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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

RE: HEARTLAND WOES

Posted By: Mik on 2005-08-18
In Reply to: RE:Heartland Woes - 0000000

RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AS FAR AS YOU CAN!! I POSTED ON HERE A COUPLE MONTHS AGO HOW DREADFUL THAT COMPANY WAS!! I WORKED FOR THEM FOR 3 MONTHS AND NOTHING EVER CHANGED, IN FACT IT JUST KEPT GETTING WORSE. I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN, I HAD 8 DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS ALL IN THE SAME DAY EACH HAVING 60+ PAGES TO REVIEW... IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE! THAT COMPANY SHOULD BE BANNED!! Grrrrrrr


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Heartland Woes

Alright, I think I've decided to leave.


My issues: Software is horrendous, client’s specifics are 60+ pages (which you need to know about 4+ inside and out) and not even to mention the so-called "supervisor" who reminds me of a mall rent-a-cop - obviously not a transcription background. I don't know if I should stick around until they are sold in case it would get better or do I just walk away from this?


Any other MTs out there that felt this way about Heartland and what/where did you go?  Does it get any better or are all national companies like this?


HELP!!!


RE:Heartland Woes
No. Transcription companies in general are not at all as you describe in your post. I cannot even dream to commisurate with you on your job issues.
New job woes
I have subcontracted for a small orthopedic clinic and needed additional work.  I just started working for a large New York company.  When starting new doctors, it takes a bit to get used to their phrases and dictation but there are so many doctors with this company, I may never get used to them all.  I am spending too much time on each report and not making much money at all.  I would not be as discouraged if I only had a few doctors to get accustomed to.  Am I being just a whiny baby?  Any words of wisdom out there.  I am getting very frustrated. 
new job woes
Sent you an E-mail
weekend woes
Do all these nationals expect weekend work every stinking weekend? As a reward for working all our hours during the week? Is anyone else sick of working constantly and never feeling they can take off a weekend without guilt??? Do these supervisors, managers work every stinking weekend too? I doubt it. The thing that stinks about working from home is that you are always working.....can't get a day off...anyone else sick of this???
Transcription woes
I left one company that I thought was bad and went to work for
Spheris. I am so depressed. I am only making hourly. I jumped from the frying pan right into the fire and am burning.
MT Salary woes article in Advance for Health Information Prof. 8/2008







Vol. 18 •Issue 17 • Page 20
Reactions to the MT Study

A group of professors is taking a hard look at the medical transcription industry.


His knowledge of the industry a few years ago? Admittedly, zero. Coming from, as he described it, a position of ignorance about the medical transcription industry, Gary David, PhD, associate professor of sociology at Bentley College, Waltham, MA, hit the road and headed to Reno, NV, last year, where he took in the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) Conference. After realizing no formal academic research had ever been done on the medical transcription industry, Dr. David and two Bentley colleagues, Donald Chand, PhD, professor of information and process management, and Angela Garcia, PhD, associate professor of sociology, set out to do an in-depth study of the industry.

The first part of the study was an online survey taken by 3,800 MTs, and the results of the survey were compiled, analyzed and presented as the study's preliminary findings. The full study is still in its infancy; the preliminary results from the survey represent only one part of the teams multifaceted approach. Dr. David has become embedded in the industry, serving on task forces and committees with AHDI and the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA), and he's now a staple at the annual conferences.

ADVANCE spoke to Dr. David, as well as to experts in the industry. We aimed to look at specific aspects of the study's preliminary results and gauge its reception. The opinions are mixed when it comes to three major issues in the medical transcription industry: quality, the work force shortage and the ever-present salary issue.


Questions on Quality

The survey posed several questions related to the quality of documentation done by MTs. Nearly half of MTs reported that they see how flagged errors are resolved only rarely or never. Also, the survey showed that 59 percent of MTs transcribe for multiple physicians at multiple hospitals and/or clinics. Dr. David's view is that if an MT isn't told how a flagging issue was resolved, he or she may not know how to resolve a similar issue in the future, which can affect quality. Likewise, Dr. David noted, if an MT is transcribing for many accounts, he or she might not be able to develop an ear for physicians.

According to David Plummer, founder and CEO, Probity Medical Transcription, Harrisburg, PA, quality review is useless unless that information is shared quickly with the MTs. He also agreed that transcriptionists should have primary accounts to work on, and then when that runs out, have pre-determined secondary and tertiary accounts. Today, many MTs are transcribing the dictations of multiple physicians from multiple hospitals and/or clinics, Plummer said, and that's just the way the business model works for most medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs), he explained. Quality, turnaround times (TATs) and productivity suffer in this design; however, when you have a transcription system where the pools do not contain sophisticated logic and has transcriptionists flit from one account to another, these are expected outcomes, in Plummer's opinion. What has happened is that the architecture of some of the newer platforms has not been built with [MT familiarity] in mind, and it creates these massive pools with multiple hospitals and tens of thousands of physicians, and that's just not good for quality or the MT, Plummer explained.

