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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Got my answers, they posted an ad with specifics.

Posted By: justme on 2008-03-12
In Reply to: MD-IT info? Search function not working...sm - justme

nm


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Actually I posted looking for answers to my questions above, not looking to answer questions, but

to here goes...firstly, I don't know about the platform, only that it is Word based. Secondly, I have many years cardio, and thirdly, no the test was not hard. Still looking for any answers to my questions above. Thanks in advance.


specifics
I was interested in learning what experiences other transcriptionists may have had with this company, i.e. rate of pay, platform, problems anyone may have had. I've been with another company and I need to find something that I am not working so many different accounts that I can't make decent money.
What specifics do you want to know? sm

There is plenty for work right now.  Pay is direct deposit for IC and employee.  Line count pay varies according to account and type of work you type as well as time of day.  Can't remember the specifics.


I work as an IC, and for now I need whatever income I can get.  It suits my needs just fine. 


 


Specifics
Okay, I was hired twice by this company. The first time she wanted someone to start yesterday and offered me 9 cpl and spent time loading their program onto my computer, and then......nothing for several days. No files, no response to my emails, nothing. This went on for a week and I was offered a full-time position at the company I was with at the time. I took that and emailed the owner of VS,LLC and was told they made promises based off of my commitment and they had been waiting for me to contact them and let them know when I could get started. They were wondering why they had never heard from me. Well I am not an idiot I had emailed them and been very specific on the phone with them about wanting to start immediately. I had even emailed them with outlook and attached a read reciept and had been notified that they had read it. When I pointed this out to her, she suddenly had all my emails that she supposedly never got and kept emailing me begging me to work starting right then. When I explained that I had already started full-time with my current company I got a somewhat nasty email that I just thought was more frustration than anything. Well fast forward a year and a half.... I was used to my full-time now and looking to add part-time for savings and extra. I saw VS's ad and thought it might be worth a try again. Well the pay had gone down to 8 cpl. Not what I was looking for, but better than average anymore. Went through all the steps again. Emailed about setting up training again with read reciepts, everything this time was with read reciepts. Well again with the we need someone to get started right away so hurry up and wait. 4 days I waited and emailed and waited. Well, I had also applied for other positions and the 4th day I had been offered one of the other positions I had applied for. I email the owner of VS this and that if she cannot get me trained and started then I must move on as she had told me she would start me immediately. I had in fact cancelled a weekend out of town with my family because I was supposed to train immediately. I heard nothing for a day and a half and had received the read reciept, so I know she got it. Then I get an email saying they had not received any of my emails. I send back that I had read reciepts on everyone of my emails. All of a sudden she is sending replies to me from the emails that she supposedly had never received. Then she tells me how she had tried, and tried all day Saturday trying to call me and never answered and asking me if I knew how to even use the telephone! Seriously! I told her nice try as I had been at home all weekend waiting for her call and still had the calls on my caller ID from the whole week before and not one call from her, imagine that. Well I told her that obviously it was not meant for us to work together and that I could not work like this. I mean if this was the way it was before I got started imagine how it would be after I got started. I received several more extremely rude emails from her before I finally had to email her telling her to stop and that I was blocking her email. I mean how unprofessional! I was here and more than ready and willing and able to get started and even sacrificed a weekend with my family to get started/going right away.

Now having said all that, I know a lot of people have a lot of negative things to say about DSG and I had an absolutely wonderful, and I mean wonderful experience with DSG for 4 years. I only left due to health reasons and lack of ability to be dependable until I could get my health taken care of, which I did and am all better now and have been for a couple of years. So maybe if you get started with VS, LLC it is good. Maybe you will not have the experience I had. There are previous posts about VS,LLC not paying and I had decided in for myself to try anyway, so it is up to you. Just go in prepared for anything (as you should with any company) if you decide to go ahead. Good luck in your choice it sure is hard these days to sift through everything. I would not have taken the chance based off of old posts with VS,LLC if it had not always been a part-time thing for me. I mean if I was looking for a bread and butter company I could not afford to take the chance of not being paid. I hope this helps:)
Yes they do although each account has its own specifics.
*
Keystrokes specifics....SM
Per Keystrokes employee handbook:
FT = 15,000 lines/pay period
Adjusted FT = 10,000 lines/PP

Line rate will vary depending on experience and any shift differential.
Anyone got specifics on working with the
nm
I sent her an email asking for more specifics.

