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I've decided that MTSOs are sticking it to all of us and blaming the economy -

Posted By: sick of it on 2009-02-08
In Reply to:

Here's my thinking -- they all have boats, or houses, or a lifestyle they love so they think HEY... LET'S SCREW THE LITTLE GUY... cut benefits, cut pay, cut jobs, just cut cut cut cut... so that MY life is sweet.  In the process people lose healthcare, income, homes, cars, MARRIAGES....


so thank you, MTSO owner, for shoving it right up our southpole... we love you for always looking out for us... NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


Oh, and MTSO -- the only reason we don't move on is because there's nowhere to move TO.  Everyone has followed your lead and decided shafting the worker bee is a great idea.  Well .. it's not.  And someday you'll get it back 10 fold.




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Well, I've decided we all will get 25 cpl from now on.
Now I'll REALLY be popular!
I've decided to find a new job.
However, everyone seems to want fulltime or Tu-Sa/Su-Th or C-phone.  Is anyone hiring for parttime day shift any more?  I dream of a steady workload, decent platform, honest company, direct deposit, consistent QA, DSL instead of dial-in or dial-up, no need to rent their computer.  Is there such a company out there?
Thank you for the offer but I've decided

I just don't have a good feeling about this.  I typed over 5000 lines already and haven't been paid and no communication when I will be paid.  I sent all my personal information, soc. sec #, banking info to a recruiter who now is not answering my emails - this makes me feel very uneasy.  I haven't received your emails, so no I don't think I'm on your team.  The person who trained me said she was my team leader and that's the last I heard from her. 


Good luck to you.  I just don't feel comfortable with any of this, and would rather move on now than wait around and get burnt later.  Thanks again.


I've decided that I'm not going to work for them any longer. sm
I never signed anything that obligated me to the fee. That's the point. I only found out with the direct deposit printout, and I had to then question the expense. I've been an IC for years, and never have I been asked to pay for the use of the software a company installed on my computer. I provide my computer to use, yes, but a company has to supply the software, and no one has ever required a charge for that. I should have been afforded the opportunity at interview to either accept or reject the job based on that requirement. Since the subject of a license fee was never broached during the interview process and the contract did not specify that I would pay for a license fee, I accepted the position based upon the contract terms. As far as they have a right to charge since I am an IC, I feel they have no right that is not specified within the contract boundaries. Am I wrong with this thinking?
Same as my post below re: training vs production. Here's what I've decided...sm
We can do one of two things right now.  Make the money, or sacrifice some pay and use them to put lots of experience on our resume for later down the road.  If you can afford it (I actually cannot right now, I need income more than the learning) try it for awhile so you can have it behind you.  Those are the options on my end at least! My silver lining for the day....I'm trying:)
I've been following your story because I find it disgusting the these MTSOs stiff people
and get away with it. I find it awesome that you had the courage to stand up to her and send this notice to the hospital. Why shouldn't they know what liars and thieves they contract to. A lot of business out there that subcontract, especially hospitals, are even running background checks so they know how they are dealing with. I'd file a complaint with BBB, Department of Labor..anywhere I could to get her bad name out there and hopefully if she does try to solicit more business she won't be able to. Again, I applaud you!!!! Good work!!!!
So you aren't that good are you? You are blaming your
lack of performance on an Andrews grad? Give me a break. I do QA and I have seen graduates from many schools and while the Andrews grads CAN be impressive, it is just not Andrews. A good MT will make it work no matter what school they came from. Andrews does give them an edge because Andrews will not take just anyone in their program.

Quit bellyaching and look in the mirror. Andrews grads may be given chances based on their school but remember (and I don't expect you to) that they have to pass tests to get accepted for a position and they have to work hard to keep their jobs also.

Basically what it comes down to is are you willing to work hard and try and excel and if you are fortunate enough to get hired, you are the one who is judged based on what YOU do.

Just because the Andrews grad might have chosen to quit a job, I am sure she had reasons for that just like anyone who chooses to do so.

Quit blaming it on the school they came from. Own up to your own shortcomings and work on them and you will see that what school you came from makes no difference ONCE you get into the market...it's what you choose to do with what you learned in your school, how you apply yourself and good common sense that help any MT in the industry.

Anyone who brags on their QA scores, good for them! She was proud and what is wrong with that? You would too IF you had the scores.

I have seen work from MTs from different schools and some have to work harder but many of the students do apply themselves and will do well eventually but not with an attitude like yours. You are the one who wants a free ride without applying yourself.