Chris Hopkins, chief operating officer, Landmark Transcription, St. Davids, PA, looked at the survey results from another angle. He noted that approximately 50 percent of his work force consists of independent contractors, which may indicate that those MTs are working for multiple companies, which would explain why they are transcribing for many different accounts. Hopkins also said that just because an MT is transcribing for multiple accounts doesn't mean that quality work isn't being produced. Landmark maintains a system where MTs are assigned certain accounts, and MTs do transcribe for multiple physicians. By working on certain accounts, however, MTs can keep track of the different client specifications, something that Hopkins said may be difficult in a pooling system as mentioned above. [MTs] can't build up any kind of speed or fluency on an account when they're doing 10 different accounts, Hopkins said.

Bonnie Crow, director of U.S. operations at MxSecure, Scottsdale, AZ, agreed that in an MTSO setting, MTs are most likely transcribing for multiple accounts. These MTs are often experienced and highly skilled, Crow said, and therefore they produce high quality documents. With the flagging issue, Crow said that software used at MxSecure provides feedback to MTs, and she believes most platforms will allow this (Probity and Landmark have software that lets MTs see how a flagging was resolved, as well). Crow also noted that MTs should go through a quality auditing process on a consistent basis. I strongly feel the Quality Assurance monitoring process today is the best it has ever been, Crow said.

That's due in part to the technology that can allow MTs to follow documents through the quality assurance (QA) process. Kathy Eberle, who works in QA and is the operations supervisor for Landmark Transcription, explained that as soon as a document leaves QA's hands, MTs can immediately see the changes that were made. Some platforms make this difficult, however, and MTs and QA personnel may have to work harder to ensure that errors are explained. It is extra work to give them the feedback that they need, but in the end, it always pays off for QA because the MTs always become better for it, Eberle said.


Shortage or No Shortage?

Besides quality issues, another point brought to light by the MT study's preliminary results is the aging work force and, potentially, a looming work force shortage. There's no denying that the work force is on the older side—77 percent of respondents are older than 40. There is, however, room to debate whether or not there's an immediate crisis when it comes to a work force shortage. Dr. David commented that because there are no solid numbers on the actual number of MTs working, there's no way to determine if there is definitely a shortage.

Plummer disagreed with the conclusion that there's a work force shortage right now. He pointed out that Probity uses all domestic labor, and noted that all of the accounts he'd like to secure are either being transcribed in-house or by other MTSOs. When an account is landed, the MTs on that account typically join Probity, and the need for more workers is quickly met. Plummer called the work force shortage overplayed.

Eberle referred to the shortage as simply a shortage of qualified MTs, rather than of all MTs. She's noticing that many good MTs are leaving not just their positions, but the industry, and they're going back to school to start different careers. With quality MTs, we're truly lacking at the moment, Eberle added.

Hopkins echoed that, to a certain degree. He admitted it was hard to say whether or not the industry was facing a work force shortage, and said he doesn't see that happening at his MTSO, where his needs differ from some of the bigger transcription companies. At my level, where we are, we don't see a tremendous shortage of transcriptionists, Hopkins said.

He added that if he has an opening, he advertises it and that day, he'll wind up with 40 résumés in his inbox. I can usually fill a very specific position within a day, Hopkins said.

Crow, however, is worried about finding qualified MTs to support the growth of the industry. There aren't enough younger MTs to replace the retiring MTs within the next 10 years, she pointed out, and she strongly believes that there is a work force shortage. She added that new education programs are being put in place to produce good MTs, and many MTSOs are offering mentoring programs. Her company started a mentoring program 2 months ago for new MTs to help them garner experience in the field. This seems to be easing the labor shortage, according to Crow. We are very excited with the decrease in attrition numbers we are seeing already!


Salary Woes

While there may be debate over whether there's a work force shortage right now, one certainty in the MT industry is that wages aren't heading upward. In the survey, MTs reported varied personal incomes, with the majority, 72 percent, bringing home $10,000 to $50,000 annually. Another survey question asked about the number of wage earners in MTs' households, and 33 percent said that there is only one wage earner in the household--the MT.

Dr. David called the industry one of the only places where the laws of supply and demand don't work. There may be fewer transcriptionists and there's a greater demand for transcription services. [That] should mean that [MTs] get paid more, but their pay doesn't increase—if anything it goes down or stagnates—and so part of it is linked to how there's just no perceived value in what it is they do, he explained.

