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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

MQ/KEYSTROKES/TRANSCEND

Posted By: anon on 2005-07-18
In Reply to:

I am tired of hearing about MQ. Everytime someone posts something (almost every time) it reverts to being a MQ bashing.  I think if there are so many disillusioned MTs at MQ, then perhaps the Administrator needs to make a new board one for all the unhappy MQ MT's, because I know most of us are all tired of reading how unhappy the MQ MT's are, and if they are so unhappy find another job.  It's not as if MT jobs cannot be found. A good MT can find a job!  I have 2, with 2 different companies and I love both companies and I make good money with both companies.  I work for Transcend, and think they are a great company, and also Keystrokes, and are equally as wonderful.  Lee could not be nicer to work for at Keystrokes, she is honest and upfront about everything. 


And if you keep your butt in the chair, you can make money!  Give MQ MTs their own board please!




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Did Keystrokes sell to Transcend? I thought Keystrokes was buying up companies sm
but I heard from another service owner that they sold out to Transcend. Anyone know if that happened?
We heard Transcend is buying Keystrokes next. I'm not working for Transcend. No Way !
nm
Did Keystrokes sell to Transcend? I thought Keystrokes was buying sm

small companies but another service owner told me that she heard that Keystrokes sold to Transcend.  Is this true? 


I posted this down below but meant to post it as a new thread.  Before I apply with them, I would like to know as I left Transcend a few months ago and do NOT want to get back into that mess.


No, Keystrokes did not sell to Transcend.
Not sure how all these rumors get out. Ridiculous
Keystrokes or Transcend....anyone have an opinion?

All input is appreciated.  Need to make a decision some time today.  Pros and cons for both, so looking for insight from those who have worked for either or both.


 


Thanks in advance!


keystrokes does not use offshore help, transcend
uses it a lot- one day you have work, the next day its slim pickins' - and you are left holding no paycheck. Transcend is ruthless and cares nothing about its MLS. It is just there for the dollar and you have to slave over a horrible platform, doing more clerical functions to get far less lines. My advice is to run from Transcend - masters of deceit- as fast as you can.
Transcend? Keystrokes? Good or bad?
Does anyone know anything about this company?  Keystrokes? 
Not true. Transcend tried to buy Keystrokes last year. sm
Keystrokes owners turned them down as they are not interested in selling and they are against offshore transcription. They are getting as big as Transcend, maybe even bigger, and they treat their employees a heck of a lot better!

Where do you get these rumors from? Not from anyone who knows.
Keystrokes is not as large as Transcend but they might be in the next few years. sm
Transcend has grown because they keep buying other companies, and Keystrokes does not do that. They have grown every year and still do because of getting new accounts and keeping the accounts they have.

Keystrokes is not in the $50M range; last I heard they were at $15M and will be in the $25M this year due to new accounts. They are very open about this, and also about the fact that they do not take on too much at once just for the sake of growing. They make sure that they are ready first.

Are they the perfect company? No, but they are better than any I have worked at since YOG. I have been at Keystrokes for 3 years. They continue to improve every year and have really worked through the issues they used to have including the insurance. The first year I worked for them, they were an OK company, the second year they were good, and this third year, they are great.

I am impressed with them because they still treat their employees as if they are a small company; we are not just a number to them. I am also impressed that they give more to their employees every year instead of taking things away, like a lot of other companies are doing.

I am happy at Keystrokes, as are over 400 of us. For those that are not or did not like working there in the past, I hope you find the company that works best for you.

Different strokes for different folks, but I have found the company that is best for me and plan on staying!
Transcend, Spheris, Keystrokes, Softscribe can

anybody give me the good and bad about these companies, as well as the platforms they use?  I'm thinking about adding on some part-time work to compensate for the lack of work at current MTSO.  I know there are a lot of companies out there, but these four seem to be discussed a lot.  However, it's hard to compare them when you have to jump all around the boards to find out information.  If anybody has other MTSOs besides these four that I should stay away from or definitely submit a resume to, please post that too.


 


Transcend, Spheris, Keystrokes, Softscribe can

anybody give me the good and bad about these companies, as well as the platforms they use?  I'm thinking about adding on some part-time work to compensate for the lack of work at current MTSO.  I know there are a lot of companies out there, but these four seem to be discussed a lot.  However, it's hard to compare them when you have to jump all around the boards to find out information.  If anybody has other MTSOs besides these four that I should stay away from or definitely submit a resume to, please post that too.


