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Is there a large cost associated with the Sten-Tel system? Thanks. nm

Posted By: also looking on 2006-03-21
In Reply to: Yes, it's who I work for. What do you want to know? - sm

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A REALLY large system with several hospitals. nm

I can't tell you, sorry, but it is a LARGE one.
,
No cost here either
x
cost...
For medical and dental it is around $85 biweekly.  SGS is also the only company I know of that allows contractors to have medical and dental, around $110 biweekly, as long as you meet 9600 lines minimum biweekly, which is pretty low these days.
how much did YOU cost THEM?
If the FOB belongs to the hospital, why in this world would you not want to do the right thing and send it back even if it means going out of your way (although it is crystal clear here that this would be against your nature) to do right by the hospital?

I could never, ever do something that could cause an MTSO to lose a client and if you chose to follow the road you are on that is what could happen. It doesn't belong to you. It has security codes on it. The hospital is upset. The MTSO is upset. You are upset. Crimy!! God save the MT profession from crabby, nothing-better-to-do-with-their time old timers like you!!!!!!

Do you think that you are so special that you were the only one who lost money on trying to get you started up? People in the hospital were helping. People at the MTSO were helping. You were sitting around waiting, not helping and you continue not to help.

Send it back all ready and be done with it!!!!!!
large comp

I agree.


They have taken on several new large accounts over
the past several months.
been with 2 large nationals; will never do that again.
Much better with the smaller companies.
I have 22 employees, which is not large, but had to do the same. sm
Our state unemployment division did an audit on me and determined that the ICs are actually employees. I had to pay unemployment on everyone who works for me or who did work for me back 5 years to present and make them all employees. I had to pay fines and penalties too.

The IRS has their list of 20 checklist items but the states can have a few of their own and they have the right to enforce them.

One from our state (Missouri) states that if you perform the same type of duties as employees at the company, even if you fit the 20 items from the IRS, you are an employee.

I appealed the decision and lost. It cost me $5000 for a lawyer but still have to pay the $218,000 to them (the total with the fees, penalties, interest and payments that should have been made). It is going to force me to close our doors.


If it is a large account
your email may be one of nearly 20+ she gets per day. When you are a lead you are getting many calls and emails daily. Address the issue with the head and go over his/her head if things don't improve.
these were supposedly large sm
companies that have been around awhile.  I am hearing a lot of MTs going through the same thing.  Its getting ridiculous!
It is hard to get a large
group of doctors at a hospital to ALL do VR and their own editing. Smaller clinics are more likely to completely do away with MTs, as they are more inclined to do their own editing; plus doctors in clinics do not go into as much detail as hospital dictators. Clinics usually stick to a fairly standard normal template, whereas doctors in hospitals dictate all kinds of ways...That is what I have seen..
Doesn't cost the MT anything, though from my
experience you can do as good, if not better on your own.   They actually contacted me (probably from my resume posted on a couple of job boards) and I tried them thinking that maybe they had companies that didn't advertise and that probably paid well considering they were using a third party company to hire/screen, but the company they referred me to was one that frequently advertises here and the pay was average. 
IMO, the COST of being a CMT (attending sm
seminars, etc., to get the required credits) was very high and far outweighed any extra pay offered, to say nothing of the time spent on it. I find that just being a really good MT will get the same pay rate. When I was a CMT, I was living and breathing MT. All vacation time and Saturday mornings were spent getting credits. The rest of the time I was working. I have a life now.
How about the phone cost? I went
to their website, and it says that some accounts have a 1-800 # and others are long distance but that they reimburse what they consider a fair amount or something along that order.  Does anyone know how that works?  Otherwise, they sound really good!!!  If anyone has any info regarding the phone stuff, I'd love to know!!!  Thanks.
Nonmember cost is $275. nm
xxx
Insurance cost
It all depends on where you live. I am in Florida and pay $450 per month for myself and 2 kids. It is different for other states.
Doesn't it cost...
an individual out-of-pocket to get a background check? I mean, if one is looking for a job, chances are he/she is broke and does not have the money to pay for such paperwork, not to mention the fact of how much it costs in gas to run all over the place.

The reason I know this is because my son just got a job at a local restaurant as a chef. In South Carolina some jobs require a background check, but the potential employee has to pay for this as well as run all over creation requesting records from the Highway Department as well as City and County law enforcement offices. It's time consuming and costly.

I wouldn't mind the background check if it came out of the potential employer's pocket (which they can write off anyway) and if they did all the leg work. I wonder if this sort of thing can be done online?
Cost of Insurance @ KS
Can you tell me how long it takes to be covered under their insurance plan and how much it is for individual coverage? I had read earlier it was very expensive but they were working on it.
TIA
About how much does Aflac cost per pay?
nm
I agree. It should not cost you to

Maybe, just maybe, since working remotely, you may need to purchase a stamp.  Now employee is different than IC, I think too.  An IC can write off that expense of a fax machine whereas an employee cannot.  So, we need to differentiate.  I don't feel the OP is complaining.  I think she has a point.  These companies assume because we are remote that we have all of the modalities that they have being a national or large MTSO.  