My reply to you is to grow up and don't worry about what someone else does...worry about what you do and try to better yourself just like the Andrews student is trying to better herself. It can be done! I'm tired of people who absolutely refuse to look in the mirror and see the problem.
AAMT has been blaming the American MT, sm
for absolutely everything and their failures for years. They're too arrogant to possibly think that maybe it's THEM and they should take the blame for the demise of the profession. Of course, they want us to volunteer what little time we have left after typing nonstop ESLs for 7 cpl. I'm only in this for the paycheck anymore and for myself honestly. My days of trying to better this profession are over. You get tired of having your hands slapped by those bozos. I volunteered, it wasn't what they wanted, I wasn't a maven, and now they're looking for new blood.
lol you're blaming the MTs for what's happened
.
Stop ASSUMING and judging and blaming
Who are YOU to say why people may need the services of a payday loan place?

YOU really need to apologize: Before you accuse, ridicule and abuse, TAKE A WALK IN THEIR SHOES.


I'm sticking with MQ, too! nm
x
Sticking it out too
Thanks so much for your post. I, too, am in no position to leave MDI. I have a family to consider and I also find it very disconcerting to look for other jobs out there when most of the other companies either pay not enough to make it worth our while, or are just so rigid with their schedules that it would be impossible to have any kind of flexibility.

Am I scared...sure. But I am just going to tighten my belt a little bit tighter, hop back on my horse, and see where this ride takes me. Tar and feather me...that's fine. This is a decision I have to make for me and my family.
You're mistakenly blaming the MTs who might work "out of their shift".
Trust me, the company bends rules for certain MTs 100%, as in shift, having you logged as 1 shift, but letting you do as you please.  I know, as I was allowed to do so.  So, things aren't always as they appear. If you have MTs jumping on hours you think are your's, or whatever, chances are more than good that they have been given 100% permission to do so, but that's not to be "broadcasted". 
Just another way the Natls are sticking it to the MT
x
So, RadGuy, are you sticking it out at MQ? sm
I know that a while back, you were sticking it out, but how about now? I left and am glad I did, but curious how many are staying. Is it getting any better? Worse?
keyboard sticking .. thus the errors!!
My apologies .. I am going to buy a modem and will get a new keyboard as well .. probably need an eye appt. too!!
Thanks fellow MQ employee for sticking up
for the company. I also work for MQ and got tired of defending it and having to duck from all the daggers thrown by other posters. I work for another company, started last week, and have been out of work 3 times. They send out constant e-mails, ...we have 8 jobs would each of you do 2 so we can get them off the system? 8 jobs and they're freaking out. Or, we have no work, would you please check your e-mails to see when work is available and flex your schedule? Don't have this at MQ.
Okay then, why did you jump in? sticking up for slave labor?
that's what it is
Anyone else finding their work drying up in the NE region. Are you sticking around or moving out. I
am not sure what to do yet.
Glad you're sticking to your guns. We all need to turn down these unacceptable offers!
s
I got a pay cut for the economy
Now I make less than 3 cpl. Really! Don't think I'm not looking for something else. I might even give the company the same retro-notice they gave me when I leave, which was an email saying effective two-weeks ago, your pay is now lower than snake dung in a wagon trail. And they sent me such a nice Christmas card too!

Sure, I would work for two companies. Clearly, it doesn't pay to be dedicated. Whose to say they even need to know about each other anyway?
I believe it is the economy ..
Many MTs got fed up and left the field but now as the outside jobs dry up, they seem to be coming up. It is definitely a good market for the MT companies and a horrible market for the MT. Competition is horrendous!

I have had the same experience but now work for a great person. Would like more work but it's not essential. Working for a super ethical, honest and fun person is wonderful and, sadly for me, a rarity.


economy
It's not just the MT industry. People around the country are getting laid off right and left and many others are being forced to take a decrease in pay and/or benefits. Even nurses are being laid off in my state (with a nurse hiring freeze). Over a year ago, one of my sons was laid off and the other had to take a 35% pay cut several months ago. A good MT friend of mine also had to take a pay cut and is averaging $4 less per hour than before. My friend's husband also lost his job to to downsizing and the economy. I'm make a little less myself than I used to, but I still have my benefits and have a job with a company I really like. I thank God for that because I'm on my own, 1 paycheck, and have no one else to rely on.
Right-on. Normally, in an economy such as ours, you'd
a saving grace. Something that people who were rural, or in small towns where the mine or the mill or the GM plant closed down, could do that was good American work, that not only benefitted American citizens who were patients of American doctors and hospitals, but also that paid money into the tax system. And if the hard-working American workers earned a living wage, they might be able to buy houses, or GM cars, or support all the other businesses that have died. But when the work goes offshore, and little to no American taxes get paid, and the system further hemorrhages money to pay for buying to support those of us who are now displaced, whether it be out of a job, or out of a home, things just spiral out of control. Look at GM. They just plain got too big, as did many of the banks, stock brokerages, and other big business. Bigger is not always better, and what better example of that than the MT business.
The economy
Evidently the economy is starting to show its ugly head for us now. We really were the lucky ones in the beginning, but as more people got laid off and lost their health insurance, I feel that we are now seeing the effects. Hospital censuses are down, MTSOs are losing volumes, etc.

