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I agree. Nothing is worse than spending hours on these web-based tests

Posted By: another sm on 2006-02-13
In Reply to: IMO I would rather have a verbal test on the phone - Eva

and they do not give any information until after the tests only to find out that you would not have wasted your valuable time had you known what they paid to begin with. Terrible waste of time. Time is just too valuable to spend so much time on something you have been doing for more years than you can remember.


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It's based on lines but instead of taking it in hours,
dollars, not hour.  Say you want to take 4 hours PTO time.  You tell your boss you're going to use 4 hours PTO for time off and on your timesheet you put the amount of money you want, i.e., $75 or whatever.  Every check stub has how much you earned each period and how much total you have.  We have no holidays or sick days, it everything comes out of your PTO.  We earn separate amounts for straight and ASR.  For instance, last pay period I earned $54 and worked 37 hours, had 5 days off sick without PTO because, due to lack of work and having to use it every pay period, I had none built up.  Everybody's amount is different based on line rate and line count. 
Webmedx does but it is based on hours worked, not lines. nm
.
I agree, there are worse things in the world...sm
than going to Saudi Arabia and getting a nice salary, I can imagine.
Especially if one is free as a bird and has no other obligations.
I have to agree. I have been with MQ for a very long time and things just keep getting worse and
worse. I can imaging this new pay plan that is such a guarded secret will not be to our advantage that is for sure unless you are willing to work 24/7/365 which is what they expect now to make money. You are constantly jumping from account to account and ASR has picked the good dictators out so it is a constant string of mushmouths left that ASR cant understand, etc. etc.
Easy tests versus harder tests...
Having passed both and offered jobs at both, which company would you likely go for?  They both have the same basic benefits and line rates.  Would I be assuming that the harder testing will mean that the dictation is more difficult?  Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated!
agree,the pay is going to vary based on individual experience
nm
Full time/part time based on # hours or
# lines per pay period, nothing to do with quality. The lower the quality the higher the pay it seems.
Definitely not TransTech -- gets worse and worse with no work each and every day and who cares???

NOBODY, except the MT's who are making less and less money and losing whatever comfortable lifestyle they had previously had the pleasure to live.  Unless you have more than 1 member in the household to bring in the money, or you have received an inheritance from family member, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO MAKE A LIVING AT Transtech anymore.  They absolutely DON'T CARE either.  TransTech mgmt will not talk about it; only promises of new accounts coming on . . . ha !  Possibly an overflow account to replace the LOST account. 


I so wish mgmt's paychecks would be affected by this NO WORK situation that has been going on for more than a year now and they would get out of that Houston high-dollar office and FIND US MT's some WORK !


Why are you spending your life doing
Quit MT and find something that is fulfilling for you.
$100 per year? I was spending about $1000 sm
with my yearly membership to AAMT, a subscription to the journal, membership dues for my local chapter and fees for attending symposia for credits, the cost of driving/traveling to these things, etc. The math didn't work for me one single bit.
I just got 5 offers of work after spending (sm)
2 hours combing the archives of the company boards. I then visited the sites of the services that were spoken of the most highly and which seemed to best fit my needs. Most of the service sites had testing/inquiry pages set up; those that didn't, I wrote a brief email, noting how well the service's ICs spoke of it, enclosed my resume (in the letter, not as an attachment), and asked if they needed help. Most responded. The companies that advertise, on the other hand, get between 200 to 500 resumes; unless one is one of the first responders or in some other way manages to stand out, the chances of even receiving a response are slim. Check the ads on For the Record and Advance; Google for lists of MT companies. There is still lots of good work out there.
ATF broke me financially - I left after spending all my $$
anyway-----------and then all roads lead to STINKFEST anyway.
Seems you're spending more UNPAID time/work e-mailing..sm

and xeroxing as if you were sitting there with no work.


Pay for MT work is getting worse and worse!!!! NM
X
And the reports look worse and worse
Any VR program and system into which it is imported is fraught with problems. At my local hospital, they have editors editing the editors. The reports are still full of mistakes and bad formatting. At my local radiology group, they have 5 different programs ranging from a combination of EMR point and click to front end SR. The MTs spend their whole day patching together the various parts of the patient record to make one cohesive record. The IT department has ballooned from 2 to 7. They only got rid of 3 MTs but exchanged them for 5 ITs. A local doctor uses point and click EMR and spends the whole patient visit with his snoot glued to the computer. The patient sits there crying and he isn't paying attention. It takes him 20 minutes to complete the record and then charges the patient for the extra time inside the room because of his bad choices or the practice manager in record keeping. I know all this first hand. I wonder when they will realize the boondoggle they have bought into.
Sorry, I work 15 hours a day 5 days a week and 5 hours the other 2, when I come here I dont proof.
nm
Why would they give you a choice of 16 or 24 hours. Usually part time is anything under 37 hours.

