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

It does not matter who you work for, a true QA person

Posted By: QA specialist who does not work there on 2006-01-26
In Reply to: curious about editing - Florida gal

who is worth their weight in gold, will NOT take a position that pays any other way than by the hour. It does not matter if it is regular QA or ASR, there is no difference. I have seen ASR where you have to retype the entire report; of course that also means that you have to take out what is already there. If you are a QA specialist and have 100% listen, many blanks (I see them in every report), difficult dictators (which is no problem with me but is with the MTs), there is no way on earth you will make a wage if you are paid on production and these companies that do this, do not give a hoot about quality and they also do not give a hoot about their QA people.


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

This is true. Shift does matter. I work 2nd shift and really have not had any issues with not havi
x
When I checked before, it absolutely didn't matter. Yes, a QA person or other
inside person could write it.

Why not give the AAMT a call and let us know what you find out? :) That's very interesting that Medware won 2 years in a row. Wouldn't you like to know how many people were in the running the years they won?
Very true! Being the honest person that I am - sm
I admitted that it was me. Funny thing is, I was told that I was going to get my check regardless and also sorry for the oversight. Something tells me I would have never seen a dime if I hadn't asked for it. Come on, a month later. How can you just forget?
True! I just hope the wrong person doesn't
get banned in error.
No matter who you work for
There is no variant in my opinion.  8 cpl does not equal 12 cpl.  Sorry to have to disagree, but even with the most glorious platform and dictator, 8 cpl is 8 cpl, and 8 cpl seems to be the going rate, so you could pick and choose at this point with any of these MTSOs if you want to settle for 8 cpl.  JMHO.
Does it matter? No work here anyway.

As a matter of fact, I'm out of work
right now. It happens everywhere occasionally. Only thing I don't like is, whenever I ask for a backup, I'm told that work is low across the board and to flex. I've seen people on here say, all you have to do is ask and they give you a backup account. Hasn't happened for me.
You know what? It is not a matter of not wanting to work (sm)
weekends. It is a matter of having a family and after working 6 to 12 hours a day during the week, it would be nice to be able to spend time with them.

I have been doing this for quite a while also, and I feel that I have put in my time for working weekends and really dont want to do it anymore. I would like to spend time with my kids. So if that makes me a prima donna for not wanting to work weekends and have someone else raise my kids, then so be it. I did not have them to pawn them off to someone else.
ExecuScribe - no matter what, they pay me on time and the work is always there.
NM
7 cpl is an insult - no matter what hours you work.
.
Doesnt matter how good the platform is without work does it.
:
Doesn't matter how nice they are, I wouldn't work
xx
Doesn't matter how many companies you work for. I'd like to know how you manage to do this???
What kind of work do you transcribe?

How many hours a day do you work?

What kind of line rate do you get from the companies you work for?

How many lines you do an hour?

Do you work as an IC or employee?

I'm very interested in hearing how you manage 100,000/year.
It would not matter that you complained to your company, they will just say, "there is no work
but the truth is, I want work, you want work. I don't know you, you don't know me (even in the same company). I doubt either of us will complain to anybody if we get work however we get it. You are right, we have families too and need the money. Companies lie all the time, making us job hoppers in a lot of cases because there is not enough work after hiring on that there was plenty, or we got all the ESLs and crummy dictation because we have more experience. That to me is taking money out of my pocket and playing bowling, handicapping me for transcriptionists who have not paid their dues. I don't make the rules but I don't have to continue to work for a company who does those things and there are a slew out there and they don't care if you quit. On the day you quit they already had an ad for more transcriptionists which is what amazes me. It costs money to train us for their platforms and they don't care when we say we have to quit because we aren't making money. No loyalty whatsoever with companies.
She does not work from her living room. Why would assume such a thing? Why would it matter to you
do not post things that you have no idea about. If you have a problem with KS or any company, why not ignore it and move on? Why does it concern you?
They do require urine drug testing for sure, no matter what accounts you work on, theirs or a hospit
.
Too little, too late? It is never too late. I am one person, true, but together

Let me tell what this ONE person achieved on her own and then you can imagine what many of us can do if we stand together.


