nationals vs working for yourself
Posted By: Give your secrets too!!! on 2005-07-26
In Reply to:
Regarding the post below about how to avg 1600-2000 lines per day, someone posted they make about 12 cpl and about 3500 lines per day. I'm assuming this person works for themselves. To all of you wonderful ladies who are so lucky to do this, where the heck do you get started??? I'm soooo jealous, thats a dream living right there. Seriously, where to look, how to get started, what equipment. Any pointers from you gals? I work no less than an 8 to 9 hour shift to scrape in my 1300-1400 lines, work until my fingers get stiff....!!!!
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What nationals?
What nationals or hospitals have this policy of showing doctors how to dictate better? I have worked at 11 hospitals, clinics and trans services in my career, managed a few, was lead transcriptionist at a few hospitals, supervisor at another and also just an MT at times. Never have I ever heard of a policy like this.
There were no nationals
Nobody had ever HEARD of outsourcing. We were all in-house, regular employees, got a REAL SALARY with benefits including LOTS of PTO time, etc. We were treated with respect and appreciated for our hard work and MT was an actual profession to be proud of. Then after computers came along and the "want it on the chart 5 minutes before the doctor dictates it" mentality, somebody got the brainstorm that they could make tons of money off of us by getting rid of the in-house departments, "allowing" us to work at home, and only paying us peanuts on a "production only" basis. The bottom line of "the cheaper the better" took hold, the nationals took over, started outsourcing overseas, and you have the mess we have today. I guess that about covers it----
Do any other nationals have 10,000 MTs?
Maybe that's why it is talked about so much. There are 10,000 MTs affected by what they do.
Nationals are no better
Disagree, no matter whether you are an I/C with own accounts or with a national or even small MTSO, we are all at the beck of the doctors. If they are off or do not dictate, there is no work. I do not think that the majority of you realize how hard is to balance out having enough staff to do the work to keep the accounts and also keep them busy when the work does not come in, especially when the help does not think twice about someone in the family being acutely ill when they are not, taking off for children field trips on a whim, children being sick or whatever the excuse is not to work. It takes quite a juggline act to accommodate both employees and acounts themselves. That said -- flame me as I have already been burnt many times by people who do not have a work ethic or want to work when they want to and not when the work is available.
Nationals are no better....sm
Every group has people who don't come through when they should, doesn't matter what job, etc. but most of us are professional enough that we don't leave our employers in the lurch, certainly not nearly as often as most of them do us, no work, computer down, etc., etc. but, if someone refers to me as "the help" I wouldn't feel too kindly toward them. I would do the job, but don't ask "the help" for any favors.
Sorry...that's a sore spot. Makes me feel like we should be kept in a corner somewhere until we are needed to "help"
If that happens, no more nationals for me!
nm
Big nationals and MTs
I have been in this business over 20 years. I started when we used IBM Selectrics and tapes. I have seen this business changing over the years, some good, some bad. One thing in particular is the very large national companies getting more and more of a monopoly in the transcription business. This has had an impact on the MT. I am making less per line than 15 to 20 years ago, and I seen that is widespread in this industry. I see it is getting more and more impersonal.
20 years ago many MTs were getting 7 to 7.5 CPL. I see that still happening. Adjust that for cost of living increases and inflation, and I feel wages have gone down.
Now we must compete with overseas work and if an MT wants to do VR, they must take a pay cut, at some companies of up to 50% of your line rate. I remember many years ago when they were talking about implementing VR, we were told we would not have pay cuts, just be able to type more. I knew then that they were lying, of course they would cut our wages. They will squeeze and squeeze to get the most money for themselves. Many of these CEOs make millions, but what about all the unethical business practices. Remember Enron.
I feel most of these changes are because of the a few very large nationals changing the nature of the business. Of course, they want to make as much money as possible. Everybody does, I cetainly do. But it seems to me they are doing it at the expense of the individual MT.
Did you know many transcription companies actually train the MTs in India and then give them a job. If you are in the good old USA, you pay for your own schooling and are lucky to get your foot in the door because of no experiernce.
I think if there were fewer nationals and more smaller companies, maybe the MT would benefit.
Nationals can pay much better
than hospital jobs. If you are capable of 1500 lines in a hospital setting, you can easily do the same at home. With experienc (which you seem to have) you can make at least .95 or .10 per line. Most hospital MTs do not make $150.00 a day. If you want benefits, there are some good national companies with good benefits.
You just need to decide how much your in house job means to you versus staying at home. I work in a hospital during the day and at home in the evening. I make more money at home but I need to see other people so I love going to the hospital 6 hours a day.
