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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Who will lead? I'm game and I will follow loudly. anyone else?

Posted By: Searching MDI-ER on 2009-08-28
In Reply to: Can't we flood Oprah's email or something and get Lisa Ling to do a spotlight story on the - Fed up with offshoring

Our anger and disappointment at D's choice is bringing out what has need to be brought out LONG AGO. Our pay stagnated long ago, even those of us with 25 and 30 years plus experience. If someone has the gumption to get this news out, I will fully lend my support and voice. Please contact me off line. We can do something. Though we may feel like victims and even in some sense be victims (of our own trusting natures?), we do not have to act like victims. We do have power. Okay - anyone else


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Do you follow along with the mouse? I follow allow with my right arrow, the cursor going over the
words...I mean what do you do with the mouse exactly? I know that is a weird question, but I am still not getting it...haha! It could be a difference in platforms for sure,because my mouse is completely worthless to me in VR. I used EXText.
As a shift lead I made $15 an hour, but did QA plus lead duties...
I also worked terrible hours with no differential for them. I think it just matters on the company.
? for any lead at Keystrokes. What does a lead do?

Do they do QA, mentor, or ....? 


You can e-mail me privately if you like. 


Some of us choose neither to lead, nor be lead!
I guess I just don't have that 'pack mentality'.
look, it is all the name of the game

So, if I happen to be a favorite where I work because I am a high producer, I should not benefit from that?  I should not benefit from that because another MT who is not a high producer does not get the same treatment as me?  So, you are saying that it's unfair treatment to that MT.  Well, I think it's unfair treatment of high producers!  We are the ones that produced those lines.  No one came and helped us type.  We are the ones that sacrificed our personal time to put more into our job.  We are the ones that sat up late at night while others were getting a good night's rest.  We are more often than not the ones that work the overtime and help out on many, many accounts at a moments notice, practially being on call.  So, I think that you get what you deserve.  If you give normal, average, you get normal, average. 


I am tired of being treated unfairly because I work longer/harder than some and reap some benefit from that.  I deserve it.  If you want it, put forth the same effort.  We all have the chance to become high producers or favorites at our companies.  It is just a matter of personal choice if you want to be one or  not.


name game
I have it at the tip of my tongue but it may get removed if posted. 
Fun with the game
Mighty Deadly Institution
The name of the game is NEGOTIATE your SM

pay.  There is at least 1 person below who is upset because he/she doesn't get the same rate the OP gets.  Question--did you just accept the line rate offered or did you attempt to negotiate it?  More often than not, the MT is offered a line rate and just says okay and it doesn't have to be that way.


If you have years of experience with 98% quality or better, high-level acute care work (not just rural hospital gallbladder/appendix type stuff) and are willing to work the off shifts you can hold up each of those items and all of them as a whole to leverage yourself into a higher per-line rate right from the start.


It may only be that the MT next to you is making more per line because they did a better job of negotiating the rate.


It's all a numbers game.
When we lived in NYC it sounded like we made a lot of money but we lived the same as we did in Pittsburgh. The numbers are different, but they're all relative.

$400,000 for a house, you make $200,000 a year.

$200,000 for a house, you make $100,000 a year.

Just depends on where you live. You might make more money elsewhere numbers-wise but the standard of living is still the same if you have the same job and educational background.
Downsizing is the name of the game

I would stay away unless you want to work your fingers to the bone, be monitored on how many minutes you clock in, and appreciate little or no respect for the work you do.


 


SHOULD HAVE BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME...SM
Sounded like a backstabbing, dirty trick to play.  But if you had known (and the NEXT time they ask you for a list of worst dictators) you will know what to do...thanks for the tip for the rest of us:  Just do a turnabout and give them a list of your BEST one...they'll send the worst to India!!! Kind of like switching drinks with someone who's spiking your drink when they're not looking (LOL)
Thanks for playing our game!
And all you get is this lousy :) icon

hee hee
Competition is the Name of the Game!

What we have always seen happen within the U.S. between U.S. workers in the job market , competition , is expanding to the global marketplace. U.S. workers now not only have to compete with each other in the arena of  marketable skills , they must also compete with those in other countries who not only possess the same marketable skills , but do so at lower prices. Naturally , a company which can get the same production out of a worker for a smaller price is going to choose that worker, as the savings in labor costs will increase the bottom line.We lost our manufacturing base on just this scenario...a fatal blow to the soundness of our economy , IMO. That left us with a service sector base , which is also facing the same threat , with the likelihood of the same result , suffered by our manufacturing base.


