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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I agree. Without facts, you're all just stirring the rumor mill. sm

Posted By: QT'r 2 on 2005-12-22
In Reply to: I agree. I have no qualms at all about QT. sm - QTme

If you really have concerns, ask someone. Point blank, ask L if there is any need for concern! I truly, truly do not believe QT would ever outsource their work! I have never been happier with QT and I intend to stay, so if you want to leave, go ahead; more work for me!!!


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Transtech rumor mill

Just sending this to help clear TT's name as I love working for them.  Big boss just sent out an e-mail clearing up this entire mess.  People need to think about the potential damage they do before jumping on this board with mass hysteria with very few facts.  They damage TT's reputation and possibly keep other great MTs in the midst of trying to make a balanced decision away from TT because of misinformation.  


TT does not outsource nor is anyone taking over the company.  Sounds like the new company who will be providing benefits/payroll/insurance sent out the wrong/incorrect material, and as soon as TT mangement realized what was going on, they immediately jumped on the situation.  We don't live in a perfect world.  People do make mistakes ... which is one of the reasons I love working for TT.  If I do make a mistake, they don't me like I am the biggest moron on Earth. They treat me with respect. They understand I am human.  When a situation arises like this, why can't we, as a group, treat them with respect until the facts are clarified and not jump to outrageous conclusions.   


But rumor mill has them bought by Spheris,
xx
Webmedx created rumor mill

I am aware of Webmedx acquiring new accounts.  And I will attend the meeting so I can hear how Webmedx cares about its employees because they make it what it is.  Any my quality is what I say, and I have never missed getting my linecount until recently when there is no work available to do to meet my linecount.  I have worked endless hours, overtime, stat calls on unscheduled time.  I have contacted my STM and discussed this on several occasions.


 


I am not posting unreal fears.  These are realities.  The rumor mill has been created by Webmedx and their lack of communication with their employees. 


Here's the facts that you're not sharing...sm

1.   There were many MLS involved in the testing phase for productivity on the SR accounts, and each MLS demonstrated a significant improved productivity.   I know because I was part of this testing group and on the conference calls with my coworkers who were also testing it.  Sure we all initially doubted this could be done but when we started using the program we saw that we could do it.


2.  The CEO admitted in a letter to everyone that he realizes that the high producers will more than likely not double their productivity and those people, as well as anyone who doesn't like editing, will not be forced to move to the editing format as there will always be some dictation that can't be edited, i.e. new accounts, new dictators, etc. 


3.   You're forgetting that when you're editing a report that you move faster through it because you're given a draft to edit.  This means less wear and tear on the hands/arms and you actually have the program do a hunk of work for you.  I've seen many drafts come through that needed very minimal editing - so basically I got paid to just read the report, make a few adjustments and send it on through.  This is especially great for the bad dictators that the system does a great job interpretering their mess and not making me have to fight so much to get through their mumble jumble crud. 


4.  You may decide to leave and try to avoid this technology, but it's moving through the industry whether or not you like it and it'll find you eventually where-ever you go.  I remember back when computers came out and everyone thought the sky was falling.... and we're all still working! 


I encourage you to not fight it until you try it - you may find that you love this technology after all! 


Well you're the one implying that these facts are nothing but speculation!
and that was the original problem you apparently had with the OSi postings on here. I'll take your changing the subject as an acknowledgement of the validity of these emails that every employee received, read and was disgusted by.
I totally agree with you, I only posted the facts....nm
nm
Stirring the pot.

stirring?
i was responding to her post, not you.  Sounds like your stirring by trying to criticise me.  Did I say anything rude to you?  NOPE
NO, but nice try at stirring the pot. ;-) nm
nm
Do you even work for MDI-MD, or are you just pot-stirring?
You give no indication reading your post and for some reasons your posts just reek of someone looking to keep the trash-talking up since the thread is falling further down on the board.

Take a deep breath and perhaps on something else for awhile. At the rate you're going, you're blood pressure must be sky high at the moment.


Just somebody stirring things up. Not true.

My honest belief is that the ones so happy are the ones stirring up the trouble.

