Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I would have to agree. I've been the "victim" of such attitudes.

Posted By: AnonMT22 on 2007-12-29
In Reply to: I agree - and there are a lot of MTs on this site that need to take a chill pill. - Anon

Gosh forbid but I actually dared to misspell a word on here about 2 months ago and got blasted. I've never seen such bitterness, and quite honestly my observation is this...I had always worked outside the home up until 3 years ago when financially I was able to and wanted to, just work at home so I could be home more for my last child at home and not commuting so much. Truly, I have seen so much bitterness and hostility that I never experienced in the outside workplace as a non-MT. Sadly, I have even have found myself falling into this negativity. I'm not sure whether it is the social isolation that brings you to this point, where you feel unable or unwilling to communicate appropriately with others or what. I have honestly found MTs to be a different breed, through no fault of our own. Again, possibly isolation, disappointment (the biz gets worse and worse as far as work and pay) or just the feeling stuck thing. Myself, I do feel isolated from the real world and I feel stuck because now that I have been here so long it is hard to adjust back out there and trust me.....I have tried, only to come running back home. In any event, for whatever reason we're all here..necessity or otherwise, we should be what this board was intended for...a support system. Yes, some days we need to vent because no day is perfect. I think we should all be able to do that without being called names.  Then, I think we could do some encouraging, and if I have misspelled a word or used improper English, punctuation or whatever, I hope I won't be scorned. We all are different and we're not perfect. Thanks


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

Attitudes. sm

I have never been able to wrap my thought around the theory that offshoring is good for the American MT. It has lowered the living wage of the American MT and allowed large companies to treat good MTs badly.  There is no denying the fact of this.  The fact that the AAMT has seemingly embraced offshoring as inevitable, all the while mentoring and certifying offshore MTs was their death knell for me and many others.  The AAMT never accomplished what it promised to do all those many years ago when I was deeply involved, i.e., raise the awareness in the medical community regarding our skills and professionalism, keep us at a decent working wage, et al.  AAMT sold the AMERICAN MT down the river.  Companies like Medware, who would feed pablum regarding offshoring is good for us have made that river an ocean.  I will no longer be a member of AAMT and will not be renewing my CMT. Frankly, I never got any recognition for that title anyway.  I don't know what kind of reception you thought you were going to get here, but I do think that since there are few people here whose opinion you regard, considering the anonymity, perhaps there are other arenas where your thought processes would be more appreciated.  It is curious that those of you who continue to defend offshoring never bring up the confidential aspect of medical records going offshore.  Is it so small a concern or do you really think that instances, such as with Lubna Baloch, cannot happen again?  Regards.


rotten attitudes
Who wouldn't have a bad attitude with the way some of these companies think THEY own their MTs. Thank God I got rid of the rotten companies out there and believe me there are several. Make you promises and never come through. I will never ever let another company OWN me. Something is stinky out there!
meant attitudes (sorry)
Sure I'll be slammed for misspelling.
OUR attitudes sadden YOU?
Who do you think you are talking to? You could use a little perspective on exactly what you are doing.

I received in-house OTJ training at MD Anderson Cancer Institute back in 1974 in the radiotherapy department, back in the day when MTs were valued at least enough to be given the chance to train while making a living wage with great benefits. Back then they did not have to go into hock for a couple of years at some community college or technical school to learn a trade that requires nothing more than a few hours of terminology etymology instruction, a good dictionary, an endless source of dictation and a healthy dose of blood, sweat and tears to hone the skill of a trained ear.

I advanced into medical records in less than a year where I was trained on that new-fangled contraption called a word processor and worked for another 3 years before receiving an irresistible offer of a 30% pay hike and better benefits, NONE OF WHICH I had to pay for....zero deductible, I might add. When my son came along, it cost me a mere $18 per paycheck to add him.

I continued in-house for 6 years or so until the dreaded O monster (outsourcing) reared its ugly head. The hospital where I was working provided me with the referral I needed to chase my account as it kicked its MTs out the back door in the middle of the night, stripping them of employee status, benefits, good hourly pay and self-respect.

