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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

It's a foot in the door. I don't blame them for grabbing it up

Posted By: wimt on 2006-04-20
In Reply to: And yet, some newbie will grab it up for the experience. nm - I just hope to God there's good QA.

I started out the same way, making .05 per line about 4 years ago now.  It was my foot in the door.  I was on full QA for about a week, quickly went to .06 per line, then .07, and then changed to an account that was .08, in less than a year.  I've since moved on from that company, and I think I'm doing pretty well for myself now, but I wouldn't be here if I hadn't taken the opportunity when it came along.


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Thanks for this. I feel like if I could get my foot in the door,
xxxx
Anyone know how to get a foot in the door @ TransTech
I have read a lot of great things about them, and would love to know if anyone knows how to get a foot in the door. I just went to their site and submitted an application, but haven't done the testing yet.

I have over 5 years of MT experience, and am sick and tired of working for crappy companies that have late paychecks and run out of work! :( I want to get somewhere and get comfortable!
years ago that was pretty much the only way to get an MT job to get your foot in the door - sm
I noticed that there are a few temp agencies in Tampa that are looking for transcriptionists. Keep in mind that the pay may be lower because the agency needs to be paid through the client. So if the client is paying $18/hour to the agency, then you may only be getting $10-11/hour. If you did any paperwork with the temp agency, i.e. filling out an application or tested with them, and then you decide you do not want to take the assignment, you cannot go to the client and say that you are a Transcriptionist and you will do the work for X-amount of dollars/hour. If the temp agency finds out, then they can sue you - noncompete-type of suit.
Don't blame you.
This career is nothing special. I have been treated as badly as in any career I've had. Doesn't matter how hard you work or how much smoochin ya do, you get burned every way you turn.

My opinion of this industry has changed drastically in the last year. It sux.

I used to come to this board and wonder why people were angry and bitter and negative. It didn't take me long to figure it out.

Companies think we are so desperate to sit at home in our little prison cells we call offices that we will put up with anything.

There's a few good places out there, but they continue to dwindle. I'm glad I happened into this line of work when I did. With just around five years, I'm not too stuck to get out. I got a nice job outside the house that's easy and fun and pays well, and this is just a hobby anymore. If I hadn't paid so much for my education, I'd find a new hobby.






I would be more apt to blame
your employer for this and not UPS .. all things are traceable through their system and when they tell you overnight .. they mean it .. unless this week you live in Denver.  I would talk to the FutureNet people.  UPS cares about their reputation.
Can't say that I blame you! nm
nm
they need to look at mgt & not blame the MTs
It is mgt/team leads that is telling MTs not to record extra hours for OT if they work extra. That is not the MTs fault!!! Don't be nasty to the MTs who are the bread and butter of your company or everybody will quit!
I don't blame you one bit but....
There is an unrest afoot that is probably going to impact the people who pay us peanuts for our valuable talent. I am an MTSO and still have lots of work but I am not fooling myself that it will get worse before it gets better. In the 1970s we all got fed up with the low pay and walked off the job. Then the powers that be realized that they must pay us more. It got better for a long time but now we are up against India, VR and EMR. All those things are proving to not be what they are cracked up to be and it is just a matter of time before they realize again they they must pay us for our valuable expertise. So if you still want to get out, may I suggest real estate? If you rae smart enough to to MT, then you are smart enough to do RE. Anyway, just my $.02 worth.
I cannot blame the ones who have
had bad experiences with MQ, everyone is different with different needs, but this is exactly why I came back to MQ. I tried others over the years and have had the same experience you mention here. I need to work full time to support my family and so far MQ has been the only company that can provide me with consistent work, unfamiliar or familiar accounts - it is all money to me.  
I don't blame you at all...sm
Let me know how it goes and if you get your own accounts.
Everybody else to blame
You chose where to put your money. Yes,it's easier to blame everybody else. Go ahead a be a victim if you want, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you keep blaming everyone else for your problems,don't expect your situation to get any better.

Half the problem with our economy now is the victim mentality and everybody wanting someone else to take care of them and tell them what to do, and then when things go wrong, throwing blame at everyone and refusing to take any responsibility for their own actions.
I don't blame you one bit...
for getting out if they cut your pay for editing yet they get the paid the same as text. I think it's awful, and more MTs should not be putting up with that. I'm just saying for myself, where I am right now, I enjoy my job, make good money, great boss, and flexible hours.
Hey I don't blame you
not in the least little bit.