You hit it right on the nose when you said they were trying to "call out" an employee.  That's why they want details made public and that's why they refuse to leave an email address or addresses if more than one.  If they really wanted the details they would be satisfied to get them in email. They're not stupid when they say everything is anonymous here so go ahead and post company policy.    They know what will be the result, and so do you and I. But I'm not stupid either, that's why I said I would back up my claims if they send me the email addresses, the same email they use for work. Because since they're so happy and positive that nothing is wrong, they should show their pride without being under the cloak of anonimity and also because that way I cannot be accused of spreading malicious information to people that don't work for the company or somehow trying to keep new people from applying.   I know I can't be threatened by discussing interoffice politics with other employees because like they said, the policy is on the website, so all employees already know it.  But if I were to publically post policy, that's grounds for dismissal. Kind of like the anonymous poster below who was "brave" enough to post her wages (grounds for dismissal), but not "brave" enough to post her name.  Does that mean that just because she didn't post "specific details" such as her name, her statement isn't believable either? How can it really be verified that she is actually making that much and not just trying to bait newbies?  For every single accusation that was leveled at me, the same can be leveled back in return.


Hey, they're always saying you get what you give. If they really wanted to know, they knew what to give to get it, which is why I don't believe they really want to know.  They just want to stir things up, try to make it appear that they're right and because I won't give specifics I'm wrong and it never happens, another reason to bring it all to the top of the page, because if it gets heated enough the whole conversation gets deleted. Gotta give Kudos to the one poster though who did give details even when giving contradictory statements saying it was such a great place to work on this board and then whining on the work forum about what little she made in lines and then trying to stir things up by going on the work forum and asking "what do those posts on MTStars mean?"   She knew all along what they meant and was stirring up the pot with her bait - and even the cheerleaders didn't respond to that one. I'm also not naive enough to dismiss the fact that if management really wanted to they could have the IP numbers of the posts, which is another reason I won't post details.  None of what I have said is untrue OR violated company policy. I would prefer to keep it that way by NOT giving details here. I said it before and I'll say it again, I didn't post in the first place to bash the company. I only posted because someone asked a question and I gave my experience. I was the one that got bashed simply because of that.  But I don't want to be portrayed a liar either or be bullied into something that could get me in trouble just for their satisfaction.


Transcend-The FACTS and only the FACTS

This comes straight from the SEC filing for year ending December 31, 2008, submitted March 11, 2009.  Yes, it is public information and anyone can look at it.  Keep in mind, all the narrative is from Transcend’s point of view and they are trying to keep and/or get people to buy their stock.  So you will have to read between the lines as far as if they will/can meet the needs/wishes of their MTs/Medical Language Specialists in the years to come, or if they will turn into another company too large to keep their employees happy. 


 


Regarding the MDI-MD acquisition: 


TRANSCEND SERVICES, INC. (NASDAQ: TRCR), the third largest provider of medical transcription services to the U.S. healthcare market, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Medical Dictation Services, Inc. (MDI) for $16.2 million.

Founded in 1981, and headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, MDI is a leading medical transcription company with approximately 450 employees providing service to approximately
30 customers located predominantly in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, MDI had unaudited revenue of approximately $13.7 million, and currently has an annualized revenue run rate of approximately $14.3 million.


 


Below are SMALL excerpts of the 64-page SEC filing.  I chose sections which I thought would shed some light on where Transcend currently is and where they plan to go, so not only the new MDI-MD transcriptionists  but also the current Transcend Transcriptionists could possibly stop stressing about what their future holds. 


 


HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP TO YOU. 


 


TRANSCEND SERVICES, INC.


 





































 


Delaware


 


(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)


 


One Glenlake Parkway, Suite 1325,


Atlanta, GA   30328


 


 


Annual report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008


 


 


Transcend Services, Inc. hereafter known as the Company


EMPLOYEES


As of December 31, 2008 the Company had 749 full-time and 423 part-time employees. These included 587 full-time and 418 part-time medical language specialists, virtually all of whom work from home. One hundred and twenty three full-time and three part-time employees work in operations to support and manage customers and medical language specialists. Thirty-nine full time employees and two part time employees work in sales, research and development, implementations, and general administrative functions. Neither the Company nor its employees are currently a party to any collective bargaining agreement. The Company has not experienced any strikes or work stoppages, and believes that relations with employees are good.


As of December, 2008, approximately 65% of the Company’s total volume was processed on the BeyondTXT platform and 35% was processed on other platforms.


 


Management plans to gradually increase the percentage of voice files processed through BeyondTXT speech recognition from 24% of total volume in the fourth quarter of 2007 and 35% in the fourth quarter of 2008 to approximately 40% by the end of 2009.


