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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Good or bad change?

Posted By: another MQMT on 2005-08-25
In Reply to: Hang on to your hat because you are in for a big change coming up. - MQTOO

What do you think is going to happen?


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Good news...for a change :)

If any of you have had to make the decision not to accept a position with a company you really liked because of high insurance premiums, I have found that I can actually pay less getting it on my own rather than getting it through the company.  I recently accepted a position I really wanted, but their insurance was way too high for family coverage.  Through Aetna, I can get 80/20 coverage, a bit of a high deductible, but we keep that set aside in our savings. It's only $263 a month for my spouse and I plus our two children AND my husband smokes.  I went to ehealthinsurance.com and compared plans, which are all rated.  We're all pretty healthy.  It will be a bit higher if you have preexisting conditions, so getting it through your employer with an affordable premium (group coverage) would work better for you in that instance.


Just wanted to share with my fellow MTs.   


Hoping change in CEO is a good thing
The former CEO started this mess, maybe a new one will be a change for the better.
Is it good work ethic to ask to change accounts at natl company? Please SM

I work for a national company and overall I've been quite happy. However, they changed my primary account last fall, and I have been miserable since then. It is a teaching hospital, several hundred docs, tons of different rules about format, etc, that change almost daily, 80% ESL, and I am very unhappy with it and making less now than I have in the last 7 years I've been doing acute care transcription because I'm so slow on it. I get paid 8.5/line.


My question is, is it wrong to ask to change accounts? My quality is great, they are very happy with my work, and in fact have mentioned that many MTs have quit rather than do this account, and of course I realize someone has to do it. I'm so unhappy, yet I don't want to appear incompetent or a cherry picker, etc, if I were to ask for a change (which they would not have to do), and I would like to stay with this company if only I could find a way to be happy with the work, because it is a good place overall. Any thoughts on this? Thank you.


Nothing will change unless we make it change..SM
As long as we accept the exploitation that this MT profession has reduced us to, it will keep going on.  The top of this is the outsourcing.... well, get your legislators involved....better yet, the MEDIA.  How many patients know their private medical information is being outsourced to halfway around the world? The squeeky wheel gets the grease.  Do the patients know that their info won't be sold by some unscrupulous MT (halfway around the globe) to insurance companies, etc., making all this Medical records privacy a joke. It's not just our T-shirts being made in other countries; it's our most personal, private medical information, of which the public is not being made aware of.  Not to speak of undercutting out profession to the bare bone.  Granted, most US MTs are willing to work below market wage just to have a job, especially in economically-deprived areas, where outside jobs are scarce, and kids need to be fed and mortgages need to be paid.  MTSOs know this.  I'll bet they'll be the first to lobby against any action against outsourcing.  (Wouldn't you be...if you got people to work for pennies while you're raking in the big $$$'s ?  Still, notwithstanding the outsourcing problem, we're still going along with all the BS...working for pennies, whatever the client wants, he gets... ever notice how all of the MTSO flak seems to be re. unpaid work...mostly, demographic issues we're not even paid for... bec. It has to be done.. Part of the job... The client put the wrong info but we have to correct it...all unpaid work.  Just give me a job with nothing but straight transcription, w/o the unpaid/demo. flak..I'll take it even at the present, absurd pennies-per-line state of the profession.
The best co. ever! Good work, good people, good pay, good bennies.
x
MQ BIG CHANGE?
I just love these posters..gonna be a big change..well, what?  Dont post something like that and not explain.  It only causes anxiety and speculation in an already scarey field, with outsourcing, etc.  Big change, well, come on now..what is gonna be the big change and where did you get your information from?
Well, then maybe that should change.
Maybe they, too, should be paid based on what they produce, with a little bonus if the person stays a year.
Sometimes you just get in a rut and need a change. Sometimes you just
get burn-out in general and think it is the company/account.  I've left a position before because I thought the grass was greener, but it wasn't.  Had to learn new platform, new software program, new dictators with various new accents to figure out, new way to count lines, etc.   Even if the pay was a bit better I still figured I lost money and the grass wasn't greener.   No company is perfect, but there are some very good companies out there, but there can still be intermittent issues with any company.  Sometimes talking with management might resolve issues, sometimes taking a break will refresh you and make you see things in a different light.  List pros/cons of present account and compare that what a different company has to offer.  You may realize you are better off where you are and if not you can feel comfortable that you're making a change that really will be better for you.   If you do decide to leave current account just don't burn any bridges so you leave with the possibility of being able to return if new account/company doesn't work out. 
No. Currently, you can use your own. That may change
nm
I think so...I am not one for change tho....but there