It's rough out there and to be frank, after 10 yrs of this work it seems it's gotten to be kind've the same all over. Just a small recommendation though, keep looking for other jobs as well. I don't mean quit Oracle, just another part-time job in addition. It's good to have a safety net.

Good Luck and I hope it works out for ya !
I don't blame her one bit. She will sm
find another job probably better than the one she had. Family still comes first and these companies an scr## themselves!
But really, can we blame her? If any of us

do the same thing.  I worked for MDI.  I loved MDI.  I have always known D to be someone of yes, integrity.  I don't believe her integrity flew out the window.  There is surely a lot we don't know.  And of course, D would not have been at liberty to discuss the coming merger before it happened.


D is a businesswoman.  The purpose of a business is to generate income.  She ran her company with honesty and integrity.  I can't say I wasn't suprised, shocked even, at what has happened.  But I have known D since the early 90s and I know she is a good person and truly cares about people.  I don't know how to reconcile that with what has happened other than to think there is more to the story than we know and that it is the decision that D needed to make at this time for whatever reason, whether it be to ensure a secure retirement, whether it was because she was no longer able to compete with offshoring and VR - and I think this may be part of it because she had told me at one time that facilities were wanting to pay for transcription in light of VR and offshoring and their ability to get it for less elsewhere, or whether she was just tired and ready to not be the one at the helm any longer.


Whatever the reasons, I choose to believe that D is still the person of integrity I have always known her to be.  I just accept that there must be more to the story than I know.


I wish the best to D and to all MDIers.  I feel like an era has come to a close and it will never be the same again.  But I feel lucky to have been a part of Signal and MDI and to have known D.


Two of us out the door ! .... sm

I did it !  And so did another MT who worked on the same account. We sent our resumes out a few weeks ago without saying a word.  We both got "several" offers from companies with good reputations.  We were hired by different companies but with pretty much the same positives.  My company is a mid-sized MTSO, USA all the way, have accounts that have no interest in VR (first time I ever said thank God for ESL's) and treat their MTs with respect.  Hey, I'll take it!  No company is perfect (neither am I). It'll take some time to get adjusted.  But at least I know I'm not slaving away only to have a knife plunged in my back.  Read all these posts over and over until your frustration turns to anger.  You deserve better.  Go for it!


I'm on my way out the door

I just started a new job this week and can't believe the difference.  MQ treats you like a slave and it's only getting worse.  I've worked for MQ for 10 years and the last 2-3 years have been all downhill. 


I, too, though rely on my income (it's not monopoly money), which is why I'm still with them but part-time and soon to be PT flex.  I just wanted to make sure my new job is the right job for me and to give myself a chance to get my line count up.


As for the new company, better pay, straight transcription, 1 account which is loaded, and less supervision.  No E-time - I hate that thing. 


I never really thought about looking for another job until the last year or so and didn't realize there were so many options.  Having done 5 years of acute care at the Q has been well worth the effort. 


Go ahead - take the plunge! Send your resumes out and, like the other poster said, research your companies to find what you are looking for.  Not everyone has the same needs (for me, I don't need benefits, just good pay and flexibility).  There's a company out there that's right for you and you'll find it in no time! 


I too am on my way out the door...

switched from part time to part time flex, got another job making 3.5 cents more per line with a fabulous account and a great platform.  Who could ask for more?


Was with MQ for over 7 years, and am not happy with the direction the company is heading. 


Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.....nm
,
Don't let the door hit ya on your way out.
Maybe you could go down to South America and b*tch at those people for working for a dollar a day.

Hey, if we take up a collection can we ship you to India? I'm sure there are some of you people (as you like to call us) who are doing whatever work they can get a hold of to feed their children. Maybe you can cruise down in your gas-guzzler - ya know - since you don't have a job and all - and remind them how stupid they are for working for a living.