 


Speech recognition technology will allow us to produce the same volume of work with fewer medical language specialists due to the productivity improvements the Company is able to achieve, and may open the market to a new pool of professionals.


 


In mid-2006, a portion of work began to be processed offshore through partners in India. Volume processed offshore has gradually increased since then.


 


By the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company had increased the percentage of work processed in India to approximately 19% of total volume. Management plans to increase this percentage gradually over the next several years and believes that in the long-term (5-10 years), market demands could drive the mix closer to 50% domestic and 50% offshore, but in the intermediate term (2-5 years), the mix is expected to gradually grow to about 30% offshore and 70% domestic. At some point in the future, the Company may decide to establish a transcription operation offshore, but currently is relying on partnerships as the preferred solution.


 


The Company’s income before income taxes has improved in 2006, 2007 and 2008 due in large part to improved customer retention combined with new sales, increased use of speech recognition technology and increased use of offshore transcription partners.


 


 






BUSINESS


The Company provides medical transcription services to the healthcare industry. The Company’s mission is to provide accurate documentation of the patient / medical provider encounter on-time at a fair price. Transcend’s customers include hospitals, hospital systems, multi-specialty clinics and physician group practices in the United States. Transcription services consist of three primary phases:


 









 



 


Phase I: Dictation Capture. In this phase, a physician dictates the results of a patient encounter or procedure into a number of different voice capture systems, including hand-held devices, dictation capture systems at customer sites and telephone dictation capture systems located in Transcend’s data center in Atlanta, Georgia. The result is an electronic voice file that is ready for processing.


 









 



 


Phase II: Voice to Text. Using a workflow system, voice files are either routed directly to medical language specialists (MLS) to be transcribed (typed) or are routed through speech recognition and natural language processing systems which produce a draft which is routed to the MLS for editing. In certain cases, documents are routed through Quality Assurance teams as well. The result is a text-based report that is ready to be returned to the customer.


 









 



 


Phase III: Distribution. Completed reports are distributed to the customer electronically and are either interfaced to the customer’s electronic medical record and/or hospital information systems, printed at the customer’s site or faxed to the customer.


The Company provides two primary medical transcription options for customers: (1) the provision of transcription services and technology using the Company’s proprietary BeyondTXT workflow platform or (2) the provision of transcription services using the customer’s proprietary or licensed third party transcription system. If the customer does not have its own transcription technology or no longer has the desire or resources to maintain and upgrade the technology they do have in place, the BeyondTXT platform provides a turnkey solution. If the customer has invested in their own transcription technology and wishes to keep their system in place, the Company’s transcriptionists access the system and perform all transcription services using the customer’s system. Management believes that our ability to serve a customer regardless of their use or non-use of our platform is an important factor in our success. As of December, 2008, approximately 65% of the Company’s total volume was processed on the BeyondTXT platform and 35% was processed on other platforms.


 


INDUSTRY OVERVIEW


Medical transcription is either performed in-house by hospital or clinic personnel or outsourced to local, regional, national or offshore vendors. Hospitals and clinics may choose to outsource for many reasons: (1) the shortage of qualified medical transcriptionists; (2) the unique and burdensome management challenges of managing a 24/7 operation that must deliver critical patient care information quickly; and (3) the high cost of equipping in-house personnel with the hardware, software and support necessary for their jobs. Successful transcription companies make use of technological advances in Internet access, speech recognition, security, software and hardware that allow remotely located, highly trained personnel to function as well as (or better than) in-house employees. Management believes that the principal historical competitive factors of price, accuracy and turnaround time are expanding to include other factors such as speech recognition capability, electronic security, hardware redundancy (to protect against data loss) and data integration. In addition, management believes that the ability to recruit, train and, most importantly, manage personnel nationally and internationally will lead to further outsourcing, and that only those companies prepared to compete using resources outside the customer’s local market will prosper.


The market for medical transcription services is sizable. The total annual market potential for medical transcription is estimated to be $12 billion, of which an estimated $5 billion is outsourced. These figures include not only hospitals, but also physicians’ offices and clinics. The Company focuses primarily on the hospital market. There are approximately 4,900 community-based hospitals in the U.S. (hospitals accessible by the general public) with approximately 800,000 beds that comprise the Company’s primary target market. If the average annual market value of transcription services per hospital is $400,000 (our estimate), the Company’s primary target market is approximately $2.0 billion. The market is highly competitive and fragmented, with several thousand transcription services companies nationally. Management believes only a dozen or so competitors have revenue in excess of $15 million.