No, they don't. Maybe Spheris or the big nationals
that actually send you equipment and take the time to train you, but the little MTSOs don't do anything except set up your user ID and password to get into their system and fax you their contract. Ooh, 15 minutes out of their lives are gone. Dreadful. They expect you to have your own equipment, be proficient with the computer and software, and know how to transcribe medical reports. Reasonable enough, but it does NOT cost them anywhere near the figures you quoted.
$18.5K two smaller nationals. nm
x
Probably why the larger Nationals have their own
qq
OH! One of the nationals I worked for did that.
Of course, the supervisors had been on the accounts before getting promoted, so they had tons of macros and expansions already. However, they'd work a few hours and get these astronomical line counts while I had all the leftover garbage dictators. Between that and the frequent shortage of connections available, I quit. The supervisor not only got her supervisory wages, but she also cranked out about 2,000 lines a day in less than four hours by taking work away from the MTs. Why did they hire me and the other MTs if she was just going to hog the good lines and the C-phone connection?
YES! nationals have turned
wife's kind of job......need a second income to live.
It is no longer a career
It is no longer a respectable job.
They have lowered it to _drop in_ make a few bucks_go to bed
But don't expect or receive RESPECT, A LIVING, OR ANYTHING ELSE
from a transcription company. They are there to make the profit
OFF OF YOU.
Bows sounds real darn good - when do we start - I'll make the
wagon to sell them from - I'm pretty handy with power tools now since
my husband left because I had to type 26 hours a day! Stupidly he thought
we should have a life.
I won't work for nationals. Been there, did that.
I got hired on part time at the local hospital, then gained one account on my own. I continue to work for the hospital PT, and now have five accounts and two subs who work for me.
what about nationals where you use THEIR expander....
never thought of that...couldn't they just glean your normals from the Expander without even telling you? I am going into it right now and change the NAMES that I associated with those normals I slaved for free to create!!! (doctor names) Thanks for the tip.
I agree about big nationals
Ridiculous. They pressure you, but leave you high and dry with low work available and expect you to work. Thank goodness for the smaller companies. They are getting the cream of the crop of good MTs!! I switched from a big national to smaller company too!!
Smaller nationals are way to go...
It seems you get treated like dirt by the large nationals, i.e., Medquist, Spheris, no communication, etc. Many experienced MTs have gone the way of smaller national companies simply because of the better communication among employer and employee, more warmth among the company, etc. Spheris tries to give off this impression they are a warm company much thanks to the CEO, but the organization itself is not a good employer to work for.
Nationals: Sometimes the hospitals have their own MTs sm
and pull the MTSO off the account when work is low to keep the hospital employees busy. This probably happens more often than one might think these days. IMHO
I want to look into Smaller Nationals.
I am hoping to get some names of some good Small National companys to work for.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Small Nationals.
I guess just not the huge places like Medquist. I would like a little bit smaller. I am even interested in any companies that are great to work for and pay okay. I am not having that great of luck working for MTSO and getting paid good.
Thanks!!
Not the OP, but it's what the nationals are willing to pay, not what they charge. Most of us out
s
Did you ever work for nationals? nm
..
obviously then you don't work for nationals..nm
HATE Nationals
It is terrible what these large nationals are doing to our industry. I have worked for several and they all start out saying, "We really care about our MTs" Bull feathers!! What they care about is making money off our backs and not paying us a decent wage. And sending our work over to India, Pakistan, or whoever is the lowest bidder. I hope hospitals, clinics and doctor's offices here in the US quit using them so they just go away. I will take a small MTSO any day of the week over these megamonster money machines!
Any other MTs for large nationals getting the
Exactly! What are the big nationals providing?
except a tasp and a salesman to land the account?
If IC, use which ever you prefer; most of the Nationals
xx
I salute those that work for Nationals
After reading these boards and I really have to hand it to you guys that work for the Nationals. I mean it as I thank the Lord everyday for my three small accounts and business because you guys really have to put up with the garbage and I don't think I could do it. As mentioned below, I am one of those that do clinic notes, consults, minor surgery reports, and have good line counts but I do get lazy and my docs don't care if we are compliant with certain abbreviations, or how some medical organization has said how something should be typed, if it is gramatically correct, spelled correct then it is fine. It is like driving a car for many years if we all had to take the driving test most of us would not pass because we have picked up some bad habits along the way. I recognize that I have and sometimes capitalize generic drugs or something is not typed as the AAMT says how it should be typed or that book that begins with "B". How you guys can keep up on all the changes is beyond me and why they make them is beyond me also. But again, my hat is off to all of you and I think you all deserve a pat on the back and I wish I could put some money in your pockets because I think you all deserve it. If there are errors in here, give me some slack as my day started at 5 this morning as Tuesday is one of my busiest days and am covering for a friend who is on vacation. So am hitting over 3200 lines today and am tiredddddddddddddd.