That is extremely odd. Well they must have something up their sleeves. Well I will be working elsewhere part time as well as with MQ as I have no intention of sitting 40 hours with no work from Amherst and be expected to have 150 lph with no work. What is all this window of work time they said they would be giving everyone. I figured all along they would do away with SE. I have already been looking around and ordered a new computer  to send theirs back.


 


Any companies that allow line count rather than hours or less than 20 hours per week? (sm)

Wouldn't mind having something extra especially with Christmas and general winter expenses coming up but working a FT job and really don't want to do another 20 hours on top of that. 


 


the day has 24 hours, I work only 6-8 hours, so, lots of time to post...nm
nm
Must we choose either 8, 16 or 24 hours. Why would they want someone only working 8 hours a week.
That is less than SE are required now.
MDI-FL. Approximately 7 hours a month x12 months =84 hours
And your PTO acrues from day 1. You are just unable to utilize it until after 90 days. They have excellent benefits.
You can have insurance at 30 hours with Encompass, 32 hours with eTransPlus. nm

What about IQ tests?
start doing....!
Take other tests
There are lots of MTSOs that have online tests through MTtest.
sorry....not sure about any tests
Someone just mentioned something about a test. I just had to say that I was never offered a test. I DO NOT like tests either. I do great on employment, but get extremely nervous with tests...lol. Sorry if it made you nervous.
tests
Phoenix Medcom has new and improved voice files for testing.
tests
I just tooked the tests and not at all what is being described so the tests must have been updated recently.
Tests
I refuse to test for a company until I have received some background. Your're right some of those tests are quite extensive and I refuse to spend 2 or more hours on a test to find out they only want to pay 7 cpl and have lousy benefits. Funny thing is, when I want to inquire further before taking a test, I never get a response back from the company.
Need help with MT tests

I have almost two years MT experience and have transcribed and edited just about everything short of pathology and radiology.  I am currently doing ER.  I tested for a national today and did well on the grammar and terminology, but not well enough for the transcription.  No direction was given for the transcription test such as to type bedtime as opposed to h.s. and daily or q.day instead of q.d. or mL for cc.  I never know whether to do those things or not do them, it seems like whatever I choose to do is always wrong whenever I take an MT test anymore.  I could not even slow down any of the dictators for clarity.  I need to find a better paying MT job. 


What would you do for prohibited abbreviations? 


Also, would you expand or not expand for diagnoses and impressions? 


Would you type short physical examination sections in paragraph form with the headings or would you list them individually under the section heading?  I have had clients that wanted it both ways.


Maybe I have lost my edge by doing strictly ER.  Still, I would really appreciate the thoughts of other MTs about the above questions and any other pointers anyone would like to share. 


Thanks in advance.


TESTS
Hi Jan:
I am a newby fresh, new blood. A post graduate from community college. Use mL in place of cc.

Am also looking for transcription work myself; do you have any leads?
tests
Sorry to hear you failed their test. I also failed theirs and Medquists twice. I hate that they don't give you any feedback on why. No idea whether it was writter or transcription or what. Just thanks, you can reapply in so many months. I really think they should give some feedback, don't you?
I don't think anyone tests with MDI-MD
I could be mistaken, but I work for MDI-MD and there was no formal test required. Instead, they review your resume, see if they have a 'fit' for you, and then there is an extensive phone interview where they assess you skills and go over your experience with you.

I've seen several MTs post to this same experience, so I don't believe they have any formal testing at their site or elsewhere.


10-15 an hour for 8 hours is better than nothing for 8 hours when there is no work.
x
Easy tests
Nope, you can't go by that. In fact, you can't go by anything but your own experience. Make your wisest decision. Use your gut instincts. That's all any of us can do.

It might help others to answer if you named the companies, but I understand why you can't.

Good luck. :)
I though the tests were very fair sm
and although not simple, they weren't extremely hard and certainly much better than some I have taken. The actual verbal, I thought, was the easiest. By the way, definitions ARE a MAJOR part of transcription ability. Sounds like you are sore at the company for not getting the position.
TESTS UPDATED
All tests for Phoenix Medcom have been updated as of 7/26/2006
Long tests
I was thinking the exact same thing!  LOL! I once took an enormously long test that was in my specialty and I knew it was good.  Never got the courtesy of a reply.  Soured me on tests.
Long Tests
Yep! I think that some companies out there do use MTs to get work done for free. Absolutely agree with you.
Tests and Companies
I have taken a test for DR,Inc; Chronicle, and O-Script. Have offer from the last two. Would really just like to work part-time because of health reasons, so I went ahead with the test for DR. Now, if I passed the test for the last two, which weren't just a piece of cake but showed that you had knowledge , it would seem I would pass the DR,Inc. test, but you never know. I just would like to work when I feel really good which is about 4 hours after lunch every day, I have had 2 back surgeries and a neck surgery and it just takes awhile to get going and after sitting for awhile, I can hardly get up. Any suggestions on what I might could do to alleviate some of the pain? I take about 3 hot showers a day just to get the tension and stress out of my neck and back.
transcription tests

What is the grading criteria for these company tests?  Must the transcription be totally error free, 95% error free or what.  I've had some good results, but some where I thought I had every word correct gave no answer at all.