Two years ago, I was working as an MT for a local hospital.  One day, we were told that our overflow was going to be outsourced to one of the nationals, just the discharge summaries and not even all of those.  Two months after they told us that lie, they called is in one by one and fired us because they were outsourcing the entire dept because it was cost effective.  The service they were using was a very large national who I happened to know had a reputation of offshoring.  And I just knew because our little hospital had easy as pie dictators with maybe 4 out of a staff of 200 that were ESL, our work would most definitely be one of the accounts offshored.


I was angry!  Oh, they offered us jobs at the service and told us we would definitely be working on our hospital, but I'm no fool and I knew it would be a matter of time before we were forced to take secondary accounts which would eventually become our primary accounts and our little hospital would just disappear from our queues. 


I refused the job with the service on moral grounds.  I refused to work for a company that offshored.  And then I decided to channel my anger and outrage into something proactive.  I wrote letters to every newspaper in my area.  Every small farming community newspaper this hospital served, and the big city newspaper in the big city close by.  I never dreamed that anyone would pay attention at one woman's rantings.  But a funny thing happened.  My letter was printed in more than one of the papers I sent it to, and reporter from one of the larger newspapers called me and asked if I would do an interview.  I said absolutely.


Long story short, they did the interview and then interviewed the administrator of the hospital.  They put him in the hot seat and asked him about offshoring health information to India.  He had no definitive answers to give except that he would have to look at the contract and make sure that it was stipulated that his hospital's work was not sent over seas.


It was a small triumph, but I took some satisfaction in it.  Two weeks after that and just when I thought all the hoopla had died on my little letter, another letter appeared in the newspaper -- from an HIM director at another local hospital who said as a result of reading my letter and interview, that she had received a number of calls from concerned people asking if their medical information was being sent and transcribed overseas.  She wanted to write the letter just to set the record straight that her hospital employed their own MTs and did not outsource to a service nor did they offshore any of their work to third-world countries.


And I'm still not done.  Still a few weeks later another letter in the big city paper was printed from another HIM director assuring the community that her hospital employed its own American MTs and did not outsource or offshore.


Now, everything has quieted down since then, but I managed to ruffle some feathers and make a point, and if I (one person, one middle-aged work-at-home mother of two) can cause that much ruckus -- think what a whole bunch of us can do.


I think we, as a group, need to take control of our industry and our career destiny and do something.  Maybe march on Washington DC protesting the offshoring of American jobs -- not just ours, but ALL American jobs that are being offshored.  There are more Americans out of work and losing work to third-world countries and corporate greed than just MTs!  Our government needs to hear our voices!  We need to MAKE ourselves be heard! 


Instead of sitting back and pasting little smiley faces in our posts and saying good luck with that we need to come together.  There is no room for MTs willing to accept lower wages, no room for MTs whose hearts bleed for our third-world counterparts, and no room for MTs who want to sit back and do nothing, but reap the benefits when the strong win the battle.  We've reached a critical turning point and it's time to take up the cause and change the future. 


Looking for the person that went to work for
How is everything going there?
What works for one person, may not work for you. You have
jkl
So the person who stated she was out of work was not
xx
To the person who wants to work for free
I have been a successful MT for three decades. I suggest that you: 1. Not work for free. People get what they pay for and besides, you are undermining hardworking MTs by this ill-conceived plan. Life is difficult enough for working MTs without being undercut by their own, or at least by a wannabe. 2. You need to learn basic proofreading skills. If you cannot proofread and eliminate the errors from your on-line ad for yourself, how will you proof the work I sub out to you? Why should I trust you with my clients' work? How you proof anything is how you proof everything. Not being critical, just trying to offer a helpful and practical view. Compete honestly in the marketplace, pay your dues, earn your place and don't give away the professionalism you are trying to develop. Good luck to you.
Advice: Go over your lead. Go to the next person up. There is work there. sm
I would call the office and talk to Karyn or Becky. Your lead might not be conveying the message for some reason. Sometimes they are too busy, sometimes they don't want to share someone. Just call. That's the only way to make it happen, and you will be glad you did!
I think this is the same person who complained about this before and she doesn't even work there
nm
Anger eats at a person and does not solve anything. You must be a joy to work with. sm
I also work for Keystrokes and based on a company-wide email that went out last night from the CEO, the OP will get some resolution. I personally love working there and that email just adds to my job satisfaction. I have made suggestions in the past that have sparked some changes, unlike the other big national I spent many years with. I like being heard, or at least listened to, and I feel that the owners and managers of Keystrokes really do have the best interest of the transcriptionists in mind.