Did you think to ask about acct specifics?
What you think might look better and what the client requires are two different things.  Often when a client receives expansions that they specifically ask NOT to be done, they go back to the client and yell and in some instances ask for a credit.  The transcription company isn't going to take the chance if the specifics are that rigid.  As for the name of the facility - I'd think you could just ask?
MDI QA question- can QA see specifics about
the jobs that are on the WAV system of Bayscribe?  Because one of the QA on my accounts magically appears out of nowhere to help out when there are standard operative reports available.  I think it is very unfair and rude, but she wants 'em so she takes 'em.  If she is getting paid to QA I think she should keep her mitts off the transcription.  JMHO.  Maybe other QAs are doing the same thing and picking off lines that should be left available for us to fulfill our commitments.
Not knowing the specifics
I can think of a lot of reasons why, although I'm not involved in any way in this specific circumstance. If the client has become too difficult to work with- impossible turn-around times, dictators with too my individualized preferences, nit-picking (yes, they do it on the hospital end, too), and an unwillingness to pay the requested rate, I can see where it would be just as easy to not renew the contract. If the MTSO knows it has new account(s) coming on or that it has enough work for the staff it has, it could easily let a difficult account go. Much the same way some transcriptionists will take easier accounts that pay less but they can type more, I would assume MTSOs make the same choices.
All Type - anything good or bad? specifics
 
I think E-MTS does. Don't remember specifics. Check them out. nm
x
I'm looking for specifics. Well aware of job board.
thanks for nothing. why even take the time to reply like that????
Can you give me any specifics on this company?
Could you give me any specifics on this company?  I would like to know more.  Thanks.
Account specifics are different, but they changed
6 times last week, and I'm sure they'll change again.   No one seems to know what is going on.  

The transition is difficult for me too.   I was a diehard WP5.1 fan and  I DO NOT like Shorthand.  I'm still using my mouse way too much and trying to use my WP commands.  I've lost a couple of reports and done some other strange things because I've tried to use my WP commands/macros. 

I probably only got 40 minutes of dictation tops yesterday and I hope things start picking up soon. 
Are their account specifics complicated?
What about vacation time? Thanks for any info!
Don't worry. The account specifics, etc (sm)
are all just a hot key away from your platform.  You can pull it up at any time you are in the report.  It is broken down very simple (only a page) and gives you exactly what you need as far as formatting, do's, don'ts etc.  I was up and running within an hour after training.  You'll be okay, you really will
Nightmare account specifics
As someone else has already stated here, the account specifics generally come from the client, not the service you work for (though they certainly can interject their own hoops to jump through and other insanities via their QA guidelines). I once started a new client with a new service and was presented with account specifics that totaled well over 120 pages, and the account supervisors forwarded me 75 helpful e-mails in my first couple of hours there, all of which detailed additional specifics for that one account. That's just nuts. I feel your pain.
Confused about account specifics
I won't say the name of the company but I have worked for a certain company for several years with very specific account specifics. They are putting everyone on speech rec. but they have another set of account specifics for speech. In other words if you type regular transcription you must abide by the AS to a T but if you type speech rec. on this account you can just leave it as is. This makes no sense to me to have 2 different AS according to whether or not you type speech rec. That means they will get reports with no specific guidelines at all on their end. Is this true for all MTSOs nowadays or just the one I work at and again I will not state the name just because.
Kim, the recruiter, will happily e-mail you specifics
nm
Several posts recently on mtjobs.com for Rad. Don't know specifics. nm
.
Can you give specifics? Are the benefits at least any good? nm
nm
Give some specifics on how he's "loved by all" if you're going
to try to speak for everyone.
Can you please give specifics? Need facts to make
nm
Can you give specifics about why I-chart is a rip-off? Not flaming,
nm
They can't route you to where you need to be unless you know company and location specifics, sm
which obviously she does not know because she isn't an employee there yet. She stated she is just wanting an idea. How many insurance companies have you called? I used to do billing and I can tell you we had to have the insurance card and/or EOB in hand to know all the correct numbers to call based on the patient's specific policy details.
Posts below don't discuss platform specifics...nm

did you read them? 


