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I guess my major dissatisfaction working as an MT for the 15 years -

Posted By: MTIAM on 2009-05-16
In Reply to: Regarding Pay Scales - Fingers

is that there no other profession I know where everyone usually starts at the same pay, regardless of experience.  It is also the only profession I can think of that does not feel compelled to give raises. 


There is just so much of MY time spent reading and responding to emails to comply with changes and specifics, switching to backup account, actually doing text on VR reports to make them accurate and not getting paid for it at text CPL, no work, downtimes, etc, etc, etc.  that I don't even get paid for.  Afraid to keep track of my time working and trying to manage my work and figure how much I make an hour that if I did, I would probably jump off the nearest bridge.  (No responses on that - I have other skills and will get out of MT and head to another type of job before I resort to this). 


I started my last job at the same rate as those joining the company with 2 years' experence.  Haven't had a raise in 5 years. 


I don't want to hear back that we are fortunate to work at home.  I know any poster that comes back with this works in management, so spare us all your thoughts on that.  The MTSOs don't have offices big enough to house their MT staff.  They don't pay for our computers and generally not our internet, do not pay for our utility bills, virus protection and would have some hefty bills if we were all working in their office and they had to pay these bills - SO they do come out rather well -they just don't know how to share profits.  Our cost of living goes up - no raises to reflect that at all.  I am back to thinking greed is driving the MTSO businesses - but have known that probably for a lot of years.  3 CPL for VR some places and lucky to get 8 cpl for text - give me a break.  Ready to throw in the towel. 


And MTSO managers, supervisors, team leads, if you are reading this, please do not send me another IM with your picture sitting on a beach.  That constitutes you had made enough money to take a vacation - I don't and I actually do the work, am a skilled professional with lots of knowledge, and this implies you got to take a vacation - you guessed it - ain't been able to afford one of those for a few years now.  Put a picture of you at a keyboard or pulling your hair out over a bad dictator;-) which is what MTs go through on a daily, if not hourly, basis. 


 


 




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After 18+ years I'm suffering MAJOR

burnout and my production has suffered, but I still am able to support myself and my family (My DH works so I don't have to, though I have been sole support in the past).  I am not a job hopper.  I was with one company 13 years and only left because they lost the account I worked on and I didn't want to do clinic work.  I've been with my current company almost 7 years, so things were different then.  I do make more than most MTs, though I haven't had a raise in 5 years and a few benefits have been taken away.    This past Sunday Parade magazine did a series on what people make and I make almost twice what a medical secretary was making (and I don't work 24/7 either).   


I won't say my company's name because they aren't hiring and haven't hired in about 2 years, simply because there isn't any turnover. 


 


after each major upheaval through the last few years...
their numbers of MT have dwindled.  For people just starting out its probably okay because you do not have anything else to compare it to. Like what used to be there is no longer. You can't judge until you walked in someone else's shoes. 
Ditto.. Over 13 years experience working in hospitals doing all types of reports, currently working
for a national etc.. and Spheris told me I didnt have the qualifications. What cracked me up was the hospital I was working at at the time contracted some of our work out to them.. What a joke..I was good enough to work for a hospital and gave them work, yet not qualified enough for them. What is wrong with this picture.
I guess if working within
a 12-hour window to you means not working outside your shift, then I I'm not working outside of my shift either.

My definition of working outside of your shift is working outside the SET 8 hours you should be on. I wasn't including the extra 4 for the window.

But you are working 12 PLUS hours a day, so you are obviously working outside of your shift.

It's okay for you but not me?
Guess my 28+ years over your 2
equals an extra cent per line. Last week, I was offered 7cpl for cardiology and they wanted someone with extensive experience which I do, was in on the original forms back in the day setting up echos and caths, etc. I think the american based companies are counting on us being desperate, just offer us a tiny bit more than they are making in India. unfortunately, our cost of living is not a tiny bit more. The lady doing the hiring even apologized for what they were offering.
Have done VR now for some years and guess what?
The same hospital, same platform and VR for some reason seems to just go quirky every once in awhile. This is something new my VR just started- under final diagnoses it usually would put 1 and then go to 2, now it has started messing up and misnumbering, having the first diagnoses besides final diagnoses and then the 1 that should be 2 is numbered 1 so then have to go down the list and renumber all. Another thing, has forgotten to put in periods in the last several months- even with the person saying it and then the next word is capitalized like it should be but I have to put in that period. Sometimes now will capitalize The patient in the middle of a sentence as it knows usually the patient is starting off a sentence. If I were you, knowing how long I have been doing VR now, I would not worry at all. Even though mine is exceptionally good, it does revert back for ?? reasons off and on. The mistakes I see now are not the same as say 6 months ago.
I guess 17 years of ortho exp. isn't good enough for them

