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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I wasn't productive on MeriT. Too much time spent entering demographic information...

Posted By: M on 2006-05-22
In Reply to: How is MW's MeriT program as far as productivity goes? just curious - DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

There is no roster to pull patient names from, so you have to type what the docs say, and those ER docs speak at lightening speed.  I spent more time trying to get the patient name right than I did typing the report.  I really, really hated that.




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Any information on Merit Tech

in AZ?


Thanks


And YOUR time is well spent here, right? nm

Time spent in demographics
Are there any company platforms out there where the demographics are already in place?  I could just scream sometimes trying to be a detective to get all the demographics in place only to have a one-liner follow.  Sigh... is it just me or are there others with the same frustration.  It's difficult to make rate when demographics have to be researched and the patient name sounds like Blavopvoskitapove.  Thanks for any clues on this. 
I just spent a lot of time checking the web and the
personally attempt it. Maybe you will get some good feedback from people who actually work there, but there was enough information here for me to realize it may not be the place for me personally... I will see if you get any responses, because I am wondering if there are good things there too... Good luck to you!
If you spent more time typing and less snooping, sm
maybe you'd make more money.
IMO look elsewhere...I spent a lot of time waiting for work rather than working! nm
x
I left them not long ago. Way too much time spent talking to
tech support because of technical problems or glitches with their system. I probably averaged 90 minutes a day down-time trying to get everything in order. Their transcription platform is not the best in the world from what I saw.
ERROR: 1.60 PER MINUTE OF TRANSCRIPTION, HOWEVER, HAVE THE TIME SPENT WAS PASTING
NM
Re-entering the industry sm
Hi. I'm re-entering the industry after 2-years to work with my husband's company, not MT related at all. I had finally gotten a great account with a great company five years into the biz and lost it after 6 months due to the account going in-house. I threw in the towel for 2 years. I have noticed that things have changed a good bit since then, in the fact that these companies don't really need you to actually do the transcription part unless they are seriously interested in you. That has been my experience anyway. I remember one time I was trying to find a great company, and I spent a LOT of time transcribing sample reports.

Thanks for the input. My biggest problem is that I'm customing my cover letter for each application, and I'm making stupid mistakes like referencing this site when I saw the job at another site. Geesh. I even sent out a cover letter the other day and forgot to spell check because my cat was at the door driving me crazy wanting in. I typed, I am very conscientious of my work quality and mispelled conscientious. I'm sure they got a hoot out of that one! Then I signed my email on another one as my kids mother, the signature block I use for the school. GEESH! TGIF!!! :) Thanks for chatting! I've had WAY too much coffee!
Wasn't he in HR at one time?
nm
Um, I specifcally said I've been there long time so wasn't sure about sm
the starting PTO; wasn't trying to pretty anything up. As for BCBS and dental - personally where I live, it is a great plan. I'll stick to my guns on that. As for the lower deductible last year, did you not join the BCBS health calls to discuss WHY that happened?
phew...i'm glad it wasn't just me, no more wasting time on this!
nm
they don't want a certain demographic
Having worked there for 3 years, I believe there's a strategy in place to weed out older MT's or people like us who have 20+ years, who expect to be paid well. They were constantly looking for ways to lower my pay or so it seemed, like account switching. I was making around $4 less an hour by the time I wised up and left. I think they prefer newbies and people with very low expectations.
demographic look up
I wholeheartedly agreed that the demographic look up stuff is very time consuming and we don't get paid for that. That is something the powers that be don't understand.
Any information on Rapidtext, Inc? Do they pay on time, platform, etc.?

demographic fill-ins
Top-of-the-line platforms will fill in demogrpahic screen automatically (if docs enter right numbers in the first place), and it's wonderful.  Other platforms will fill in partially, and on the ancient and/or practically obsolete ones, the MT has to fill in everything.   Also, most of us don't get paid to fill out our production sheets, etc., either.  When I worked in-house at 2 hospitals, we did get credit for time away from keyboard, like answering phone, filling in time cards, in-service education, etc.; they had a formula for it and it was pretty fair compensation.  Buth, that was then . . .
100% QA is because of demographic issues on the (sm)
client's end that they are trying to sort out. Not because of MT quality issues.
My information is kind of old, but I used to work for them part time sm
and it was a good company.  The people were great, and they paid on time (weekly).  The pay was rather low, but what I was doing was easy clinic work, so it kind of balanced out.  Good luck!
That wasn't my experience there. I wasn't on that kind of all-inclusive acct, either. nm
s
What companies pay for demographic screen?
I am not aware of any, but have not worked for more than a few. Just curious.
If no demographic lookup, no formatting - sm
You can make decent money. Maybe 20 bucks an hour. But that is if you don't do any demographic lookup and no formatting. So the report would like like this:

SUBJECTIVE: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxOBJECTIVE:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxASSESSMENT:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxPLAN:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SIGNED: DR. PERFECT DICTATOR
You can get the information by doing a detail on statistics. Shows sign-off time.
nm
Add attending name on demographic page. Not gray
z
GRATIS...REQUIRED DEMOGRAPHIC DUTIES...SM

 In addition to their dictations from h---, how do you like working for NOTHING with all their crappy look-ups, MD name researches, demographic work done by MTs for nothing....it's part of the job, they say.  Why don't the clients hire their own clerks for that garbage and pay them?  But I'm sure the company gets paid for this unpaid work required of MTs...else the client wouldn't be so fussy about it if they got it for nothing.  How do you like the QA feedback?  Can't decipher the corrections??? Probably neither can the QA.    