Before I get blasted for this post, let me add that this is my personal experience and personal opinion. I know that not everyone has the same experience at every company and wish you all happiness in the company or companies that you work for.
Can you tell me how many hours a part time person is allowed to work. Does it specify that at all.
I didnt quite understand that 8, 16 and 24 hour thing. I thought part time as long as you cut off before the full time hours you can work them.
Aren't you a positive person? I suppose you work in the office at HIS. lol nm
x
I think it is one person. I had a few print outs from a few weeks ago and this person even capital
I have had a positive one. I have been with Keystrokes for 3 months and am very happy.

I printed them to show my manager but she told me that there are few bitter people out there and no one can do anything about them. My manager said that everyone can tell that it is the same few over and over again, for Keystrokes and a few other companies as well. Time to move on Ms. Anon. I cannot think why a company would go through the trouble of getting IDs and getting you installed just to ignore you after that. Doesn't make sense, does it? Are you sure that't the whole truth? You keep saying truth but it sounds fishy.
Exactly what I'm talking about RUDE! You are a very unhappy person. A happy person does not
respond in such a way!  This is the reason SS has such a bad name.
No one said KS was out of work or low on work. The opposite is true. sm
I have heard that every account is busy. My primary is and both my secondary accounts are looking for extra help.

Isn't MDI Florida part of Transcend now? Maybe the work is going to India. They are pretty open about that.
This is so true. I bet we all work for the
same company. I still think it is great work and great accounts, just with you and the OP, don't understand how we just cannot at least be made to feel secure in our jobs. Why the constant fear. Catch more flies with honey than vinegar, but then again, fear of the economy is also a threat.
I am not a hateful person but that person screamed at me for 45 minutes. sm
She said all transcriptionists are idiots.
true, at least they can work in their jammies...sm

That was in the ad that started me in this rant in the first place.  Stay home and stay in your slippers all day if you want.  No gas expense?  No uniform or clothing expense?  (I don't know about you but I do wear clothes regardless if I am working or not, LOL


  In the same paragraph...we are not a work when you want company. 


All transcriptionists are scheduled on a daily duty roster.  If a Transcriptionist is scheduled, then they are expected to be on working.  While working from home does allow for distractions, _______ requires that all schedules be upheld per the scheduled roster without exception.  This is not a “work when you want” corporation.


 


No, that's not true. They work with you. Yes, you have to be FT to get benefits. sm
but that is anywhere. They define FT by 12000 lines per period. They average it out. They take into consideration accounts, volume, slow periods, etc. If you are working FT and not getting the lines you need, they work with you to get there.

Someone is just trying to stir things up here, and I am not sure why, but it is very disheartening to see half-truths and lies about so many companies. I love working for Keystrokes. I average 2500-2700 lines per day but I have been doing this a long time and use my Expander for everything. I have an account that is considered a nightmare to some people, but I think that they come into it with a bad attitude. IMO, any account can be great once you get used to it, with Keystrokes or with any company, as long as the line count is accurate.
While it is true clients can set forth when the work is available
This particular ad stated these are straight shifts and not flexible. That is a no-no in IC, IMO. They can say when work is available but can't dictate what hours you work, period.
true, tho, would work for the painter. sm
painter - do not back down, have no fear, and stock up on gumption! We are all here with you as you represent ALL of us.


Yes, it's true you do not have to work weekends/nights
They let you choose your own work schedule when you start.  They use Dictaphone with Word.  It takes a bit of patience to get used to what you're supposed to do as far as finding the right visit or if the doctor inputs the wrong work type, etc., but as a program in general, it's simple to use.
True - Regardless of line rate, if the work isn't
flowing like you need/want it to, then you'll not make your goal.