Yeah. That'd be great.
blame on the advertisements
.
Hee, Hee - see all the stingy MTs - don't blame you either. nm
nm
Please, do not blame Dictaphone,
they are only doing what company says to do, they state that. The problem is, you don't know what the company tells them to put it at, unless Dictaphone does not know how to do this. I have found the most honest accounting is when you can go into sessions and it shows you the number of reports you have done and the line count. it is hard to manipulate line counts when you can double check them. You cannot do this when you have to go to the Dictaphone web site to get a conglomeration of line counts with nothing broken down. No single numbers, just the total line counts. Thus, if you lose 2-3 dictations in a day, no wonder you line count is down - your company gets the lines but YOU don't, not if the reports are dropped.
Don't blame you for wanting out. All
s
temporarily down and no one to blame
crap happens
ExText is not to blame .. the
clients determine the lines and how they are counted. ExText merely follows the commands of the person inputting the data as it is hardware that needs to be set by a person! Your company or hospital should, however, disclose how they are paying you and you certainly should ask for that information and get an answer or then I would certainly be wary.
Don't blame you for leaving

I worked for Focus for almost 5 yrs but with new management - aka Nuance - no thanks - income dropped, accounts lost, no job security and I was losing $500 a month compared to when Focus ran the show!!  You did great for leaving!!!


I blame the schools also.
Work at home, big money, easy job. Yeah, right. Just like stuffing envelopes.
Blame it on the Indians! LOL ! Like everything else! LOL..nm
nm
VR companies to blame
I had the same experience.  My MTSO did not initiate the VR.  They claimed they would not be making any profit.  The hospital bought the VR platform on the promises of how great it was, how much money it would save them.  In a conference call about it, my MTSO said they were making no profit.  I am not sure I buy that.  But then they said something interesting, and I am not sure if I understood it correctly.  They said the VR company gets a percentage of the line rate for the hospital using the platform.  That shocked me.  So, the hospital is saving money, the VR company is making money, the MTSO is making money, and not much left for the MT.  I could have understood this wrong, but that was my take on it. 
Sure, blame the reader for your
You do realize it is neither your responsibility nor within your power to 'make' any other MT behave as you desire?

I understand why so many posters do this, though: It deflects the frightening possibility that low wages, downsizing, lost benefits, etc., could ever happen to them onto those to whom it has already happened. It's a denial/distancing/coping mechanism. Totally get that.

But it's still obnoxious and unhelpful for others to read. No one asked for the nagging, ma.

Further, I would gently suggest you look up 'victim' in the dictionary. You may note that victimization requires two parties. Insisting only one of them bear any responsibility for the circumstances is like insisting your kid make the seesaw go up and down when he's the only one on it.

Hope that helps! If I've inspired only one MT to surf on before posting another sanctimonious lecture, my work here is done! I will prove that my work here is done by returning to the thread continually to insist that I am right and everyone else is just wallowing in victimhood/poor reading comprehension! Then I will ice the cake by blaming the whole contretemps on their bad childhoods.

Sorry, but I've got nothing but eyeroll for your input at this point.
Yep, blame the MT for no work!

Same situation at both companies - I came, I worked, I made money, the work disappeared, I went broke, I moved on.


Sure, its MY fault that work dries up after a year or so at each job I get.  I spread the curse of no work everywhere, and soon I may be getting a job at your company - so beware!  Your work will disappear in the next year or so!


Revolving door?
Does Heartland have a revolving door?  In the past few months on this board, I've read about people being fired, including their president.
Uhhh...Just don't go next door....;)
nm
Its a revolving door
There ad is always up for MT's.
If it seems like a revolving door, SM
I'm sure it is.  As far as wanting your boss available to you...for what?  I'm not sure I understand the need for that.  You log on when it's time to begin your shift, you do the work that comes to you and you log off.  When I worked for them, I might have talked to my supervisor once every couple of months or so.  My quality stats came in the mail, my check was direct deposited and I had no need to discuss anything with the supervisor.
revolving door. NM
x
I'd be out the door in a heartbeat.

I see that open door

Yeah, I'll just get in line behind 10 former teammates that just got the ax, all the MDI'ers looking for a new gig, and locally, the 450 people whose plant just closed.  Once I get through that crowd, I can then compete with my current teammates who are also looking for a second job/replacement job because they are eyeying the open door too, in between competing with one another for work.


Once I claw my way through the desperate crowd of job seekers and into another job, I can wait a year or so, run across the same scenario at the next company, and start looking for work again when their work pool mysteriously dries up.


Or I could just blow my brains out and avoid repeating this loathesome, demoralizing cycle for the next 20 years until I'm retirement age.  Thanks for helping me ponder my options.


Do not blame the MTs for company mistakes

I just received an email from my MT supervisor stating that she wanted to let us know that we just lost 3 worktypes on a major account because we were not transcribing, editing and delivering to the client within our contracted turn around time.  She said she was sharing this information in hopes that we will realize how important it is for us to work our shifts,etc.