Where is this information coming from about new MQ line rates? I'm a long-time MQer and have nev
nm
I have worked for a company that is SO picky and you have to do so much demographic work
before you ever get to the report. Then you have to switch screens, take out an underscore in 2 places, change the worktype in 3 places if the doc doesn't put it in right, IM someone to look up the name for letters (which is about half my worktype), change screens again to get the billing number, paste it in, and THEN you can start the report. Ahhhhhhh!

All for 1 cent more per line than the reports I do for another place that all I have to do is enter a MRN and I'm there, in the report, and no medications, no demographics. Now one of these days I am going to be brave and just switch altogether to this company.
You've spent a whole day on this SM
because you were posting this morning when I visited.  Am I to assume you've already secured employment somewhere or did you just decide to spend today and probably the rest of the weekend doing nothing about a job?
Same here, another day spent jumping from one..sm
account to another trying to get my lines.  My primary does not have enough crumbs to keep a mouse alive!  I keep on keeping on but am actively looking for another job now. 
If you're with someone that doesn't count the demographic info or headers or footers, line cou
s
you didn't factor in what you would have spent

working in an office - clothes, shoes, gas, vehicle wear-and-tear, driving in bad weather, lunches, travel time (what's your time worth to you), make-up (I only wear make-up when I'm going out), laundry (I wear my sweats twice before washing), office donations/kids selling stuff, manicures/pedicures, pantyhose (I count that separate from clothes cuz it's a PITA to wear).


Then there's all the stuff you miss out on cuz you're working - kids' school programs, ball games, dance recitals, on and on. 


I'd love to make more than 9 cpl, but the truth is a lot of us don't even make that.  You have to weigh the good with the bad.  I'd rather make a little less than have all the stuff above to deal with.  I never got in this biz to become a millionaire.  I got it in to be home and I wouldn't give that up for a few extra bucks!!!!


At least you have work. I spent the money
I agree that the QA person there was very rude in the short time I stayed (believe me it wasn't long).
get a life MT; you're spent
  you looked here too didn't ya? 
Soulmates....I think if people spent more energy
on positive things, they'd have quite a lot more to offer this new company.  If we all sit around feeling sorry for oh my where has this profession gone or we're doomed, then that is what the outcome will be.  Show the new owner that you care and just do a good job.  People do lose their jobs in this profession.  It is NOT ALWAYS to another country.  There are U.S. MTs that will underbid you in a heartbeat and get the job done just as well.  Everyone wants to blame offshoring, but I do not believe that to be the case in every instance that someone loses an account.  You'll read posts, I lost my account, but never the details of well I was two months behind and really didn't care about when and how I got the work done.  Doesn't everyone look for someone to blame?  I call these kinds of people blamers.  JMO.  
"Hard economic times"=we spent $ on M-Tec, sorry

I spent years in the hospital setting
had no clue about working from home, did not know there were companies even doing transcription from home. What also gets me is the fact that people will state they do not have work, sitting by waiting for it to come in, working all kind of weird hours to make a line count. It is no wonder and the MTers are to blame if the companies take advantage of them because they let them. How one can wait on work day after day is a mystery to me.
I just spent about the last 5 years doing work I hate because the money -sm
was so good. Which is more important to you? Sounds to me like you'd rather take the one with the type of work you enjoy more. It didn't hurt me to do that work all that time. The money was so good, it made it seem more enjoyable. Isn't it so nice though that you have a choice!
I found an article stating they have already spent over 6 months
already in place to take over immediately. I found it on their website if I'm not mistaken.
I am using Merit.
I also think they have a Dictaphone.
MERIT

I found it to be a very user friendly platform to use.


Actually, I was on the Merit side.
Now I work for a company using Dictaphone, and I'm happy.
Only some of MW uses that. The ER work is all done on MeriT, which is their own. nm
x
Not all MW ER work is on MeriT - sm
I work on a primarily ER account and we are on the Dictaphone platform.  I really love working for Medware.
I use Merit on the ER team

nm


Merit Program
Compared to EXText? No comparison, way worse.
Love Merit
I love the Merit platform, but it's pretty much the only one I've known other than Medware's older one where you had to dial in. Merit is probably the only reason I stay with the company since I don't want to learn a new platform and I'm afraid it will be tedious. They do not have enough work right now though on the ER side, but maybe acute care and Dictaphone does.
That is why I left. I spent days sitting in front of the computer, checking for
work every 5 minutes (or less) for 8+ hours trying to get work. On my days off I used to work 12+ hour days to make up lines, but then they hired people for Friday-Monday work and then there wasn't extra work to make up lines. I would get up at 3 or 4 a.m. and try to get work. I gave it a good try, frequently asked STM for more work, went over her head. They didn't seem to care, meanwhile I'm taking $300 to $400/month out of savings to cover my bills.
MeriT versus ExText
I just started with Medware a little over a month ago as an Editor and work on the MeriT System. I worked on ExText before joining Medware and I like MeriT better. ExText is a great program, but I think MeriT is more MT friendly.
Medware Merit platform ~ anyone use

Hoping someone could let me know how well the 2 work together.  Is the Merit platform easy to use ~ how does it compare to Extext?  Thanks a bunch for any info!!!



Merit side of Medware....
Can anyone give me their opinion on how easy it is to get lines, etc. on the Merit side of Medware?  I am currently on the dictaphone side, but have such problems with the software locking up that before I leave the company completely was wondering how the Merit side was.  Thanks. 
merit versus dictaphone
merit sucks compared to extext
Merit of DeVenture's Reply
I have to give DeVenture credit for making their reply sound so credible. However, my understanding is that this case was not about one of your MTs at home. This case is about one of your administrative staff members NOT one of your typists, so this does not compare whatsoever. Nice try though.