’t even apply for a 7 cpl job.
Before I spend an hour or two testing, I need more information from a company to be sure it is compatible for my needs. If the MTSO would spend a little time on their website detailing their platform, how they send/receive files, pay rates, how line rate is determined (spaces/no spaces) employee/IC/SE status, minimal line count, whether work pools consist of 100s of doctors, or smaller pools with 25-50 doctors etc. Having all this information on their website would save them time and the MTs time. Phoenix Medcom has a really good layout describing pretty much everything an MT would want to know before testing with them. I am just tired of testing with a company and then finding out the job wasn’t exactly suited to my needs. 
Platform versus non-platform (templates)?
I've been working for MTSOs for years now, using their templates which sometimes cause productivity problems (macro issues, etc). I'm wondering if productivity is increased when working on a structured platform, such as one that a national company provides for its transcriptionists? I've never used a platform, but it would seem that all one needs to do is straight type onto the screen and the platform program takes care of margins, page breaks, etc?
Any thoughts (as well as companies who are hiring who use platforms) would be appreciated. Thanks
what is a good word for....
the opposite of a pay raise? A pay reduction? A pay decrease? What is the best way of saying I was given a reduction in pay but using the word "pay" first.
I was given a pay _____
weighting is a good word for it
thanks for the responses....out of curiosity, anybody know how the MTSOs charge the physicians/clinics? Do they incur an extra charge for residents (who tend to fumble through dictating)? Or a higher percent of ESL providers?
Where is the incentive for the physicians to improve the quality of their dictations?
And also, do most of you simply stop working for a company if you get hired and discover the quality of the dictators is really bad? Or have you at that point gone back to renegotiate a new line rate? Just curious how others are handling this! Thanks!
Word usually has really good "help"...sm
Word has a really good "help" function. You can usually just type in a few key words of what you are wanting to accomplish and the program will find matching "help" topics to figure it out. For example, if I were trying to convert something from Word to WordPerfect, or the other way around, I would type in either "WordPerfect" or "Conversion" or something along those lines. Then, try and find the matching "help" topic that will benefit you the most. Hope this helps!!!
Get a good word expander for starts - sm
I started with ShortHand but then bought Stedmans Smartype which I love; and also a good spellchecker (again I use Stedmans). I don't know how I did it before w/o these. It is like night and day. They help out tremendously do save lots of time. So if you don't already have either of these, I'd highly advise getting them; very necessary to help speed up production, etc.
Good word expander reasonably priced??
I would like to purchase a good word Expander that is reasonably priced, but I can't afford to pay $100 - $200. Does anyone know of one that is good, but is lower priced?
Looking for a good word expander to go along with MSWord. Does anyone have any suggestions??
Hi all!!! I am currently using MSWord and would like to purchase a word expander. I have done some research, but am still not certain which one to buy. I wish not purchase one that will drain my bank account, but do want one with the capability to have the ability to add an indefinite amount of shortcuts, etc. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!
Does Anyone Know of A Good Medical Spell Checker For Word?
Hello,
I am new to these boards and I am curious If anyone knows of a good medical spell check for Word? TIA :)
Read the tips from the poster at the top of the board about Word. Good suff! nm
s
Cumbersome is a good word here to describe Meditech. The designer obviously doesn't type.
cc
I'm going to type an acct at home for local group. What is a good word expander for
things to know on doing tapes from an office? Is it best just to give them a disk and let them print it out at the office like they want to?
Anybody doing an acct like this? Thanks.
Good choice. Appauling, insulting, and every other neg. MT word ya can think of. Holy Smokes. Grant
the Serenity Prayer.
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