Demand for medical transcription services is growing as the demand for healthcare services increases. Macro-economic trends such as the aging of the baby boomer generation are projected to have a major impact on the demand for healthcare services in general and should lead to a corresponding increase in the demand for medical transcription services.


HISTORY OF THE COMPANY


We were incorporated in California in 1976 as TriCare, Inc. (“TriCare”) and reorganized as a Delaware corporation in 1988. TriCare completed an initial public offering of its shares in 1990. In 1995, the Company acquired Transcend Services, Inc., then a Georgia corporation, by the merger of Transcend Services, Inc. into TriCare and changed the name to Transcend Services, Inc. The historical financial statements of the former Transcend Services, Inc. became the financial statements of the Company and include the businesses of both companies as of the effective date of the merger. Between 1993 and 1995, the Company acquired five medical transcription companies.


As a result of these transactions, the Company now operates in one reportable business segment as a provider of medical transcription services to the healthcare industry.


In 2004, the Company introduced the BeyondTXT transcription workflow platform.


On January 31, 2005, the Company acquired Medical Dictation, Inc., (MDI), a Florida-based medical transcription services company. During 2005, the Company’s field operations were reorganized to form customer-centric teams that are responsible for all aspects of production, quality and customer care. Effective December 30, 2005, certain assets of the transcription business unit of PracticeXpert were purchased.


By early 2006, the Company began processing significant volume through the Company’s speech recognition solution and, throughout 2006, 2007 and 2008, have steadily increased the percentage of work which is electronically converted and then edited versus transcribed (typed) from recorded speech. In mid-2006, a portion of work began to be processed offshore through partners in India. Volume processed offshore has gradually increased since then.


On January 16, 2007, the Company purchased certain assets of OTP Technologies, Inc. (OTP), a Chicago area medical transcription company, for a purchase price of $1,110,000.


On January 1, 2009, the Company purchased certain assets of DeVenture Global Health Partners (“DeVenture”), a Canton, Ohio based medical transcription company, for a base purchase price of $4,250,000 plus potential consideration based on results for the first six months of 2009. The Company does not currently expect to pay any additional potential consideration.


BUSINESS STRATEGY


Transcend’s sole focus is providing medical transcription services to the healthcare industry. The Company’s strategy is to succeed in the marketplace by successfully executing six key strategies.


 




























 


1.


Provide unparalleled service to customers


 


2.


Increase market penetration


 


3.


Sustain technological leadership


 


4.


Attract and retain talented professionals in the U.S.


 


5.


Increase utilization of offshore resources


 


6.


Successfully complete and integrate acquisitions.


 


Provide Unparalleled Service to Customers


The key to the Company’s success will always lie first and foremost in providing excellent service to customers. The Company retained 98% of customers in 2007 and 2008, which is believed to be superior to most of our competitors. Management believes that customers who are consistently receiving high quality documents on time at a fair price are likely to remain our customers year after year. Satisfied customers provide sales leads and referrals that help us drive new business. Accordingly, the Company has an ongoing program to monitor and improve customer satisfaction which includes continuous monitoring of transcription production statistics relative to contracted standards, periodic customer surveys and a dedicated regional operations support organization that maintains regular (often daily) contact with customers. Management believes that regional operations managers provide a competitive advantage in sustaining customer satisfaction. As our regional operations managers typically come from a Transcriptionist background, they possess the expertise to continuously improve quality. In addition, they provide customers a central contact person in the organization who is directly responsible for resource scheduling and quality control and can quickly resolve any issues that arise. The Company practices continuous quality improvement with the goal of improving the level of service over time.


Increase Market Penetration


The transcription industry is large and highly fragmented. In addition, it is currently estimated that 60% of transcription volume is still performed in-house. As a result, management believes that the Company is well-positioned to increase market share both by winning contracts with hospitals who are now actively considering an outsourced solution and by taking business from competitors. Management believes that the level of service provided by many of the Company’s competitors can be very inconsistent. As a result, the Company is often asked to submit proposals on new accounts where Transcend will replace a competitor. In addition, the Company believes that smaller competitors are increasingly unable to keep up with advances in technology and lack the capacity to give customers assurance that they can consistently meet turnaround time requirements. As a result, the Company frequently wins new customer accounts from customers who have outgrown the capabilities of their smaller providers. The Company’s tested and proven infrastructure enables it to serve substantially more customers without a significant increase in fixed costs. While continuing to focus on day-to-day customer satisfaction, the Company intends to add new accounts to the existing customer base to efficiently utilize the capacity of the infrastructure and established customer-oriented support organization.


