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excellent for you to take time to post. sm

Posted By: darlene on 2009-09-06
In Reply to: Everyone who has been fired, whether employee, - statutory employee, or IC should file for Unemploy

It does not apply to me but it WILL inform many I am sure.

Thanks for helping other MTs find their way through a difficult process. Why should anyone need to accept that term, MISCONDUCT if innocent as you and many others have clearly been. GOOD JOB reporting.


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MDI-Maryland is an excellent company, pay on time all the time, great line rate.
I left also because I went out and got my own client(s).
They are very nice people.

The only negative I can think of were the e-mails from the owner say work, work, work, we are out of TAT.

Other than that, which is very minor, it was a good experience.
Excellent post, MT! NM
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Excellent post.
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Excellent Post

So much of what you said is true - you commented briefly about how much the leads do for the MTs and so much of what they is not paid for.   Medware keeps track of their employees time by Merit Minutes.  Merit Minutes constitutes the time spent TYPING in a chart.  If you need to research a drug name and spend more than 5 minutes looking for it, Merit automatically shuts off the clock.  So you have spend your time researching an item but you do not get paid for your time after 5 minutes.  Lately, it also seems harder and harder to achieve the minutes needed to equal 8 hours.  I know several people, myself included, who have made comments that it seems like 10 hours are needed before the 8 hours mark is reached.  Additionally, if you have phone your supervisor for something, if you run out of jobs and have to email the lead MT (who no longer exists) for more work, that is time spent which you don't get paid for.  If Medware's computer goes down or they experience a power outage, you have to make up the time for it later.  If Medware performs a maintenance check on Merit, you have to wait and make up the time later.  In a real world office, you would be paid for that time, but not at Medware.  And taking time off for yourself?  That is definitely frowned upon by certain team leaders.  Taking sick time?  They will actually ask you to make up that time later even if you have accured the sick time benefits! 


Even though Medware will tout itself as the AAMT employer of the year, not once or twice, they certainly do not treat their employees well.  For MT week the lead MTs positions were eliminated.  About 6 months ago the MTs who review the offshore work, listening to the reports word for word, fixing dosage errors, incorrect words, grammar, punctuation, and often fixing complete sentences which were creatively transcribed, found out that their hourly salary was about to be cut in half.  They would now make $8.00 an hour plus an incentive bonus for editing over 2000 lines a day.  Nothing  changed for them, the same quality demands were still in place, the offshore work remained the same, not better, but suddenly they had to produce twice as much as work in the same amount of time in order to keep their salary at or close to the level it had been.  Additionally, their vacation pay, which they had earned during the time when they made $14.00 or $15.00 an hour, was suddenly decreased to $12.00 an hour. And this is the company who wins the coveted employee of the year award?


This company looks out for number 1, themselves, and no one else.  They deserve to lose their lead MTs and anyone else who is disgusted with the self-serving practices.  Maybe if enough people leave, Medware will wake up and smell the coffee and remember that it takes management and employees working together to make a company productive. 


Excellent post.
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Excellent post!!
Good luck in your nursing career - and that is something that cannot be outsourced! I have 25 years of MT experience, and I make a good deal less than I did 10 years ago. I think I am going to go door to door to local physician offices and see if I can steal back any work that has been lost to the big nationals. I also think I am going to charge hourly if I am successful. I am so tired of production. Too old for the stress.
EXCELLENT POST!
NM
Excellent post! sm
So many ICs on here feel it's THEIR own responsibility to find a replacement for when they are unavailable, and I've always scratched my head at that one.
Female guilt rears it's unly head!
Excellent post...
but I'll tell you where the SoftScript employee is. The Softscript employees that I know choose to use their time in a more productive manner and NOT post useless repsonses to worhtless accusations and rumors They have incredible work ethics and a true sense of organizational loyalty and support. They love their work, and they are good at it. They know if they screw off on wasteful sites like this, they risk losing a client and we risk losing business. They EARN their money, and they read the headlines everyday where they know how important it is to have a job and make good money in this economy. They don't want to risk that.They also love their bonuses, and extra perks that the company is only too happy to share. They do not have the time nor the inclination to be whining about this recruiter or this MT or whatever aimless, mind-numbing posts that get posted everyday. While some on this site choose to spread gossip, rumors and simply bitch about everyone and every place, in between a Twinkie or a pound cake or two, the Softscript employee is currently speaking to a large group of MT's that are coming over to us from yet another new client, preventing overseas outsourcing (100% American-based, baby!). They are training new grads and helping them become successful and productive employees. They are creating and contributing articles for the company newsletter. They are heading up fundraisers for our company's numerous charitable organizations. They are also taking up collections or baking cookies to send to one of their fellow employees who recently lost a loved one. That's what the SoftScript employee is doing. What have YOU done today that didn't sound like a whine, complaint or rumormongering? 
Wow, very excellent post!

