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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Has anyone heard of Surgical Notes in Dallas

Posted By: lmt on 2007-02-06
In Reply to:

Texas. Any information would be appreciated.


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Info about Surgical Notes in Dallas please

Surgical Notes
This is a company based in Dallas, Texas. They do surgery centers. QA staff are just ordinary clerks--not transcriptionists. There is a lot of orthopedic, plastic surgery, ENT, and GI surgery. Any work up to 5 p.m. is due by the next day--usually by 9 or 10 a.m. This is for weekdays M-T. Friday's work up to 5 p.m. is due back Monday. After 5 and Sat and Sun due back Tue. Pay is always on time and is very good, 0.09 to 0.12 cents a line.
Surgical Notes
Yes-- I worked for them indirectly. I subcontracted to a contracting MTSO. Their virtual private network is just horrible. It is slow and you get kicked off frequently. I know of MTs who worked an entire week and only made $10.00 because of the system. They have an FTP site system that I loved. You could just download the voice file and type in Word then return it; however, when they changed over to this new program everything went down hill very quickly. My doctors were not happy with it either. SN raised the rates, went to this system -- by the way you need to buy a 15-pin pedal and forget any tech help. When I was there it was also lacking. Anyway my doctors took their accounts and walked away. I ended up leaving for that and other reasons. I haven't worked indirectly for them since July of 2006.
Surgical Notes
I should also add when I was working for them indirectly, for several English was second language.
surgical notes
Surgical notes outsource to India....90% of the jobs
Surgical Notes

Any info on this company from IC's currently or recently?


Surgical Notes Transcription wages
Their offered wages are more than the $12 hour I was paid in a rural hospital.
Looking for info on company called Surgical Notes...sm

Would like to talk to anyone who has worked for them or is working for them.  Please e-mail me.


Surgical Notes transcription service out of Texas...anyone work there?
Do they hire employes or IC? Platform? Thanks in advance ;0
MQ Dallas
The poster above is right. Not only are they totally disorganized, never communicate, but also loads of ESLs and many clients with terrible sound quality. It took me only 2 days of the above to quit.
MQ-Dallas
Unfortunatley I can add to that. I was recently transferred there due to the AZ MQ office closing (which I was transferred to after my office closed in the NE) and I am on my 3rd supervisor--4 months and 3 offices--is it me???
MQ Dallas

If you're being put in MQ's Dallas region, be prepared.  You will get no feedback from anyone in that region (MTs excluded) and their payroll/benefits department are basically not there!! They never answer your questions.  You don't get samples unless you request them and most often that takes forever.  They are very, very disorganized in that region.  If you think you'd like working there, I would ask for a different region!!!  Good luck.


 


Dallas
We just moved to Southlake, Texas which is a little north between Dallas and Ft. Worth. Southlake is one of the nicest areas to live. The schools are great. Colleyville is also nice as is Keller. I guess it depends on how close to Dallas you want to be.
Dallas
I have always believed in following my gut. Even though it was hard to quit in this economy, I did it and found a job subbing from someone else. It just did not add up. The things that bothered me were:
1. Being allowed to go for weeks and weeks with no work and having my liaison say she had no idea what was going on. When I finally e-mailed the big cheeses and asked them they told me that a couple of big accounts were coming in September and we would be fine. (Who is that woman on television who says Don't p** on my leg and tell me it's raining?)
2. During the conference calls, direct questions were asked by the concerned MTs but nothing but glib spin was provided by the Transcend rep. I did not feel I could risk my family's well-being and just cut lose for another gig. If they want to sell, merge, or stand on their heads, thast is their very own business, but the way this was handled was pretty crappy.

