calls from MQ at same time every night

Sadly, I do. It takes time to get everything [2008-09-04]
into place, get the MTs in India trained, etc. So far enough American MTs have quit that I'm sure we won't notice a huge change right off the bat. In my highly unprofessional opinion, I would say we start seeing big changes by Jan 1. New quarter, new hopes by CBAY.

Right, wasting my valuable 11 cpl time. [2008-09-03]
Commas can make a big difference. It doesn't matter whether you think they make a difference. Other people read these; what do they think if they see any kind of error? No wonder nobody respects the transcription profession. It is to simple to learn grammar and puncturation. I guess it is just more fun to be angry and attack people. Yes, I DO HAVE ANGER ISSUES. I'm tired of other MTs who make my chosen profession look STUPID.

still have to meet turnaround time ... [2008-09-01]
but I do agree there should be a better system of scheduling ... have an additional status; 1. off 2. standby (call in and be released if no work at certain intervals during the day) 3. working (plan on sitting there)

ticket time [2008-08-28]
Well see here, 2 different opinions. I also have that account, and well damn if you do, damn if you don't. Then contractions allowed all over, which is hard to type when taught not to, and to top it off, abbreviations in assessment and plan. Yea, okay this is not my main account and sometimes brainlessly I type as I am used to but then have to go take all this crap out. DO NOT, I SAY DO NOT MAKE A NEW PARAGRAPH UNLESS ASKED, DO NOT, OR IT IT IS A $50 FINE AND 1 NIGHT IN THE SLAMMER. This drives me absolutely nuts, but gotta just laugh and give them what they want. Just keep guessing and hope you get it right or do not get caught.

Eons ago I worked for TL part-time [2008-08-22]
Then a full-time job came up from my other part-time job, so I left. I actually miss doing dictation for a few of the doctors I did from Olive View. In fact, they had even requested me after I had done some of those reports! Every once in a while something happens that makes me feel good about what I do. I've bee requested a few other times in the past, but one doctor at Olive View actually gave me compliments at the beginning of his tape. Little sincere pats on the back boost my attitude. There are a couple of ESL doctors who give thanks for your help and understanding at the end of the dictation and some English-speaking doctors who do this too. Makes life pleasant for at least a couple minutes. Even though life seems somewhat crappy these days, I guess it is all crap.

I don't ever remember a time when [2008-08-19]
MT and QA people had so much trouble getting along. Only since I returned to this profession have I noticed it. I am also of the mindset that when MQ wants to pitch me overboard I won't let it ruin my ego. I basically expect it every day and find myself surprised when I'm not let go for x or y reasons. I think the majority of us know far more than how this industry makes us feel. Maybe I'm all wrong here, but when I repeatedly read where the MT spends a lot of time on a report that has many blanks, it certainly can't be on purpose. Is QA able to see when the report was started and also finished? Granted, if a person spent all that time, it'd be like kicking one's own butt. Try to picture that one! I often feel like I'm the only one who gets disappointed when having to send a report with many blanks for even standard type expressions. Hopefully we can try not to take all this stuff so personally. From what I read here, both MT and QA are not feeling warm and fuzzy.

Time to go! I did. I was tired of drowning. sm [2008-08-17]
I finally got fed up enough, went to MTJobs.com, applied at 10 places, got 8 replies, picked the best company that suited my needs and finally climbed out of the cesspool. I started on my new job today. New platform and only 1 day of training and 20 reports to QA and I was released. I made almost twice as many lines on my first day than I would have with MQ because the platform is fantastic andthe voice recognition is a walk in the park. People answer when you email them too! I actually got a call from the MQimpact center this afternoon and I was like, I'm sorry, but I quit and my last day was Friday. They didn't even know. Go for it!

Will Answer - Have a full time Job [2008-08-16]
Yes, Am collecting this info for myself and atty

Making time up. [2008-08-14]
What a job! I had to take two hours off one day due to a storm and could not make it up so they took two hours from my PTO.

time in an office [2008-08-13]
i cannot even express how much i miss working in an office....hopefully this job that i'm applying for will come through....but the idea of getting paid by the hour again sounds like heaven after this horrible MQ experience. i think i would have been happier working on an assembly line putting bottle tops on bottles or something than the ridiculousness that is MQ. when you work in an office, not only are you allowed to stay 'on the clock' when you go to the bathroom, but also to get up and walk around and visit briefly with actual people. people who will answer your questions, support you, encourage you. Medquist doesn't seem to know what any of those concepts mean. instead, they set you up to fail, no matter how positive your attitude or how hard you work. its all about sabatage, pure and simple, all your efforts, sabataged by the holy Q.