I stayed with that hospital account as it was pitched around from one new MTSO to another for the next 10 years...the same amount of time it took for any of them to even BEGIN to entertain the idea of restoring even the most basic of benefits. During that time, I had NO sick time, NO vacation time (and hence worked 8 of those 10 years without taking one a SINGLE day off), NO holiday pay and NO training provided, despite the fact that we were expected to negotiate the onslaught of advancing computer technologies. I missed 8 out of 10 Christmases with my son, worked all other holidays every single year, and 48 to 60 hours a week. The only way I could get a raise was to job hop.

By the time benefits started to emerge, I had a full-blown chronic pain syndrome from endometriosis (which I had to tolerate since I could not afford the surgery), had developed high blood pressure at age 33 and finally suffered a physical collapse from degenerative disk disease at multiple levels which showed up shortly after the high blood pressure. None of these medical conditions had ever been present in my family. I also got caught up in the MTSO schemes that kicked us out the back door once again (trying to avoid that benefits thingy) when we were sent home and expected to buy our own equipment and stay current with that according to whichever way the wind was blowing back at the home office.

This was not that easy as a single parent, once my divorce was final. The marriage could not handle the hours, stress and the fact that I was missing in action in my own home, holed up behind a closed door typing my brains out at all hours of the day and night, trying to make mortgage payments on a modest duplex to keep my son out of gangs and off the apartment complex parking lots when he got older.

One morning, when I tried to get out of bed my back pain was so severe that all I could do was crawl around on my hands and knees. With the next 6 consecutive nights of near total insomnia and worry over losing my job, I was forced to resign. By that time I had neglected my health (and the rest of my life) for more than a decade. I did manage to check myself into a county facility where I was diagnosed with chronic clinical depression. I lost my car and my house. My son had to move in with his father and I had to move back home with my aging mother who was on a fixed income. We became each other's caretakers for the next 7 years until she passed. My son became a man during that time and went away to college.

After 7 years, I returned to transcription in 2001. At first, the pay was not too bad and the benefits had improved in my absence, but lo and behold, not for long. Outsourcing had taken on a whole new meaning and as jobs were exported in ever increasing numbers, our line rates stagnated for a while before they took their current free fall tumble...for me, 20% in the past 3 years. In the past few months, the jobs that offer benefits have all but disappeared from the boards and at age 60, I am not really sure that I can relive this nightmare yet one more time.

So here you are, whining about our attitudes while you just inch your way between me and my measly 8 cpl, sticking your fingers in the penny pie and pulling out a couple for yourself while you think nobody is looking. WRONG. We're paying very close attention to you and your ilk along with the rest of the disintegration or our profession. Don't you DARE ask me for my understanding. I've paid my dues time and time again. The well is dry and there is no place to go from here except straight down to the bottom. Make no mistake, you will be tumbling right along with the rest of us, despite your best efforts to paint that rosey picture and that fairy tale your are trying spin. Enjoy the ride while you can. Time is short.
these kind of attitudes are why I sm
quit working in an office years and years ago. Too much back biting and back stabbing. I always had the idea that if people would stop with the snipping and worrying about what everybody else was doing, they would make more money themselves. Good grief!
Posting attitudes here

I know that working from home as an MT is in itself an isolating job, been doing it for many years and enjoy it very much.  In fact, reading these posts remind me how much I enjoy it because of the back-stabbing, snide and rude remarks.  Would some of you say the same thing you post to someone's face in person?  I think not.  Just because we are *anonymous* doesn't mean we can hit and run and say things we ordinarily would not, without manners or consideration.


None of us will ever agree all the time, that's not the point.  Can we at least be nice to each other and have a debate without the nastiness?


Thanks...  Happy Memorial Day weekend y'all. 


I think that attitudes like yours are the reason companies are looking elsewhere. sm
You work from home to be with your family and not be treated like you are in an office? Give me a break. Act like an employee who deserves to get perks and maybe you'll be treated better. Follow your shifts (not signing in 2 hours late and ending early) and you won't get a mean email. You sound like a high school student with their first job. Where is your work ethic? I do not agree with te work going to other companies, but they seem to want to work while a lot of U.S. MT's do a lot of whining and complaining. No wonder they want to replace us. Less headaches and hassles for them. They want to make money.