To change
the subject somewhat.  Gastric bypass and lap banding scare me to death!  I personally know of five people who underwent the procedures, and all had complications, one being death.  They all had excellent surgeons, one being my surgeon.  Everyone responds differently I know, and that is the problem.  It is too much of a gamble for me.
change
Are we all in the same boat?  I work for the largest national in the country and am hoping to hear about another position with another company tomorrow or Wednesday.  Many of us have been MTs for years and make less now than then we started.  We get thrown into the national cesspool and may get 20 different states in 20 different reports.  Impossible to make a good line count this way.  I'm slow to change and always fearful, but I'm really at the end of my rope.  Anyone want to add to this conversation, please feel free.  Happy New Year everyone!  May 2008 bring us more MONEY and more CONTENTMENT!!
have to change dsl
well just talked to Vonage and everything was fine until they tried to transfer my line. Said I have to discontinue DSL through ATT for ATT to allow it, then vonage can transfer it...
So I will change to time warner for cable and then get the adapter from vonage. Yes it is a lot cheaper, but have to work out all the transfers.
I know... but I need a change... SM

It was a great benefit for me being an IC because I would work and get big paychecks and being a single mom, I would get the child credits and the earned income tax credits, and I would actually get money back, quite a bit.


But now that that is not going to happen anymore, I want some PTO and all those nice benefits!!!  Im just ready for a change...


Which companies actually hire employees and offer PTO, etc.?


:-)


Change in pay
Contact the Wage and Hour Department of the Federal Labor Commission. This is illegal.
Looking for change
Good luck! I hope you find what you are looking for. I might also add that Landmark is a good, honest company that does not offshore.
Do you know by any change the
system you will be using? Some are apparently much better than others.
I wonder if that will change with the new sm
employee handbook?  I briefly read it this morning and it seems that it boils down to **you owe us this, this and that and we don't owe you anything**.
That will all change.

I've been in the business 20 years too.  I worked for Transcend for 4 years and my honeymoon period with them lasted about 7 months.  Once the honeymoon was over, it was one of the worst job experiences I have ever had. 


What would you like me to change it to? (nm)
I don't like change that much. I started posting here when I was a newer TT'r, so why change?
that says a lot. You would change sm
your mind if you were the sole bread winner as a big majority of MTs are. You wouldn't care about weekends at that point. You do what you have to do to support your family.

You can say what you want, but you have some off as self-righteous and definitely a slap in the face to all of us hard-working full-time MTs
exactly to change this???

x


What you are not getting is the change.
If you've always been used to it, fine...you have worked it out with the mortgage company, car payment, insurance, etc. You've got auto payment set up for your internet or your phone bill. So all those things have to be realigned. That will take some time to readjust both the inflow of money and the getting the autopayments changed.

And, some of you folks really don't seem to have any feeling for those that literally go paycheck to paycheck. I work two jobs. The only time I can take any length of time away from my desk is on Saturday evening and Sundays. Which works out great if I'm getting paid on Fridays. Not so good when it's falling through the week....so you're waiting extra days waiting for payday anyway and then you've got to wait longer before you can get out and do anything with it.

I'm glad your life is so stable that that waiting three extra 3 days doesn't impact you in any way. But having been there myself, and still almost there, I can certainly expend a little sympathy and try to understand how it might be problematic for someone else.
Why don't you change your hours?

I thought you were allowed to choose your own hours.


Times change. It's not about YOU, it's about

what the reality is today, not four months ago.


Congratulations on your windfall, though.


If you have doubts, email or call the person who hired you and they'll verify this.


