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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Many MTSOs state right up front

Posted By: swiftsail on 2009-05-09
In Reply to: I knewww I had heard of this law, thanks for post for the MTs - darlene

now when you apply that they are an At-Will Employer. In other words, they don't have to have a rhyme or reason for cutting you off at any given time or place.

So, you take the job knowing that you could be history at their whim even if you did your job very well.

Of course, management are all secure in their positions.

Could it get much worse???




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I've learned that it is exactly that - a store front. Or maybe just a front. nm
,
Unless something has changed, health insurance rates vary state by state, so we may not have the
info you need.  I'm an IC so I don't have benefits.
You are correct. The state that rules is the state the employee lives in.
My state laws has is spelled out in their Code. If another state does not withhold, they are fined heavily and if they don't withhold for years, their fines are pretty bad. I worked for a Florida co that did not withhold income tax for my state even after I brought it to their attention in the state code. They kept saying that they would eventually and never did. After two plus years and when I left, I made it known to my state all the conversations, the state refunded me all late fees they charged me and then said they were going after the company in Florida because they had many employees in our state. They deserved it. They knew better.
The state you live in or the state where the MTSO is located? nm
nm
If company is in state that has no state taxes
they are not required to take out state taxes.  It's enough to keep up with your own state tax law code, could you imagine having to stay abreast of 49 other state tax codes?  The cost would be huge and ultimately passed on to us by lower line rates.  Regardless of who owes the tax, someone has to pay it.  Just a matter of convenience I guess. 
Not state by state, federal labor law - sm
and you don't have to be asked. If you work it, asked or not, they have to pay time and a half OT rate for hours worked over 40 in a week.

Taken right from U.S. Dept of Labor -
An employer who requires or PERMITS an employee to work overtime is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work. Employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)MUST receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest.

Extra pay for working weekends or nights is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee (or the employee's representative). The FLSA does not require extra pay for weekend or night work or double time pay.

Different state to state. You would be surprised to find

IC can be defined differently state to state.  Even the IRS cannot come up with a definitive set of rules.  You would be surprised how many ICs actually get unemployment in some states.  If the unemployment claim form asks specifically if you are an independent contractor, do not lie, but if it does not, do not volunteer it.  Let the company prove you are a true IC according to the rules of your state.  All you lose is a few minutes filling out the claim form.  I would only do it as a last resort.  If you can find work fast, by all means go for it, but the way things are now with all the VR and off-shoring, it is a backup if you cannot find work.  No one should go hungry because they are afraid to file for Unemployment as an IC. 


 


They do tell you up front that they have a lot of ESL. At least they don't lie about it like mos
nm
I have it in front of me and it says
39 hours working 150 lph gets health insurance, 401K and PTO and soemthing called EAP (employee assistance plan-help with family situations?) 39 hours at 100 lph gets 401 K, PTO and EAP Part-time 24 hours with 100 lph gets 401K and PTO and EAP. 16 hours with 100 lph gets 401K, EAP. 8 hours with 100 lph gets 401K and EAP. You need a manual to understand this manual. hahaha. So you see how the lph plays into the benefits now, not just hours but lines per hour. you can work 39 hours and if you can't get 150 lph done you don't get health insurance.
LOL, I have always said I will die in front
x
I also ask up front if they do VR. sm
Haven't done it yet and I am not going to. I will get out of the business before I will do VR. There are still companies that dont do it and some of them I don't believe ever will.
So sorry about this, yes, they should have been up front with you about what was going on, but (sm)
the norm seems to be to keep quiet until everything is finalized, and then let the ball drop.  They should have had the decency to at least make a phone call, that was a nasty way to treat someone.  I would tell you to come with my company, but we have work shortages too, so I don't think it would help you.  Good luck, again!
Look, if you want up-front responses SM
from people, you need to be more up-front about who you are, what company you are hiring for, etc.
That was kind of them to tell you up front
instead of trying to sugar coat it like some do.
Why not ask for this IN WRITING up front?... SM
However, most of what you get in writing from MTSOs is (have you ever read a rental lease drawn up by LL/mgmt?) almost always in THEIR favor, whether it's an IC contract or employee agreement.  Ever notice how they hedge on where it comes to pay rate?  Mine states only compensation.... on an agreed-upon rate. Still, you could probably negotiate items that are important to you and not negotiable, like in your case, no typing, specific pay rate, hours, schedules.  If they refuse to state these in writing, don't count on being able to negotiate them later.
I was not told that up front . . .
that was the first excuse I got when asking about my check. I have been in this business a long time and this is the first and only time this has happened. Sometimes you can do everything right, but still get ripped off by unscrupulous people.
Perhaps sometimes, but so far these people have ALWAYS been up front with me. (sm)
I also have to admit that today I have had relatively few of those dictators that make you cringe, much less than what I usually get and I have to wonder if perhaps some people were not taking heed to the warning.
Be up front with the company.