One solution is as Obama has suggested. The feds take away any tax breaks companies which outsource get to the deteriment of U.S. workers. Will the U.S. government do something like that? I doubt it. Look at what is happening right now over the issue of illegal immigration into the U.S. We were attacked on 9/11 ; drugs and criminal are being brought across our borders ; our law enforcement officials and citizens are under attack ON OUR OWN SOIL from those coming across the border ; and in the economic arena , companies are hiring illegals and undercutting U.S. workers' wages.


The People have demanded the border be secured and the Congress passed a bill calling for U.S. border security. But , what has actually been done? NOTHING!!! Why? Because the feds don't want to secure the borders. If they did , the borders would be secured , or at least a serious attempt would have been made. So , why haven't they secured the border? Because U.S. companies want to employ illegals and pay them lower wages , thus increasing company profits. The dirty little secret , that isn't really a secret , is that our legislators and president are all about serving their masters...and that isn't We the People ; that is the corporate and banking classes who fund their campaigns and give them lucrative positions in their compamies when they leave office.


So , unfortunately there it is.


 


 


Then instead of playing their game, just come out
x
band together, are you game?
To all my fellow MDI'ers, I think it is time to tighten up the bootstraps and starting thinking out of the box. Let's get together in private, put our thinking caps on, combine resources, and see what we can do for ourselves and each other. Every email will be confidential... we still have our integrity! Write to AmericanMT@yahoo.com
Well, they have turned into a game...
It's like survival of the fittest, pitting us against each other to get to the work first so we can make our lines, and it's ridiculous. Of course, they're shining like a new penny at the nonexistent TAT because we all dive as soon as a report pops up, but it's NO WAY for a person to have to make a living.

This is why I left on September 1st. First, I do not care to work for Transcend (mini-Q, IMO) and, second, I do not care for their tactics the past few months that have turned us all into blood-thirsty scavengers desperately trying to make ends meet.

And turning it into a battle royale for all MTs cross-trained on all accounts fighting for whatever scraps they deem fit to feed us?

Nope, life's too short and my skills far too valuable for THAT, the ultimate MTSO game-playing orchestration.

I left, now have a great gig FT with a great MTSO who has ample work.

I am a human being, not a catfish, and I refuse to bottom feed like some subhuman entity.

We ALL dserve better than that, IMO.
How ironic!! Game just ended. Sox won.
c
It all boils down to who will play the game
There have been a lot of good MTs at OSI. Most of those who do excellent work and have years of experience have left OSi because of tactics such as this. She may have a good work ethic and sunny disposition and do good work but is not in a better position to supervise other MTs who are better all around. The point is that people new to either the MT industry or to OSI are most often the ones promoted because they are most assuredly YES people since they don't have enough experience to know any better that OSI consistently does things such as break the wage and hour law among other things.
Can't play the game unless you have the equipment.

join forces, anyone game?
To all my fellow MDI'ers, I think it is time to tighten up the bootstraps and starting thinking out of the box. Let's get together in private, put our thinking caps on, combine resources, and see what we can do for ourselves and each other. Every email will be confidential... we still have our integrity! Write to AmericanMT@yahoo.com
the circle game of resumes and ads

Same old ads, same old resumes.  Nothing is going to change, people.  We are stuck with each other. 


Happy Labor Day.  Or should I say Groundhog Day?  If you catch my drift.....


 


GO ASTROS ! WIN GAME 3 ! WIN WORLD SERIES !!!! n/m
b
If there are any psychics, I could use the lottery numbers for the Big Game please :) nm
Good night everyone.
I do not want to take a job where it's the bait and switch. Tired of that game.
If you could email me that would be great. This profession is going down hill fast. You get a ton of job offers but no one wants to pay you anything. I wouldnt have a problem with some of the wages, IF Iived in India.. or somewhere else that the cost of living is lower, but unfortunately when you live in America, we need American-ized wages.
I SO agree. Loved the little tribute toward the end of the game :-) NM
x
To clarify I get around their game & count my own too - ichart is short!
Tired of being ripped off
LOL I wasn't even thinking Xbox and Game Cube, but there
is a rapper named Ice Cube. He's the boyfriend/husband in Are We There Yet? and Are We Done Yet?
Sound mediocre - bait and switch game with them thought. nm
x
Good for you, if that is true. It is really a losing game. Wouldn't advise anyone to pursue it.