 


MQ big change? Hmmm maybe

Big changes a coming...


she's talking about that we will have to volunteer xxx amount of lines to the legal fund


put in for PTO 3 yrs in advance


 be required to have state of the art systems (say the ones for 2 grand)


 pay are own and 10 of our neighbors DSl bills (because MQ may have a stake in that company


commit to not only real chains to the chair but also go on ankle monitors, so that MQ management can tell when we stray farther than 2 ft from our puter's...say to go to the potty


have to go through our supe's, area managers, district higher up's then finally corporate to sign off for the shift or to notify them of our own deaths


not only be able to understand our loving ESL's but to also be able to transcribe in their native languages if they so desire


be ready, willing and able to put up during training all the offshores who so desire to come to the US to train...kinda like a foreign exchange transcriptionist


Last but not least, to have the common sense to duck when that sky falls


 i love those the end is near posts.....geez


Hang on it will change
I am surprised to hear that FOCUS ICs are without jobs!!! I work for another company that provides services for them and we have so many jobs from FOCUS that we are asked to work extended shifts. I know that they have some accounts that are supposed to be VR editing but everyone working on them is mostly doing MT work until the VRE kicks in. We hear it is about 30-60 days from 90% VRE.
worrying does not change anything
Two hospitals that I worked at..rumor was they were going to oursource.  We were told no way, dont worry about your jobs.  One hospital was reassuring us on Monday, Thursday we had a meeting and were told we were let go, pick up our purses and leave.  The other hospital was reassuring us in the morning and by 11am we were called down to Human Resources and let go.  Corporate is not gonna tell us what they are deciding as they dont want to scare the transcriptionists away and then they wouldnt have transcriptionists.  Plus the management are only workers like us.  Whatever they know, if they tell, they will lose their jobs.  Corporate looks out for making a profit for their stock holders.  I have heard the rumors about MQ also, some from office workers themselves.  If you are a good transcriptionist, dont worry.  MQ isnt gonna get rid of the transcriptionists.  It is the offices they are merging.  The transcriptionists will just have to call in to a different office.  Also, there are many transcription companies out there.  Nothing you can do about corporate decisions.  If you worry so much, you will make yourself sick. Used to be when I first started working, there was loyalty between employer and employee.  That isnt how the American workplace is any more.  Just remember, transcriptionists are in demand.  You will do fine.
subject to change..lol
I worked for a large national for an entire week, getting only one report per day, but one of them was really really bad. The patient had allergies listed and then the same medications listed in "medications." The family history had the father 2 different ages and dying of 2 different disorders, and it went on and on. I sent it to QA with a description of all of the obvious and potentially dangerous errors and was told "it is verbatim and not our problem." Scuse me...that could be somebody's grandma laying there about to be given a medication that could or could not be deadly due to an allergy!!
I wonder if there was a change in management...
...to account for your different experience.  Something for potentials to consider.
As much as things change
there, yes it will change again, for better or worse, who knows, I sure don't.
Is Webmedx going to change all their
accounts to VR like Transcend is doing? I work for Transcend and am going to find another job due to that fact. It's a pity cause I liked my job until that happened. Webmedx sounds good, but if they are gonna do the same thing, I won't go there.
No. That's SLAVE CHANGE.
.
yes, pay rate does change, but...
you know prior to the new month beginning what your pay rate is going to be for the next month. Everyone receives a report card that shows how the pay rate is added up. It does not change until the next month.

As for the critical error of typing an instead of and, there are things about that, that just don't make sense. I just can't believe they would dock someone's pay for something like that. Maybe since the report was obviously an extremely long report, good chance there were more errors than just that one.

I really don't know anything about the Trinidad thing. I just know that I have plenty of work, and have never run out, and have been there almost a year.