We've chased our jobs away. Not all of us, but those of us with attitudes like the above poster.

Am I angry? You bet. Do your job and they will have reason to look elsewhere. The rest of us who work our shifts when we are supposed to shouldn't have to suffer because of attitudes of others, but those attitudes seem to be the majority.
actions and attitudes speak volumes
....
You've got it--and I agree! But try getting others to
.
I've used both and I would agree

that DQS is a little easier to navigate and make changes to the text, but as for lph - I do way better with Bayscribe.  It probably has to do with the fact that the MTSO I worked for on DQS (that being MQ) did not pay for demographics or carbon copies.  I also like the fact that I have all of the ADT info on the same screen with Bayscribe. 


If I could have my cake and eat it too, I would love to work for my current company (that being MDI) with DQS and get paid for everything, but I'd work for MDI on any software over MQ anyday!


Man, I totally agree with that.... I've done the same.
X
I agree, best platform I've been on...
Great search capabilities for patient name, prior reports, specific doc reports, etc. Easy to move around in -- just the cream of the crop in my platform experience.
I totally agree. I've been in the profession for
years and getting close to retirement...about 8 years to go. I know my job better than lots of people with CMTs.
I agree. Extext is the platform I've ever worked with. nm
x
Agree with LTMT about Keystrokes..I've been there nearly 3 years (sm)
I had a bumpy patchy for a while with no work but the owner herself and some of the office staff worked with me to find a good secondary account that I couldn't be happier with. 
I totally agree. Once you've posted your private information

on these boards, it's indexed and cached through Google and other sites.  I've been stalked and harrassed twice through MT boards due to information I posted.  One was a woman who totally disagreed with me and thought she needed to set me straight.  She was right and I was wrong, and she was going to scream and cuss at me until I saw things her way.  She Googled everything she could find about me and my business, then tracked me down through Anywho.  The other was a man who called my business number at 2:00 a.m. wanting to talk about sex because he needed a sex-cretary to do his transcription in person.  I know they got the information from the other MT board I used to go to because that was the only place I posted anything in the directory.  The scary thing is that information can still be found all these years later because it's been cached.  I had to change phone numbers, but those people still know my full name and address.  That's why I don't use one nickname to post now.


Yes, I agree. The sound quality with VoiceWave Player is really bad. Worst I've ever heard.
x
I agree. The line counter is a pain, but I've checked lots of reports against MS Word
nm
The staff and the attitudes of the staff. Very helpful, cheerful. (sm)
They seem to work extremely hard to balance everything out, enough work, enough MTs and always making sure they let the MTs know they are a valuable asset to the company. That means a lot. Not to mention the bennies are pretty good, too.
No, not how many rotten companies -- how many rotten ATTITUDES are on here!
Don't be so gullable.

What good does it do? They've lied, they've betrayed us.

They've taken all they are going to take from me.   I am not going to waste any more time being angry.   I hate the way things ended, but I refuse to accept the blame for any part of it because I know that was a lie too, even though they did try to blame the MTs.  I know part of the problem was quality issues, but QA wasn't to blame for that either, although they have been.   


It is time to pick up and move on.   I think mgmt will reap what they sow.   For those who worked on the main account Webmedx is still hiring, though the best time slots have already been taken.  


 


 


What the heck? I've never heard that in the 8 yrs I've worked here. sm
Go back to your STM or over his or her head.
Since you've brought it up, I've stopped SM

giving the negative info because every time I have in the past I am called a disgruntled ex-employee or told that my experience has no relation to what the company is like today.


I won't repeat the information I've given in the past, anyone can find it on searches.  I've decided to just let the people have their experience with the company and that experience will validate everything I've ever said about those people.


The same people own and run that company--they may have new names doing the management, but it still runs the same way.


You've got it ~ you've hit the nail on the head....

