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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I'm so tired of getting taken advantage of

Posted By: Are there any reputable companies? on 2006-02-23
In Reply to:

I thought I had what was a great position, with a good company, I loved the work, but had an instance where I had to request work not be sent to me for ONE DAY, and now my job is posted on the internet.  Work was still sent to me, and I did it - but you know, did you ever try to sit and type with a 104 fever and a terrible urinary tract infection?  I was sitting at my desk with tears rolling down my face - my husband came and asked me if I was crazy.  I just didn't want to lose my job.  Now, they're looking for my replacement.  Maybe I really need to get out of this business ... there is no human component anymore.  No one genuinely cares.  Maybe I should have gone to the ER and had them put in a catheter and I could have worn a leg bag. 


Oh well, thanks for listening.  Back to work ... what a sad state of affairs.




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I'm so tired of getting taken advantage of -
No, I've been getting 1/2 the work I normally get, so that's not it. I just will NOT continue to keep them within TAT and cover their butts if they're looking for my replacement. I'm not an idiot.
tired, tired, tired of all the tech
problems with these platforms.  I just want to work on an old fashioned program, like WP5.1 or Medrite, maybe with voice wave.  Too many problems.  Does anybody know any companies that use something like these.  Just call me a dinosaur lover. 
The advantage is that as an SE the
takes 7.5% out of your check and pays the other 7.5% themselves.  So if an SE and an IC make the same amount of money in a year, come tax time the IC is going to owe more than the SE to Uncle Sam.  An SE can still take deductions on work-related expenses.
Take advantage of...

the pauses the dictator makes.  As he/she is pausing, you are looking up at what you have transcribed so far, reviewing it. 


Try proofing a line backwards, from right to left.  Don't read every word but look it over from right to left.  Things will STICK OUT at you because your eyes and mind are not used to seeing the written word in this way.  Looking from left to right is natural and you miss things easily.  Try it out.


The more you practice, the faster it will get.


Good luck!


Administrative Advantage

Any info anyone has on this company would be greatly appreciated.  I'm just looking to do some part time work to make a little extra money.  I'm looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Couldn't find much in the archives.


 


TIA!!


The advantage to the MTSO is
having good coverage on multiple accounts. The advantage to the MT is having work to choose from on four different accounts. You see people on the boards complaining about their single account being slow - this is one way to address THAT problem.
I do about 7 accounts. It's to your advantage to do more than 2 or 3 (sm)
Trust me, it's a very short learning curve since they all use ExText as far as I know.
They ABSOLUTELY use it to their advantage! - sm
Back in the day, when all or most MT's worked on-site, MT was a whole 'nother job, and people who did it were treated like respectable human beings. But once the majority of MTs ended up at home, and INVISIBLE to both the employer and their fellow employees, it was far to easy to start taking advantage. Nowadays the majority of MTs most likely have never worked on-site like some of the more long-term MTs have in the past, and they don't even know what it was like not to be treated like an invisible piece of machinery. It is most DEFINITELY time for MTs to start to become involved in their own futures, if they are ever to even HAVE one in this field. We have to start squawking - LOUDLY. Our voices have to be heard not by the MTSOs, who will do NOTHING for us, but by hospitals, doctors, nurses, and unions, labor attorneys, legislators, and the average American citizen. The more people know about the degrading practices of the MT industry, and the larger the number of people that know it becomes, the better our chances become of bettering each of our personal situations.

Working at home is a blessing in many ways, but it has also been a curse in that it has kept us isolated from the doctors & medical institutions, our employers, and our fellow MTs. That isolation made it easy for the concept of sending American dictation offshore to gain a foothold in the US. We need to continue to network with other MTs including those still working on-site as well as at home, compare notes, companies, salaries, business & employment practices, ideas, etc. The internet is a powerful tool that may have robbed many of us of a decent wage. But if we turn the tables and use that tool in OUR favor, then things can change.
You can say that again. Never for the MT. I get sick of being taken advantage of for their benefit.

Has anyone worked for Administrative Advantage

Is there really an advantage to staying local? Most

It doesn't seem there's any more guarantee of stable work from local MTSOs than the national ones.


If you do want to stay local but work at home, also try Southern Transcription Services, located in Taylorsville, I think.  They have a good reputation. Google them for their web site. 