The Company intends to grow by focusing the sales team on potential new accounts and utilizing the operations management team to increase services to the existing customer base. The Company’s target market is focused on community hospitals with over 100 beds. Based on experience, this target market can realize the most benefit from services while still allowing the Company to provide superior customer service at a reasonable profit. The Company targets new business from hospitals where there is not a current relationship as well as affiliated hospitals of existing customers. A telemarketing partner is utilized to help identify hospitals within the Company’s target market that are interested in transcription services. New business leads are also generated from regional operating managers, who receive referrals from the administrators they work with daily. Management anticipates continuing to add sales resources to help deliver revenue growth.


Many hospitals are members of group purchasing organizations (“GPOs”), which provide value to their members by pre-screening the best vendors for a particular product or service and pre-negotiating terms and conditions with the vendors. The Company signed an agreement in 2008 with one 1,400 member GPO and will attempt to secure additional GPO contracts in the future in order to increase market penetration and accelerate growth.


The Company also expects to continue to win new business by working with technology partners. Technology providers, such as Nuance and 3M, license their proprietary transcription platforms to hospitals across the country and refer the transcription work to preferred service providers like us. Management believes Transcend’s size and superior customer service make the Company a preferred provider to these partners.


Speech recognition technology represents a sea of change in the transcription industry. The Company has invested heavily in fully integrating speech recognition technology into the BeyondTXT platform. The Company licenses the speech recognition engine, natural language processor and various editing tools from MultiModal Technologies, a leader in the industry, under a September 2006 agreement that renews annually at Transcend’s sole option through September 2010, with the last such option period ending August 31, 2011, and thereafter if mutually agreed by both parties. The Company’s speech recognition solution requires no physician training or change in physician work habits. Voice files are collected in the same manner regardless of whether the job will be transcribed (typed) or edited using speech recognition technology. Once a physician’s voice profile is built that meets predicted quality criteria, future work from that physician is edited. When a medical language specialist is presented with a draft document, they listen to the voice file and edit the document as necessary. Their edits are fed back into the voice profile, which learns over time in order to continuously improve the quality of draft reports.


The use of speech recognition technology in BeyondTXT results in a more efficient transcription process and leads to lower direct costs and higher gross margins while allowing the Company to offer competitive pricing. The Company’s medical language specialists earn less per line of text for editing, but their increased productivity generally allows their total compensation to remain unchanged or to increase. After the cost paid to MultiModal Technologies, the Company is still able to reduce the average cost per line of text. This is a key defensive strategy against pricing pressure in the industry.


Management plans to gradually increase the percentage of voice files processed through BeyondTXT speech recognition from 24% of total volume in the fourth quarter of 2007 and 35% in the fourth quarter of 2008 to approximately 40% by the end of 2009. Longer-term, the percentage of transcription volume that is edited using speech recognition technology is dependent on such factors as the mix of transcription volume that is processed on the Company’s platform versus customer platforms, the percentage of dictators for whom high quality voice profiles can be built, and the ability to hire, train, and retain editors.


Attract and Retain Professional Staff


One of the Company’s critical success factors is the recruitment and retention of the industry’s best knowledge workers, including medical language specialists, application developers and service professionals. The goal is to be the best company to work for in the industry. Management believes that there will be a shortage of qualified traditional medical language specialists in the future. There are two domestic solutions to this problem. First, workers will be attracted and retained by offering competitive pay and benefits, stable and responsive management, a predictable abundance of work, a stable and efficient platform, career development opportunities and the opportunity to work from home. Second, speech recognition technology will allow us to produce the same volume of work with fewer medical language specialists due to the productivity improvements the Company is able to achieve, and may open the market to a new pool of professionals.


