You can "thank" the offshore competition...sm
Posted By: MTSO on 2007-06-12
In Reply to: outrageous - MTing
Like it or not.... it's driving the prices down in our industry. We have customers now demanding price reductions as contracts come up for renewal and tell us that if we don't meet their new pricing they'll send the work offshores and pay 4 cpl for transcription, 1.5 cpl for editing work.
More and more clients are willing to take the risk of sending work out of the country for the cheap labor and getting the work done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The overseas companies truly work 24/7/365 and their English skills have improved dramatically.
Gone are the days of high line rates for everyone. Stinks, I know.
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- outrageous - MTing
- You can "thank" the offshore competition...sm - MTSO
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Please post offshore topics on Offshore Concerns board. (NM)
Thank you.
Goldbird
A very humble "thank you" :)
a little kindness goes so very far 
Just smile and say "thank you"
If you would like a "thank you" send one to them
I have always sent a thank you even if they don't go with my service. I have also taken in cookies along with a note. That is just me and it has gotten me accounts that treat me the same -- with mututal respect and appreciation. I never treat my accounts so cold as only "providing a service" and that is what I have emphasized in my brochures, flyers, etc Must be doing something right as they have come to me and stayed with me from 5 to 20 years. Have not had to go out and get a new account for the past 6 years. They have also stuck by me through a horrible divorce, illness and getting behind and not treated me as "just a service" that can be replaced. So I say, yes -- treat them as you would like them to treat you.
Do you ever get the ones that say, "Thank you, operator". (sm)
I always picture Lily Tomlin with the "one ringy-dingy" with the earphones plugged in.
That should say, "Thank you, dear; however,"
s
I have one that not only says "Thank you" but then he says "have a nice day."
He may be difficult to understand at times, but the fact that he says those little words, makes a difference.
COMPETITION
How long have you been with this client? Is is offshore they are talking about? Be tactful and supportive of their concern, BUT FOCUS ON THE PROFESSIONAL QUALITY OF YOUR WORK. Start off by a brief review of your business relationship together. Review with your client, all the fine points of your business - your professionalism, TAT, your availability and your thorough knowledge of their particular needs. Then taken the client through a scenario - ask them point blank who is this other service offering such low rates? Ask your client about the other service's background? Are they offshore? Bring attention to HIPPA and security of their patient's records. If you get no where, you may want to consider meeing your client in person for review of pricing and offer a perk such as a discount per month or if you have to, lower your rate a little. The more you keep your wits about you and stay professional at all times, the more impressive you will remain to them. I have lost hospital accounts at times to lower rates, but I kept my cool at all times even though it killed me, and just once or twice, I got back the accounts and you know what? The first thing told to me was how impressed they were that I was so professional and helpful through the process of letting go. As it turned out, the other services were lousy and I got my accounts back. This doesn't always work though but it's worth a try.
This is not a competition.
see "I think it has to do with"
below.
We went to a wedding and received our "thank you" a year later! so there is hope.
x
I actually have a couple ESLs who say "thank you for transcribing this report"
^^
Silly question, I know, but do you have "Thank you" at the bottom of your invoice?
Seriously, I am making up an invoice template and need to know if most people put "Thank you" on the bottom of their invoices. I cannot find any on the ones that I have recieved from other companies, but then again, I only have a few.
Thanks~
I don't feel as such competition with $$$, sm
As I don't believe they settle for the pay that the Indians do, and as such not competing with us as much ...
Well if it's a competition, I guess
the experienced ones could stop being so generous with help on the Word board, which they do FOR FREE.
Sorry, but I've found another industry that pays by the hour and gives actual holidays. I will drive to work and work with real people, where I will actually feel like I count for something. I'm over the feeling of "privilege" of working in medicine. Let the newbies have it. I'm tired of the docs think we're idiots because we follow a book of rules that has no basis in their reality. I'm also tired of docs that don't want to pay, but would never consider changing their ways and standardizing formats and phrasing or gathering everything they need ahead of time before they get on to dictate (think ESLs and their long, drawn out, time-wasting sentence structures and pauses).
Irish dance competition.
x
LOL. And some kind of comedy competition soon too!!! nm.
.
Y-City Star competition - like AI
Fellow MTs and American Idol watchers,
I made it to the top 20 in the local Zanesville, OH competition similar to American Idol. PLEASE HELP A FELLOW MT!!! You can go online and vote tomorrow for me. PLEASE!! go to www.whiznews.com or www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com and cast your vote. You should be able to hear me sing for about 90 seconds. The public vote is only a portion of the scoring. I will be judged on vocal quality and performance as well. The first night of actual competition is July 15th and then again on July 29th if I made it to the top 8. I appreciate each and every vote. There is some stiff competition ahead of me. Lots of talent in OHIO!!! This is gonna be fun!
Thanks for that information! Competition should bring price down
dd
It's called competition in a buyer's market (sm)
or vendor's (hospital's) market, not low-balling.
MQ's "daddy" underwrites them so they can undercut competition. They aren't
And if you aren't MQ Rosie then I guess I'm not calling you stupid now am I?