Yikes, I guess that says it all for this field....I made that over 15 years ago!
Guess it's time to move on :(
I have been working for them for five years now...
I have had very few complaints. I just get my lines in for each pay period, and they don't bother me much at all. Very flexible schedule.
I havent heard a word about an incentive and I have worked there almost 2 years so I guess I didnt
qualify for whatever status you needed to get an incentive. Is this something you get every pay period if you meet a quota or just something quarterly. Just curious.
i've been working for MDI for over two years sm

i think they pay really good.  i love my acct.  the supervisor is a good communicator.  i have a lanier acct, but they do have some accts where your program for retrieving dictation is over the internet, so no long distance needed there. i think they even give you a chance if you don't have fast speed.  i don't have fast speed, where i live it's not available.


good luck!


I love working for them.. have been with them for YEARS. xx
xx
I'm afraid...after working for several years...

at a company, who will be unnamed, but is very popular these days, I have finally took the plunge and taken a position with Web.  I'm happy and afraid at the same time.  I hope I do well.  I hear good things about this company.  I just want to be happy again.  My present (soon to be past) job has really whipped my you know what.  I hope I made the right decision.  Thanks all. 


PS Pls excuse any typos


I LOVE working for TransTech. Been there almost three years and it's
the best MT job I have ever had. You will enjoy talking with Debbie, who does the hiring.
Run, run away. I just left after working for them for 12 years . Go to their forum
and read a little bit.
You had better believe it. Working 12 years in a huge university and now offered 8 cpl. nm
:
Working Christmas - gladly. For years I was lucky enough (sm)
to have an in house job where others volunteered to work Xmas, Easter, etc. so those of us with small children could enjoy the holiday.

Now I feel it is my turn to pay back and work the holidays so the mothers of younger children can have that special time with them. It only lasts such a short time.

Happy Holidays to all.
I worked for them years ago, back in 1994. No one was working from home then... SM
Well, if you were working from home, you were coming in and picking of tapes.  It was a pretty good place to work.  I was just starting out as an MT so it was really good experience for me.  They paid me hourly, but I was in house back then.  
I've been working weekends for 7 years and haven't heard of this.
dd
I worked for Keystrokes a few years back. There were some problems but was told they were working on
I had heard that before, too many times to count, so I left.

I came back 2 years ago and it was like night and day.

All of the old problems are gone. They blamed them on growing pains and never denied them. Instead they fixed them. They have my vote!
I have to believe there are some major problems
Some key players resigning and all the messing with wages. Makes you wonder. I have quit so I don't have to worry about it.
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.
holidays--major ones. sm

Doesn't matter to me--with all the overtime available at Amphion, it's pretty easy to whittle down using PTO to a couple of hours instead of 7 or 8.  But more importantly to me is that as long as I don't have to work the major holidays that are most important to my family--Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year's--I'm a very happy camper.  I was an IC for a long time before Amphion and was able to take my very first vacation in 5 years last year.


It just depends on what is most important to each individual.   


They are not a major company, to say the least. sm
For a small company like that, that is probably a good starting rate.  Where did you graduate from?  Webmedx takes new graduates for more than that.
I think there is a major flaw
in your thinking when you say something like DRC would allow themselves to be smooth talked by a company. I just think that is a very odd thing to say. On the other hand, go on your merry way - it might mean more work for me! And if speaking intelligently and rationally or seeing a bigger picture makes me sound like management then I guess it's better than sounding like someone who has given up on their job before they even know the reality of what is to come or someone making blanket statements and judgments that do little except invite more of the same. I don't know the future. Acusis may well be the new Evil Empire, but until that is revealed to me personally I opt not to assume it to be the case. I guess optimism is a luxury I have; to each his own. I have no fear of finding work elsewhere with my numbers, I just don't see the need to quit before anything has started.
Sorry - its just that I have a major problem with -
.
12,000 lines? OMG - what a major RIP-OFF!
Most other companies have a minimum of 5500-6000 lines. How dumb does that company think MTs are? Whatta buncha c__p.
Yep, just one more of the lies. Major
account was VERY unhappy when they found out work was going to India, which is one of the main reason they lost it.  See what it cost them in the end though. 
Yes, the 6 major holidays, but...sm

