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It's going to be hard to believe this since they've already

Posted By: earned the shady reputation. on 2005-08-15
In Reply to: Here is the facts versus myths about the SR pay.... - Current happy Transcender

Or they'll change it again once it suits their purpose. 


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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.
Hard to say...
In my experience, one minute of dictation is roughly equivalent to 10 lines of transcription, so, approximately 180 minutes of dictation, and figuring an average length of a report at around 3 minutes, that's probably around 60 reports.
Hard to say
what the situation is.  It is fairly common to have times here and there where there is no work in this business due to many different things.  The company may have over hired and don't have enough work.  Do you work on clinic or acute care.  If clinic and you work on only one account, is it possible a doctor is out of town?  There could be many different reasons, although I think it is somewhat strange that they can predict that there will be no work at all for you for several days (this might make me a little suspicious).  Might not hurt to try to find another part-time position to fill in the gaps.         
it is hard
to say that our profession is not going to exist. I see a high demand for experienced MTs. If you look on the occupational outlook handbook, it even says that there is going to be greater than average demand for MTs. I copied and pasted below what it says.

Contracting out transcription work overseas and advancements in speech recognition technology are not expected to significantly reduce the need for well-trained medical transcriptionists. Outsourcing transcription work abroad—to countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines, and the Caribbean—has grown more popular as transmitting confidential health information over the Internet has become more secure; however, the demand for overseas transcription services is expected only to supplement the demand for well-trained domestic medical transcriptionists. In addition, reports transcribed by overseas medical transcription services usually require editing for accuracy by domestic medical transcriptionists before they meet domestic quality standards. Speech-recognition technology allows physicians and other health professionals to dictate medical reports to a computer that immediately creates an electronic document. In spite of the advances in this technology, the software has been slow to grasp and analyze the human voice and the English language, and the medical vernacular with all its diversity. As a result, there will continue to be a need for skilled medical transcriptionists to identify and appropriately edit the inevitable errors created by speech recognition systems, and to create a final document.



JLG hard?
If you thought the JLG phone test was hard, you are in for a rude awakening in the MT field. They are standard questions you would know if you have any experience.
Trying hard
I'm trying to like Amphion, but the platform is awful.  If I could ever get the chance to type, I could really get a good line count, but the filling in the DI screen and constant looking up physicians is killing me.  I kept track over one hour, and I had to look up 14 doctors' names and numbers and cc them.  And this is going into a separate window and then coming back to the chart, not using just a keystroke to look them up.  I love the dictators.  They're very clear, and the supervisors are adequate, not overly helpful, but pretty nice.  Right now, I'm struggling to make $10 an hour.
Yes, hard at first but
you get used to it. I dropped 2 cents a line, but the company part of the taxes worked out equally. At least I don't have to pay in the quarterly taxes anymore! Not as much freedom but if you are with a good company it helps.
Not that hard
I do the acute care on 2 accounts. What I find with Keystrokes is the accounts I do are not 50/50 ESL. I don't mind ESLs but something is fishy with other companies I have worked for when I get over 50% ESL. I am not making a good living. I can't do it with 90% ESLs and I have 17 years experience.

I am now making a GOOD living and enjoy going to work every day. I have ESLs but they are the average ESLs, not every other dictation and the accent so thick I despair.

I have some hard dictators but I am making a good living and I haven't for over 5 years. I am also not the fastest typist but I am picky, and I am still making a good living. I work on Ex-Text and the Control I is not blocked. That being the case I can check constantly if I want. I am averagin between 1500 and 1700 lines if I turn the TV off, concentrate and work. Like I said, I am not the fastest typist, but I can live with those lines.
Don't be too hard on yourself, we
spend a lot of time researching words/equipment, looking up CC docs, checking old reports to get proper dictation, etc. You have to figure that in.
It really is hard to believe...
I have been gone now for at least a month, and I cant believe how unaffected my life has been. I mean, I wouldnt leave MQ because I was afraid that I would have to start all over again and worry more about income, etc., etc. Well, stupid me, I shoulda, shoulda, ad. infinitum...
Hard to believe.
nm
not hard
The test was just a general test but beware. I took it along with two friends of mine and they told all of us we failed (we took it for QA/QC) and offered us by line VR jobs instead of hourly.  Then a month later, got called back for an interview for QA, then the next week told they hired somebody else.  Then I got an email asking if I was still interested in a position. I didn't even bother to answer.  There's got to be a reason they are always hiring for every position.
I tried really hard to believe this, but SM

I'm still trying to get past why anyone there would spend all that time and energy doing something like this when they could have just let you go.  They don't have to have cause to let you go.  


Before you call me a cheerleader for All Type, know that I have my own not-so-pleasant experience with them.  I just don't believe they (or any company) has the amount of time to do something like this.  Bottom line.  If you are as good as you say you are, then you should be employed by the beginning of next week.  Don't waste any more time on this, just apply to some companies. 


