The problem as I see it is...
Posted By: Janine on 2007-06-10
In Reply to: If you have bills to pay you take whatever - me
We ARE taking whatever we can get and we are playing into the enemy's hands in doing so and unfortunately for many of us, right now we have no choice but to do so unless we want to get our own accounts. But as long as we are willing to accept anything in order to have a job, they can play around with us at their whim and pleasure and we sit here like idiots and just take it. That's one major mistake we're making. But what is our alternative? Each one of us has to assess our own personal situation and decide what we can do. And if we could as a group somehow work on this problem as well, more the better.
In many cases the MTSOs are not making much so they can't pay us much. I personally know an MTSO and I'm amazed at what she's up against in bidding for jobs. In other cases, they are riding high on the hog and cheating us. Either way, we're in a bad spot right now unless we do this just to make money on the side and not as a means of survival. That's not meant to cut down those who fall into this category -- lucky you! But many of us live outside that realm.
Look, I don't have the answers. I'm in a quandry just like everyone else. My heart goes out to you experienced MTs who have spent your life doing this and us newer ones are hired on at close to what you are making now or at least being offered from what I read on this board. No way is that fair to you! And after having been a "new" newbie and now seeing how I was taken advantage of and had no idea at the time, I feel sorry for the newbies too who end up with the bad companies thinking it will get better if they work hard enough. I'm still with one of the "unmentionable" companies on this board for the experience because I am learning from them, but I am not happy.
In most jobs, you might accept a low starting salary but you know if you put in the hours and effort you will end up making a good salary and the sacrifices will be worth it. It doesn't seem to be that way with transcription, except for the lucky few. Too many snake oil salesmen out there these days and no one to control them.
I work for 2 companies in order to just get by. Nothing fancy here at home. Just food and shelter. Both of my employers praise my work and I get 100% on audits. One gave me an automatic raise without my asking for it and told me I am more highly trained than most of her MTs whom she's had for years. I work hard, I study, I do all I can to better myself. But if at the end of the road there's nothing better than what I'm making now, I have to ask myself if this is really worth it. Frankly, I'm getting very tired of having Chef Boyardee for my dinner companion.
I have no funds to tide me by while I try different companies to see if there are greener pastures. I am trying to hold out until the 5-year mark (if I can wait that long) and then if it isn't better, I'm jumping ship for sure. Meanwhile, I'm in my mid 50s and am going to go back to college for something else in Medicine. This is a heck of a thing to have to write after trying so hard to make it in transcription and apparently doing so well by my audits, but I can't let pride or embarrassment for my age get in my way of providing for myself. We are not fairly compensated for what is demanded of us (and should be demanded of us in most cases) and this is injustice pure and simple.
I don't see how this field can continue much longer with American MTs in the forefront as the most experienced retire, others drop the field and go into something more lucrative, and the newbies will inevitably be newbies with so much to learn before their production and quality are high at which point they will realize they are not being paid what they are worth and get out of Dodge themselves. For those of you who are happy and well-compensated, I'm happy for you. But even you must find yourselves wondering how much longer your good luck will hold out.
I don't like thinking medical transcription is in or getting near "hospice mode" right now in this country -- palliative care until it all gets outsourced or replaced by technology, or until the experienced MTs leave the field and the newbies become wise enough to see that it's not the profession of choice at the moment for those of us who must rely on ourselves to make a living and find a stable job we can settle into and be set for a good long time. Even some of you who have had a good job for years are suddenly out in the cold being offered nickles and dimes.
I think there is going to be a turnaround coming. I think once these MTSOs realize they need us to make a living and keep their clients, they will have to offer us something better or they won't have the staff to keep going except for the naive newbies and the most desperate. If they want to deal with the hassles of VR and hire editors and work going overseas when an experienced MT can get the job done quicker and better, let them. If they want "slapping pooperectomies" they asked for it. If the physicians are willing to have their reports botched for the sake the almighty dollar, they deserve it. Let it all crash down upon them, the sooner the better. If you only want to pay pennies for experience and so hire newbies who are relatively unskilled and thus lower your production and TAT, if morale among the more experienced is nosediving and they are job-hopping so you have continuous turnover in staff, if there is no monetary incentive to bring people into the field, something has to give in order for the profession to survive and for the MTSOs make money and keep their clients happy.
An example: I have a friend who just had a GB surgery. On the H&P it stated he has "aortic insufficiency." He has no heart problem at all. Until he read me his report, he assumed he had "aortic insufficiency" and he would never have known there was a mistake because he had no idea what "aortic insufficiency" meant. This would follow him for life and would affect his applications for life insurance, health care, etc. not to mention it makes his surgeon look like a fool. Now he has tried to rectify this and the hospital (where it was transcribed) couldn't care less. I'm encouraging him to go to the TV stations with this if they don't fix it -- make the public aware of what's going on, the "I don't care, it doesn't affect me" attitude some in this industry have. This is what you get when you push some MTs to work as fast as possible in order to make those lines to get a decent check. That was probably a good MT who entered the wrong short form and didn't proof for content but just kept going to get those mandatory lines in. That's why I say it all has to crash someday or get better. There's just too much wrong for it not to make a U turn sometime soon or die completely.
This board is visited by "the choir" who know all this, by MTSOs who want to know what we think, and also by those contemplating the profession. These are my 2 cents worth of the situation as I see it.
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