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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Maybe Transcend needs to step up

Posted By: sm on 2005-07-15
In Reply to: know2well - nm

to the plate and fix these issues before their investimate goes down the drain.


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    Yes but Transcend needs to step up
    They are loosing a lot of their money by allowing MDI to continue to operate they way they do. I personally would love to see them merge MDI into Transcend and be one company. I'm holding out hope this happens, if it does not then I'm leaving MDI.
    We should go one step further than that!
    We should stop buying products made in other countries if at all possible (Wal*Mart comes to mind). Don't forget: Every time you buy a foreign product, an American somewhere at some point lost her/his job to offshoring because of that product. MTs represent ONE segment in a loooooooong line of people who are losing/have lost their jobs to offshoring.
    One step further
    You got one step further than myself.  I sent my resume but didn't even hear back from them...so I am guessing they were probably inundated with resumes.  Doggone it anyway!
    Been there . . . this is actually a step up on dictators for me!!! NM
    NM
    You don't have to go to Career Step
    I smell something a little fishy here.  Are you advertising for Career Step?  I repeat if you are already a transcriptionist, then you can apply for online jobs.  It does not take a certificate from Career Step.  I have been offered many jobs online, and I do not have a certificate from Career Step or any other training program.  
    Career Step
    Just to clarify about Career Step, the cost is nowhere near $5000. It is in fact, between $1500 and $2000 the last I knew. I do not work for them, but graduated a year ago and they did prepare me for acute care MT work. (After 9 months I am making about $20,000 a year, working 2 IC jobs for a total of about 40 hours a week).
    Career Step
    CS has been a dream for me. With their training, I had 7 offers for at-home MT employment within 2 weeks of graduation. It is a hard course, and the final exam has a 50% fail rate, but it really prepares you for the real world of MT. If it wasn't that hard I think I would be dead in the water. If you want to learn more, they have a forum for people who have questions about joining at http://careerstep.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/frm/f/6960008433
    and their website is www.careerstep.com. Before joinging, I checked them out with the BBB and called them probably 20 times with questions. They were very helpful and have a shiny record with the BBB. Also, they are one of the few schools approved by the AAMT, as you can see from the AAMT website. They are also a lot cheaper than most places. Hope that helps!
    Career Step
    Career Step is legit (and I don't get any $$ for recommending them). The course is self-paced and allowed me to work from home right after graduation. The website has all the cost info. on it. 
    Career Step
    If I knew then what I know now, I would not have attended Career Step.  I would have attended MTEC or Andrews.
    Does feel like the new Q. This is step 1...
    Beware.
    Career Step
    My sister took this course 3 years ago and was hired as a graduate. I was able to view this course and was very impressed with it and how it prepared the students. There is a lot of practice dictation starting from beginner to advanced, working your way up. Another good school is M-TEC. When I helped my sister research what companies were looking for in graduates, these were the 2 schools that always popped up as being recognized by companies that hire graduates.

    I went to a local business school and worked on site at a hospital/clinic for 5 years before working from home.
    I agree, but it's a step up from
    and I don't care to the Nth power.
    Hold on there! Now I must step in.

    Don't be putting down people who like to do VR. I did straight typing for over 15 years and I am making the same, if not more, doing VR now. I was not a very slow typist, and quality is my first priority. I've been doing VR for almost a year now and love it. What makes it easy for me is I never really relied on Expanders to up my line rate since my hospital didn't really allow them, except for autocorrect. I didn't have an Expander until 6 years ago. Doing VR, I can't use the expander I did finally learn, but it's no big deal.


    Like some other posters stated, it depends on who else is doing the reports whether or not VR is easy or hard.  Some days, my reports are easy, other days tough. It's the same when doing straight typing. Some dictators are easy, other are tough.


    I don't think VR is really made for large companies with hundreds of transcriptionists. It's made for the smaller companies that all conform to the same verbiage.


    If you're good/fast/quality-oriented with straight typing without expanders, then VR would be good for you. If you rely on an expander to get those lines, you will have a problem in the beginning, but if you're flexible, it will pan out.


    Don't down people because they like VR. You know what they say......try it. You may like it.


     


    Let's take a step back

    Okay.  I think we can agree that in this industry, like every other, there are some bad apples.  There are some bad MTSOs, some bad MTs and even some bad clients.  And there are some good apples, too. 