What is so hard to think out?
OP said people letting work go VR WITHOUT correcting it because otherwise they would be DOCKED. Again, I would not work at any place that wanted to dock my money and secondly you are not much of an MT to just let any and all mistakes go thru so you can make the $$. Oh, by the way hubby NEVER tells me or else.
It is hard!

My first two children, who are 11 months apart, made it very difficult to work at home.  They are 8 and 9 now... and they are SO easy now... because they play with their neighborhood kids a lot and dont really bother me much.  however, I just had a baby and she is very demanding, of course, like all babies are.  You cant neglect them.... so you have to squeeze in your time here and there... Sometimes I do 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, as much as I can throughout the day.  Then when my hsuband is home I will work a pretty long stretch... I also work at night to finish up my work for the day.  It is hard, very hard.  I feel like I am working ALL the time... Because even when you are not working, it is hanging over your head and you end up being stressed, wondering if you will be able to get the work done on time. 


My first two children will always remember their childhood as their mom working all the time.. because that is how it feels.


My husband goes to work, puts in his nine hours and comes home and it is all over... 


If I could afford day care they would definitely be enrolled. 


Hard to believe . . .
I believe you hit the proverbial nail on the head there when you asked if Larry deliberately minimized the percentage to be deceptive . . .
Hard to get a job now, only very low sm
paying companies hiring.
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...
Think long and hard.

Do you want to work for a company that doesn't pay any down time for a platform that goes down almost every day? Even when it's working, it has significant sound quality problems.  Do you want to wait an entire year before getting even one minute of PTO?  Account instructions that are pages and pages long, very confusing and poorly written?  Do you want to do VR or transcribe?  Did they mention their goal of getting most if not all accounts on voice recognition, and then they're going to pay you roughly half of what they promised you now?


A higher line rate is only good if you can get lines, don't run out of work and work a platform that's Transcriptionist friendly and doesn't go down every other hour.  Unfortunately, you're not going to find those things at Transcend.  Maybe they're hiring you to replace me because I couldn't take it any longer and accepted a job offer for what seemed like less money, but I feel I'll wind up making more if I don't have to deal with all the problems I just mentioned.


They pay every other Friday. How hard is that
duh!
A LITTLE hard to understand????
Did you ever figure out how much you would have been paid on the report you just edited and ALMOST COMPLETELY RETYPED compared to your editing pay????
Why is it so hard to get speed
with that company, are they on a slow system or something?
the lines are hard
x
So easy to say, so hard to do. If you were going to do
it, you would have already. It is so much easier to bash companies and service owners than to do it yourself. Just like armchair quarterbacks. If you had the time and talent to do it better yourself, wouldn't you?

I don't think they are hard to learn, but they are much more

technical in the terminology, lots of equipment and procedure names that change all the time.  It seems that each time a new batch of doctors come in that the terminology is different.  They come from other parts of the country/world and they used different equipment or different techniques.  Lots of stuff to look up - just like the new drugs. 


 


JLG did, but it was so ridiculously hard that
I turned them down flat. Some places expect you to know things only a dr would!
Many posts about it being very hard to get
lines because of the way they count them, supposed deducts for low QA, frequently switched from one account to another, they are in the process of training MTs in Trinidad, so obviously they support offshoring. 
That's extremely hard to believe
xx
The ESRs are really hard, but you won't get them sm
on the low level 3 ER accounts. Those are really easy. If I were you, I would test for level 4. Much more potential for money. What cpl did they offer you?
Hard decision.......
My heart would be heavy, but if it is inside information you probably are thought to keep it confidential NO MATTER WHAT, just like if you typed a report on your neighbor and found out they had HIV----IT IS CONFIDENTIAL. I think you should keep quiet about it, even though it will hurt your heart.
Is it hard to get lines in.
or is it just me.  I have been typing all day and only have 300 lines.  I am using their Merit system.   At my other job, usually after 4 hours I have 500 to 600 lines.  Maybe I am just not used to their plateform yet.  Good thing I am still on hourly.  I would starve to death if I were on line count.
It is hard to get lines anyway, but....
It is easier for a company to manipulate lines if you have to go to the Dicataphone web site you get your bulk lines, with reports not broken down, i.e., 1000 lines, 25 reports. At least if you can verify you have 25 reports on their line counter and what you wrote down, you can always copy your reports from Ex-Text (it is word based), go into your Word (outside of Ex-Text) and verify the line counts, maybe spot check them, or you can ask your trainer how to check the line count after you have finished it and click on the doctor or the patient, it gives the line count for that job. (to me a lot of wasted time but it is a way to verify). I'm sorry, I do not trust a company who will not let you verify the # of reports with the amount of lines you have done. What if 2 to 3 reports are dropped? You have no way of telling them that report did not show up on your line count. That means your WORKED FREE, and they got the total line count, or someone else redid your report.