 


thanks.


 


Quig.


Most tests are done in Word
and emailed, so you'd have a copy of what you submit. You can always copy/paste your test from the online sites as well. I'm not really sure why you have such a big problem with her seeking feedback from a fellow MT either on her previous tests, or actually as I suggested in my original post, HER PREVIOUS WORK she's done to see where her weaknesses are so she can improve her skills.... ??
For the majority of tests, you HAVE to go by
BOS2. No way you can pass it if you are not following the rules.
About the book/tests - have you not ever sm
done any in-depth research into the field you are working in?  Had you done that, you would have probably ended up at the AHDI site at some point (creator of the BOS) or MTChat or here - references to BOS and tests come up daily.  How could you have been working and not know there was a BOS?
transcription tests
What a bunch of BS.  If you have years of experience the testing process is so ridiculous.  I think taking the test before you even know what they are going to pay is so unfair.  If they are paying ZILCH - which seems to be it today - why waste your valuable time transcribing anything.  I agree 21 notes - give me a break.  They probably just send them to QA and on to the client and get free work!
Oh let me tell you, they know how to pass the drug tests! (sm)
One woman I worked with was talking about how to use "Yellow Root" to "beat" the drug test! (that's what she said, "beat" the drug test) They know all of the tricks of the trade. One company stopped using the urine drug test and now they use the hair strand drug test, so I don't know what they use to "beat" that one (I guess they pull the strands out of somebody else's hair!) :-)
In my testing experience the tests that were the
hardest had the easier dictation and the testing that was the easiest had the hardest dictation and worst doctors.  I don't think that the testing really has much to do with what the dictation for the company will be like.
In depth, what exactly are you looking for in these psych tests?
Just "crazy" people or stressed out individuals, what? Aren't those who are truly crazy obvious to those not so crazy individuals? Why couldn't you, the MTSO, use your own judgement rather than pay for expensive psych evals?

Good judgement is part of being a good business person. I, as a MTSO, would look upon this as a failure if I could not use good judgement and hired "crazy" individuals. But then again, not everyone has good judgement I guess!

If the MTSO did hire anybody with working fingers, I don't think there would such a problem.

This is my 2 cents. I do not agree with such psych evaluations, but to each their own.

Good judgement is the key. If you don't have that as a MTSO, than you probably should not be in business, and if you are, you won't be for very long.


Psych Tests To The Company!

I haven't been on here in a few days, so I'm just catching up here, and reading about the psychiatric evaluations.   I have to put in my two cents.


Personally, after dealing with the crap from various medical transcription companies out there, I feel that it is the Transcriptionist who should be giving the owners/managers/team leaders of these companies psychiatric evaluations!  They are the ones that expect us to do all this extra ancillary work for free and then bow down and kiss their feet to thank them for giving us a job paying an average of 7 cpl with virtually NO benefits to speak of.  I'm sorry everyone, but if these companies are starting to give psychiatric evaluations to their prospective transcriptionist, then maybe we should create one for them!  After all.....they are the ones making us crazy! 


Update. All tests taken are for ortho. All who have taken and
passed have been offered a job and either have started or declined. There is no one who has taken the test prior to 3 days ago that has not heard back and had resolution. One person does the hiring for Keystrokes and this person has never told someone that they are too busy to respond or always on their phone or that they get 150 emails a day. Hiring is priority as we have added at least one account per week for the past four months and anticipate this year following the same pattern.

No, I do not work in the office either, but that is irrelevant. I went to the source and called HR and asked her. This was concerning to me as the account I am in charge in is expanding, and I need four more MTs to run it. She assured me that this is absolutely not true and everyone has been contacted.
I recently took two over the phone tests.
It is not that bad. In both cases the person giving the test made me feel quite at ease. I passed both tests and even took a position with one of the companies. It is easier, does not take forever to do, and the questions in both cases were things you see every day in transcription. I have heard of about four other companies who have started testing on the phone now. I remember years ago the old Edix as well as the now gulped Your Office Genie all did phone tests. There is a lot to be said for these tests. I took them then with those companies and also passed and got job offers.

usually, for the online tests, you can download...
the voice file into a file on your computer, then download into Express Scribe player (free online), so you can use your foot pedal instead of the keyboard.