All of us working on this specific account are ICs. What has been happening is they want to treat us like employees.  We get demanding emails to work and tons of how to do lists.  No one at this company are employees,yet they want us to work like employees.  When are companies going to realize that if you want someone to work a set shift and answer and read daily emails, then they should make us employees.  This particular company send out daily long emails and only pay 5 cpl to edit acute care accounts with no benefits on escription.  As an IC I never put all my eggs in one basket and especially not for 5 cpl.  I do not feel the MTs should be blamed for losing these work types. I feel the company should take responsibility for this.


If the MTs are not meeting TAT or their said upon line count, then management should have let them go. However, I personally am required to meet 2,500 per pay and that is exactly what I do and no more at these rates and especially not for this company who make demands on us like we are partners in the company.  I feel companies try to get off cheap by hiring ICs, but then try to hold you down to a schedule and treat you like an employee when you are not.  This loss of work is the companies fault.  Any opinions.  Thanks


 


 


 


 


MTSOs have only themselves to blame for their plight.
They were so quick to jump on the bandwagon and train the indians, etc., to do work cheaply and now that they are trained, they are taking their work away. They will not wake up until they find that their nice little management jobs are just as easy to outsource as are the MT jobs.
I dont blame you on the taxes

My husband makes more than that himself though, so we are stuck with the taxes no matter what.  They take half our pay checks, I just did our return and had to write them a nice fat check for that, and then find out we dont get the stimulus check (big shocker there). Just seems like we get screwed from every different direction.


With the cost of living what it is, I sure don't feel like we are rich but the government seems to think we are and taxes accordingly.


Blame the economy not libbers. sm

Actually I could have written your post, except for the women libbers part and the SAHM.  I've been doing this for 32 years.  My ID says it all.  The economy makes it almost a necessity to have a 2-paycheck income if you have kids.  I'm single with no kids and trying to make a living with MT with no second income.  Its tough.


Women wouldn't have the opportunities they do now if it wasn't for the libbers and the suffragettes. Its great now we have more choices than ever.  Do you realize it hasn't even been 100 years since women had the right to vote?  And we came close to having a woman president!  I think about all the sacrifices the women before us went through to get us where we are today.  One reason I make sure I vote is to honor their sacrifices.


Why blame MTSO owners?

What's so hard about that?  If you don't like being an employee, then become a business person and charge the big bucks.  Many of you probably have never even managed your own accounts, but all ready to say how you are underpaid for what you do.


This career is based on production. Get used to it. Paid days off?  Who gets those?  Even if you do, it is probably a smidgen of what you would make if you worked as an employee that day.


Have fun fighting AHDI as well.  I'm sure their hands will be in the till. 


I wouldn't blame you if you threw sm
in the towel on this. But please for those of us who DO appreciate it, if you never do another interview, do this one! After that, it is up to the rest of us. The ones who want to gripe and complain are always the ones who gripe the loudest too about no work, outsourcing, offshoring, no hours, supervisors and just complaining in general. some folks you can't please no matter what you do. I wouldn't want to take the abuse either, but its started, please finish if for no one else YOURSELF!!!!!!! I, for one, APPRECIATE IT. The ones who are being the nitpickers about the difference between outsourcing/offshoring are probably the same folks in QA who will throw a perfectly good report back or fire you for a misplaced comma!!!!!!!! Please hang in there!
Does anyone know why MB was shown the door at Interpro? nm
:}
Uh, not too many people because the door didn't
All that is left are the newbies who don't know any better. They meekly wonder why they don't have any work to do but don't have enough experience to work for a real company so they twiddle their thumbs while their work is sent overseas. Nobody in their right mind would be happy there unless they have trampled on people on the way to the top.
I think they still have revolving door management.
xx
Heartland in the US was just a ruse to get them in the door...sm
I have watched the company for a long time.  They took over the Kansas City Accounts and also Hawaii accounts I used to work saying they were an American Company because they are stationed here and offered us QA jobs to train the Indians (I think not).  It was just a matter of time before they trained enough of them and had enough clients they would move it all over there.  What is sick about this is that most Americans do not know their social security numbers and personal information are going in the middle of the terrorist lands!
The American QA is out the door too. they are using their MEs from India
to do the QA on the foreign based MT and the MEs suck just as bad as the MTs do.
Webmedxr laying by the door
looking out the window....waiting for work...waiting for work....waiting for work...