I can Google until dawn and still not find John Smith in NY - you know the neurologist...  Cut me a break!  I've now learned to ask my online company for a list of referring physicians (since none of the accounts are in my state) and also ask for websites for the hospitals, but I still don't take more than 5 min of my own time to find referring physicians.  I send it right through with a verify cc:... 


As far as making an educated guess, I would only do that if it was my own account and I know the dictator well.  For the online company, it is their responsibility to make that educated guess as it is their client, not mine.  I leave that up to the company to make assumptions; this way it is on their back, not mine when it comes to the legality of the report.  Ultimately, the physician is responsible when signing that report or there should be clause on those reports that state dictated but not read.  If that clause is not there, then it is the physician's responsibility to know the content, not the MT.  An MT can only transcribe what they hear and really should not be making educated guesses on anyone since we live in a world of sue-happy patients and their malpractice insurance is so high.  If there is a question, it needs to go the dictator to resolve.


JMO - been doing this for over 20 years.  


I've been a QA 15 years and I've never heard
of any company only paying for the actual Keystrokes of the blank. You would literally make less than minimum wage that way. Waaay less.
I've come here for as long as I've been...
...an MT, for the same reasons all of you do. I don't scan the boards looking for false accusations, but when something comes up that does involve me, I would like the opportunity to defend myself. That's all...
I agree, absolutely agree
and I might say, this is keeping updated in ALLLL specialities and subspecialities, drugs, instruments, and on and on. It is not a good profession for sure and sadly it is the MTs who are being very definitely HAD
I've used it before...sm
If you are thinking of going with a company with the beginning letter of "e" and ending in "Z"....you will not be getting paid for spaces.  They allow ONLY 8% for spaces, which IMO, is retarded.  The platform is very easy, but this particularly company has it set up to NOT count spaces, you will be typing your fingers off it seems.
I've been doing this for more than 11
between 250-350 lines an hour where I am now, without killing myself. At Medware, I was lucky to get 200 lines an hour.
I've only seen 1. sm...
And it was at www.transcriptionoutsourcing.com . It doesn't say this or much of anything else on their website. I think I got this as a link from an MTDaily ad that had a different company name listed and when you clicked their email, the Transcription Outsourcing web site is where it took you. I'll look around and see if I can find the original ad. It was a small company. Good luck in the meantime! 
I've got?? i think this is better said I have 12+
nm
I've been there too ... and it's getting very old
I've accepted offers with and tried just about everyone. So far, the one I trained on today has been the best to deal with. The trainer also told me she has been on this account for many, many years - and in that time has only run out of work twice, due to hurricanes. I'm getting very, very tired - I just want to find the right fit. I've found quite a few WRONG fits (and I'm not a newbie - I've got 13+ years on me). I figure, at this point, I want to pick the RIGHT ones, not just ANYone. I think I'll talk to DH some more and see if we can work something out. Who is the *&%* Company, it's late, I'm tired and I can't figure it out. If you want, and can do it, e-mail me separately. I have to make a decision with them soon. Thanks so much for at least your honest, yet positive, input. It's refreshing on these boards.
I've have been doing (sm)
some work for them lately. The stuff is mostly medical conferences and symposiums where people are giving talks. You generally get their Powerpoint presentation to help with drug names and doctor names. I did have one nightmarish assignment where there were about six people sitting around a table all talking at once and I was supposed to figure out who was talking when. The rest of them have been pretty good, though.
Just so you know, this is another CL, not the CL you've seen here for a while now, before the mov
x
Not me, I've been looking for (sm)
minimal part-time at least 9-10 cents per line for a long time.  You can find it and get nothing but the bad dictation.  BTW, I started typing about 30 years ago.  So hang in there if you'd like, I've donated too much of my time to this so-called profession.  And there are no hospital jobs around here.  I live in a fairly large city and the hospitals are ALL on VR or EMR.  It will reach everyone's town before too long.  It will be whoever will work the cheapest can have the job.  Not me, I'm not that cheap.
Wow! You say you've been an
Again, it is common sense not to post people's names on public forums for any reason. Sometimes, I can't tell if you folks are 12 years old or 98 years old.