I should say this, when I first was offered this job, I was discouraged about the pay rate, as it was less than I was making with my current company at that time. After taking a long time to decide, I took the plunge, and I actually make at least double what I was bringing home with my other company. Lines seem to add up so quickly.
That will change - once you start
producing consistently and making money, you'll be switched to ESLs, mumblers, stumblers and speed talkers.  That is a guarantee in this business.  But congratulations on your increase.
Wow, that's a major change.
They used to pay $10.00 per hour for the first 90 days and then put you on production. Yikes.
They were upfront when this change was
made and have never denied the fact that they are owned by Transcend. But they operate separately and on most accounts with different platforms. Always amazes me that people who do not (and many times have not) worked for a company try to create doubting Thomas attitude and the only reason I can think of for this is that this is a competing company representative or you were there and just did not fit in.
Don't think so. They're trying to change the name and take out
They're causing a huge rift in the organization by doing that.
I agree that we don't like change, but

it seems to me that not liking change and distrustfulness gets more people in trouble as being trusting.  I don't think to be trusting is to be naive.  Yes, MTSOs, even small ones, are in business, not friendship.  But if you are a good employee, and a good MT, you don't have to necessarily fear change, and an MTSO is not going to willingly let the good transcriptionists go.  It's the ones who insulate themselves or think that they're better MTs than what they are who get mad when change happens or whose accounts are cut off because they do crap work and then go and spread nasty rumors trying to make trouble.  I've been on both sides of the issue multiple times in 18 years, both remote MT and middle management, and I've worked for a company that sold out.  It wasn't the end of the world, though some of my coworkers tended to make it out to be.  You can be friends with your employer and yet still realize that they're not going to leave you their company when they die.  You don't have to cut yourself off of all emotions, you just have to be realistic and realize if you don't do good work, you're going to be out of a job, friend or not. 


color change

Does anyone know in word how to change the background color and get it to stick?  Everytime I change and exit out it goes back to white.


 


Thanks


The reason there is a change in pay

between IC and employee is because as an employee they pay part of your taxes.  I prefer to have company pay taxes rather than dealing with having to pay quarterly taxes.    There may be a line rate difference and your net will be lower, but you don't have to worry about socking money away to pay quarterly taxes.  I haven't run the numbers, but I don't think there is a difference in pay. 


 


 


cool change--sm
I sat back all day yesterday and watched the *backlash* you had wanted to start. It is unbelievable the twists and turns a post can take. Interesting! but entertaining, to say the least..thanks!
I hate change, too.... (sm)
w/regards to your ?'s

*I don't know
*I was hired as an employee a couple years ago
*The rad rate I know is 8 cpl, don't know about range
*I don't know about the work volume but there's more radiology than I can do...

And yeah, I hear you on change. It royally stinks. Good luck to you in your search.
I need to know as well, making a change soon
TIA
I don't think you need drugs, you need a change
I'm not saying they don't work but the environment sounds just awful. Good luck.
Change and MTing

This is no longer the once respected career where one is paid for their knowledge and many years of experience.  I urge everyone to pay very close attention to who they are voting for in the presidential race and what they stand for.  Back the candidate who says no more tax breaks for businesses that are sending our jobs overseas.  It not only applies to our jobs but those throughout the country.  How many times do you call a customer service line and get someone on the line you cannot even understand??? This is an outrage!!! While people here in the US struggle to find jobs or see their $$$ go down and still have to work under sweatshop conditions.  Bottom line, back the person who is going to help us the most at risk for losing our job to some offshore company.  Companies will say they will never do it.  Believe me, if its going to increase their bottom line they will do it.  Most of all do vote, every single vote can make a difference.


That could change tomorrow sm
If the MTSO you currently work for makes a business decision to off shore work are you supposed to quit? If the clients accept off shoring, then all the MTSOs will eventually do it. Only the clients have the ability to keep the MTSOs from off shoring.
Change in Pay Without Notice
Is it legal for a company to change the way they pay you without notice? I was being paid by production and I just got my last pay stub. They paid me $14.00, which shorts me by about $400. I am an editor. Can they do that without having you sign something? Does anyone know of anyplace that is hiring? I need to get out of here fast!
Change in Pay Without Notice
Yes, I did sign a contract and I have a copy of it.
Change in Pay Without Notice
Do you know how I would go about doing this? What specifically is the name of the employment department?
Somethings never change.
a