I'm tempted to print it out and hand it to anybody professing interest in this field, LOL!


I agree that some people have it, and some don't.  Also, this is not a profession where you can just graduate, get a job and coast through your day, its always a challenge, always learning, and often a struggle, but some of us enjoy that.  Its about challenging yourself and beating your personal best, and of course you have to have a professional work ethic.


Many people have a lousy work ethic, and it reflects on their paycheck.  My boss actually told me that she has to call and nag/beg my teammates to work their scheduled shifts!  Their loss is my gain, there's always work for me.


Personally, I never want to work a job that doesn't pay production again - because finally I now I get paid what I'm worth, I work hard and I have the paycheck to prove it.  If I get lazy, down goes my paycheck.  I've met many folks like you described, there's always envy, excuses, and a thousand reasons why they can't do what I do.  Maybe they can't, but they have equal opportunity to do it.  Its up to each of us to maximize those opportunities instead of wishing we could be better.


Excellent Post
The biting your hand analogy--perfect.
excellent post nm
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EXCELLENT POST!
I feel for you all. My company is a small one, having financial difficulty, lost some accounts - one to Transcend - and I am sure we will be one of the next companies to be sold to a large MTSO. When that day comes, I am done. I WILL NOT work for a company who will screw American workers all over the almighty dollar.

And I hope these clients enjoy the half-ass work the Indians are giving them. You get what you pay for.
Here! Here! Excellent Post
Very well thought out and well stated.
Truly an excellent post, but with
You're assuming they want to reduce hiring and improve employee retention. I don't believe that's the case, unfortunately.

While I wish the WMX executives would take what you've said to heart, I think the whole reason they won't is that overhiring is a deliberate WMX strategy.

Hire an MT with little professional experience, perhaps straight out of MT school, and you can pay her a lower line rate.

You don't have to pay her benefits for the first 90 days of employment.

You do get to charge her installments on the equipment you send out. And with brand-new netbook computers retailing around $350, I very much doubt refurbished no-frills desktops really cost the company $250 each.

You don't have to budget for sick time or vacation time.

You do have to pay him or her a training rate for the first (15? 30?) days, but this is more than made up for by not having to pay medical, vision, or dental.

If s/he quits in frustration somewhere around the 90-day mark, you can just fill that vacancy with another warm body to whom you don't have to pay benefits and from whom you will be pocketing $250 in equipment fees, less the actual cost of said equipment, which I expect is much lower.

Finally, overhiring helps WMX by reducing the amount they spend paying employee bonuses (with so many MTs chasing work, it's become increasingly difficult to reach the upper bonus tiers). Overhiring can even bump full-time employees out of the minimum bracket, at which point they, too, become employees for whom WMX does not have to pay benefits.

Anyone working on Enterprise will see this happening just by accessing e-chart: The names of the transcriptionists change constantly now. There are always new names, but they don't stay long. Enterprise MTs have probably also noticed the decrease in the quality of reports they find in e-chart, or at least I have. More and more I see newbie errors, errors I made myself back when I was just starting out, errors that would be understandable coming from a newbie MT but unforgivable coming from one with any significant experience. There are errors now that a truly professional MTSO should be horrified to send out to clients.

I would even imagine that such low-quality reports are then used to persuade clients to adopt voice recognition. You'll see fewer errors with voice recognition, because the software transcribes EXACTLY what you say!

Maintaining executive profits by decreasing worker costs is a deliberate strategy on the part of WMX, and likely on the part of most other MTSOs. They do not care about quality, so long as they can maintain it just slightly above the level at which clients start to complain. They do not care about employee retention, since employee retention costs them more than accelerated hiring & firing does. They do not care about anyone but themselves, period.

I hope some other organization implements your excellent suggestions, though. That would be an organization for which I'd be PROUD to work.

Webmedx is not that organization.
Excellent post...
Let's see anyone who tries to claim it is merely ''typing'' actually sit down and produce -- from dictation-- an accurate medical document (that could potentially be used in court).
Excellent post MTness
I'm with you all the way. Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Excellent post -- thanks Amber!!!! - nm
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Excellent post! Congrats to you!
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Good job...Excellent Post!!!
You could not have said it better or more straight forward.
An excellent post and ditto, right there with you. nm
nm
Excellent post. Agree wholeheartedly. sm
The dictator must take responsibility for what is dictated. In addition, today's MTs aren't as adept at editing as those of us who had proper training, use the appropriate resources, and do not use Google as our exclusive resource.