Increase Utilization of Offshore Resources


The Company operates in a global economy in which medical transcription services can be performed efficiently and cost-effectively by offshore medical transcription service organizations. Customers have differing views of offshore production. Some believe it allows them to realize improved turnaround times and sometimes obtain a lower price without sacrificing quality or security of data. Others remain committed to domestic-only medical transcription. From management’s perspective, offshore production allows the Company to improve turnaround time by providing consistent staff at night and on weekends; alleviates the need to hire as many domestic medical language specialists in a tight labor market as would otherwise be needed; and reduces cost. Management plans to meet customers’ needs by providing services using a combination of domestic and offshore labor. In July 2006, the Company began subcontracting a portion of work to offshore medical transcription firms. By the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company had increased the percentage of work processed in India to approximately 19% of total volume. Management plans to increase this percentage gradually over the next several years and believes that in the long-term (5-10 years), market demands could drive the mix closer to 50% domestic and 50% offshore, but in the intermediate term (2-5 years), the mix is expected to gradually grow to about 30% offshore and 70% domestic. The growth in offshore volume is not expected to displace the domestic workforce, which the Company expects to grow over time. At some point in the future, the Company may decide to establish a transcription operation offshore, but currently is relying on partnerships as the preferred solution.


Successfully Complete and Integrate Acquisitions


The Company intends to increase market share through acquisitions and believes that the Company is the third largest of the more than several thousand medical transcription providers in the United States. Technological developments such as voice recognition technology and the need to provide customers with an off-shore solution are making it increasingly difficult for smaller medical transcription businesses to compete effectively. As a result, management believes that the Company will be able to make acquisitions on an opportunistic basis that will enable it to grow the business. When the Company acquires these businesses, it is often able to add the acquired companies’ customers to the BeyondTXT platform and to eliminate a substantial portion of their overhead. It is expected that acquisitions will be financed through a combination of cash on hand, debt, and shares of the Company’s common or preferred stock.


 


For customers who already have their own transcription workflow system, the Company provides outsourced transcription and/or editing services on the customer’s platform. For example, the Company has a partnership with Nuance to use their eScription platform, which is a popular hosted ASP solution that can be licensed by healthcare organizations. Customers contract directly with Nuance for the system implementation and contract with us for transcription services. eScription is speech recognition-enabled, allowing the Company to provide editing services to those clients in addition to traditional typing services. The primary advantage to this business model is simplicity—there is no proprietary workflow system to develop and maintain. There is, however, less opportunity for the Company to leverage technology to improve profitability. Some customers have legacy systems they have developed themselves. Over time, the Company expects to migrate customers with outdated legacy platforms off of their own systems and onto BeyondTXT. The Company provides services on numerous platforms: other notable examples include ChartScript (a 3M platform), Dictaphone (a Nuance platform) and Meditech.


CUSTOMERS


As of December 31, 2008, the Company delivers dictation and transcription services to approximately 154 hospitals and clinics with recurring revenue generally under long-term contracts or other arrangements. The average level of annual revenue generated by each customer was approximately $316,000 in 2008. The top 10 customers accounted for approximately 27% of 2008 transcription revenue, averaging $1.3 million of revenue each.


Revenue attributable to one contract with Providence Health System—Washington for four hospitals totaled $3,728,000 $3,269,000 and $3,017,000 or 8 %, 8% and 9% of total revenue for 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively. As of December 31, 2008, the Company had separate agreements with approximately 44 customers who are owned by Health Management Associates, Inc., a single healthcare enterprise. Revenue attributable to members of Health Management Associates, Inc. comprised $10,267,000, $9,611,000 and $8,473,000 or 21%, 23% and 26% of the Company’s total revenue for 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively.


On January 1, 2009, the Company purchased certain assets of DeVenture Global Partners, Inc. and acquired approximately 30 customers with this transaction.


COMPETITION


The Company experiences competition from many local, regional and national businesses. The medical trans


I agree with what you're saying.
A good workflow manager has to have the patience of Job. If you can keep from taking misdirected anger and frustration of others personally, and be able to work under a lot of stress without it ruffling a feather you might survive.

If you can't, everyone around you will suffer, along with your health and sanity. You're responsible for solving everyone's problems, even if they are unsolvable, and you've got to be able to sell the clients a bill of goods that can't possibly be achieved. It's true, it's the nature of the beast.

Couldn't pay me enough to be a workflow or production manager.
Yes I agree, we're not MDs!
The Medware test was absolutely RIDICULOUS... 
I agree, and once you're with them

Then you'll have less options available as well.  If they're going to jerk you around and you haven't even officially started with them, can you imagine how they'll be when you're working with them?  Eek!


