Not a Commodity

I have been doing transcription for 35 years. I had a business for ten years in the 80s with nine women working with me and for me. I paid 10 cpl back then and then realized that p/hr pay would be better for quality, which it was. They still made 10.00/hr back then which was terrific in the 80s. I didn't drive a big car or take fancy vacations, I just wanted to work and make some money and work for someone who knows transcription and will not be making decisions about how I do my job, never sitting an hour in my chair. Alas, though, I dropped the business because by then persons of interest, (the male species) had come onto the scene and thought,"now here is a real good way to make a lot of money off the backs of someone else." They thought transcription was a commodity. I do not agree with that.

I went to work for a hospital and have been there for almost 20 years and have been through enough. I was making 17.50/hr and doing a good day's work. Then everything went to heck. We were put on line counts that were extremely hard to achieve 185/hr just for now (of course they also lengthened the line) and only pay 7cpl. They will of course re-visit this and change it to 200 and then 220 as things progress. I now work twice as hard, for a lot less money. Oh and we also do not get 10 minutes per hour of DT to go to the BR or look up information. We now get 3 min/hr to do that. It seems that now the doctors are dictating with a style that rivals someone with a speech impedement of the largest proportions even more so than in the past.

There is simply no respect for transcription and transcriptionists these days. After doing some doctors' dictation, I wouldn't send my dog to them, much less put my life in their hands.

To make a long story short, their interest was to outsource our department (because all of our ladies have more than 10 years here. No one new has been hired in 10 years and we have a healthy benefit package). Well the didn't want to give us severence pay or employment counseling so they made this whole set up impossible to achieve so people would quit. Of course we are too smart for that. So many people have retired or decided to just let fate take hold. Three verbal warnings, one written and then extermination, oh, excuse me, termination! This way we get unemployment so we can afford COBRA and go back to school for another kind of job. This is the way it is going to be going. This is what we are told by the powers that be. All over the country Transcriptionist jobs will be more like slave labor. I'm hurt, angry and disappointed that I will not retire from this hospital, but I will get over it. My last day is June 26. I have let myself be terminated to on to brighter and better things. I start at the community college in August and intend to have a better life. 

I know that there are transcriptionists out there that are happy with their jobs and I really hope you can keep them and keep up with what they want you to do. We are not incompetent because they changed our way of pay to Pay for Performance and cannot do it. They have made it impossible to work for a decent wage. The last thing my employment lawyer I went to see on behalf of our ladies said to me was "It sounds to me like they are trying to get you all to quit."

With the job market the way it is having unemployment is better than sticking it out in an impossible situation and stressing myself to the point of no return. I take pride in my work. My QAs have always been 98.9 or above. But, there really is no respect for us anymore in many hospitals. If you are happy with your administration, congratulations. Hopefully someone who has never sat an hour in your chairs will not be making monumental decisions such as how to pay you, when they have no idea what really goes on with transcription. No MBA should be totally responsible for that without at least having transcription input.

Happy Days!!!!

• Not a Commodity - Barb S.
  • did I work with you? - no work
    • No not from Omaha - Barb S
  • hospital MT - KATHY
  • The exact same thing happened where I used to - S/M

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