Please do not post names.
Well DUH - so do I. That's why I've done

in one form or another (as an employee, as a contractor, as an MTSO) since 1983.  And have been with the same small service for many years.  And have had my own company/accounts since 1992.  But I know my skills are in demand.  That certainly seems to bother you a LOT.  You sure are defensive about this company, aren't you?


I've been both....sm
There is a little more restriction in my work schedule now as I have to work the hours I committed to in order to help the company keep things in TAT, but there is some flexibility if I need, for example, an hour or two for an appointment. Some companies are more flexible than others in this regard. Also, the amount of time you have to put in to acquire the required line counts is dependent on many things, such as platform, audio quality, dictator mix (ESL:EFL) and the amount of work available to you.

Be prepared to receive much less per line with a national company than you are making right now plus the fact that your taxes and SS will be withheld from your check unless you find a company that offers IC status. The other side of the coin there is that ICs are usually not offered bennies.

Hope you find something that is to your liking and works for you.
You've got that right! nm

Are people still posting complaints on the company board about how they need to apply for food stamps?  I'm glad I got out when I did.


I've said that all along.
If we want to take someone's personal advice (and who knows whose advice we are REALLY taking because we don't identify ourselves here) about who NOT to work for, NOT to trust, etc., surely we cannot be surprised that companies would have their own insider list of who does poor work, doesn't stick to schedules, is a lot of difficult to deal with personally, is a complainer, just doesn't produce enough, etc.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. At least they know each other there.

It doesn't bother me.
No, I've never had to do this...
just had to send a copy of my business license a couple of times. I've worked for about 5-6 different companies as an IC over the years and no one has asked for a copy of my ID.
I've never seen that
Granted, there are cruel sickos everywhere but where I live they chop the chicken's head off quickly before defeathering it. I've never heard of someone dropping a chicken in hot water while it's alive. Cows freely roam in rolling green pastures. Pigs do, too, except when in pens where they love to roll in mud. Your experience with farmers is much different than mine, I suppose, and I'm surrounded by them.
It's the best and I've used several sm
I get a better line count with ExText than any other platform I've used. 
I've done
Done MT for 10 years but only for local private practices and clinics.  No acute care.  Radiology, ortho, ENT, GI, GU, podiatry, even some legal.  No hospital tho darn it!  That's why I was hoping for the best on this one.  Its a hospital acct.  I don't think its worth it tho somehow.
I've never used it.
It starts accumulating right away but I've never had to use it. The recruiters are happy to answer any questions you have that I can't. :-)
Just like we've been saying all along. nm
 
I could've had a V-8!
Guess I had one of those duh! moments (that has lingered awhile). Ha! Thanks ... great idea! -

It's funny, I am pretty new at this, and things will all of a sudden come to me ... like I just recently realized it would be smart to include no phrases ... like: No frequency, dysuria, hematuria; instead of adding the no on separately. (It is usually a no anyway.)

There are so many facets to this field, that it is taking me quite awhile to put it all together. I don't have a lot of medical background either, which doesn't help.

Anyway, thanks again for the idea. I will try to continue to see the larger picture in using the expander.
I've never used it
My employer doesn't require it. Truthfully they probably don't even know the BOS.
Thanks--I've been looking through them too.
x
I've used both....sm
and I don't think there's a huge difference.  I do like the DQS format better, I think it's clearer, but they are both MT-friendly.  I did seem to have more trouble getting lines with Bayscribe, but that could be chalked up to the learning curve.  You can also have MDI import your Expanders from DQS.
It's just that everything I've been looking for...sm

in an employee position, they have it - an acute care account, a good line rate reasonable insurance costs with good coverage, PTO, 401K, typing in Word in the platform, equipment provided, and a sign-on bonus on top of it all.  Looking at it all listed out like that, well, it could apply to a lot of companies.  It's just something about talking to them that I like.  I hope I'm right!


Oh, they do have an equipment rental but that doesn't bother me.