Here I am freezing to death but happy. At least I have work. I wish you all the best! Remember, your gut doesn't lie. Remember that scene in Star Wars where Obi Wan Kinobi says Trust your instincts to Luke Skywalker? There is wisdom in that! I am a geek and a trekkie and I have always loved that saying. Anyway, again, good luck to you!
I worked on a surgical orthopaedic
Decent doctors, decent pay.  Really quite easy.  I would still be there if they had changed some of their policies. 
I worked in a surgical clinic with 50
physicians and their dictations certainly were not as complex as those in a hospital. Guess every clinic is different.
MQ Dallas Office
Actually, the work is not difficult.  I'm one of the highest leveled MT's at Spheris (back again) and when I was with MQ I started off on one of the most difficult accounts in the SW region.  I found it actually to be very easy.  But, to each their own.  Its just my opinion.  Being an IC person, you may not have as much to say about all the communication (or should I say lack there of) from that office.  You hardly ever get updates (especially if you are use to seeing them) and in order to find out if there is OT available, it's like pulling teeth to find out.  Payroll in that office is horrendous.  You email for a question regarding Payroll and it will take them a good 2 weeks to answer.  You call and you almost always get the voicemail, which also takes them 2 weeks to get back to you.  You leave a message with someone and they always says they'll get right back to you, but low and behold they never do!!  The supers aren't that bad, but the higher ups are the problem down there!   I heard a few of the other region were wonderful to work for, just wish I had been given one of those regions to work in and I might have been a pretty happy camper!!   Good luck and hope all goes well for you.
Me too .. it is with the SW/Dallas office ?? NM
..
no, Dallas office..I believe.

Southwest/Dallas.
no message
North Dallas
I am from about 45 minutes North but closer to Dallas is Prosper and Celina near Frisco, a booming suburb.  Prosper and Celina are small towns not too far from actual Dallas.
DALLAS, TEXAS ANYONE
Does anyone know what some of the nicest areas are in Dallas?
Dallas question
I was wondering if any one works or has worked for the Dallas branch? They seem to be nice but when I went up to test the guys outnumber the girls and thats odd to me. Just wondering if anyone knows anything or has an opinion
The one in Dallas? Yes and there is no plan for it to go to VR.
Hope that helps.
6 cents a line for surgical reports

I just saw that ad for 6 cents a line for heavily, fast-speaking ESL doc.  I love to do surgery, and I have done this for 30 years, but there is no way I would tackle that, no less than 10 cents a line and really more than 10 cents a line.  Would the person seeking an MT for that position do it!!!  I think not.  Our pay is going backwards instead of forward. 


MQ Dallas Office - THE WORST
The worst section to work for is the Dallas office!!! Get anywhere but there.  They don't know what their doing and they are the ones who never EVER get back to you with a question!!!  Not a single one!! 
Are you working in-house in Dallas?
If so, no is the answer to your question. It is no where near enough if your are working under one particular person. Good Luck!
Any info on MD-IT Dallas Region?

6 cents a line for surgical reports for an ESL dictator? Are you NUTS??

I'm just absolutely appalled and disgusted...


Tessier Surgical Word Book is my bible, but mostly you need LOTS of patient
nm
I've heard only positive things about them. So, I applied, but haven't heard a word. Maybe fl
nm
Why do you think there are so many notes SM
on this board pertaining to how long it takes to get a decent line count?

They will tell you it is a 65 character line. It is not. As stated, more like 75-80. There are ways to work with it, make tons of macros, etc. But it is tough.
I only wish I had ER or OP notes, mostly
consults, discharge summaries, H&Ps and the occasional progress notes. I've been at this for almost 20 years though.
op notes
I do acute care which includes a pretty good many op notes but there are other work types too. I dont know if you are looking strictly for only op notes. I work for Alphamed solutions who is currently hiring. I have DSL. I believe it is required. There is usually plenty of work on my account. I hardly ever get on and no work. Rare. I work on the Dictaphone Extext with Transnet. But they also have other platforms. I hope I was of help.
ERS/OP NOTES
Does anyone remember seeing the job posting for someone to do ERs and op notes?  What company was it?  I cannot find it.
Can't you do everything but op notes?
H&P reports and consultations are similar whether acute care or clinic work. Discharge summaries aren't that difficult either for someone coming from clinic work. I agree that the op notes will take lots of time to learn. So why not ask if you could just do H&P reports for a while and then consultations, and then discharge summaries and maybe later on the op notes? I just received the opportunity to do discharge summaries after having only clinic work experience, and what I like the most is that this offers the opportunity to expand my knowledge because I get to transcribe reports in so many specialties. I understand that you are mad at the recruiter and somewhat unhappy because of computer issues, which means there are several things going on here. First you might want to figure out whether you want to stay with them or move on. If you like working for Precyse, then I would try to find a solution as mentioned above. If you do not like working for them, then it would be best to move on.
PO/OT notes
I agree. Not only are they boring, good grammar is lacking on many of them; they slur through the reports and don't seem to have any continuity of thought or format. I had one very good dictator the other day; I could have kissed her! Otherwise, I don't consider those medical reports, just a mess of words on a page. This is from my experience. You can also nix about 50% of the psych dictators. Just my take on this.
Vet notes