e-time [2008-08-13]
I could not find anyting in etime tutorials related to this question. I thought it was acceptable to log off when going over a difficult report as this could count against Keystrokes and thus bring you pay rate down used for pto. Any suggestions? I hope I am in line here if not I will not be doing this in the future. I seldom do it though. TIA

e-time [2008-08-13]
I've always done it the way MQ requires. I actually never thought of doing it any other way (I guess I'm either too lazy or too stupid to be a crook!). A friend of mine who works for another MTSO does this and with their blessing. That co. doesn't care as long as they get their work, etc. She used to work for the Q, got fired for abandoning a job (which she truly never did), returned to this MTSO, and has never looked back. They never call her on her off hours or bother her, period. But they've been incredible to her over a few other unexpected things.

Ya, I wondered about that time schedule thing.... [2008-08-12]
The other state I would go to is one hour ahead for half the year. But that's something I can work around easily. Thanks!

Almost 9 years. Two raises in that time. [2008-08-12]
Last one about 2 years ago I think.

I'm afraid that the first time ...sm [2008-08-12]
we hear from him will be with a pink slip in his hand. What does anyone else think on this?

Long time MQers, 8 or more years....sm [2008-08-11]
How long since you last had a raise? Over 5 years for me.

What is flex part-time? [2008-08-09]
ss

I'm part-time flex [2008-08-09]
Well, for me, going from Part-timer to Part-time Flex position had meant ONLY the loss of PTO time.. I had to keep the same exact schedule, to the hour, and therewas no flex involved in it at all and I'm not sure where they get that from ... at least in my world that's how it was working.. I quit last week by the way because they were so INflexible with my schedule... Lousy B's.....

I already went to flex time and got a second job. [2008-08-08]
This was just after the news in May. I've been with MQ over 10 years and dealt with all the other changes, but this one is just too uncertain (or maybe it's more certain than we'd like to believe). Trust me when I say I'm not one for change (look, I've lasted 10 years with MQ even though I was miserable for the last three or four, simply because I don't like change). If MQ sticks around, great. I have a flex p/t job with accounts I know VERY well and can do ASR (even though I get paid beans for it). If it hits some rocky patches (which I'm 99.8% sure it will), I get to go bumpity bump along with it and know I have a stable job somewhere else. And if it completely dies (i.e. flies away to India), at least I was prepared. Change SUCKS but not being ready for change sucks even more.

Part-time employee to flex part-time? sm [2008-08-08]
I've been a part-time employee for the past 10 years (I only work 24 hours a week), but I'm seriously considering going to flex. Is there any benefit of going to flex? Will I be able to work when I want or am I still on the same set schedule of my chosing? I could care less about the PTO because I end up having to make days up when I go on vacation anyway and it defeats the whole purpose. Pros? Cons?

flex part time [2008-08-08]
I just thought tonight that I bet they do away with flex part time. Where did you hear this and when? I was considering it myself.

Sorry to hear that, but my PS told me a long time [2008-08-07]
ago not to stay logged in if not working.

My hubby made curry chicken last night for dinner [2008-08-07]
and I just had to laugh. How soon do you think it will be before we start seeing changes?

Wish I had time but unfortunately I have to make a living before someone from India [2008-08-06]
takes over my job. Really good luck with your union dream but smart business people (like Walmart and Kumar) work around unions. No one can force someone to hire union workers ESPECIALLY if there are loads of workers off shore waiting to pick up the pieces or American workers who will work without a union membership.

time card [2008-08-06]
MQ is strict when it comes to time cards. Back when we had regional offices, my local office fired two workers for the same thing, being clocked in but not working. One was warned but was caught doing it again, the other was not warned. I cannot think of any of my previous jobs, working on site or at home, that would let this slide.

My PS also constantly asks for help from [2008-09-05]
PT MTs but when full-time MTs are getting paid OT and I'm not - forget it! Can you imagine sitting in an office and the FT person sitting next to you is getting paid 1.5 times more than you are for doing the same job - NO WAY!

HURRICANE IKE [2008-09-05]
Anybody in the cone? I am.... We went through Andrew in 1992....homeless x4 months...was not an MT back then. I am not sure how MQ handles such. Do they fire you after you can not work for an extended length of time? I emailed them but no answer. No one knows where Ike will go. It is way too soon to tell, but just preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Pray for us.

quality audits [2008-09-05]
i've seen posts below from QAs who said taht they don't do quailty audits on MTs, well then - who does? Do we still get them? I used to have them sent to me but that hasn't happened in a long, long, long time. I noticed that in QASAR some of the reports do have a score with them, but they are all 100%, which even though my quality in the past had always in the acceptable range, it had never before been so perfect. Are the reports in QASAR with the scores the ones that were audited? What's the deal with the audits?