Administrative Advantage? Anyone know about this company?
I got a job offer.  Please tell all good and bad.
That is what I would do. What is the advantage of Vista? There are so many problems with it.
There are wonderful instructions on the internet for repartitioning. I even did it before all the instructions were on the internet. Good luck!
You should have taken advantage of bonus all weekend - most did.
nm
IC or employee - sick of being taken advantage of?

AFter reading some posts regarding being taken advantage of and being treated like an IC by companies when its convenient for them and being an employee when its convenient for them, I must wholeheartedly agree. Therefore I decided to do some research and came up with rules as given by the US department of Labor regarding the definition of an IC.  You will be surprised by what you read below.  This is just an excerpt of a longer report.  Perhaps next time a client tries to boss you around, you might want to show them this:


 


US Department of Labor Handbook


Part 1: Independent Contractor or Employee


Probably the main reason you became an independent contractor (aka consultant, freelance and IC) or want to, is to be your own boss. Unfortunately, some U.S. companies don't fully understand the difference between independent contractors and employees. Even among companies that do understand the difference, there are those that attempt to exploit the relationship, because it's clearly to their advantage to do so.  The cheaters (and naive) misclassify workers as independent contractors, but still attempt to control them as employees. In doing so, they reap the benefits of both worlds, while depriving independent contractors of the very reason they became independent contractors in the first place: to be their own bosses.


 



  • Companies are not your employers per se, but your clients. As such, they are not entitled to direct you in your work.
  • Of course, your clients have a right to say what they expect for the rates they're paying you, but only as it relates to the outcome of the project.
  • It's your right to decide when, where and how to get the project done.

HERE IS THE BIGGIE


****In other words, by U.S. law, an employer cannot classify you as an independent contractor, then dictate when, where and how you work, as though you are an employee. It's all about degree of control and independence. ***


 


 

 


 


The Advantage Transcription Service
Has anyone done any work for this company out of Los Angeles? If so, were there any issues regarding line/character count. TIA
That's the type MTSOs take advantage of, and
just too minjute and worthless to be paid what I'm worth, stand up for myself, or take a con-artist to court. (Hubs probably beats her, too.)
It should be "when I see people being taken advantage of" --nm
xx
The MT industry is taking full advantage of the
stick it to your employees, than when they have little time and no money to go out and find something else. Make those poor suckas feel darned LUCKY to have their pathetic little peanut-paying MT jobs.

You just KNOW, though, that someday.... SOMEday.... not tomorrow, or the next day, but EVENTUALLY ----- somebody is going to do a total boot-plant on their sorry a$$es.

That day will be a cause for celebration across the land.
Comparing figs & plums. Advantage/disadvants to
x
"chuckle" raise in 3 days, not to their bottom line advantage is it.
Hey gooble up this one if you like. Not me!!! I could understand if hourly, but we are not. WE are the one who lose already, learning there program, acct spec, formats, the various QA preferences, learn/get an ear for each dictator. We LOSE BIG TIME because it takes time for all that above stuff, we cannot just sit down and zoom off. Hey but grab IT see how the attitude is toward MT with 6 cents offer, it says something ya know.
because i'm tired of you or whoever
Nonsense about MQ going under.  Vague statements like "watch out" or "be scared, changes on the way" and nothing to back it up.  I work for this company and so do about 9,999 people, you are playing with our minds here.  I have sifted through everyone one of these postings worried i'm going to lose my job.  Sorry if it was not you, but someone is doing it.
Tired? Where are you getting the
variables of 8, 16, or 24 hour work weeks? I've read everything and see nothing about that.

I'm currently an SE (having just switched from FTE several months ago!), tier 3, and capped at the line rate, but see NOTHING about part time having to work in 8, 16, or 24 hours. Perhaps my eyes are worse than I thought!
Tired of it too...
Work myself to death and can't get line requirement.  Was told they paid for headers and footers, but apparently not..Made up to $18/hr in private sector and if I get close to $10, it's a REALLY good day. 
sorry I'm tired, not your, you are.
nm
Sorry, I am tired
and did not read your post that well. Here is a link to help you convert from DocQScribe expansions to Shorthand:

http://www.productivitytalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1590

It may take a little tweaking to get it right, but it sure beats starting over.