You have to lie a lot, wouldn't you agree?  It is all bait and switch for the recruiters.  They promise a lot, but the companies do not follow through.  Care to say who it is you are a hiring manager for?  LOL.  Never heard it called that before.


It is a losing game. They make next to nothing, get paid for a warm body count. Losers. Recruiters
x
I think they do, but must follow
nm
Follow up
There were many reasons why it took longer than 8 hours to do 1150 lines.  One reason was because of the difficult dictators.  The US MTs get the majority of the bad dictators.  India gets many of the good accounts.  This is a fact!!  The other reason is because they have this little thing called OLC.  You see, they do not like anything to go to QA.  So they have you ask other MTs to pull the job # in to listen to your blanks for you to see if they can get it.  Not only is this extremely time consuming for the MT, but it is very time consuming for other MTs, thus making it difficult for everyone to get their line count in in 8 hours.  There was hardly anyone there that could do it consistently in 8 hours on a day to day basis.  There was also much referencing for doctors names and addresses that was very time consuming, and that you don't get paid for, but you could not leave it blank without searching like in three different places for it.  How time consuming is that....One would think a large company like that could come up with a better solution than that for their MTs. Maybe a better datatbase, do ya think??!!  There are very many reasons this company goes through MTs like they do.  Their turnover rate is VERY high.  I personally met my goals everyday.  Somedays it took longer than others, but the pay was not worth it.  Give yourself a raise!!!  My all time favorite.  Excuse me, but even MacDonald's gives raises to their employees for doing a good job, that little thing called RECOGNITION, and they don't expect them to sell more burgers to get it....Most companies base their raise on hard work, dependability, quality of work being done, and when a company has top notch employees that know their work and are doing a great job, and pays another person whom just started the same wage (whom quality or quantity is not there yet) that is just not fair.  Where is the incentive to be dependable, and to go out of your way to go that extra mile to make sure that job is done just precise.  Another thing about this company is that they expect you jump around on different accounts just about every day.  Emails that come through saying this account is out of turn and you need to pull so many jobs from this other account in.  Well, again, it is hard to get your line count in in 8 hours when you are jumping all over having to other accounts and having to read pages of account specifics before you can even get started.  They expect way too much for giving way toooo little.  Compensate fairly and one does not mind going that exta mile for a company who shows you they appreciate it.  If one does not mind working a ton of a hours for a low wage, then this company if for you.  I think it is just degrading for all MTs out there to have any one MT sacrifice their hard earned skills and work for a company who treats their workers in this way!!  We are skilled individuals and many work for less than what kids make at their part time jobs because they are willing to do it to stay at home and work.  We need to demand a wage that we are worth.  Afterall, most MTS either have schooling behind them or lots of years of experience.   Isn't that worth getting paid what you are worth??  Just because we stay at home should not mean we have to get paid peanuts.  What are you saving the employer, office space, equipment, electricity, and all the other things they must provide to have employees work in their office.  We save them that money.  So why should we get paid less!!  Quite the opposite, I think.  I certainly am not trying to keep anyone from getting a job.  The only thing I wish to gain is to see this industry take a turn and have us very skilled individuals who are important enough to come up with a document that could play a part in a person's life, be compensated fairly!!  Aren't we all worth that much!!??
Follow up - sm

I decided against Webmedx.  I passed the test and was offered a position but declined.  After studying the incentive program, I don't think I would be making any more than I do for Medquist.  The starting line rate was too low.  They try to push the incentive program, but it just doesn't seem that good.


So, I guess I'm sticking with MQ for now. 


I'm planning to get out of transcription.  I have tested and gotten offers from a few companies, but none of them seem vastly different than Medquist, unfortunately.  


I already have a few online businesses and hopefully will be able to work on them full time some time in the next year or 2. 