I found if I had to go the Dictaphone web site to get my conglomerate line count for the day, at the end of the pay period and I got my check I was usually shocked, it was way lower than if I can go into Sessions, the same screen you click on to go into the demographics. There is shows how many reports (the # of reports for that specific time and the line count) you have done and the total lines and it is quick.

There must be a reason some companies don't use it and I think it is because they know you can't verify how many reports you have done. To me that is dishonest with a capital D.

You will find with most companies using Ex-Text that Sessions is blocked for your use, thus, you cannot get the # of reports you have done in a day.


It's a hard time for all of us
I know every one of us involved is very torn, stressed out and I think we should cut one another some slack.

A big huge to all my fellow DRCer's. RIP, DRC.
Well sir then just let everybody learn the hard way
Give it a try, see if we're all lying and making this up. There are simply too many people that can confirm the same facts my dear. You will hear the same story over and over and over again. This is such a big fat lie that you're telling. I hope nobody buys into it.
It's really not hard to understand (sm)

When people pitch in and help, they get within the TAT again (especially at the end of a pay period) It's not rocket science.


Are you that hard up for a job? Maybe OSi will suit you.
good luck
You are trying a little too hard. Give it
xx
Thanks so much...As usual trying to do it the hard way
xx
old habits die hard
I have the {BKSP}-year-old expansion too, but I used to work on DQS and I just cannot get used to having to put the space between the number and yo. I add each age as they come up in reports, not actually entering 1 - 105. I agree that would be painful!
hard drive
If you just delete the icon or link to it, yes, it will still be on your hard drive. If you go into Control Panel and Remove Program it will be deleted from the hard drive.
why the hard knocks on TTS?
I've been reading these boards for awhile now and I have noticed some very, very bad stuff being said about TTS.  I am just wondering why.  I have worked for them now for a couple of months and have had nothing but a great experience.  When I was talking with the recruiter before being hired she did saw that the did pretty much do an overall so that things would run more smoothly.  Well I think they did a great job!  I don't get nagged by IMs, at the beginning they would check in with me via IM to see how I was doing and if I needed help with anything.  Linda has always been very prompt with any tech issues I might have (which were really just in the beginning with set-up).  I think the pay is fair, not it's not the 14 cents per line I was making on my own personal accounts but then again they went to electronic med. records and no longer needed my services so I think my pay now is better than 0 cpl.  Anyhow, I was just wondering why all the negativity.  Have a great day!
the hard part...
is actually getting a job there. They are so popular and liked so much by everyone, they practically never post jobs on this site. I should be so lucky!
Like the other person said, hard to tell

Never had downtime like this before, but at this point I'm not even seeing updates, let alone info about what we are going to do once the system is up again.


I know we get bombarded with emails every time there is work going late, so I can only imagine the panic that is going to set in once we are up and running. My guess is we will all be expected to work as much as humanly possible to get caught up with no offer of incentives, but maybe I'll be surprised. 


It is very hard to find an IC job

IC jobs leave a lot to be desired especially with these MTSOs.  They can save money by hiring ICs, but then want to control you.  So, of course, if you mention that you want to set your own hours they back off. 


I had one tell me (I have 20 years of experience) that they don't set hours, but I would be required to transcribe 3 days a week and the line count had to meet I think it was 3,000 lines.  I had to tell them which 3 days I would be working.  So, I figure that's talking out of both sides of your mouth.  In other words, the me setting my own schedule bit is within that 24-hour timeframe or whatever. 


Then I decided to transcribe from a pool, which works well other than the fact that most of the work is gone in a jiffy, so I have to be on my toes.  If something comes up that day, then I'm fried and have to work into the evening.


Good luck to you finding a part-time IC job that you only work nights and isn't ESL and very low pay.  A lot of these companies don't even want part-time workers.  Also, some MTSOs want you to take an assigned physician (but you can type whenever you want).  What a joke!   


They way overhire and it can be very hard

to get lines because there isn't work.  Some accounts have tons of work, but they won't let them be used as backup accounts.  They do pay on time and if there is a holiday on payday they pay before.   FT is considered 35 hours.  You have a 12-hour window to do the work.   They do expect you to work your schedule to cover TAT, although due to overhiring there frequently may not be work on your shift to get your hours in and they do expect you to make them up - but because they overhire it may not be possible to do. 


I think you could do worse, though they have lots of room for improvement.  There are some dips for STMS, which is your main contact, which may make your experience good/bad. 


I find that hard to believe.
I honestly wish the MTs there nothing but the best, some are friends. I don't think there is any other major MT company that is doing things like MQ is. Whoever is running it now has driven it into the ground. They have some crazy ideas on how to run that company.
I still say that it is hard to plan for how much sm
work is going to come in, esp on a new acct. Exploitation is a pretty harsh word; if it wasn't for them trying to keep in TAT and keep their clients happy, you wouldn't have a job at all.