Please let me vent. I just finished a SM [2008-09-05]
report which was all but 1700 seconds in length by a resident at my primary who is driving me crazy. He has a nasty habit each and every time of going into lengthy descriptions of a particular problem the patient had, listing each problem in a list under the hospital course. I am not talking a sentence of two here, I am talking detailed descriptions. Then he will say Take all that out. Today he did this with one particular problem not once, but three different times, of course after I typed the entire thing three times.He did it witha few otherdetailed descriptions, changing them each twice.I know because he is a doctor nothing will ever be said to change the inconsiderate way he dictates. Just had to get that off my chest. Hope your day is much better.

My PS is always asking for extra help especially from part-timrers...sm [2008-09-05]
She doesn't care as long as the backlog is huge, get right on whenever you can so long as you don't go into overtime. I'm not part-time yet but will be as soon as I am able to change my status from full-time limited benefits. It seems like I'll get more flexibility this way by going regular part-time - at least with my accounts...

i never was tested. I was acquired with another company [2008-09-05]
and I stay only because I haven't found another job. I'm not looking for another MT job. I believe in time it would turn out the same. I've been going to school part-time for the last 8 years and recently applied for two jobs through my school - a credit analyst and a collections specialist - neither are what i really want to be doing, but they both sound like decent enough jobs. A relative offered me job running a cash register in his store Friday, Saturday & Sunday night for minimum wage. I turned that down. I'm going to leave Medquist for a good job, not another piece of cr@p one that just like Medquist. I've also been taking tests with the state civil service, and I've down well on most of them. I'm at the top of the list in several jobs in several counties, so there is hope there. & they are really good paying jobs. If I could get an accounting job with the state, there is a good possibility that I could be making close to $100,000 per year by the time I hit retirement...oh... and then there is also the possibility that I would actually retire, which is not so apparent with this job.

My experience in the old days was the same. [2008-09-05]
Unfortunately AAMT was and has been busy trying to make the organization look big and important to others rather than focusing on and working for what the membership really needed - fair pay for good work and allowing us the time to do the job right rather than let the profession sink to quantity. I used to enjoy my job because the work was interesting and I was paid a decent wage. I have always taken pride in my important role in quality patient care and, in the end, the patients will always be my primary focus. Unfortunately, I find myself focusing more and more on finding a new profession because I am not being paid a decent wage anymore and just scraping along even though. I was a member for 13 years. During that entire time, the AAMT was busy trying to impress doctors with what our profession does for them, but too many doctors still don't get it and the bottom cash line rules their choices. The AAMT was busy designing and touting education requirements with dreams of needing a 2-year degree to be qualified to be hired. That never happened either. I remember when AAMT was pushing that transciptionists needed liability insurance. Since that time, the profession has pretty much gone to nearly absolute verbatim which drives me crazy at times. I took pride in assisting some doctors with making their reports readable and they appreciated that There were even some doctors who actually requested me and I felt proud about the quality of my work rather than just being a production number like I am now. The last straw for me regarding the AAMT was when work began going off shore and they have never appeared to have found for our jobs. Various off shore MTSO companies may claim they are HIPPA compliant, but, truth be told, HIPPA cannot be enforced beyond our shores. Remember the off shore Transcriptionist who held medical documents hostage with threats to publish them on the internet? US laws are difficult to enforce when the infraction has been committed in another company. The US can punish off shore companies who produce tainted products that do not meet safety requirements by denying entrance into the company, but the same is not true with patient medical documents.

We are in Savannah- [2008-09-05]
I will pray for you. The last time we were hit by a hurricane was David in 1979. I remember the damage and worst of all the power outages. We have been bypassed by big storms ever since. Stay safe.

Hi Rosie, I am [2008-09-05]
I live in Florida and we are still struggling here since the big hurricane in 2004. The hurricane that hit us a few weeks back did a lot of damage here, 40,000 to 50,000 people on the beachside had sewage in their homes. A number of homes in our area were ripped apart and Melbourne, where my daughter lives was flooded. We had over 25 inches of rain. It caused a lot of damage. I can't imagine what will happen this time if the storm after Hannah is as big as they say it is. I just hope it changes course, and none too soon for me. I don't think this state could handle it. We were without power for 3 weeks in 2004, and I remember going back and forth from the hospital to work at night, with no stoplights, heavy debris in the streets. It was the only place we could actually get anything to eat. We were so hot at night when we slept it was horrible. I remember taking the flashlight to the bedroom and going to bed at 7:30 at night. It was much worse though for a lot of people, and we prayed FPL would get to us to get the electric turned on. Boy, do we forget how important all these things are!