I never had OP experience when I was with a hospital and was scared of them. When I went for a national job,  I told the company I was lacking in OPs.   When I felt a bit e comfortable with all the other acute care that I never had experience with (ophthamology, cancer, etc.), I asked to have a few ops downloaded to me to try them.


Now I don't turn down a single job and believe me, there are a few like the above I don't get too often, but when I do, I just take my time with them and try not to leave blanks. Sooner or later, they will all fall into place just like acute care; i.e., it will take a long time to get through the first few reports, but it's well worth it. I now like doing OPs and am happy when they download first in my queue.



If they'd tell us up front what is in store for us, they would
save us all a lot of time. Is it too much to ask to have an idea of the type of audio, dictation, the details that can make or break the enjoyment of a job? After 25 years, I have paid my dues and would like to have an account that is enjoyable, gives me an income I can live on and a management team that doesn't use the drill sargeant approach. What is up with all the rude attitudes? Maybe the account they acquired should either be dropped or charged more if no one wants to transcribe their work. That, in turn, would snap lazy inconsiderate dictators out of their mode of let the MT figure it out/look it up. While they rake in the money because time is money and when I am not typing in a report, folks, i am not making any money. The day I meet a woman/man who does this job as a hobby, I'll rethink my stand.
Front end VR is a mess
A radiology group went that way and they had to hire more IT people and one more MT to fix it. Not as successful as one would think. EMR point and click takes 20 minutes versus a few seconds to dictate. Plus more IT people.
They should take out state taxes for the state
nm
It varies from state to state
nm
Varies from state to state
My own state recognizes partial unemployment, too, when your work gets cut down to half of your regular workload/income.
They are an offshore company with a front in the US.
 
They are actually in India, have a store front
location in MA, not Maryland.
Tell me about it. A doc I see, his front desk secretary's (sm)
duties include: answering the phone, which barely rings, and surfing the net. That's the easiest $14.00 per hour job I've seen. We're busting our butts for pennies and she's doing practically nothing. Are we insane? What is it with us? Why do we allow ourselves to accept these insulting ridiculously low wages?
Yep, all quiet on the SS Management Front here...

They can't refute the truth about the company, can they? 


'cricket noises' ...  all quiet from J&R... 


AVOID THIS COMPANY.  THE END.


Best advice...make her pay you up front before sm
you will even considering working another second longer, and then when she pays you RUN....
Front end speech not so great either
I used to work for a rad group that went to front end speech. The lead MT is a good friend of mine still. They mostly have inside MTs who transcribe and edit. Some of the docs absolutely refuse to use it and then others tolerate it. The real crux of the issue in this particular instance is that they got rid of their 3 outside MTs and kept all of their in-house to edit the mess but had to increase their IT staff by 5. So now the docs who bypass edit must spend more time making sure the machine is picking up their exact words (which they miss a lot. For instance, the machine can't seem to change degenerate into degenerative no matter how many times they correct it) so bottom line here is the docs must spend more time being concerned with the report and they must pay more for the pleasure!
where i live, everybody is jumping in front of
trains right and left, at an average of about 1-2 per day. that sure tells you where our heads are at in this country, huh? at least here, they cover you up afterward and dont go publishing the gory details. but maybe if we all hadnt been so screwed these past few years, it wouldnt be coming down to this.

and now the commuter trains are always late.
jumping in front of trains
and now the commuter trains are always late.

you are hilarious! i nearly choked on my coffee when i read this!
On the front page of my morning paper
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/214991
but what did that original message allow you to "know" up front?
like they failed to mention some employer contribution to HI, what KIND of insurance it is and all the other types of benefits they offer.

I always get minute details when chosing an employer, especially when it comes to HI (example: Is this a PPO/HMO/major med with huge deductible?) All sorts of questions were left unanswered when compared to looking at benefits on ads from other MTSOs.

JMO
Nearly all the offshore companies have front offices in the U.S. sm
Sometimes their actually hotel rooms.  They use international phone numbers and purchase a phone # in the U.S.  In point of fact, clients many times don't even know they are dealing with an offshore company.  The owner of this website has done extensive reseach and knows who offshores and who doesn't.  It isn't that hard to figure out when you start connecting the dots, i.e., visit the website and there is no place for MTs to apply. Almost all U.S. based companies have a place to apply.  Notice that all the offices, including those in other states, all have the same address and phone number.  And notice if you call that 24/7 phone number you always get a voice mail.  There are lots of ways to tell.   The offshoring companies are getting more sophisticated about how they work things.  And some hospitals are getting more persistent about not contracting with services who are offshore.  It's a shill game. Dishonest and deceitful. 
We should all start asking up front "If you are paying under 9 cpl for 10+ yrs exp. you better te