...usually there is no work at all.  I was told that this depends on the account though.  And your rate is x1-1/2 is paid for work done on the 6 major holidays.


major transition
I just stopped working for them a couple of months ago and there is a lot going on.  It is true that a lot of American QAs lost their jobs, but now the Indian team leads are losing their jobs and they are bringing in all American tead leads and management.  I do not believe they are headed for bankruptcy, but just going through a major transition.
Major Vent - fed up
I have been doing this for 12+ years, and I have decided this is a stupid and impossible profession. An MT should not have to go over and over voice files to hear and understand what at doctor says 3, 4, 5 and 6 times to understand what he is saying. If you do, that means he is not interested in making sure you know and understand.  This really hit me today.  IF a person were talking to you, would you have to ask him to repeat himself over and over again if he really wanted to talk to you?  More so for patient care.  If a doctor actually cared about making sure that the patient's information was accurate, would he take such risks that the person on the other end would not understand what he was saying?
major vent

I especially like the PAs who mumble and don't even know how to pronounce the medications and believe they are actually MDs


major vent
What's really fun is when they spell the really obvious words and then slur the important ones! Gotta love the docs!
Major pay-cut was one of the "shenanigans".

I agee, but the new accounts are major
They certainly don't want the new MTs they hired to change their mind, so a mighty nice incentive to stick around. I agree compensation should be offered, but at least we will have more work than we know what to do with once the new hospitals get their technical problems fixed.
like I said below major abuse of power
only 2 account coordinators worth their salt, if they cake walked into their position they are on a power trip and don't know what in beans they are doing, QA is just a mess that is pathetic esp. the upper crust there.
They lost some major accounts, one to
voice recognition and the other was overflow work but still it's gone. THey are hoping site 120 and the clinics that go with it do not work out with voice recognition since a lot of the docs were hard.
Major turnover with new pay scale...
hmm...I wonder why!
I work for them - no major complaints
Take the negatives with a grain of salt... they have been very fair with me and *never* miss a payperiod.



it is major medical coverage at best
affordable maybe
I'm not management - major staffing changes and

growth just in the last week alone - all for the better.  Just be patient and it'll be worth your while.   You won't be disappointed.     I'd give it another day or two and call them just to follow up. 


Keystrokes is the best so far in my long and varied career! 


All the major ones do. Go to Job Seeker's board,
they tell you their benefits.
Yes there is a major backlog on that account
nm
I understand some of their major accounts are going to VR.. sm
so you may want to reconsider applying.
I understand some of their major accounts are going to VR.. sm
so you may want to reconsider applying there.
The major companies in my area
They announce the lay-offs, which is what usually makes the news, but then employees continue to work for 60 days.
major mixed messages!
I think Larry must have left that one out in the conference I was in yesterday. It is hard to know if issues are purposefully being clouded (so we don't leave right away) or if like you say, they just really don't know. I would like know to the truth about whether CB, DJ, etc did only find out a few days ago. I guess ultimately it really doesn't matter does it.

Yes, and even if they are saying IC and SE are available, you are right, everything is followed with the foreseeable future disclaimer, or I think or I believe. I know with MQ, eventually SE gave way to IC which gave way to total employee no choice, stay or go. .... ....
Nice people, but they need a major upgrade.
:(
Shortage of work has been a MAJOR complaint....
with all 4 MTs that I know who work at MDI.  We are all trying to stay loyal to them, but it seems as though no one is listening and they just keep hiring!!  If you have work, you should be counting your blessings, but it is only fair to let those people seeking employment at MDI to know what a lot of us are experiencing. 
not a major company - woman owned
around 100 employees but not positive
major lack of communication, which is nice if you...sm
want to be left alone, but sometimes you need an answer to your question. Work load is like a roller coaster, up and down, which makes it hard to make line counts.