It doesn't cost anything so I would try.
All they can do is turn you down, but then again they might hire you. 
If you are IC and pay for your insurance, that cost
x
They use them to reduce the cost of
transcription, not just third shift work, and not just when they need help. We can have no work and you can be sure they are still sending the easy jobs to the low life trash from India just so they can make more money for the big wigs at the company. Face it, Transcend does not care a hoot about you. They can mouth the words we care, but it is just like any other politician. You are a fool if you fall for the lies.
VR is not cost effective for MTs
I agreed to a certain amount for standard transcription and a certain amount for editing. You need twice the amount of minutes for editing to make what you need but the minutes aren't there. In any event, it is not worth it. I say look for another MT job that doesn't use VR or find another profession.
Ultra low cost
This is disgusting, but unfortunately there will be someone who will apply. This is why we're working for peatnuts.
You either need a job to fit your cost of living or a cost of living to fit your job. sm
While I agree that you cannot live in California on $35,000 a year, no one is forcing you to live in California. Suze Orman says either find a way to lower your expenses or find a way to earn more money. It's common sense :)

There was a post a few weeks ago about not everyone being cut out to be an MT. I agree.

The original poster needs to stop whining and either get a job that pays more or get a new career. She can make $15,000 on minimum wage at a mall or Walmart.

BTW, it was insulting of her to say that MOST woman don't need to work. How dare she? In this day and age, most adults need to work. This is not 1958, this is 2008. I am not a bra burner, but my husband and I both make similar money, clean the house, cook, raise our 3 children. I am just lucky to have a job where I can work from home. I hated commuting anywhere, hate traffic, no patience.

But that doesn't mean that I work less. I treat my job like a job. I work in my home office but I work all day. I do not do laundry, chat with friends, cook. I go to work each day by getting ready as if I were leaving for an office, pour my coffee, make sure I have everything I need and start. I take bathroom breaks and a lunch break and take the full hour that I would somewhere else. I work 8 full hours as I do not include my lunch hour, so my day is 8 to 5. When I am done for the day, I turn everything off, leave the room and close the door, as if I were in an outside office.

My husband has a salary of $71,000 and I make near the same as him each year. I do not work overtime except very rarely, an occasional Saturday here and there, just like if I were on salary in another profession.

I am not perfect, but I love my job and do it well. I also know that MT'ing is not for everyone, although it seems as if a lot of MT's who are not very good at their jobs have a sense of entitlement.
Insurance cost
Geesh.... I thought mine was high. Are you paying for family coverage or just you and spouse? And if you don'the mind my asking who you work for. You may replay by my email if you'd rather do that. I appreciate your reply. I will definitely not be looking into Acusis or All Type! Webmedx is a good company other than I thought their insurance was awful high. Up until last summer we had insurance through my husband's company, which was very reasonable as it was a large company, but they went out of business so he is now without a job and it's up to me to carry the coverage.
To offset the cost of
providing your own insurance, paying the extra half of the Social Security, having no sick days or PTO, etc., you have to make I believe at least a couple of cents more per line. If you could find a 'true' IC position that let you set your own schedule & paid enough extra per line, it might be worth it. Otherwise, I'd really recommend going with employee status...
cost comparisons - IC vs SE

There's no actual formula you can follow, because there are too many variables. How much do you withhold for taxes? (i.e. TN doesn't have a state income tax). Do you need to pay for health insurance, and how much? Do you need a phone line with/without unlimited long distance? Do you have minimal office costs (just a headset for voice files or would you need to buy another C-phone if the one you had died)? Do you want perks (i.e. paid sick time)? And so forth.

In a nutshell, you don't want your net pay to be different either way. In other words, if you net pay as an employee/statutory employee is $20,000 for a 40-hour week, make certain that after all of your deductions you are not making less.


I have found that large places
like hospitals, banks, insurance companies offer the best benefit packages to part-timers. In fact I once worked 10 hours a week at a bank just for the benefits package. PT MT at home with benefits, however, I don't think you will find. It's hard enough finding FT with benefits and the premium isn't $800 a month.
Yes, 2 large hospitals. Both accounts out. nm
nm
When I worked for a large national, they
had a gal from New York using a steno machine.  She consistently turned out over 20,000 lines every 2 weeks/pay period.  So if you know the steno machine, you can make megabucks in transcription.  She always won awards at this biggest national.
The accounts are so large you get them some days
and other days none. I too have had days when that seems like all I get. Sometimes I will go 3 months before I get the same doctor. She should have asked them to route her a variety that day or try another account. There really is a break in period with any new account but Transtech really is the best company out there and they are willing to work with their MTs.
Um, not exactly - some of the VERY LARGE companies do the same thing!
Trust me. lol
I do a large number of ESLs and usually

don't have issues, but when I worked at SS their ESL dictators on at least 1 account were horrendous.  They were bad dictators on top of the sound quality being the worst I've encountered in my 20 years of MTing.  Management was a joke and you couldn't believe a word the CEO told you.   I worked in QA and the quality of the transcription was very bad.   Someone asked me if the work was done in India and I said it may very well be because it was so bad that it pretty much had to be done over.   I had some suggestions on how to better run things and was offered a management position to implement them, but I declined. 