Heck no, it is not okay. But do you think they are going to start being up front and honest just
;P
Tell your employer up front that you just want to work "whenever"!!
and see how far that gets you.  I've worked for a few medium to large transcription companies, and NOT ONE of them said I could work whenever I felt like it.  I started with each one knowing what shift/days off I was required to work, and that's what I did.  I have negotiated changes in hours and, when I moved to the new hours, I worked those as required.  Donnez-moi un break, s'il vous plait.
A 7.8 in Oregon would of been front-page news, and we'd
So nope, no quake-a-rooni up there. According to USGS, the only ones up there in the past week have been a mag. 1-2, so small as to only be felt by seismographs.
a "store-front" office -- like ACUSIS?
.
I read $20 million, over $16 mil cash up front
In other words, serious dough.  I'd think a wee bonus to us 500 galley slaves might be in order.  Had many of us not been told ''MDI does not send work overseas, Dorothy would never do that'' when we were hired, I doubt we would feel so betrayed. 
I've witnessed front-end VR in action...sm
First hand.  It was extremely impressive.  Talked to the docs that use it.  There are lots of companies and software packages out there so perhaps it varies a lot. 
Definitely watch your back and your side and your front. The main one is still there

that stabs everyone in the back.  I left there a long time ago but so many have been used and stabbed.


 


The reason for the stabbing is TOTAL LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM.  When I was there, they had a wonderful QA staff. I worked QA on salary (not enough salary but on salary).  Many unethical things went on and many knew it, some didn't.  I could not work for a company that was that unethical with the backstabbing and the plans.  Many have left, many come, many gone.  I would not work for them for anything.  There are some companies out there that are good. This is NOT one of them.


They'll work with the report being created in front of them...sm

With all the times I've had residents, PAs, or NPs dictate sentences, erase them, start again, erase them, and then end up saying go back to where I said [fill in the blank] and put [such and such] instead, I can't see a machine being able to correctly interpret all that.  If they work with the document being created in front of them, they can fix all this stuff as they go along. Just highlight the old stuff they want out and replace it with the new stuff they really wanted.


I can't see the computers picking up medication errors, dosage errors, incorrect dates, new operative equipment, being able to correctly flag right/left, or correct spelling of cc'd physicians' names. Most likely there is another program running with it that would do a pop screen for amoxicillin 5000 mg tid to question it. Physician names are probably in a pop up screen too. Of course, it's not going to correct everything but when the COX-2 inhibitors were taken off the market do you think a human could go through all 5,785 charts to find the people who had been prescribed Celebrex to call them to tell them to stop taking it? Of course not.  It's not a matter of IF MT's will be replaced, it's already happening.


 


 


Thank you all!!!! So the general consensus is that my idea of being up front and honest and
telling them I would love the job but have some concerns about the amount of work and level of experience (being on my own) is not really a good idea.  I was just thinking that maybe they may possibly think of splitting the position into two if they did not end up finding one transcriptionist......???  Anyway, thank you again.  I wish I was more confident, but I really do not want to get into a situation where I am way in over my head.  
It is an Indian run company with a store front office in the US. If you are
working without a contract you're asking for trouble.  They have no obligation to pay you if there is no contract. 
I'll take a guess and say TransTech as they tell you up front you don't get headers/footers an
b
I would rather know what they expect up front. I love working there. Breath of fresh air sm
I was with the Q for 12 years and started with Keystrokes a year ago tomorrow. I am fast and accurate and had no problems with their requirements.

They are definitely worth taking a look at. I make more money with them (at 0.09 per line now) than I did with MQ at 0.11 per line. Better accounts, no huge pool, plenty of work.

They are growing every year, every month it seems and do not lose accounts.

I am glad I made the switch.

If you do not like what they tell you upfront, try somewhere else. I liked having the information without having the ask 50 million questions and not knowing what to expect.
They must deduct FEDERAL taxes.. NOT STATE taxes.. if they took out state taxes.. it would be FLORID
which would only have to be refunded to you for you to pay YOUR state what you owe them which is nothing but a pain... be glad they weren't handling your state tax.. and I think in this case.. if someone at the IRS told you they have to deduct YOUR states taxes.. it is that person who is uneducated... they only have to deduce federal income tax

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.
My only contact with them was rude. The front office person or whomever schedules interviews is rude
This was about a year ago but I set up an interview and either I was supposed to call them or they were to call me at a certain time but I totally spaced off the time change. The lady went off on me and told me that they had no interest in me because I couldn't call on time etc. Rude. There is no way I would ever work for someone like that.
And what about the MTSOs that ...
yell and scream and write nasty emails just because they happen to be in a bad mood? And that goes for some QA people I can think of too. They don't know or care to be civil. I suppose the double standard would apply here though. Only the peasantry should be given psychiatric tests?!