Tired Too...
There is too much unpaid time, period, in this industry. There is a significant amount of time worked that isn't paid. We don't get paid by time, we get paid by moving fingers. I recently had a situation where I was having a new application installed. It was installed wrong and I fought the thing all day trying to figure out the problem. Finally, someone sees one little box not checked. I miss an entire day of pay, but the person who screwed up my install gets paid. Now there is something very wrong with this picture. I'm personally working on changing it, but it is a long road to hoe. Our pay structure is a little confusing to the average attorney.
Tired
I so agree with you. I would never, and I do mean NEVER, advise anybody to choose this line of work. It has been good to me in the 80s and first half of the 90s, and it has been all downhill from there.....
okay, i am tired, but....come on
Okay, I think I saw one typo....big deal. Here is someone offering their time and probably blood, sweat and tears for FREE, and we have to point out their mistakes. Hey, SM email me and if I get the job I am trying for, I would look into if you could type some, and I proofread for you and you don't have to work for free... you work for half of what I get and I will be getting I hope 11 cpl, so I will pay you 5.5 cpl. How does that sound?
To old and tired
I am with you. Since the late sixties I have made a lot of money MTing (until the 90s). Today I would absolutely NOT advise anyone to become an MT for any reason. Since I have three years until retirement, I will stick with it, but I now make exactly half what I made in 1997.

tired
I am incredibly happy at MDI-MD. They are kind, honest, the work is plentiful and I have never been happier.
Tired
No need to Google, here you go:

http://www.transmdi.com/home/
I'm with tired

I've been an MT for about 18 years now and when I get my periodic social security statements and when I look at my earnings record I could just cry!  My income went up steadily for the first 4 years or so and since then it has gone consistently down!  I now make about 1/4 of what I made at my highest point and I work just as much, if not more.  I am so sick and tired of this crap!  I know many long-time MT's and don't know of any who is doing better than they had 10 years ago or who is happy with their companies, or hasn't worked for so many national companies that they have lost count.  These companies benefit from our experience while we have to deal with their crappy platforms, bogus line counts and QA people who think they are the queens of medical transcription, each one with their own set of rules and very little MT experience.  If I have a blank, then I might need your help; otherwise, don't tell me where the hell to put a comma and don't add words to dictation that I know is not there or take out words that I know were there, especially when I have no way of relistening (although for the umpteenth time) to the dictation - Got to find something wrong with the dictation, that justifies the need for your QA position, and then when the company wants to change that big 8 cents per line they promised me to 7 cents a line to up their profit, they then can lower my QA score.


The new thing now is to pay you about 2.5 cents per line for templets!!  What a bunch of crap!  That templet wouldn't be there if I didn't put it there and more than half the time the templets need to be altered, either because the dictator wants it changed or because it was screwed up in the first place.


I'm sorry, but all you Happy, Happy MT's that say you work for national companies sound a little too much like job recruiters for these companies.


Being a good medical Transcriptionist is NOT an easy job.  We pretty much have to know about as much as a doctor does in any given specialty without actually going to medical school.  We have to keep up to date on any new instruments, drugs, etc., in every specialty and God forbid we put a comma where AAMT says it should not be today or type in or on when the QA person says the dictator did not state this.  All this and my 19-year-old daughter makes way more than I do!  Now that I think about it, so does everyone working at McDonald's!  Sad thing is that I have sat on my butt typing for so many hours for so many years that I don't think I could stand on my feet for 8 hours a day and I am way too young to retire.


Good luck to you that stay behind, I'm out of here!  Now this post will either be deleted or all the Happy MT's will attack!  At this point, I've typed way too much without getting paid for it anyway, so have fun, it's all yours!


 


I am tired. LOL!!!!! Getting.
nm
So tired
I agree with you. I have always believed that we should take our complaints to the person in power to resolve it. In this case, that means handling it with whoever at LM deals with things like that. We on this board did not cause the problem and we on this board cannot fix it.
so tired.....

what exactly are big girl panties?


Would those be kind of like grannie panties?  Little girl panties are kind of like grannie panties, but a lot smaller.  The again, my teen plus girls wear thongs, so would those be big girl panties?  Those are lot smaller than little girl panties, material wise. 