The industry as a whole needs to recognize that MTs spend a lot of time and money learning their craft, and if wages continue to drop or stagnate, potential MTs are going to look elsewhere—to other industries—for jobs, Hopkins pointed out. We want to see a viable pool of labor here in the United States, he said. If people can get better benefits and better wages at McDonald's, why wouldn't they go there? It's too hard to learn this business. It takes years of work to be fluent and professional.

Dr. David observed that there was a sense of unrest in the industry about salary issues. There's a number of things impacting [MTs], causing their wages to go down or be less robust in terms of going up, so it's definitely an issue that we've heard about, Dr. David said.


What's Next?

Overall, despite differing opinions on the results of the survey, everyone agreed that it could be a valuable tool in the industry. Crow said she hopes the study can lead to medical transcription being recognized as a degreed profession with mandated certification. I think once this is in place, the profession will be viewed by the younger people as a desirable health care position, Crow said.

Hopkins hopes the study highlights the fact that offshoring labor is doing what he called a disservice to the industry. I think if people focus on providing a livable wage to the transcriptionists with a reasonable package of benefits and a decent schedule, the labor pool will become deeper and broader because more people will start to come into the industry, he explained.

Plummer hopes to see more transcription programs set up at colleges to help school more domestic MTs. He also hopes the study helps companies adhere to better quality, because that could help the entire industry. Overall, he found the preliminary results to be valuable, and he noted that the industry is ever-changing. It's a dynamic study, too, because it's like painting the Golden Gate Bridge—by the time you get done, it's time to do it again, Plummer said.

Lynn Jusinski is an associate Editor with ADVANCE.



Heartland?
Has anyone heard of a company called Heartland Transcription out of Toledo?  A friend of mine has been talking to them and wondered about it, so I told her that since I was online right now I would ask.  Thanks! 
Heartland
You MUST be their recruiter.
heartland

TAKE EVERYONES ADVICE, DON'T GO THERE - BEEN THERE - WORST EVER.


Heartland
WOW! What paper was this printed in, the post doesn't mention it. Also age discriminations is llegal folks, and just fort he record HIS hired me and I am 58...make me wonder..................nola
Heartland
I myslef cannot help but wonder what is going on with Heartland. I currently work for them and scared I will end up without a job.
Heartland does.
xx
Heartland?
Does anyone have info or updates on what is going on at/with Heartland? I've heard about quite a few layoffs in the recent days. Thanks.
heartland

 


sometime back, there was a post in this forum regarding heartland's sale status. it refers to spi backing out of acquisition of heartland...


Heartland.....sm
Medical transcription business booming
Anshuman Daga

Bangalore, February 20
Medical transcription firm HealthScribe India, which uses India’s large pool of English-speaking graduates to enter medical data on US patients, expects its revenue to nearly double annually over coming years.

“I expect our turnover to grow at 80 percent compounded annual growth rate for the next few years,” HealthScribe’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Hales told Reuters in an interview.

The company, a joint venture between Max India and Healthscribe Inc of the United States, currently does $6 million in business a year.

The booming medical transcription business has become a $ 6 billion industry in the USA.

Transcription professionals key in medical data such as patient histories or treatment into computers after doctors in the USA phone the transcription centre and verbally record their observations. Once keyed into computers the data is transferred back to US hospitals via e-mail.

Global Centre

India has become a global hub for medical record transcription business with the establishment of high-speed telecom links and its large number of English-speaking graduates.

The fact that wages in this field in India are only 15 percent of US salaries is the biggest draw for firms such as HealthScribe to set up shop in India, Hales said.

“Our (HealthScribe’s) only limitation for growth has been time and experience,” Hales said. The company was not adding more than 75 to 100 employees a month to ensure that the quality of work is maintained, he explained.

Hales said it takes about four years for a local employee to match the quality of work done by his counterpart in the USA.

Other foreign companies in the same industry with operations in India include US-based HeartLand Information Systems and CBay Systems (India).

The growth of such services has been fuelled by rising demand to maintain basic hospital data and records and use these as legally recognised documents for US doctors to support medical decisions. Reuters

Heartland?
Who is spi? Thank you.
Heartland... now what do we do?

So... what do we do now guys?