I totally ageee with that. I was so [2008-09-05]
mad thinking I was making a few cents, only to turn around and erase everything he said; many, many lines each time. I think we should get paid for typing it, regardless. I am going to check. Thanks to ALL of you.

Yipee! [2008-09-05]
For the first time in overa year, I actually did over 20 reports with not one single QA marker. Mind you, though, my production suffered big time because most of the time was spent doing research. I can only imagine how much money I could of made if I was used to these accounts. Just doesn't make sense!!

I would definitely let your PS know, but [2008-09-05]
if it doesn't stop. I would let the deletions in the report and send it to QA with a note that he wanted them deleted after you'd already typed them and that you don't get paid to type deletions. At least then you'd get paid for it. Maybe a few times of this happening and someone will tell the jerk, which is what should happen the first time you tell your PS. Perhaps, this jerk should write his dictations out long-hand first, making any necessary changes, then call in and read them. It's ridiculous. It's like eating something and then returning the empty package to the grocery store for a refund. I don't think so.

I think we should be paid more for teaching hospitals. [2008-09-05]
Not only are the residents and medical students idiots, they idiots change every 3 months and we get new ones. Just about the time you figure them out, or they learn how to dictate, they leave. You can't set up standards for these children. We should get a premium for transcribing teaching hospitals. I have 2 and they drive me crazy.

I think you are so right about what can happen (and probably will) [2008-09-05]
happen if you change companies. Although, there probably is something out there which is better for the moment - hopefully better enough to fund my education for another career. What I am earning here doesn't leave me much money beyond paying the bills. At least in the hospital I was paid a decent salary and thus wish I hadn't left. Although, my stint in for the small service was great until we lost the business to the Indians who can afford to charge half the price. It looks like I will be driving again in order to go to school and for the new career. Not having to drive to work and saving all that commute time and saving money on gas has been wonderful, and I have been willing to put up with some crap in order not to commute, but I have to face up to reality - something I have been having to drive myself kicking and screaming to do.

I thought of doing that. It was so bad this morning that I felt like [2008-09-05]
This is habitual with this guy. . . each and every time. Today, however, was the worst when he told me time after time to delete very long paragraphs several times over.

Supply has already started to become [2008-09-04]
a problem for MQ or they wouldn't be contacting people who are already working for them to beg them to join their company, but you are right about the fact that when our turn comes we should stick it to them good... I think we should give as great as we got and let them feel the pain for a change, and believe me our day is coming and it's coming in the not so distant future if MQ wants to keep it's top management in the green they all love so much......The writing is on the wall so to speak and all we have to do is hang in there and support each other through this awful time we are going through right now....

moonchild there are very few of us [2008-09-04]
who don't feel your pain. Hang in there. I always say what doesn't kill you will make you a better person. Maybe we need to go through this so that we are better trained for whatever is ahead for us. I know this will have to come to an end sooner or later because MQ can't just keep losing MTs with no one to replace them and they are running out of options. Again we will all make it through this really tough period of time and we will all be the better for it, even if it is with a different company, and MQ will be sorry they treated us this way. Again you are not alone, most of MQ's MTs are feeling the same way, even if the few cheerleaders who post on this board say different, and I for one will be praying for you and hoping for a fast end to this insanity that has been going on for the past year or so...

aamt [2008-09-04]
Back in the 90s I used to be a member of AAMT and got the journal, and even attended several state and national conferences and was even a CMT for a few years. I have since not renewed my CMT and no longer am a member. I was never given an extra pay or raise for being a CMT so that I did not renew. I used to be on the board of directors for the local AAMT when I was living in a major CA city. The conferences, which were 3 day weekends for the yearly conference, for me were to hear the speakers, mostly doctors on new procedures they were doing back then for different ailments. And of course, the vendors were mostly book companies and some of the major bigger services looking for employees. We were always trying to get through to AAMT that we needed to have some better wages and be treated as someone important. they also assured us that voice recognition would not be in MT's world in our life time. Well, it shouldn't be, but it is here I guess. Those definitely were the good old days, and we will never see them again.

Disparity in pay [2008-09-04]
Your post was right on! I too am a tier 3 with over 40 years of experience who is struggling. A year ago I lost my long-time primaries (they left MQ), and have been struggling with all new heavy ESL accounts and making about 1/3 less than I did a year ago. However, to add insult to injury, I know several tier 1 MTs who are making the same 9 cents a line that I make and do only clinic work. When I requested a change to their primary account (a huge clinic), I was told that I would have to take a cut in pay.