Still hoping for some information on platform from someone who works there.  Thanks.


Need specifics, not just "be very careful." I recently
x
They do provide the PC, and account specifics vary. SM
I have emailed you just now.  Thanks!
When acct specifics state you MUST send it to QA

I'm darned if I do OR don't send it to QA.  My supe was on me last year about my high QA utilization.


So I started documenting EVERYTHING I send to QA - well guess what - 99% of it I'm REQUIRED to send per the account specifics, and 99% of it is errors on the client end - blank dictations, abandoned dictations, incomplete dictations, no demos where they refuse to identify the patient and it can't be matched, wrong patient, duplicate dictations out the wazoo!  Turns out I'm only sending 1 or 2 reports a week for blanks - always such bad ESL that QA can't even understand them and send the blanks on to the client.  So if I have 500+ reports a week and send only 5-10 reports due to MY error, how am I OVERUTILIZING QA?


I had one retarded doc yesterday - the report had already been dictated by another doc and typed - Doctard attempts to dictate this report 3 extra times - first time got cut off, second time 2:35 minutes got cut off again, third time 3:56 minutes finally got the whole thing dictated.  So Doctard's account specifics force me to send all 3 of his duplicates to QA - how the heck is that MY fault?


Supe says she WISHES we could change the account specifics so that we don't have to send so much to QA, especially things THEY can't do squat about - like doc errors on their end.  Well, honey, until they change the rules to not force us to send so much to QA, I'm continuing to document why I send what I send, and they can get OFF my case about the quantity of crud that passes through my hands!


A good recruiter asks all the specifics and can hope they are given
all the information. You are right too about good recruiters being MTs because they know what to really do and how an MT thinks.
this person needs to give some specifics, Or not be believed. Nuff said.
x
I have 4 accounts with VERY different specifics that I switch back and forth from all day long -
Gone are the days of primary and secondary. They just seem to lump everyone onto every account they have. I hear you about worrying about messing something up. Some of the account specifics are VERY different from one another. Sigh...
I know it's a production-based incentive and tiered but I cannot remember the specifics, get with
your recruiter and she can go over it in detail.  There is no shift differential or weekend differential of which I am aware, it is all based on production.
DSG - Nasty superviser, endless account specifics changes, no support - nm
/
I have 2 so-called primaries but type on 5 accounts every single day with all different specifics -
nm
The archives are full of specifics. Lots of details that should take care of your "need". NM
xx
Newbie friend found them to be very critical and constantly changed the account specifics on her.
s
The Rates Are Posted Here and Posted Below

The service owner fees are posted in a UnionNow post (below), but here they are again:


SERVICE OWNERS CHARGE:


$0.115 - $0.25 per line for full transcription of acute care on 24/7 accounts


$2.75 - $7.65 per report for full transcription of pathology, lab, specialty operative notes, plain film and interventional radiology



$0.097 - $0.125 per line for VR editing



OF THAT MONEY, MTs ARE RECEIVING



$0.85 - $1.25 per report full transcription



$0.06 - $0.115 per line full transcription



$0.035 - $0.06 per line for VR editing



AS OUR PRODUCTION BRINGS THE MONEY IN, WE DESERVE A LARGER CHUNK OF THE PROFITS - OFFICE STAFF CAN BE TRIMMED INSTEAD OF THE PRODUCTION STAFF.  IF A RECEPTIONIST MISSES A DAY OF WORK, ANYONE CAN ANSWER THE PHONE IN HER PLACE.  IF AN MT NEEDS A DAY OR SO OFF, PATIENT CARE CAN SUFFER BECAUSE AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OF A HEALTH CARE TEAM IS UNAVAILABLE.