I am not quite sure what you mean by the big girl panties.  Oh, I recall, it is a stupid phrase that sounds totally rediculous! 


 


Okay, may be I am just tired or ....

That I am just stupid but can someone please tell me what this ad means ....


Prefer someone with a solid Hospital/Basic 4 background, who will be able to do a few blanks on this account as well.


A few blanks????  Is that editing?  It has been a really long day and I just don't get this at all.  Please, please explain.  TIA 


Do you all get tired
of trying to explain to people what kind of work you do and they seem to be so interested and think it is a plush job when you work at home.  You try to explain to them and they keep asking questions.  It just gets to me sometimes.  I just say I'm in medical records.
tired MT
My business adviser says that we were often treated like employees rather than ICs, i.e., I regularly got memos from my liaison asking for a commitment as to WHAT HOURS I could cover stats on Saturdays, etc. If you are a true IC, they do not ask you do cover specific hours. I do NOT plan to file for unemployment as I already have another job, but this is something you might think about. If you were ever asked to commit to certain hours, etc., then for the purposes of IRS classification (and perhaps the Labor Department would see it in the same light), you are seen as something other than an IC. Businesses have been using the IC classification to avoid paying benefits and other things for years; however, the IRS is bearing down more forcefully on such abuses. Businesses cannot have it both ways. If they are going to require a schedule or specific time commitment from your people, then by definition, they are not IC but employees. I got this straight from a pro's mouth. If you have any e-mails, etc. asking you to commit to a schedule, my advice would be to print them out and keep them. Take them with you to the unemployment office to establish that you really were an employee. Good luck!
Tired of it also
While I don't agree with off shoring I do agree with the original poster in that this board is more of a gripe board than anything else. I've only been an MT for two years, was trained on VR but do have some text work every once in awhile. I love VR and it HAS helped me learn a lot quicker than if I were straight typing. I admit it is worrisome what the future holds but at the same time IMO you either do something about it or you sit there and gripe about wages, no work, India etc. Change is what it is...it happens in every industry you either roll with it or refuse to accept it. Did any of you honestly think that this industry would not advance? That technology would not bring new ways to do things? I just don't get it and while I do come to this board for more information than anything else..it's like a broken record sometimes.
I am so tired of having to jump
accounts to get a laughable report count. With the company I work for I have to work on 4 different accounts to even get the minimal amount of work daily. I cannot stand it anymore. I have to be the most flexible person in the world but enough is enough. Are there any companies out there that allow you to work 1 Radiology account and actually get a decent report count by the end of your shift. I am lucky if I hit 80 reports a day and that is just not cutting it for this single mom.

I guess I just needed to say it outloud. TIA.
I am tired of making some big fat
man, rich over my transcription efforts.  I want to work for a smaller company owned by a transcriptionist, where I can get medical benefits.  Any copanies out there???
I'm sorry you are tired of it. The truth is.
The pay is less and so are the benefits.  Having been in the field 35 years, I can tell you this is true and so can most other long timer MTs.  There is anything gloom and doom about speaking the truth. And for your information, nurses are making MORE not LESS.  Let's get real here.
Tired, yes. But you already WON in my eyes!
.
Definitely has to be management and I get so tired

of people saying you probably just couldn't cut it  and that is why you are complaining- BULL!    I was offered a management position after 4 days so I couldn't have been too bad.   They have also called me since leaving to ask me to come back.   Doesn't sound like I couldn't cut it to me. 


For every post like this one there are 20 more like mine, so it isn't that I just couldn't cut it or it wasn't a good fit. 