Heartland
So sorry to hear about what happened.  They will lose their clients.  Are any of you from MS, AR or TN???
Heartland
I'll bet the we take care of our people people have even them beat dirtwise.
Heartland
Very sad, well-written. Please, please, forward this to former Senator John Edwards at OneAmericaCommittee.com. Please browse the site and familiarize yourselves with the work the Senator has been doing. I believe HE REALLY CARES. Please anyone who has the time, browse the One America site. You can sign up for updates from them and help by signing petitions and just spreading the word. It's time for Americans to take back America, don't you think? Thanks all. God bless you all who have been treated in this fashion by Heartland, but consider that some way, in some fashion, the ones who did this to you WILL get their just rewards.
Heartland

The we take care of our people was supposed to be in parentheses but didn't show up in my post. 


Heartland
I am sorry for all of you. I had the miserable experience of working for Heartland a few years ago. I stayed only 6 months so I didn't have to reimburse them $2000 for their flying me to Toledo for training (what a joke that was) me. For those of you who want to write their clients, be careful. It technically could be a violation of HIPAA. Instead, write the newspapers where the client is located. You can bet that their staff members read the letters to the editors. A letter to the client could just get buried by the administration. I know of at least 2 instances where a client was outsourcing to India, but their staff was unaware of it. Do not, of course, mention the name of the client. Call it a local medical facility or a medical facility located in this state or area if there is only one medical facility in that particular town... something like that. It has been a few years since I worked for Heartland, but while with the company, I edited reports typed in India. If any of you want to E-mail me with the city and state (no other information) where a client is located, I will be happy to write a letter to an Editor too. Best of luck to all of you.
Heartland
HCR Manor Care is the mother company for Heartland, Inc., they are NOT BROKE by any stretch of the imagination.
Heartland MTs.....I want to ......sm

tell you how sorry I am for your situation.  Take some satisfaction in the knowledge that eventually Heartland will realize they made a grave mistake by outsourcing all their work overseas. 


If you are interested in working for a 100% US company, perhaps I can help you.  Just drop me an email through the board here.  Good luck to all of you!! 


Heartland
YOU are so right. I have said all along from all the posts I've seen from MQ to anyone else. They cry gimmee, gimmee, gimmee. They don't get what they want, so they bad mouth the company, but OMG, don't even think of working on weekends (except maybe every once in a while), or a holiday, or after 5 pm. If that's the schedule they have been looking for, they are in the wrong field. You can't watch soaps and eat bons bons while you transcribe. I basically work the same schedule I did IN a hospital, usually all day Saturday and I work from 5 a.m until I have met my own personal quota. This is a good field but I think it has been trashed by those who thought it was a cushy way to make easy money. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It takes as much dedication to do well at home, if not more. I agree some of the companies have taken advantage, but by and large, a lot of these people do a lot of stuff they wouldn't do or couldn't get away with while working on site.
Heartland MT
I am suppose to work today but who knows what will be in store for me. Standby or work.
More on Heartland
Why do the hospitals that contract with Heartland allow the work to be in India?  I know there are hospitals out there that do not want the medical records overseas.
Not from Heartland but if it was me sm
and I could afford it, I would take the rest of the summer off and collect unemployment.
Heartland
Does anyone have any recent information? TIA
Heartland
Wondering who bought them...
Heartland

Hi,


Heard a rumor that Heartland is going to close down its HBT in India. Can anyone confirm it as a rumor or otherwise.


 



Heartland reply
I worked for that company for about 4 months and they were a JOKE!! I am talking in the first few months I had 8 different accounts and they were constantly changing the formatting/something about them daily and you had to run off about 150 pages everyday. I NEVER once got the same doctor EVER!! I typed on 4 different accounts all in the same day and they all had different formatting. It was a nightmare! I would not go back to them if they paid 20 cents a line!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!
Heartland sold
HIS employees - watch your backs - they have sharp sticks to put into your back while smiling to your face!
TransTech/Heartland?
Why on earth would you think this?
TransTech/Heartland
As far as I know, they are not. Heartland is now up for sale, however. Could it be possible that TransTech is interested in buying it?
I love Heartland
nm..
Thoughts about Heartland....

Has anyone worked for this company? What are their strengths and or weakness? I have been offered a position with them. I need an honest answer please!


Info on Heartland
I have read the board on Heartland and was wondering if anyone out there has a recent good view on them as a company?
Does anyone know where Jennifer from Heartland went?
TIA
Duh, they bought Heartland...
nm
Heartland - Gemstar
nm
Heartland Layoffs
Were you aware that they already laid off about 30 US-based MTs at the beginning of APril... with only 1 week notice?