    Unfortunately, even the best MTSOs have to deal with a lot of new realities in this business that limit their options.  Over the past 15 to 20 years, the business has become much more competitive, clients are now being run by bean-counters who squeeze every penny out of contracts that they can, and the investment that an MTSO has to make in technology today has simply skyrocketed - not only the initial investment, but the ongoing investment in tech people, etc. to keep it running.  On top of that, there's been the deteriorating business climate that has actually been going on since 2007, although it didn't attract significant notice until late in 2008. 


    And now comes speech rec.  There's a lot of MTSOs who haven't been thrilled about this because it's a huge investment and because they know how crummy SR really is - but clients become sold on the exaggerations in savings that the SR missionaries preach, and start insisting on it.  So you'll do SR or they'll find someone else.


    The costs to every business in America for what we call compliance (to all of the jillions of laws that affect business) have also skyrocketed.  You can find plenty of information about this yourself.  These costs include all sorts of insurance and a lot of costs in terms of your operation just to keep yourself out of court or an administrative hearing of some kind.


    MTSO's don't run the industry like some people here seem to think.  Clients run the industry.   Technology runs the industry.  Congress and various administrative agencies at every level of government run the industry.  Lawyers run the industry. 


    There is one thing that I do criticize many MTSOs for, however, and that is the crappy line rate that many of them are paying for SR editing.  The typical scenario is that they promise you'll be able to edit jillions more lines per hour than you can transcribe,  so you shouldn't mind going from 9 or 10 cpl to 3 or 4 cpl.  Unfortunately, you buy into this and then discover that if you do your editing job properly, you really can't do all that many more lines per hour.  So your next paycheck sucks.  You give it a little longer...and your paycheck still sucks.  A couple more paychecks that suck, and now YOU are the one who is out of options. 


    It's no good telling people who get caught in this trap Well, then, get into another field! because by this time they have no money to be trained in anything else.  Their kids are already fighting with the dog to see who gets the food in his bowl. So my criticism is the shameful way that many MTSOs have dealt with their people.


    What bothers me the most about this is that every line of an SR document gets edited - even if it doesn't need to be changed.  In other words, there's really no difference in the KNOWLEDGE that an Editor has to bring to a line whether she declares the line to be correct or decides that it needs correction.  That line is correct is PRECISELY THE SAME SORT OF JUDGMENT as saying That line is wrong. 


    This is a knowledge business, not a typing business.  There is absolutely no excuse for reducing the line rates so drastically (and little experience to show that people can still earn the same living).  This means, then, that the MTSO is buying knowledge on the cheap - and that's one thing that I can't forgive them for.  That, and the way they sucker people into accepting editing jobs in the first place.


     


     


     


    its true, but wish WMX would take the first step
    been here for awhile and I am not an underperformer by any means.  Yet i still get the NSA message dozens of times a day for the past month.  So while I think that waiting it out is the right move for me and that those who can't will go someplace else and create more work, I do wish mgmt would evaluate who is not performing up to par and cut them loose.  Sorry if that sound harsh, but i consistently do over 200 lph straight and close to 300 ASR and I think those that perform better should have some kind of preference over those that are at 125 to 150 lph, which i believe is below what mgmt expects each day.  don't mean to be offensive to anyone personally, but this is what the industry has come down to. 
    okay, your first step would be to find out...
    What the sale or merger involved, if the sale involved assets only or if it included ALL contracts. If the sale was assets only (meaning accounts) you SHOULD be free of the contract. This would mean they could not have included employees as an asset. If the terms of the sale included existing employee contracts or included the employees as assets, you would be bound by the noncompete clause. Sounds confusing but makes sense. In other words, you need to know if they sold you guys along with the company. That is what happened to me in the past (this was way long ago, 1970s). The new company paid $1000 per employee. We got no notice. one day they told us at 2 p.m. today you no longer work for _____ but are an employee of _____. I walked right then and there. I was not then nor will I ever be for sale! Fortunately for me, at that time we had no noncompete clause in place so we just went and recruited the old clients and started our own service.
    Anyone hear of Future Step?
    I received an email from Future Step telling me about a job.  Never heard of them.  Never applied with them?????
    QA is not a step up. They make less than the MTs and are on quota.
    x
    but of course, people in the 10-step program
    .
    They do get a fee for all who actually enroll in career step.

    Watch that first step off the horse. NM
    nm
    let the MTSOs step in the MTs shoes - sm
    If they cant pay a decent wage, them maybe it is time to let some of the clients go and work for yourself. It is just like MTs, if you accept a low rate of pay that is what you get. Stand up for yourself MTSOs and ask for more money. Get a back bone.
    To follow that logic one step further,

    then why is Transcend trying so hard on this board to convince everyone they are not the anti-Christ?  If they were that good, everyone would be beating a path to their door and they wouldn't have to be defending themselves to the degree we are seeing...


    but correct me if I'm wrong...