I totally understand the frustration and desperation that is on this board, but I think that the issues are a lot broader than a bunch of suits sitting around with cigars laughing at MTs or MTSOs coming together to fix prices or to push all of the work offshore.

I honestly feel that this is a result of the recession and everyone is feeling it... not just MTs.

That's my 2 cents worth.
ENOUGH WITH THIS ECONOMY CRAP --- sm
True, the economy has taken a whipping for the last 3 quarters or so -- recession as of last fall, less than a year, so how do you blame the continuing DECREASE in MT salary since the last 10-20 years?  Or maybe figure we dumb MTs can't add or put 1+1 together.  You middlemen/suits/MTSOs have been making a FORTUNE off of the back and sweat of hard-working, underpaid MTs or years and years (otherwise, you'd be in a different line of work, wouldn't you?) and you darned well know it.  So stop blaming the current economy!  What was your excuse 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years ago?
They have not helped the economy of the masses
in India who need help. They have helped to deepen the rift between the classes, - the rich get rich, etc. The poor in India cannot even consider moving to get work now because the cost of housing in cities has escalated since we have created jobs for those who really did not need jobs. And those who need health care are really suffering and why? Because the trained doctors and nurses are the ones who have become the transcriptionists, since the transcriptionists make more than a doctor does in India. Check your facts on India. This one-sided trade agreement with India is not helping anyone but the big companies in America who can get work done cheaply. The companies HAVE increased their rates for the hospitals, have decreased our salaries by this farce they call voice recognition and reduced their costs even further by offshoring the work.

A call from the CEO? I do not even know his/her name, nor the names of any of the corporate officers. That is how much they care about me. Yeah, I got a mouse pad, a 1x12 inch glue down calendar, and a pen. I got more than that from the Golden Arches when they gave me a chicken sandwich when they opened up a new line 2 months ago. At least everyone in my family got a free sandwich.
Blame the economy not libbers. sm

Actually I could have written your post, except for the women libbers part and the SAHM.  I've been doing this for 32 years.  My ID says it all.  The economy makes it almost a necessity to have a 2-paycheck income if you have kids.  I'm single with no kids and trying to make a living with MT with no second income.  Its tough.


Women wouldn't have the opportunities they do now if it wasn't for the libbers and the suffragettes. Its great now we have more choices than ever.  Do you realize it hasn't even been 100 years since women had the right to vote?  And we came close to having a woman president!  I think about all the sacrifices the women before us went through to get us where we are today.  One reason I make sure I vote is to honor their sacrifices.


Yeah. Why is it everyone forgets economy was
nm
In this economy, lots of places (not just MT)
The ground-level people usually are not cut during a sale, but if mid and/or upper management start making an mass exodus, that could be a sign.

For the most part, you won't know until it is a done deal.
I thas nothing to do with the economy...it started before that (sm)
It has to do with the fact that they are over-staffed and in order to get your lines met, you have to rush through every friggin report in order to get to the next one in hopes that you can make your line count.

JMO.
Frontline Episode on the Economy
I watched this on PBS last night and found it very interesting. There was a lot of commentary on behind-the-scenes kinds of things that gave far more insight to the situation and how it was handled than came across in the news at the time.
The difference is - when economy improves

And what has been the excuse for the steady decline prior to the economy being the new, improved wage cutting excuse?


Chiquita, I see you like to play devil's advocate and defend the indefensible.  I think the sky is blue...ready to argue that also?


MT companies competing in global economy. Best
xx
Economy affecting work load
Is anyone else out there who may be struggling for lines thinking like me; that it may be people are just not going to doctors or electing for treatment they can possibly put off because they cannot afford it?  My accounts have been pretty slow over the past 6 weeks or so, and when I hear that some people, especially the elderly who lost or suffered a huge reduction in their retirement when the stockmarket went down the tubes, are forgoing medical care in order to buy food or heat their homes, it makes me wonder how huge an impact this could eventually have on our jobs as MTs. 
economy trickle-down effect hit me hard

company i was working for filed BK and no one new. Two unpaid invoices later, out $5K for October.  I new there would be an October surprise.....I just thought it would be in the presidential race.