If you frequent the word boards, you will see what I mean. A couple of days ago, an MT posed a question that her ESL doc said that the patient worked in a laundry. She wanted to change it to laundramat. The MT admitted she did not know that a laundry was a place! These new MTs don't even own an English dictionary.

I initially had a hard time dealing with the verbatim concept. After seeing several reasons for its initiation, I've happily resigned myself to light editing as client allows. I got over it. Look around you and you will also see how this industry has changed in the last 10 years. It ain't what it used to be. Time to roll with the changes.
Bravo!!!!! Excellent post. 30 years here.
I just wanted to be left alone so I could do my work. I came in on most calls to help out. Quality meant everything as did TAT. Did that matter to management? That I was not talkative on the telephone (Small talk eludes me for some reason) during chats with these people has cost me a fortune. And pretending to be someone I am not is just not something I am capable of though I must say I wish I could be a talkative person just so my personality would be more obvious in this so often unfair telecommunation job, where after all I have given, I am treated no better than a newbie, even with disrepect, biting e-mails by moody unprofessional management.
Excellent post? She misunderstood the whole issue...nm
nm
Excellent post with great insight. (NM)
dd
Excellent post, Tech Support. You nailed it. nm.
Sigh.
EXCELLENT post. Thank you for a balanced point of view. nm

see message this post is excellent a fair representation of KS..I copied it from below.
You know who I am. I'm the one who hooked up the Foley at the beginning of my shift. I'm the one who worked extra each and every time I was asked. I'm the one who went into the office to transcribe when it was needed. I'm the one who went on site to help with a new account (and this account actually wanted me to work for them!). I'm the one who transcribed tapes when asked. I'm the one who did the 3-page reports and the docs that no one else wanted when you cut our pay. And I'm the one who worked an 8-hour shift when my air conditioning broke down last summer during one of the hottest days of the year. No one just handed me that huge paycheck, I worked for it.

And now I'm the one who works on two accounts that consider my transcription excellent. As a matter of fact, one account doesn't want anyone BUT me. During my career I was told by one manager and one MTSO that they wished they had 10 of me. I also came highly recommended to you. That speaks volumes about my reliability, stability, flexibility, and quality.

You offer some flexibility. Zero tolerance would be more like it. I had to take three days off for jury duty, my electricity went out twice, and workers cut my cable line, all of which were out of my control. I took five days off in a row once in two years for a very good reason and it was not a vacation. If I had to take time off during my shift, I made up my time that same day. Unfortunately my dentist doesn't have hours on Sunday. I also worked when I was sick. Is that what you mean by not a good fit? I was an IC not an employee.

The kicker for me was when I found out that your coordinator went to the client to find out if I was skipping reports. I have never skipped a report in my entire career. I don't have to. I love what I do and I love a challenge. She also told another employee that no one can do that many specials. I could and I did until she made certain that I didn't.

This field is stressful enough. I certainly don't want to work for someone who places more stress on me, especially when I'm already giving 110%.

When it was all over, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. It was then that I decided I would rather be appreciated than used and abused.
I love it there...best place I have worked...plenty of work, pay on time, excellent communication...
wonderful supervisors...who could ask for more?
Amen Sister, Amen! Excellent post. (nm)
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way I figure, if u have time to post here, there's time for FB.
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Thank you for taking the time to post this! Appreciate it!
nm
I think at one time I saw you post that you worked
for the same company I do in FL.   Only, if you work for them I want a raise - LOL.   I am an employee but don't make that much, but I do have some bennies, so maybe we don't work for the same company.  
It is inside the post, at the time. nm
 
Yes, I'm sure the managers have time to sit and post sm
all the time - like they don't have better things to do all day??? You are silly. Just ask your STM instead of being so doubtful.
How have you put up with this place for any length of time?!! Wow...can you post their
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IC I will post one more time and be done. I was audited years ago

and I was niave and only payed federal and not social security taxes because I had also worked a regular job on top of IC job.  My penalty and interest was more than the tax I owed!  I learned my lesson the painful expensive way. 


I was told that IC status is a red flag for the IRS and they will go over your return looking at your deductions and if you don't pay social security tax at the proper rate, it is another red flag. 


 Now with Turbotax it is much easier to understand taxes on your own.  Even if you use an accountant I think it is good to go over it yourself and get an explanation so you understand what you are paying because as the IRS said to me ignorance is not an excuse .  I claimed I did not know what I was not aware I had to pay the full amount and they did not buy that excuse at all and slapped me with 3 years of interest and penalties! 