The trend has always been that vets handwrite their own reports in order to save on costs, but that may be changing now that they are hearing other vet groups are using transcription services?  The company I work for only types veterinary ophthalmology reports, along with a few simple op reports.  The ophthalmology terms and medications are pretty much the same as those for humans, but the reports can be a lot more interesting at times, since the animals don't always cooperate!  Once you are comfortable with the terminology the doctors use on a regular basis and the company guidelines as to how the reports should be formatted, the work is a breeze!


soap notes
Does anyone know of a company that does strictly SOAP notes?
If you like doing chart notes at 7 cpl! (nm)
xx
After reading the below notes sm
After the below notes, along with things posted here in the past, I'm truly beginning to believe it has something to do with who is your supervisor/QA.  I have been there for a number of years, have been very happy and still am; however, I have heard a few things about other supervisors that makes me believe I am one of the lucky ones.  Sad, but I believe it is true.  I believe Amphion's management reads these posts once in a while.  Maybe they'll give this some thought.   
Why do you prefer OP notes? nm

+++


progress notes
My company, XXX, has been out of work quite a lot lately and their only explanation is you know how it is during the off-season but the off-season now has been pretty much all of this year. My question is are MTs now all paid the same way for notes as opposed to reports. I distinctly remember that MTs who did progress notes and ER notes were generally paid differently because the notes were so short it was next to impossible to get an adequate line count. I feel like I am getting shafted because I am reduced to doing progress notes on a daily basis and I am generally spending 10 hours a day just to make my 1100 lines. Keep in mind that these are still ESL doctors who either don't know or don't care about putting in demographics so that too still has to be looked up and in the end I may get 5 lines per report. I understand that things do change but if its gotten to this point then maybe I need to be the one to make the change.
No ESL docs, no op notes (as far as I know) SM

They are mainly consults, soap notes, some radiology.  You use their templates and get paid for headers/footers.


I don't know if everyone makes the same, but I make 8 cpl (55 characters per line) without spaces.  I compared it to the normal 65 characters per line with spaces, and it is equivalent to 8 cents per line with spaces.  So, not too bad...just average I guess. 


But the dictators are really clear and there are a lot of samples.  I think the work is pretty easy.  I think it makes a really good p.r.n. position. 


Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :)


Chickadee


Op notes exclusively

Try Deventure.


 


My notes from the meeting - s/m
Apparently Acusis started in India, not the US. It's not very old - only 6 years. The CEO seems to know alot about business & making money, but not much about MT-ing. Says he's learning. They apparently have aspirations to be THE largest MT company not only in the US, but globally. He thought he could do it from India, but found he couldn't, partly because of the fact that some US medical institutions don't want offshored work. Others will allow PART of their work offshore (like radiology, etc.), but not other work. So instead this would be what he called a Hybrid US+India company. Hmmm.

So, according to what he said, he feels the best way to grow the company FAST is to also have a US MT force, so clients have a choice. They will have to pay more for US transcription, though he assures us the Indians are also good. (Yeah, RIGHT!) Initially the two-tiered business platform made sense to me. But other comments made later in the meeting made me wonder about what the REAL truth might be. Among other things, they plan to buy many other US MT companies, as well. DRC is just the first. He seems to think bigger is better. Having worked at PAMC since it was smaller, and seeing how nasty it got when it was bigger, I certainly don't agree.

Someone asked the question about the less-skilled, or even the accurate, but slower transcribers' role there. For now he seems to want only top-notch people, but later says how having a plan for bringing less-skilled MTs up to speed would be a good thing. Some questions sounded slightly hedged or evaded, and sometimes had the words for now thrown in, like maybe we weren't going to notice them or something. This had to do mainly with questions about change as it affected us. Red flag.

When asked about all the extra management people after the merge, he said that for now there was a seat for everyone on the bus. But he also allowed as how his company has always tended to have more execs than they really needed. Well, that certainly is one of the problems at PAMC, and it seems to cause them to continually find fault with the MTs, if for no other reason than to make themselves look good. So that was another rather loud warning-bell I heard.....it's a management-heavy company.