 


Follow up
My husband called the company in Oregon (there really is a legitimate company with that name). They said it is a scam, someone is using their identity to get people to open checking accounts. This scam is using the employee names and e-mail addresses but somehow it is routed to the scam artists. The legit company gave my husband the FBI information so he could report it.
follow up
today (saturday)I have had 106 lines ALL day and I'm 5 hours into my shift. that help any? seriously, you will NOT make ANY money here...keep looking! your best bet is steer clear of any service, get on directly with a dr.'s office or hospital, that's where any decent income is...
Anyone know any follow up...
on what happened to that transcription company or on the Pakistani girl doing the transcription?
Follow up with them....(sm)
I'd send a follow-up email or call. TT is definitely worth pursuing. They've been swamped lately with resumes and there's always the possibility they didn't receive yours for some reason.

IMHO, TT is right up there with the cream of the crop, so by all means follow-up on your resume.


I am going to follow through on TTS. sm
I think I emailed you, and if you don't respond, I completely understand. I am going to follow through with the labor board on this one. I saved every email and correspondence from them, so on that end I should be good. I'm sure the current TTS'er will go yelling up the ladder, but it really doesn't matter because I don't think this is something they can backtrack on. I'll keep y'all posted. If anyone wants to join in, feel free to contact me.
No follow-ups? Now I'm worried. How about this,
forget about the DEP question.  What is a good company to apply for SE/IC status, preferrably one who will supply the equipment needed - or not.
Did you call them and follow up? sm

I would just give them a quick call and double check - make sure that your test materials were received etc.  I know that they reply to everyone who has tested with them. 


Follow up to your post
That is 14,000 lines a pay period  -- and MOST, if not all services have some degree of ESL's.  Not trying to sound snotty here, but if you are so concerned about ESLs, why are you in medical transcription in the first place?
So call them. Follow up. nm
x
Just to follow up. Some dear one,
another MT, posted on the Main Board, I believe, about our job as MTs; how hard it really is, how much knowledge we need to do this job, and may I add, cannot do this job just fresh off the street.  Why are we not valued by the people who hire us!?  Doesn't make sense. Then during the interview, you're asked, *Do you have any questions?*  Well, yeah, but am I going to get the truth, or just what you think I want to hear?  So I just don't ask anymore.  Just had an interview the other day, was kind of excited at the time, sounded good, but now I have that nagging feeling that maybe I'm better off where I am working now.  To my thinking, it's a roll of the dice....as someone once told me *You pays your money and yous take a chance.*  LOL  But really, I wish you well in this dog eat dog mentality of the MT business.
Follow up to MedWare
I believe in order to be eligible for 401K you must be there a year. If Christmas and Thanksgiving fall on your regular scheduled workdays, you are required to work them!! I personally will not work for Medware or any other National company ever again...they only abuse the experienced MT with indecent pay for years of experience, not enough workflow for someone needing to do 2000 lines a day, and too many accounts to switch back and forth between. That is only my opinion, and possibly I had a bad experience...but I gave it 3 months and I feel that is more than enough time to get a good feel for a company. Good luck to you!
cannot follow directions

This is the kind of scatter-brained MT I would definitely NOT hire.  The original message was regarding the inadvisability of alerting a potential employer about one's previous complaints regarding other companies by exchanging E-mails from the same site as the derogatory posts.  This second individual gets up on her hind legs and gets all righteously indignant about behaviors that are obviously not acceptable in ANY profession.  This reveals a lack of concentration and unsuitability for my professional group of employees. 


  


Wish more companies would follow. sm.
Since cherry picking is lying, stealing and cheating. 
More so than an IC position. And they have to follow
their own policies in order to let you go if you're not a new hire...otherwise, you could have recourse against the company.

ICs have utterly zero protection.

Futurenet does not follow through on anything
8
Follow BOS guidelines.
xx
Although not all companies follow BOS (sm)
guidelines due to client specifics, etc.  It is usually safe to transcribe as BOS compliant for testing purposes.  Even though the company may not follow it when hired, you would be expected to know it and it just eliminates the whole confusion of how to transcribe on a test.
FOLLOW-UP LETTER
I took a test for a company on 1 week ago, Sept 24.  I know I nailed it.  Still haven't heard anything.  How do I write a follow-up email to see if I can get any info on my status?  Any help is appreciated!  Thanks.