Patti
The nationals were the undoing of transcription. nm
x
Nationals versus locals
I'm not sure if you mentioned how long you worked for MQ, but working for a national is not the same as working for a local company.
Your MQ supervisor might not have even remembered that you had a health problem... maybe she did, I don't know, but when working for a national, you cannot expect that one-on-one treatment. It's just not going to happen. I never elaborate on personal circumstances about why I have to take off. I just send an email saying I can't work for X amount of days because of an unexpected crisis or circumstance and if they need to know more, they can contact me.
The same goes with being routed work types with at which you excell. When you work for a national, 95% of the time you are expected to be able to do all work types. I wonder how many MTs like the same work types as you. Not only that, it would be quite time-consuming to document hundreds of MTs areas of expertise and then assign them only those work types.
I'm just crossing my fingers that MTs who are "friends" with supervisors aren't routed work types I prefer to do as well.
I hope I'm not being harsh, but the reality is that when you work for a national, you can't expect to be treated like an "individual."
I'm not saying that this is always the way it is, but to expect anything else is just unrealistic. As posters said below, your real family and friends are the ones you need to rely on for support and compassion.
theory on why nationals are so awful
If you think about how much money they spend on computers and equipment, shipment, they need to make sure they are not just hiring any joe who does not know what they are doing and can walk away with a free computer. That explains the testing that goes on to get hired on with these companies.
Not only that, being so remote, having so many MTs, they have no time to check references, or to know whether or not you are seasoned or how much experience you might have. You could lie your way all the way into becoming an MT, they lose clients because of the lousy work from inexperienced MTs, lose money because of the thieves who just want a free pc.
We seasoned MTs get lost in the blizzard of this. They are just looking out for themselves, for good reason if you look at it from their perspective.
not everyone thinks nationals are awful.
i have worked for 4. two were terrible, one was okay, one great.
the one that was okay and the one that was great made you put up a deposit on the computer stuff and if you didn't get it back to them in good shape they kept it. i think that is fair. costs a lot of money to do that.
all 4 of the companies i worked for checked references. i had to test on terms, meds, and then do a transcription test for 3 of the companies.
the 2 that were terrible - i just did not like their software (1 sent me a computer that wouldn't work so they sent another one and it wasn't very fast at all). it wasn't really anything they did. i just didn't care for how their stuff ran.
i think all of them are decent companies. beats the hospitals i've worked for. beats getting in the car for a drive everyday in pantyhose and heels and listening to coworkers gripe about what they're not getting and having to work when they want you to.
A lot of nationals provide the PC free SM
with employee status. No rental, no shipping.
There are many nationals that let you work split. sm
I'm an employee and I for one work 8 hours in a 24-hour period. No set time.
Me too....just got hired today also. Bye Nationals!
x
But we all want to leave our crappy nationals...
and go BACK to the office! LOL. We're TIRED of the peace and quiet!
I've made in the $50s and $60s for nationals.
I know 5 MTs, good personal friends, who make considerably more than I do...all on production...all at the top 2 nationals.
I charge 1 cent less than some nationals...nm
xx
Try the big nationals. They hire by the hour.
The smaller cheaper companies only pay by the line.
Some do require a minimum of 5 years QA though.
And which nationals are hiring newbies?
That's a first. My niece graduated at the top of her class and there wasn't a national out there that would even talk to her.
She took on horrid jobs (4 to 5 cpl) for a year and THEN got an interview with a national, got hired, and now runs out of work all the time.
Dream on. In this business, even with experience, it's the luck of the draw.
My niece only does it as a side job, as her husband owns a business and she is a stay-at-home mom. That's all she needs it for is a little extra and something to fall back on just in case. But starting out to do this to pay the bills most often doesn't work out, especially for those with little or no experience.
If you've got the experience, the accounts and the stamina, then sometimes you get lucky.
some nationals do a background check - sm
I know for a fact that Diskriter does a background check. They do this because they are giving you a computer, as well as the fact that you are going to possibly be on accounts that give you access to patient information, i.e. SSN/insurance numbers, address, etc. This is, and has been, a fact that there have been transcriptionists that have committed identity theft in the past.
I have quit 4 big nationals, and that has never happened to me.
nm
Nationals who outsource to India
Will the nationals in this country face financial hardship if the Obama/Biden administration cuts tax incentives to companies who outsource their MT work to India?