WE ARE STILL EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN THE HEALTH CARE PICTURE.  DO NOT SELL YOURSELVES SHORT.



IF YOU ARE AGAINST UNIONS OR INITIATIVES, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY RESPECT YOUR OPINION, BUT BEG THAT YOU RESEARCH, SPEAK TO OTHERS, EDUCATE YOURSELVES ABOUT WORKERS UNITED.  WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE HERE; THEY'VE TAKEN ALMOST EVERYTHING FROM US. 



WE PROPOSE:


$1.25 PER REPORT TRANSCRIBED IN THE U.S.A. BY A U.S. MTs


$0.10 PER LINE TRANSCRIBED IN THE U.S.A. BY A U.S. MTs


$0.075 PER VR LINE EDITED IN THE U.S.A. BY U.S. MTs


Answers
They do overstaff with incompetent people, run out of work, then lose accounts to other companies. They didn't care if I starved, so I left. My accuracy rate was near perfect. Don't know what their problem is.
Well that answers everything!
..
answers
Software is free, yes they have a word expander. They do not, however, pay for spaces and it is based on a 65 character line. The manager I spoke with and the hiring person were very very nice, but the training lady was extremely rude, short, and acted like it was just killing her to even set up training. It was because of the training lady I didn't accept the PT job with them.

Their benefits were okay as well.
Answers
Yes. I have a fairly steady supply of work. I haven't run out of work in a long time. A few years anyway. Sometimes it's low but I haven't completely run out.

As far as flexibility. They are pretty flexible as long as you don't abuse it and let your team leaders know what is going on. If you have to leave in the middle of a shift you should let them know when you are leaving and when you will be back.

After all, they still have to cover STATs and when someone isn't working when they should be, they will have to scramble to find someone to do STATs when they come up.

Unfortunately, they are tightening the reins a little bit on the flexibility because some people abuse it. I haven't had any trouble though.


Some answers for you.
StenTel is a franchise organization. Someone buys a franchise from them and then run it pretty much as they choose. When I worked for StenTel out of Springfield , Massachusetts (who designed the StenTel system and then began the franchise), the pay was low and work sporadic. I don't know of all of their franchises offshore or not, but if they do, then you can bet the work will be only the very toughest reports and nasty dictators. The office I worked for only hired IC status, but like I said, each franchise is run differently.
Answers
No equipment rental fee - new Dell with flatscreen (nice equipment) and they provide foot pedal.  Need DSL or cable - they do not reimburse.  All internet based.  I do acute care, so don't know about radiology.  Line rate for acute care is not the highest, but there is a good incentive.  I believe the pay is biweekly but not sure (I am an employee of the hospital through Diskriter, so I get paid directly from the hospital and pay dates are different).   
Some answers -
Part-time with them, I believe, is anything less than 32 hours. I don't know how they handle IC, but would venture to say they would not require anything of you the Dept. of Labor would frown upon. There are 2 platforms, one is Merit (very easy to learn and user-friendly); the other, I believe, is ExText, but I don't know anything about it. I do not know of ANY account they have that uses VR.

HTH. Good luck.

answers
I am new to the company, working on neuro, Touchtype platform, and seem to be pretty slow due to entering demographics, switching from screen to screen to enter and find information such as doctor name, patient number, etc, etc, etc. I was wonder if Vscript was better and it sounds like it is. Maybe I should ask them about that.

Are you on the east coast? I am in OK. Kinda' rainy here today.
answers

My supervisor is in Louisville.  My account is in California.


I've never faxed anything to them so I don't know if they have a fax #.  I pasted my resume in an email and sent it to them.


Good luck.


Two answers
Deventure - you don't buy anything. No contribution to retirement. No bonuses that I am aware of.
Thank you for your answers. Do you sm
happen to know the name of the platform (the software program)that is web based or what your Expander is called? Thanks. I am making up a list of maybes.