Re: Pay/Benefits - He says so far it'll remain the same. He wants it well above average, but doesn't specifically say whether or not MTs are part of that plan. He does say that by improving the software, etc., they can make the MTs more productive, and thus enable them to make more money. I didn't particularly like that part, either.

One thing that DID sound good was that although we would have to change over to Acusis' 401K (and who knows how good it is.....), he says they'll match it with 3%. Well, to me that isn't exactly MATCHING.... but I guess if you put in $100, they put in another $3.

Their company goals were:
- Global world-class customer satisfaction (sounds kinda' generic, but whatever...)
- Service flexibility & choice of options (the Hybrid-thing).
- Create the strongest organization (so they can gobble up & digest the competition?)
- Have the best technology (boys do like their toys.....)

I guess we'll lose the nice DRC software we're using now. He says he wants to have a new, blended software platform that will be called AcuSuite 3.0. It is supposed to have enhanced user-friendliness (hard to believe, if it's not written by someone who knows a LOT about MT!). He also mentions back-end speech-recognition.

He also mentioned that he was a leader in his church. (Oh, pul-eeeze! Not more holy-rollers trying to take over the healthcare industry!?!?) Definitely a red flag in my book.

The Future Plans are:
- To acquire more MT companies.
- To develop a repetitive model to acquire and integrate future acquisitions.

Again, all this talk about growing, merging, acquiring -- has nothing to do with the nuts & bolts of MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION. He talked about MONEY, a LOT. But not MTs making money - but instead about his goal of having this be the world's BIGGEST and WEALTHIEST MT company. I don't think anyone can have those kind of aspirations and stay honest or have their employee's best interests at heart for very long.

One person brought up the fact that the Chief Officer of Acusis-India desires India to dominate the medical information field worldwide, and wanted to know if he intended to convert the clients from US-transcribed to Indian-transcribed. His answer was very ODD, and most certainly got me wondering: It was that it was his belief until 55 minutes ago. (Whaaaat?) He tried to clarify that by saying he used to think domination of the MT industry could be done solely through India, and that now he believes it cannot. But, either way, all this domination talk makes me uneasy.

Another question was How do US clients view the above statement by the C.O.O.? He admits it was viewed with skepticism. He also says hes been trying to take our clients for a long time, now. (What???) (I guess he tried from India, couldn't do it, and so now has come onshore.)

When asked about accrued vacation time, and would the MTs be able to keep it, the answer was YES. (Though said he doesn't yet understand DRCs system of accrual of vacation time according to Keystrokes typed, or how much can be carried.

In the first 100 days they plan to:
- Integrate talent, IT, Processes, Benefits.
- Establish performance goals, alignment.
- Retain only high customer satisfaction performers who get results. (Does this pertain to management? MTs? Everyone? What exactly does this mean? This wasn't clear).
- Continue to have quarterly conference calls. (Jeez .... even semi-annually would be more than I could stand.)

Later he says the MTs are where the rubber meets the road. (Good analogy, but will Acusis follow through on their statement that they consider the US-based MTs to be a valuable part of the company?) I wonder if he is aware of how many people are ready to walk out RIGHT NOW, just based on their strong ties with India?

Well, anyway, that was my take on everything, from all the notes I took. I don't plan to do anything rash.... and will instead just keep on typin' and see what develops. If I like it I'll stay, if I don't, then I guess I'll leave. But I won't cross that bridge 'til I come to it, as it's still too early to tell how the takeover will ultimately go. What we were told could be the truth, or it could all just be smoke and mirrors.
Lotus Notes

Notes is basically a computer program.  We type in Word, through Lotus Notes.  Notes has several functions.  It is where you sign on and receive your work, check your line counts, edited reports, etc. 


You also have your account specs there, account address books with doc names, PA names, etc.  Your E-mail is also on Notes. 


It is a great program.  Everything is right there for you.  Very user friendly!!!


Yes, it is Lotus Notes and
They supply the computer.
I only know that they use Lotus Notes. Don't
s
What are SOAP notes??

SOAP notes

SOAP stands for subjective, objective, assessment, plan. Those are the headings that usually comprise a clinic note.