Apparently they're 'equilibrating for a global economy'. n/m
x
Global economy's grip on the short hairs
This is what happens in a global economy. I don't know for sure, but I would hazard a guess that the companies with the ads paying the miniscule amounts are not behemoth MTSOs. Sadly, they feel the need to try to undercut the MTSOs that do have the advantage of sending their work across the Pacific where 5 cents a line would be considered golden. Much like the Union Label we're told to look for on clothes, maybe the real American little companies would be better served to charge a little extra for the service, and pay the Transcriptionist a living wage, because I'll bet there are still some individuals/clinics/etc. that would pay for the security and skill that an American MT provides.
I'm thinking economy and people just aren't having elective surgeries or (sm)
going to docs and really think twice before heading to the ER. I put off my son's braces for a while and just made the appt this week after going for his consult a year and a half ago!! I know how you feel though; it's hard not to be paranoid these days!
I have already decided not to
do editing for Transcend it offered.  They only pay half your line rate, I don't think my production will double from what I have heard, people having to put in every other work on VR because it is not picked up.  I have had no problems with the auto correct and did try out an Expander program, Short Hand, their free trial download and it has worked fine, I just don't like Short Hand I think, can't remember all those.  I have had tech problems with copying large blocks, would not do it.  I thought it was me.  Lost a report yesterday over this.  I have not found the work particularly difficult, but the quality of sound is not very good, static.  I will give them a try, but wondering about Beyond TXT. 
Thanks, decided to go with KS. nm
 
Here is what I have decided to do
Just ignore the whole thing, like they do to us. I will just let it sit until they pester me for it or threaten to fire me. They are so unorganized, they will probably forget about it.

I also talked to my attorney, who said the arbitration agreement really would not hold up in a court of law.
Decided against
They ran an ad also about 1-2 weeks ago with a LARGE number of VIEWS.  I downloaded the dictation, looked over the samples and abbreviation and after careful thought, decided no way.  The pay is low, dictation about 5-6 lines each mostly repetitive and would drive me bats even if I COULD make template (too short) I would lose $, dictator too fast and does not care if understood.  I did not follow through, just deleted the files.
not sure what you decided
I currently have worked for Probity full time since October last year. Personally, I have not had any problems. If you are full-time, the benefits aren't that bad - no benefits if you are part-time, which I think sucks! As far as I know, they do pay for spaces, but I may be wrong- never really asked. The manual says We do pay for spaces. Their pay scale depends on how many lines per pay period you transcribe, the lowest being 0.0825 and the highest being .09, which is nice. The thing I really DO NOT like is having to commit to a weekend schedule. Every Saturday or Sunday, you do have a schedule that you have to adhere to. I like the people there and they have been very kind to me. However, I do know of an MT or 2, who don't really care for it. There are ESL docs and yes, some of them are pretty darn tough. Just like any job - unless you are your own boss - there are pros and cons. That is not aviodable. If anyone knows of some place that is perfect, please, fill me in.

As far as I know, they do not outsource and ASR/EMR/VR - whatever you want to call it is not in the near future for this company. That is not to say that it won't happen.

I decided not to take their job offer. (nm)
x
You're right, but I decided (sm)
to go with what the other poster said about what I am looking for in a job and took it.  I was so frustrated with the software where I was that I just couldn't stand the aggravation anymore.  I just want to do what I do best on software that works.  We haven't been paid what we are worth for about 15 years or so.  What happened?
I have decided to keep their pedals
until they call me asking for them back (if they even do that). I do not understand how companies like this stay in business. Their loss! Thanks again.
Yeah I decided not to go with
them after finding out how bad of a place it is to work.  I have 8 years experience so I don't need to work there.  I stopped responding to the email.  Thanks for the info!
Yes, I have decided to stay put myself. sm
too much of a pain to learn yet another computer system and platform. What I did was put the pros and cons of working where I do on paper. The pros far outweighed the cons so I am staying put.
This is rumor. Nothing has been decided yet. sm
We are still getting final numbers from 2 different insurance companies. In the past, we have not qualified for a large group policy at a decent rate because of lack of participation. All of the big insurance companies want 50% of the employees to take the insurance and we did not have that in the past. It does look good this time though. We are hoping that the rates come back low but nothing is definite at this point.
Decided to take the offer
I decided to take the offer. I have had a growing number of differences with MED-Scribe lately, and I am ready for a change. I know someone else who is very happy there, and their opinion differs greatly from the old complaints of 2004 & 2005 that were posted on here. Apparently, the company must have worked the bugs out of their system, as they have some happy employees and ICs there now.