They do not pay the MTs a true line count anyway. Why would anyone work for them? nm.
nm.
This is most certainly true. The work ethic has changed
And it is an old fashioned thing to stay, rather than throw away a long-term relationship or seek one out. Looking for something new and better rather than building seniority seems to be the ideal these days. I am not saying not to leave if something is wrong. Any intelligent person would do so. But to want longevity in a particular company that seems to be a thing of the past, not only in this business, but in many. Times change and people change. For me, bird in hand worth 2 in bush. :)
Not true - been doing clinic work for 8 years
and while yes, there are things such as px and other things you can make macros for, my docs say a lot of different things based on who the dictation is going to and what the problem is, also personal things pertaining to that patient. I have found OP notes have more of the same things in them than clinic notes and can make you more money.
That is not true on all accounts. Mine is always out of TAT with plenty of work.
The teaching hospital accounts are pretty busy all the time. Ask to be put on one.
True but I got news for ya - you aren't going to get steady work anywhere that way.-
An MTSO has an account to cover. Period. She will give the work to whomever is willing to be flexible enough to cover the account. Even an IC has to work within some framework, not just whenever I feel like it, right?
i don't find that to be true, i work there & haven't had problems with pay. sm
never have i encountered disorganization or rude people so far. maybe things have changed or wrong company?
Not true. There are many industries that pay according to "piece work" or commission or any n
employee positions as well. If you are to be paid whether there is work or not, you would have to be a set hourly rate, no extra pay for really good production hours, etc. As an MT, I would lose money if that is the way I was paid. In any given week, I average 26.50 per hour for the 40 hours, but some of those hours I make $40 and some I make nothing.
You can believe those on this board saying NO WORK at Transtech ! Absolutely true !!

Getting worse and worse every day.  They are going to VR at a VERY FAST PACE, which pays so little you cannot survive on the money UNLESS you work 60 hours a week OR are one of the supe's fav's that get the better dictators.


There is always an excuse by TT as to the low work, but remember that doesn't pay our creditors.  Work disappears in large chunks when were at getting almost out of TAT (if ever) so it is going somewhere.


TT is turning out to be like every other MT company out there - more and more executives/supervisors to pay and not a single penny raise for the MT -- much less provide work for the MT's on a consistent basis -- not near consistent basis.


very true... MT wages won't cover holiday work and sm
grocery stores, nurses, those people usually VOLUNTEER and are not forced into their shifts. Some people want to work on holidays and get DOUBLE or TRIPLE pay, not 9 cents a line to do an ESL that makes you $10 an hour. And what does Obama have to do with it?
NOT TRUE! I worked every account and all work types and couldn't
nm
That's not always true. I have been editing a Powerscribe account for 2 years. The work sm
has actually steadily increased due to fewer and fewer radiologists self-editing their own work.

I know of at least 4 other Powerscribe accounts at Keystrokes that are also increasing in volume for the same reason.

I am sorry that the account you were on with Webmedx went to total self-edit. I know that Keystrokes had a few that did that too, just not all of them.
Glad that's true for you for 8 years. Not true for many. I love the company, but I do run out of
as do many others. Wish I were as fortunate as you.
Not necessarily true. That is not a true test of skill.
Do you know how many people get others to take tests for them? It happens and it happens more often than you might think. The only skill that shows anyway is that you can do it.

We are actually more than a transcriptionist. We are specialists in our field and we are supposed to know some things regarding anatomy and physiology as a working base. That's how we can judge if a physician dictates something in accurately and many do because they can't pronounce or just are not thinking. That's why our skills of basic knowledge come into play and that means basic knowledge of body parts. If our job was just to sit there and type without thinking about what we are transcribing, then all patients are in trouble and this is just based on what I see as a QA person.

It's more than just knowing how to transcribe and some of the companies have discovered how to know what your basic knowledge is based on what you have picked up with your experience by utilizing your references etc. Hopefully that utilization of your references has taught you something that does stick in your head.

Beliefs like yours are just so far off base. You have to know what you are doing. It's not just about being able to listen and type. Base knowledge is a very important thing and the services have to find a way to know that knowledge base that is there in your head.


What does it matter what others do?
I don't believe you're an MTSO at all.