    Career Step is $1320 or $1560
    x
    If they use MTTEST by Career Step - Don't bother...
    ...just like Career Step's program, MTtest is GREATLY flawed. And the potential employers don't bother to review this or your testing. If an employer lazily uses MTTest (and is recruiting people to buy Career Step's scam terrible training program), I don't bother. Even if you get it right, the module is flawed and will likely say you got it wrong. Don't waste your time being insulted by same.

    Companies that actually send you dictation to transcribe are the best to test with. They test your true knowledge/ability, not through a flawed and inadequate multiple choice module that's sole purpose is to recruit people to Career Step.

    Just my 2 cents... :O)
    Each journey begins with one small step.
    If one hospital/MTSO sees the folly of VR, the lawsuits, etc., they will stop this NONSENSE.  Thank you for your validation of my efforts. 
    Ouch. This hurts but it's so true. It might be time to step
    I think it might be time to give up some benefits in exchange for someone who knows what I look like and treats me mostly like I'm a human being. I'm so discouraged.
    Yes...Career Step has a referral program where you receive something like sm
    50.00 for every person who signs up for Career Step through you. I BET they are affiliated. How unprofessional can one co. be?
    For seasoned, fast transcriptionists, hourly would be a step down ...
    I agree with your post. I've given a lot of thought lately to whether hourly would be more fair (given the extras that we have to do), and I've come to the conclusion that it is not. In the spirit of honesty, if I were to take an hourly position, my production would suffer for it.

    As an experienced and fast transcriptionist, the amount of time I spend looking up unfamiliar terms is negligible, and I've reached a point of knowing what mush-mouthed blanks I won't get, after listening six or seven times.

    The only thing I ask for is pay commensurate to my experience and knowledge. With a decent line rate, I could accept that there are other things that go into my job and that my line rate doesn't just pay for my production - it pays for the emails, and the instant messages, and figuring out line counts, and spending ten minutes every so often looking for a doctor's address.

    As it is, at 8 cpl, those things are not worth the amount of money that I'm making. They seem superfluous and cut into my real life.

    So, in answer to the first question, with 12 years of experience, an ingrained attention to detail, and all the knowledge of this profession that 12 years can bring, I believe my worth is 13-14 cpl. That's roughly $47,000 a year at 1500 lines a day. I think, given the intensity of our work hours (and the fact that, unlike other jobs, we don't get to spend an hour talking to coworkers or daydreaming or resting for any reason), that's a very, very fair wage in this day and age.
    I think the voice file is the next step. As far as the copy typing, sm
    I didn't do as well as I thought I would either.  That not being able to back up more than a word kinda sucks.  Still, it was fun.  I guess I need to get out more - ha.
    Hoorah! I'm still a step ahead of a gas station clerk. n/m
    f
    Spheris - is it true they will hire Career Step grads without
    making them take employment test? It is so stated on New MT board.
    Anyone heard of Career Step program?..cost?..legit?
    I checked out the Spheris website and I don't have enough experience to apply...but they directed me to Career Step kind of as a prerequisite to get your foot in the door for employment....there's gotta be a some kind of cost, but I didn't stick around to find out....link, after link, after link..yada yada...anyone have any comments on this setup?
    Spheris will hire you. They have lots of Career Step people.
    As long as you do not need health insurance, they are fine for a new grad.
    Transcend bought MDI, so if Transcend sends work offshore, so does MDI. nm
    nm
    We heard Transcend is buying Keystrokes next. I'm not working for Transcend. No Way !
    nm
    If MDI-FL is owned by Transcend and Transcend admittingly offshores, sm
    then doesn't that make MDI a company that offshores? That's like saying that one branch of a company offshores but another does not, so they are excluded from the offshore label. If MDI-FL is part of Transcend and Transcend offshores, that means that they do.
    RE: If MDI-FL is owned by Transcend and Transcend admittingly offshores, sm
    Your hypothesis is incorrect. MDI is a wholly independent subsidary of Transcend, therefore, they were not a part of the experiment to offshore to evaluate cost/benefit ratio that Transcend only tried for 90 days (I believe the evaluation process is not still ongoing).
    It is not Transcend. Transcend has not had control of
    the accounts long enough to make any changes to anything. Maybe your account just slowed down like a lot of others did over the last few weeks. Everything will run status quo for a few months before any major changes are implemented. And give Transcend a chance. It is a good place to work and you will finally have some benefits that you will enjoy.
    Transcend
    I just got an email from an MT who loves Transcend. She told me she gets 15,000 lines per pay period as she gets a lot of VR (voice recognition)reports.