I agree...let it go!!! You're only hurting yourself
Forgive it, go on with your life and don't look back.  Believe me, you can harden yourself to that hurt and still have a great life. DON'T LOOK BACK!  Say God bless 'em and go on.  You are the one holding yourself back.
We're definitely in the minority, but I agree. My
s
Rumor has it...
Baltimore. Or Colorado. Just rumors, tho. Praying not AMHERST....ugh.
Not just a rumor

It is an absolute fact that they are outsourcing.  There was no DD deposit issue just a money issue, another fact.  Everyone can take from this what they want, believe or don't, but just remember that when you all are sitting without a paycheck or work, you were warned. 


Who's out? What's the rumor?
nm
Rumor - - yes

I am the supervisor of the Transcription Department, and I have only heard rumors!  LOL!  The administration likes to stick their noses in and make decisions regarding things they no nothing about, and they always mess things up - - TERRIBLY! 


They now have our psychotherapists typing their own narrative notes into Ecet, and today they started typing their own treatment plan updates in a program that was just purchased (I knew nothing about it).  We now outsource our initial diagnostic assessments to Transcription Connection, Inc.  We are still transcribing the doctors narratives and psychiatric assessments.  However, I think they will find a way to get these done elsewhere as well.  One of the docs told me that in a staffing meeting they were told to make sure they proofed their work well because they were looking to start sending everything to a service, and get rid of in-house. 


They do not want to say anything definite to me yet, as they still need the 4 transcriptionists they have (including myself).  When they no longer need us, we will be hitting the door I am afraid.  I am preparing though.  I have been job searching, and I have taken all of my PTO due to surgery, etc.  They are not going to take me for anything if I can help it. 


I came across by mistake an e-mail path my supervisor sent to TCI, stating that if she was happy with their work they would be getting all of it.  I was livid and confronted my supervisor.  She lied of course and said that she had to tell the service this to get the line count pricing down.  I told her that either way this was very, very unethical, that one of us, either myself or the service, were being lied to. 


I am bidding my time.  I am not walking out.  I am going to ride it out to the end.  I want to be able to get unemployment, etc.  As I said, I have been with this company for going on 15 years.  I have been very dedicated to this company all of these years and they are  just going to crap on me.  Nothing new in this day and age.  Corporate America is out for themselves and no one else.  It is all money.


This is probably a rumor about OSI
I am an ex-employee of OSi and did not care for some things there but I believe this is a rumor. This does not sound like something MB would do.
is this a rumor?
nm
It's not rumor...

There are plenty of posters who say they have friends that work at certain companies and offer feedback.


If it takes 3 weeks to get up to par, that's quite a long time. 


What I stated above is not false.  No one needs to lie about a company.  I got an e-mail saying stay away from transportal they are horrible people to work for and load you up after they've sifted through the files all day. 


Maybe there are different accounts and different sups or whatever, I'm just passing on what I was told from an MT friend I trust.


The girl told me they've done nothing but hassle her and she only made a little bit of money. 


The moderators say to take everything with a grain of salt.  Apply away, and then come back and tell us what you think.   


Rumor is they are up for sale

but I have not heard anything more about that.


you said it exactly, rumor. that surrounds KS.
s
Do not start rumor. (SM)
If you have information, send it to the Administrator or myself and let us verify.

Otherwise, state it is YOUR opinion only.

Goldbird

Rumor? you mean no one has told you yet?
x
This is rumor. Nothing has been decided yet. sm
We are still getting final numbers from 2 different insurance companies. In the past, we have not qualified for a large group policy at a decent rate because of lack of participation. All of the big insurance companies want 50% of the employees to take the insurance and we did not have that in the past. It does look good this time though. We are hoping that the rates come back low but nothing is definite at this point.
Whoever spread that rumor
I've been paranoid ever since the pay cut rumors post - thanks, rumormonger for spreading needless misery!
That's a pretty wild rumor to be
circulating. 
Do you know the definition of RUMOR? Sheesh!
You must be a riot at the laundromat! Yackety Yack!
Not rumor. I know of 3 accounts the last 3 months. sm
I was on two of them and called the hospitals to ask. The last one might be the last straw for me.
It is not rumor - they are! Some accounts want NO OFFSHORING!
It has become apparent that QT is offshoring; hence, very poor quality and the account has noticed!

Good luck in whatever you do!
No truth to the buyout rumor. It took them 3 wks to get
s
It's no rumor there is not enough work. That is a fact.

The rumor I heard was that a person with cancer
worked at MQ and got fired for not meeting line counts due to chemo. Do you think the company would verify?
Stop spreading unsubstantiated rumor.
Either show the document or stop this. I'm going to ask the moderator to look at your post. If you've information to show, put the link up so we can all verify it. Otherwise, stop speculating and causing problems.