Definitely looking! Tired of not being recognized at
my present company for my skills and years of experience.  However, I think I want to get out of MT completely.  May consider doing it part time if I can ever get to where I want to be doing something (right now feel like anything) else.
Rings tired to me
This is quite a story! I find it odd that a company who does not generally provide equipment and additionally made a statement in MD's other rebuttal placed on the board shows with one word the true nature of the beast, and that is the word allows. At the end of the day I really don't think that rebuttals repair the damage that a company does to itself because the employee is considered last. I would never consider a position with this company because their transparency is downright disturbing!
So tired - what kind of set up do you have
I have always been advised that as an IC we are responsible for our own social security which is taxed at 15%. Everything I had read on the IRS site also states this.   Are you saying you only pay 7% as if you were employed by a company with the company contributing other 7%?   I need to get another accountant!  I am talking true IC and not statutory status.
OOPS-so tired!
I simply cannot get it right! I am so tired I can't even type professional and doesn't. Thankfully, I proof read my resume before I sent it out...anyway, no answer in 2 weeks from Axolotl. I don't doubt those who say they are happy but it does say something to me when I can't even get an email back after 2 weeks, makes me wonder about the communication when working. Any comments? How can I get an answer? I am not calling them, I figure if they can't answer my email they must not be interested....Thanks!
I am growing tired of this sm
So I am going to try to end it, here and now. I am sick to death of hearing I am selling myself cheap working for TT. I can sell my services for wherever I care to, for whatever benefits I need/want and for any line rate I want to. Since I am no longer firm enough to sell my body, I can be a flabby MT making what I feel good about making and the job I am doing to get said income. It is not your business to come on here and tell me that I am selling myself cheap, nor to brag about the line rate you get. When asked about whom you work for, suddenly you can't tell, it is all so hush hush. One has to wonder...if you told, would your supervisor get on here and contradict you? Given your grammar and spelling, I can't think you are worth the money you supposedly get paid. Contrary to what others may think, this is job is NOT about getting higher and higher line rates! I have been in this way too long to be talked to like I have fallen off a turnip truck and I don't know a certain orifice from a hole in the ground. PAY DOES NOT INDICATE THE QUALITY OF MT WORK YOU PRODUCE any more than report cards are an indication of learning. I read a lot on here (note the TWO words there). I listen to complaining about QA people and how obnoxious they are, about MTSOs who don't care about their MTs, about running out of work, about unusable platforms, difficult ESLs, falling line rates and lack of benefits. These are the difficulties of being an MT in a marketplace that doesn't value the people element in any job, and in an industry that is rapidly changing. To come to this particular board is to be bombarded not only by all this complaining, but also by constant gloating over a line rate that may or may not exist in reality. The fact is, unless we are all MTSOs with well paying clients, none of us are going to get rich doing this. We are going to pay our bills and we are going to work hard. Line rates are the same as they were 10 years ago and 12 years ago and 15 years ago. If you find a job with 10 cents or better a line, I'll show you a job where the work stinks, the platform is impossible and the person in charge has more psychological issues than an inpatient on a 72-hour hold. I know, because I have worked for a lot of them. Now, I have recently gone to work for TransTech. Sure, I took 8.5 cpl, MY CHOICE, MY DECISION. When I quickly understood that medical benefits would not total $100 a month, and that as an employee, they will cover part of my FICA taxes and that there is PTO that is figured the way it ought to be figured...8.5 cents was looking good to me. I have made 11 cpl and recently (see above). Even simply talking money, that 2.5 cents will not buy me medical insurance on my own. It hardly covered my taxes last year and I had to work a second job. I had West Nile and it didn't pay for the 3 days I missed from work because of it. I ran out of work frequently too. I am concerned about what the rest of you are concerned about. I don't like running out of work. I detest snotty QA people. I, for one, cannot abide the whining from my MTSO that greets me every time I have a technical problem or if I am sick. I don't like that I can't afford to go the doctor without insurance. I'd like to be respected for my experience and hard work too. If I am going to work extra hard, I'd like extra money for it. We who work for Transtech are bragging these past couple of weeks. Why? Because we have joyfully found a place where we can't complain about all of the above issues. We have seen that money, as in higher line rates, isn't the entire picture. We are finding that we are rapidly more productive, lines are easier to get and we have our job satisfaction back. The 10, 11, 12 cents you get, can't buy love. It can't buy satisfaction. It can't buy THE BEST QA team in the business. It can't buy the most gentle, understanding and patient manager I have ever come across XXXX. It can't buy you the thank you for your hard work that I find on EVERY report returned from QA. It can't buy you technical assistance that is on a problem as fast as a duck on junebug. It can't buy the pat on the back that I have gotten from all the QA people every time I have cleared QA on another new account. Now, 10+ cpl can't buy you love, but 8.5 got it for me!
Sick and tired
Vent away! At least those of us on this board understand.