Above post asks do you get paid for your TIME to
x
People post that info all the time.
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What happened to my post? The last time I checked in, there were no responses. sm
I had asked which companies did not require working Saturday or Sunday.  Thanks for your help!
but a great post - my company gets bashed all the time too.
nm
Only took 5 min & my post re:dont waste time emailing
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I'll help! I left MQ at the time of this original post
I found a great job with a great US company, and have my self respect back. Enjoy my work again.  Go USA!!  Go MTs!!
I wouldn't waste my time calling the Post Office
Breitner is dishonest when it comes to their check mailing and check amounts. Same thing happened to me when I worked there and I went through the steps tracking it down.  They ended up cutting me another check (weeks later) - ITS ALL A STALL TACTIC.  Find employment elsewhere.  This will continue to happen until you leave the company.  Good Luck.
Here is a copy of the owner's post the last time the help-wanted ad was listed;

I would like to comment on your posts, as it is my help-wanted ad you are discussing.  I have attempted to put as many details into my ad as possible, in order to answer all possible questions anyone might have before applying.  My ad is not meant to be overbearing, rude, or pushy, but I realize it might appear that way to others because of all of the fine details I have written into it.  I have amended the ad many times over the years due to certain situations that have occured.  The part about if you love animals is due to the fact that I had a Transcriptionist working with me, who later told me that she did not like animals.  Since she did not like animals, it reflected in her work, which is probably because the work did not hold her interest.


 


I have read a lot of really vicious posts about myself and my company, none of which I feel are justified.  I am sure I have hurt some feelings when returning test results and when informing others that they do not appear to be compatible with the current position, but I have always been diplomatic in my emails and polite when conducting phone interviews.


 


I would like to set the record straight and let everyone know that I do NOT send out real work, hoping someone will do my job for me.  When I test someone, they are typing actual dictation files, but the reports have already been typed and returned to the clinic.  When testing potential applicants, I only send out two small dictation files at the most (sometimes only one), and the person below is obviously confused, or is blatently lying.


 


Also, regardless of what some people might be saying/thinking, there are at least four new clinics that open each year.  In the past six years, I have had five people leave their jobs voluntarily for their own personal reasons.  My newest ad is posted because I have been short-handed for some time now due to all of the unexpected clinics thrown at me and because I recently had a transcriptionist pass away unexpectedly.


 


I personally take the time to train each new person, and I can only handle training one person at a time because I have many other duties during the day, such as invoicing, payroll, emails, phone calls, typing the work from my own assigned clinics, etc.  It takes at least one month for each new person to feel comfortable enough to go on their own with the work, so I am constantly behind on getting all of the clinics covered.  As soon as one transcriptionist is out of training, I post my help-wanted ad and start all over again.  Believe me, I would like nothing more than to hire someone and put them on their own right away, which would make my life a lot easier!  However, the vet group I type for is very picky, which I can only blame on myself because they are spoiled and accustomed to having things done a specific way.


 


I could write a book in trying to defend myself and my company name, but, unfortunately, I no longer have the time to chat with other transcriptionists like I used to do years ago.  My main reason for posting a response is because I realize these posts will remain on the board for a very long time to come, and I am hoping potential applicants are not deterred from applying because of what has been posted at this site.  


Pay suposed to be good per 5/06 post, but at that time you needed Emdat and had too many fields
s
oh geez "always... all the time" I should read what I wrote before I post. sigh
.
Thanks guys for taking the time to respond to my post. I'll go with the State job if offered.
I may do some PT/IC a couple days of the week just to keep my skills up and just in case they offer the lower rate of pay.

Gonna miss you Guys. Thanks for all your help.
the day has 24 hours, I work only 6-8 hours, so, lots of time to post...nm
nm
Excellent cpl for right MT

Transcription Systems of Illinois has an immediate opening for an experienced acute care MT (hospital dictation). This position requires a minimum of 4 hours a day, Monday through Thursday, 8 hours on Friday, with the flexibility to do more if necessary. No weekends. Employee status. Only MTs with a strong background in operative reports, discharge summaries, H&Ps and consults will be considered.


This account requires a C-phone and has a high percentage of ESL's as well as a few difficult English-speaking dictators. No long distance charges. We provide many samples and lots of feedback. Our MTs like this account, once they're over the hurdle of the learning curve, and reap a very nice income from it. We guarantee no cherry-picking and you will not be switched to different accounts. A line is defined as 65 characters with spaces, and you calculate your own line count.


We are a very stable company who has been in business for 25 years in Central Illinois. Our MTs are so content with our company that we will be happy to provide MT references to serious applicants. 


All resumes will be reviewed and responses sent promptly to those who qualify.


Excellent
Post - those are my exact feelings!