You could not be more wrong. Besides, rumor is she sold the company today. nm
Not sure who it was to, but I heard she is somewhere signing papers.  Hope not MQ.  Shame that a good company is giving in to the $$$.
I highly doubt that. This is obviously a rumor. She is much too busy to bother. nm
nm
Losing 1 large hospital today. Not rumor, fact.
It is on the Eastern Seaboard and low ESL.
May not be confidential information but gossip/rumor at this point and no employer likes that.
nn
I hope it's a rumor..I left MQ for KS 3 years ago..I finally found a place I love (sm)
so I hope the rumor is not true!
Facts

Once again, you do NOT have your facts straight.  I never said the doctors were not providing wonderful healthcare to their patients, just not wonderful dictation to MTs.  I'm a damn good MT and I do more than my share of ESLs, but if any MT gets those dictators for 8 hours a day, 98% of the reports, we all know their line count is going to suffer, just of sheer frustration.  Of course, you get any ESLs with any company, but there are better accounts, and any good MT knows they can get better line counts with better dictators.  My point, once again, is if any MT has the skills and experience to get a job where you have better accounts w/better dictators (notice I said dictators this time, not doctors since you seem to be so picky about my wording), then why should anyone have to put up with terrible dictation all the time when you can make a better line rate and get more lines with a different company.  And just so you know, these dictators can't even fill in their own blanks.  I personally played back one particular ESL dictator's report to him and asked him what the blank was.  His reponse was, "I don't have a clue.  Just do the best you can with it."  So, how can they expect us to be able to figure it out without compromising quality? I sent the report with a blank and let him fill it in with whatever he felt should go there.  My attitude is the attitude of any MT out there who is trying to make a decent check, especially if they're single and trying to support a family.  My atttitude is what landed me the job I have now where I make 2 cents more per line than TransHealth, get better benefits, have plenty of opportunity for advancement if I so choose, and have much more flexibility than the job I had with TransHealth.  If you like transcribe ESLs so much, why don't you just move your ESL-loving butt to India?  You will have no problem getting plenty of ESLs there.



Facts
FACT: There was ONE pay cut, not two, and it was temporary.

FACT: Karen was not let go, she quit. I know that there was a lot of confusion when she left and she still has a lot of files (or did last I heard).

FACT: Although the situation was not discussed with all of us, I asked Lee (when she answered the phone one day) about a discussion I had previously had with Karen and she was not insulting about Karen. She said that the "fit was not right" and that she was sorry that things did not work out as Karen is a wonderful person. I think that all was good when she was a transcriber for the company and that things changed after she did hiring.

FACT: There are over 100 of us (I do not know an exact number) so obviously there is a lot of good at Keystrokes. Their customers are happy or they would not be around for so long.

FACT: You cannot please all the people all the time.

no facts
No, they don't outsource to anyone else.
FACTS?

It seems that we live in an age where each person feels that his/her opinions represent true facts.  There are facts and there are opinions.  Most value judgements (such as whether a company is good or bad) are just opinion.  Why can't MTs figure it out that what is good for one may be awful for another?  Seems simple to me.  Now, don't get me wrong.  When a company has some really terrible attributes, such as not paying or paying with bad checks in a setting of doing it over and over and not just making an honest mistake, we are then talking about facts when we call this a bad company.  It is no longer just an opinion.


You don't have the facts
Interesting.  I got the facts from the recruiter.  So, maybe you don't know what's going on there.
Your facts just don't add up!
Actually, I just returned from a nice long walk on the beach, thank you! The Pacific Ocean is my backyard, and I spend a lot of time walking, biking, skating, swimming, and playing Volleyball at the beach!

By the way, we do have a short pier that you can take a long walk off when you are done wasting time testing and interviewing with other companies for whom you have no intention of working.

How can you possibly know whether a company is better or worse than Medquist until you actually work for them? You make absolutely no sense whatsoever, which makes you the perfect MedQuist employee!
Get your facts straight.
Do you know how many times I went to my company and sent letters, and emails? I mean I went all the way to the TOP.. you know how many responses i got...or offers to call and discuss with the supervisors.. ZIP--NADA...and by the way, these companies should value their MTs... who do you think is doing the bulk of the work... QA and MTs while the others travel around, buy new cars, boast how they have a 6-million dollar business. YES MA'AM. An owner told he has a 6-million dollar business. Hows does that grab ya?