I was one of them. They lost an account and simply dumped everyone for whom it was a primary account. They begged all of us to take on secondary accounts not long before that, but at the time of the layoff call they said there was no work on any of the secondary accounts. And, BTW, your conference call sounds exactly like ours.
We almost need a Heartland forum on here like MQ! nm
x
When I was interviewed by Heartland,
I was told that they were planning to stop offshoring and bring all the jobs back to the US.
Heartland Layoffs

First of all, I would like to say that I sympathsize wtih those that were laid off at Heartland, however, I believe that that there were probably indications that this was going to happen, I for one, remember seeing a LOT of job ads for Heartland and they suddenly stopped on the 2 major transcription job boards. For me, that was an indication that something was going down the tube.


I also do not agree wtih offshoring, but when I read the posts on this board, I see one theme over and over; that being laziness in general. I see posts where people gripe and complain about having to work weekends or nights or whatever and wanting to get paid decent money, but they want to only be able to work 8-5 Monday through Friday.  I have been in this field for over 20 years and I believe that I have always pulled my fair share.  I have seen it in the company that I work for now, and the work load goes up dramatically on the weekends, because NOBODY wants to work and as we all know, medical transcription, for the most part, is a profession that is 24/7.


Sadly to say, our society has become one, where we expect to have something for nothing. Meaning that we want the nice thinngs, but we don't have to break our necks for it.  I hear of friends who are giving their kids brand-new to almost brand-new cars in high school.  Heck, when I was growing up, if I wanted contacts, or a car, or clothes, I had to detassel corn or work in a fast food place to get the money to be able to have those things.  I don't see that happening now, and in essence, that is why so many of our jobs have been offshored.  Its not only a cheaper labor cost, but most of these people in general have a better work ethic.


My company takes pride in the fact that it doesn't offshore and it will be a cold day in a very warm place before they do.


My only advice to those that were laid off is to hang in there, send out the resumes and hopefully, you will be able to find a new company that will treat you like an employee and not a number.


 


 


 


Heartland Layoffs

Some people seem to be missing the point here -- I also do QA as well as medical transcription and I generally am working MANY hours a day and usually 6-7 days a week, because I know budget-wise what it takes for me to surviive. 


As a QA person, I see a quality of work that is totally unacceptable and it is from American medical transcriptionists.  I read about people saying they can do X number of lines in an hour, or that they type X number of words a minute and as a QA person, that is usually the persons report that has 10 or more blanks in it, because UNFORTUNATELY they are more concerned about production than they are quality. 


I sometimes wonder how many medical transcriptionists go back and re-listen to a report they have typed and then are able to figure out what the doctors are saying?


I have worked both inhouse and from home and I really have to agree that if someone TRULY wants to get started in this field, then they should work onsite first to truly get a grasp at what medical transcription entails.


There ARE people who are medcal transcriptionists who DO work long and hard hours and ARE getting shafted by the companies they work for, but quite frankly, I am tired of the ones who have toddlers and small children at home and whine about how they can do this work and take care of their kids too  -- just because you work at home, dosen't mean that your children can be underfoot all the time and it is also learning about priorities as well.  If you were working on the outside, you would NOT be allowed to take a huge amount of time off for kid activities or family activities, so the MTSOs do have legitimate gripes when it comes to employees not working when they say they will or keeping to a schedule, and this is where I am coming full circle when I talk about a work ethiic  -- it has slowly and steadily been disappearing over the years.


 


 


 


Everyone working for Heartland
I dont work for them myself, but I feel really bad about what is happening. I think all you Transcriptionist from there should start emailing Dateline. 
Heartland India
Those of us who have been in the business know this information. However, when I started working there, they told me that they were on a 5-year plan to bring the work back into the US. Sounded good to me and I bought it. Maybe was a lie, maybe not. Also, when a person is a newbie and you just want to get your foot in the door, you will take what you can get. Those of us who have been in the business for umpteen years didn't have to face what the less-experienced MTs are facing today. Cut them some slack. They don't have the research skills that us oldies have and they don't know the business like we do. Teach them instead of torment them. They just got their first lesson in check out the company fully before signing up. But, that will mean nothing to them if they have just gotten their MT diploma and are raring to go to work for someone, ANYONE.
Heartland India
That was a nice comment you made !
Heartland MTs - if you are still looking for employment.....


AAMT Reaches Out to Displaced Heartland MTs

AAMT is working with Terri Kaminski of Transcription Matchmaker and Heartland Information Services executives to provide a free outplacement webinar for all Heartland employees from the U.S. who recently lost their jobs. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17, 2006, and displaced employees will receive information on how to promote their services and learn of opportunities in the medical transcription field. AAMT is extremely grateful to work with Transcription Matchmaker and Heartland Information Services to offer this outplacement service to transcriptionists in need of new jobs. For more information on this program, please contact Jennifer Hardy at Jennifer@aamt.org.