The reason there is a lot of work is because they can't keep MTs.   I agree not all companies, not matter how good they are, are a good fit for all MTs, but if a company has constant turnover there has to be a reason for it.  I work because I need the money and I don't see any reason to waste my time going with a company that has the reputation that SS does.  There have been a handful of MTs who despite all the negatives about SS decided to accept positions.  A couple of MTs have come back about a month layer apologizing for not believing us and said everything we said was true.  


I would not refer my worst enemy to this company. 


Would anyone work for a large national co, with a

I use the company provided computer.  They had a change in computers and I was sent a new one.  Since that time, the foot pedal provided has not worked.  I can hear reports, but I cannot backup or move ahead using the pedal.  To hear something again, I have to bang my foot on the pedal. To move ahead forward or go backward for any length, I must go to playback page and manually move the cursor to where I need to be. 


I have put up with this for five years. Yes, that is right, FIVE YEARS!!!! I have called our so-called Help Desk numerous times and I have been sent two more pedals, neither of which work, or, rather, work the same as the original pedal.  I have asked for help from countless people.  The Help Desk states I am the only one having the problem.  The supervisor says I am the only one having the problem. I know one other person on my team who is also having having the problem, but we are too  ashamed to really raise heck.  I am disgusted. 


By the way, it is the most commonly used foot pedal. Even their ad states it works with any computer.  I just had to vent. 


Large nationals don't like radiology because of TAT
xx
I was offered a very large rate of pay, so you
z
I know they just got a large hospital account near me.
xx
They have recently gotten a very large account. Probably
xx
Large deductible and everything out of pocket.
xx
Is this a large hospital with MANY Hispanic
dictators, probably over 75%? I heard they only had 1 account on DQS, a new one they picked up in August. I am working on that account and would love to switch.
It's a large company, Passing, SM
offering a variety of opportunities and mixed experiences. Different platforms, different managers, and different accounts all over the country. Transcend kept me happy with lots of good work for a long time before my account went offshore without notice. I was then switched to another very good and interesting account, where the way the lines were counted was adjusted down again without notice (by the same account manager). If that hadn't happened, I'd be there still, and I have no doubt that the many people who say it's a great company are honestly reflecting their own experiences.

Knowing what I do, if I were you I'd go ahead with the training but, as with any company, be firm up front that as a pro you expect to be assigned to good accounts with lots of work. Then call on them immediately (first 2 days) to correct the situation if they are not, and mean it. I've never been in MT personnel, but I imagine they hire a lot of people who don't pan out, engendering an attitude that adversely affects the way many others are treated before they have a chance to prove themselves. If they allow it. Best wishes.
Usually MANY battles, both large and small,
Food for thought.
All the large companies do the same thing.
I don't work for WMX. I'm amazed this is the first anyone has heard. I suppose Webber Inc. keeps things quiet.

Really, don't get upset. Just business as usual.
And what large hospital did they lose? (nm)
.
As someone who has worked for many large companies, sm
I've seen this many times before. Companies downsize or streamline or whatever they want to call it OFTEN, especially management level positions. I wouldn't blow this out of proportion.
Anyone currently working for DSG know if they have a large turnover of MTs there and how is it
to work there at the present time.  Just looking!
Yes it is, and ANY percentage is too large for my comfort
ANY percentage is too high. There's no excuse for it except profits for greedy American MTSOs.

There are literally HUNDREDS of US MTs more than willing to work these odd hours that Transcend and others claim they are 'forced' to offshore because they cannot get sufficient help here.

I strongly disagree. In fact, I disgree just short to calling it out as being a bald-faced LIE.

The purpose is nothing more to increase profits for the powers that be, while all of the time hammering down the pay of the American MT.

I hope I am not alone in my stand on this. I would rather somewhere else for less money who DOES NOT offshore and who respects their MTs. Respect is something MDI-MD obviously chose to cast aside when they began negotiating their moneymaking deal while we starved, lost sleep, wondered how we would pay our bills, and yet STILL tried to be loyal to these yahoos.

Nope, not happy and checking out before my work goes to India.

I've worked too hard and am too advanced in my career to be a sitting duck.
Unless she can provide large volumes of
eventually the big co's with their guerilla business tactics will stomp on her little business, too.