GMT Confusion [2008-09-04]
There's a lot of GMT confusion. GMT is Greenwich Meantime, the head clock in England. Eastern time zonecoast is GMT minus5 hours. Central is GMT minus 6 hours. West is GMT minus 8. (Except AZ at certain times of the year. They don't do changing of the clocks.)

Delete Coast [2008-09-04]
Sorry, meant to edit out that coast for East coast. It's just Eastern time zone.

why don't we quit? [2008-09-04]
i was pondering this question as put forth in the thread below where some people are happy here, but so many of us are not. for me, first, i just wasn't willing to believe that things had gotten so bad. i kept holding out hope that things would swing back around and i'd get back to where i liked this job, that reaching my line count would get easy again, that there would be one day, just ONE day, where i didn't end up crying and hating everything. i just kept hoping. then, when the reality of the situation was just too glaring to ignore, i have gone through several periods of time, about 1 to 2 weeks worth, where i went crazy and applied to any and every job i saw. in the past 3 or 4 months i've sent my resume out at least 20 times. it seemed like i was applying to at least 5 jobs on a daily basis. i've had a couple of interviews, have started working part-time, as a 2nd job, with an MT work from home company that i really love, and am currently hoping and waiting for an interview at an actual office, outside of my home, as an MT. the process of looking and sending out resumes, and waiting, and then hearing and weeding out the jobs that won't work, and them weeding you out, and just the whole process, it seems to take forever. i imagine everyone here who is miserable working for MQ is in some phase of this same process - holding out hope, hating their job, but needing to work at home and not realizing there are alternatives until they get desperate enough to really start looking and finding out there are, looking and waiting and hoping. if this job i am currently holding out hope for doesn't pan out, i will be getting back into crazy mode again, and will go on the daily rampage of sending out resumes to any and every job i see. i'm not limiting myself to medical transcription, but am applying for anything medical, anything, as well as just regular old secretarial jobs. these are not jobs that i would really like, nor do i really want to have to drive any great distance to work, but right now i am willing to drive an hour to a job that pays me decently and treats me like a valued employee. i still am not willing to give up on thinking that jobs like that exist. medquist just doesn't happen to be one of them.

and... [2008-09-04]
..ya know, i wouldn't hate Medquist so much, i'd be willing to put up with the cesspool, and the multiple clients, if they didn't have the stringent so many lines in a certain period of time constraints. it seems they could deal with accountability in a more flexible way that would helpthe MTs be more productive. some days (most days recently) it is simply impossible to make 1200 lines in a day, when dictation after dictation is done by a doctor who has conversations with co-workers, sits there leafing through the charts, does everything BUT dictate. you can't fast forward through everything and speeding things up doesn't always help in these types of situations. what it does do is make it so there is no way you will reach your line count. of course, we have no idea if anyone ever speaks to the physicians about this or not. if they knew this was affecting our pay check, they might make more of an effort, but maybe i'm just being naive. but anyway...i feel there shouldn't bethese rules that set us up to fail. maybe we should have to work a certain amount of hours to get benefits, and maybe we should have to make a certain line count for accountability, but they should let us do it more on our own time, and if some days it takes us more than 8 hours to get our lines, they should let us. i'm fine with working 8 hours and if i have a great day and hit my 1200 in 5 hours, fine, i'll keep working until my 8 hour shift is done. but on those other days, they should just let us catch up on our line count, off the clock, whenever we can. i know i would feel a lot better about myself if i could average what i'm supposed to. i guess this opens those murky waters of labor laws and people who might take advantage, i dunno...just babbling here on my break....

For those of you who have [2008-09-04]
Is it kind of a no-brainer? I am the kind of person who doesn't have the time to put into actually going in depth learning a new program, and I don't think I want to either..I just keep seeing how you can type and it can figure out what you are typing before you type it and you have a choice to expand it. Is that the case? Is it super easy like that?

Anyone good at math problems??? [2008-09-03]
I happened to get a 520-second ASR report followed by a 520-second regular straight transcription report. Both dictators were clear, so didn't have to slow down for either one and didn't have to stopto look anything up for either one. I decided to time myself to see exactly how much ASR increased my production.I see it did; however, the % is what I'm interested in.BTW, this was a way better than average ASR job, whichis a rarity really. Here are the specs: ASR report took 9 minutes Regular report took12 minutes What PERCENTAGE increase in productiondid the ASR report allow? There will be extra credit for this one!!!