    She gets around 8 cents a line for a report she has to transcribe "from scratch," but if she gets a VR report, she only gets 5.5 cents a line.

    However, she says even with the 5.5/line, she makes 15,000 lines a pay period as the VR reports are very quick and easy to do. She did not mention anything overall about Transcend; just that she really likes her job and the lines she's able to get each day. I am looking for an MT job, but it's really hard as you have no idea what you will end up with even if you do get hired.

    You might get terrible dictation, no VR reports, templates, etc. Or some of them require you to have your own equipment which I would prefer to use their equipment.

    Does anyone know who is hiring?
    Enough about Transcend.
    I know, let's pick on another company for S&G's!
    x-transcend
    Webmedx and Amphion.
    transcend
    The forum at transcend is full of people angry and complaining bitterly about the new platform and the horrible sound quality. Someone said she had worked on an account for 10 years and now cannot understand the people she has always transcribed. And as for getting ahead, there are a select group of people who are taken care of at Transcend and newbies are part of that, they get raises because they get the easiest work picked out for them. You wont see them with foreign doctors or short reports or the same crappy work day after long day. If it is so wonderful why did a person that left another large company to be a supervisor only stay about 4 weeks and she is already gone??? Probably because once she was in her position, she had morals and could not believe the unfairness with which work is "doled out" and saved and while others never get a break. there is not one thing fair about assigning work and there never will be!!! This is a voice recognition company that has no regard for people as human beings.
    transcend
    how can anyone think that a company that is going to voice recognition and cutting pay in half, from 8 cents to 5.5 to edit, how can that be good for transcriptionists anywhere. this is all about them making a profit off of your back. For years transcriptionists have been underpaid, 6 cents, 7 cents, while owners of services make 25 cents or more a line and never share it. voice recognition just puts more in their pockets!!! It is just a new way to rip us off. Transcriptionists are the modern day factory workers, sweat shop laborers with no voice, no union, and we just keep taking it and they take our jobs away from us with voice recognition or cut our pay in half to have a job. If you call that fair, they you are in the right position. Nothing in our society goes backwards in price - except the pay of the transcriptionist!!!
    transcend/mdi
    I was just hired by them, starting training today. However, I'm only doing radiology-hope that is better. Anyone else out there with an opinion???
    Transcend

    Hi,


    I hope you enjoy your training.  It is kinda rough the first day.  I don't know much about the radiology accounts at Transcend, but I do know that the people are very nice.  I had 2 weeks of a slow period, which was frustrating.  However, this happens at all companies from time to time.  Especially in the summer.  I know this because I have worked at other companies and have had the same slow time.  At Transcend, I never had to ask for another account, a secondary, one was offerred to me and I started right away on it.  I have a very good line count and make good money. 


    I may have to take on other accounts in the future, I don't know.  If I do, then I will.  Transcend is not the only company that this happens at.  It is all in how you look at it also.  The more you can do, the more valuable you are to your company.  This will only benefit you.  Of course it is not ideal, but sometimes unavoidable.  Yes, it does slow you down but this is just at first.  You eventually become accustomed to your secondary, or whatever number account that it is for you, just like you did on your primary when first starting at Transcend.  I have found in my experience that the less flexible I am, the more limited I am.  In this line of work, that is not good. 


    You will also hear about Transcend using VR.  I am getting ready to train on that.  I hear horror stories about the whole thing and I am sure that it is everything that everyone says it is.  But the thing is, a lot of companies are going to be using it.  Maybe not all of them, but a lot.  It is a step towards the future and we have to learn to accept that.  I am not worried about doing it.  If I have to work longer hours for a while to get used to it and get my $$ back where it was, then so be it.  I believe that this too will be something that an MT can get used to and become good at, just like having multiple accounts. 


    All I know is, at Transcend, I have always been paid on time, paid well, never had a check bounce, and I have not ever been lied to or mislead.  This is my experience and my opinion.  Good luck to you!


    transcend/mdi
    I was hired for Fri-Mon. Was told they have little coverage at that time. Not true???
    MDI/Transcend
    Wre they the same company or 2 different companies?  They are being lumped together a lot in posts.
    MDI/Transcend
    MDI was bought out by Transcend, but they work as a separate entity. It's like Time Warner and AOL.
    Transcend/MDI
    All the posts are too far down.  I can't keep up with all the drama way down there, so I thought we could bring it up here where it's easier to find! 
    Which one MDI or Transcend?
    nm