I know of one company who outsources and they are not doing too well financially and their CEO resigned not to long ago, no reason given. I know a lot of MTs refuse to work for companies that outsource but many domestic MTs do work for them and maybe now is a time to bail out. Any thoughts???
The 2 largest nationals both list it in
Have worked for both and clients know exactly what is going on. MOST clients even ask for it because it's cheaper.
THEY KNOW.
One of the bigger nationals .. very happy - see message
1) Same 2 accounts for 3-1/2 years;
2) Very flexible schedling;
3) Great supervisory team;
4) Excellent pay per line;
5) Production incentive and shift differential;
6) PTO, double lines on Christmas and Thanksgiving, med/den/vision, 401K, flexible healthcare spending account;
7) OT available;
8) Direct deposit pay - on time every time.
9) 24/7 IT help.
10) Choice - Can move up or down in pay per line depending on other accounts I train on.
My top 10 reasons for being perfectly happy and satisfied with my employer!!!
nationals are a 'rude awakening', please do not feel so bad...
You have to get really tough skin, if you want to succeed with a national, and even then your livelihood can be jeopardized at any time. There are not many laws to protect us; it is a very one-sided field, and very subjective. Some companies care only about money, and if you are okay with that, you should at least know it up front.
If you are hearing your quality is not good, but are not given any kind of help, education, instruction, advice on how to improve, you should probably look for employment elsewhere. There are a lot of sadistic people in QA and management (I think they are trying to keep/justify their jobs, so not sure if that is something that can ever be changed).
Even the worst US MT is probably not as lacking as the best India has to offer. Yet, they thrive...(?) and have no threats of being fired or losing their income.
Other than that, research, research on any company you are considering.
In my opinion, if QA people or supervisors are more important than the MT, you are at high risk of being demoralized. You want to find a company who is MT-friendly, and you can find this out by asking to speak to other people, other than the recruiters, when considering employment. Ask right out about the QA and managers, and ask to speak to some of them. Most of these companies have genuinely nice people as recruiters, trainers, support, etc. Then you get the manager and you are in hell, haha!
Women can treat other women worse than any man can, and if they can get away with it, they will.
Shut the h*** up. I make $75K a year doing this with BIG nationals.
I get full benefits. I'm not gutless in any way and I'm NOT having my "rights" taken away from me.
They're not doing anything to me I don't want them to do.
If that's YOUR situation, then make that STUPID statement about your own idiot self.
I'm doing just fine financially, Granny. I doubt YOU make the money I do. Not many do, they're not willing to sit their butts down and actually WORK for more than a few minutes at a time without running here and complain to all the other 'children' about 'school'.
I don't take s*** off anyone, not individuals and certainly not places I work -- there are too many of them out there to work for and if I don't want to do that, I can work for myself.
I kinda like the fact that I bring home more than THREE times what it takes for me to live, AND have insurance, AND a TSA, AND choose my work schedule.
I wonder if the high ho muckity mucks at these nationals
realize that we are quitting jobs and turning down jobs in order to work for them? Then they overhire and we sit here with no work. We don't earn money because we're paid on production. It's ridiculous. I see that two of the companies I turned down to accept another job are hiring again. I just don't know what to do. I'm tired of job hopping and never finding a steady income. I can't seem to make enough money at MT, but I can't go back to working outside the home. It's downright depressing. Back to sending out resumes and testing.
Nationals with 10- to 12-hour window to work 8 hrs?
I did a search in the archives, but the info I found was a little outdated. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Agree, nationals are not paying well anymore.
Unfortunately many MTSOs are following suit to be competitive. It is definitely ALL about luck now. I was VERY lucky to find an old fashioned service where the clients still want top notch quality work and are willing to pay accordingly but it took a LONG time to find as that is now very rare, and I have 20 years in and can type anything. I say at some point we will have no choice but to move on or they will have no choice but to make a complete turnaround when they realize just how badly these reports are being butchered :)
What's typical for your email addr. w/nationals? sm
Help! need info. Would like responses from multiple people please.
Just started a new job last week. Everyone I get mail from, supervisors, tech, mgmt, etc. have a So&so@OurCompany.com type email. (I'm not saying what company), but they are having me use my personal email.
Can't help wondering if I have been singled out for some reason. I feel totally excluded.
Also, even email that is obviously addressed to a large group has only my name/email in the To: box. This seems very strange. Why would it be top secret what group/s it is to, i.e., "All MT's, Hospital XYZ group, etc.
It seems as if I'm only getting email as a blind copy from everyone. How can I figure out whether all the other MTs have So&so@OurCompany.com addresses assigned & some higher up just hates me for some reason, or whether all MTs do not get a company-assigned email address? 
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