Going on a school trip for childs chorus competition--sm
in March to New York. Went to a meeting with school/parents and told the school board will cancel the trip if the terrorist threat level goes to red--understandable, but also we would lose our money ($1600 for four of us to go). Does anyone know of an insurance company who underwrites trips or tours? One of the parents said they heard of this but did not remember the details or company.
You're asking for part of their market! It'll be a competition
You go ahead though. Keep us all informed.
Competition is driving prices down. Companies are not making
Sooner or later you will have to face facts that this industry is in a freeze hold due to several factors.
If the companies are not able to raise their prices to customers, they cannot raise their payouts to workers.
Nice marketing too..a bogus statement about US MTs to discredit the competition nm
nm
You do know that they offshore, right?? Despite what they tell you -
about the hospitals asking, other hospitals have no idea that the accounts are being transcribed offshore!
They offshore and looking to do more. I have
nearly 20 years' experience in acute care, can do even the most difficult ESLs and they offered me 8 cpl, 8.5 cpl over 18,000 lines/pay period.
does not offshore
AccuStat Carolinas does not for any of their clients
They offshore. nm
Try not to offshore.
They might get it done faster/cheaper, but it is going to look like crap. How happy would your clients be then?
All About Offshore
Sending the work offshore can and does work for a couple of reasons.
Firstly the time zone difference, while the US sleeps we are transcribing and the reports back on the specialists' desks, so to speak, when they arrive at work the next morning.
I do not take issue with the fact that you want to keep the work on your shores, but I do take issue with the fact that you think the rest of the world is Third World and incapable of producing work of a high standard. Believe me, there is a world out there and its name is not the US, contrary to what you might think.
A.
Even if they never offshore....sm
when their contracts renew they will be competing against the offshoring companies and the companies offshore already who will bid them under the table and they'll lose the account.
There are several interesting threads, articles, and blogs across the internet concerning the dying industry of the small MTSOs because of not having the capital to keep up with the technology and equipment needed and the decreasing line rates and increasing turnaround times that the facilities are demanding - and big national companies can offer them these things, so they can blow the small MTSOs out of the water.
There is no such thing as security in any job, but the MT industry is on even shakier ground. When your small MTSO has to sell out or loses their contracts and you lose your $36/hour client, you will find that very hard to replace when you go out into the new world of MT and try to find a comparable job today... there just aren't many out there and those that are have hundreds of MTs applying for them.
Now that's getting real...
Offshore
This is sooooooo not true. I work an afternoon shift and have friends/coworkers who work the midnight shift. Despite, this, even during the day shifts, the company we work for is sending all of the easy work offshore, leaving us domestic suckers to do ALL of the ESLs and otherwise hard work. This work was being stripped off daily, in ever increasing amounts --- now it is gone completely. Most of us do not mind doing all of the work as it comes --- but it absolutely sucks that we are being treated this way.
Offshore VR (sm)
I would think so. Personally, I think VR is better suited to newbie MT's and non-English-speaking transcriptionists because VR has a tendency to get the medical words right while totally mangling sentence structure, grammar, proper nouns, and other nuances of transcription that are more easily picked up by novices. Since the medical words have a better track record in VR, it thus becomes easier to bring in low-paid trainees.
Are you offshore?
Your grammer is soooooo bad, I can't take you seriously.
Oh, I have too, for offshore ads. But not U.S.
Oh so you are another offshore supporter?
Sounds like YOU may be the creep.
Offshore Ad on this site?
I was just over on the State Boards forum and saw an Ad for AAAMT saying they charge 5.9 cents per line. Unless they have monkeys working for bananas, they must have offshore workers because we could not put bread on the table for what they would have to pay after Charging 5.9 cents per line. They offer everything that the big MTSOs offer at 1/3rd to 1/4th the price so I think we can be sure they are not hiring US MTs. I believe MTSOs usually pay the MT around one-third what they charge so at 5.9 cents per line, we would be making around 2 cents a line. Ads like this make me question this site's loyalty to US MTs. 
You are offshore and got caught.
/
Nope, even more would end up offshore.
//
They also offshore to Trinidad.
y
Transcend does not offshore
but they are going to voice recognition which has a lot of bugs along with a paycut to about 4 cents a line. There are some other posts on this page about good companies because somebody else asked about them and they made a decision about it. It is probably your best answer. Sorry about the job loss. Why do things always happen around the holidays? Good luck to you.
Don't they offshore big time?
I've never worked there, but I've heard they will undercut American MTs just to send the work overseas.
I beg to differ, OSi DOES offshore.
Or, trying to kid, it is a very well known fact that OSi offshores.
They OFFSHORE and are wanting to do even more.
Pay not that good. I have 20 years' experience in acute care, can do ESLs and was only offered 8 cpl.
Which companies do we know do NOT offshore?
x
re: Which companies do we know do NOT offshore?
Transcend.
Amphion Does Not Offshore
www.amphionmedical.com
They offshore, pay is average. nm
Cymed-offshore
Well, thank you! You just answered a question I asked Cymed.....and they never answered! 
offshore crap
P
If all they had was the offshore companies
to transcribe, do you know how unhappy the M.D.'s would be. They are already complaining. There would be enough jobs if no one worked for the offshoring ones. Idealistic? Yes, but.............
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