 


Transcend bought MDI, so if Transcend sends work offshore, so does MDI. nm
nm
keystrokes ad..can someone tell keystrokes their banner ad needs a hyphen...quality-minded
nm
If MDI-FL is owned by Transcend and Transcend admittingly offshores, sm
then doesn't that make MDI a company that offshores? That's like saying that one branch of a company offshores but another does not, so they are excluded from the offshore label. If MDI-FL is part of Transcend and Transcend offshores, that means that they do.
RE: If MDI-FL is owned by Transcend and Transcend admittingly offshores, sm
Your hypothesis is incorrect. MDI is a wholly independent subsidary of Transcend, therefore, they were not a part of the experiment to offshore to evaluate cost/benefit ratio that Transcend only tried for 90 days (I believe the evaluation process is not still ongoing).
Not only that, but I would MUCH rather work for Keystrokes than Spheris as Keystrokes doesn't

Only Keystrokes. Worked at MQ until I came to Keystrokes. Started at sm
Keystrokes PT, liked what I saw and experienced, gave notice to MQ and went FT. Have not look back since. I had previously worked at 2 hospitals, for MDI, Transcend and MRC until bought by MQ. I plan on retiring here as long as they stay as they are.
No, Not with Keystrokes, visiting friend and using her pc, she got job with Keystrokes
I forgot to change the Name. I do not think Keystrokes is hiring anymore now. Would like some info about Diskriter though.
Ditto, Keystrokes is a wonderful company with wonderful people! I love working for Keystrokes!
I am just not making enough money.  They are a great company though, just ask for a back up account.
It is not Transcend. Transcend has not had control of
the accounts long enough to make any changes to anything. Maybe your account just slowed down like a lot of others did over the last few weeks. Everything will run status quo for a few months before any major changes are implemented. And give Transcend a chance. It is a good place to work and you will finally have some benefits that you will enjoy.
Been with Keystrokes staying with Keystrokes

I was there for the promises and guess what Keystrokes is making good on those promises. 


I get vacation time, 401K, and even AFLAC.  My pay is great, always on time as well as accurate. 


I have my main account and have been given back up accounts for which I have been fully trained and am comfortable typing on.  I have great leads, great tech support and plenty of work.


Am I biased???  Yes I am biased.  I am grateful everyday that I was given the opportunity to work for Keystrokes and their team.  I am grateful that my company's owner is a fellow Transcriptionist that goes home at the end of the day and works like the rest of us so she knows what a hard job I have and I know that she is working to make things better for me because unlike other companies I have worked for she understands what it is I do.


Please accept my apologies that you were unhappy with Keystrokes and chose to move on before all of the promises came to fruition but don't begrudge those of us that stayed loyal and are now reaping the benefits of a GREAT COMPANY WITH GREAT BENEFITS, LOTS OF WORK AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE GREAT THINGS TO COME!


I just want to say Thank you Lee, Jeff, Becky, Karyn, Martha, Annette, Paul and everybody else in the office for all that you do.


Keystrokes does not go by keystrokes, we go by lines. sm
1200 lines per day comes out to 150 lines per hour. Most transcriptionists are able to do 200-250 lines per hour, so this is not unrealistic, nor is it unreasonable. The hospital that I used to work at prior to coming to Keystrokes had a minimum of 185 lines per hour. The service I worked for prior to Keystrokes had a minimum of 200 lines per hour.
Transcend
I just got an email from an MT who loves Transcend. She told me she gets 15,000 lines per pay period as she gets a lot of VR (voice recognition)reports.

She gets around 8 cents a line for a report she has to transcribe "from scratch," but if she gets a VR report, she only gets 5.5 cents a line.

However, she says even with the 5.5/line, she makes 15,000 lines a pay period as the VR reports are very quick and easy to do. She did not mention anything overall about Transcend; just that she really likes her job and the lines she's able to get each day. I am looking for an MT job, but it's really hard as you have no idea what you will end up with even if you do get hired.

You might get terrible dictation, no VR reports, templates, etc. Or some of them require you to have your own equipment which I would prefer to use their equipment.

Does anyone know who is hiring?
Enough about Transcend.
I know, let's pick on another company for S&G's!
x-transcend
Webmedx and Amphion.
transcend
The forum at transcend is full of people angry and complaining bitterly about the new platform and the horrible sound quality. Someone said she had worked on an account for 10 years and now cannot understand the people she has always transcribed. And as for getting ahead, there are a select group of people who are taken care of at Transcend and newbies are part of that, they get raises because they get the easiest work picked out for them. You wont see them with foreign doctors or short reports or the same crappy work day after long day. If it is so wonderful why did a person that left another large company to be a supervisor only stay about 4 weeks and she is already gone??? Probably because once she was in her position, she had morals and could not believe the unfairness with which work is "doled out" and saved and while others never get a break. there is not one thing fair about assigning work and there never will be!!! This is a voice recognition company that has no regard for people as human beings.
transcend
how can anyone think that a company that is going to voice recognition and cutting pay in half, from 8 cents to 5.5 to edit, how can that be good for transcriptionists anywhere. this is all about them making a profit off of your back. For years transcriptionists have been underpaid, 6 cents, 7 cents, while owners of services make 25 cents or more a line and never share it. voice recognition just puts more in their pockets!!! It is just a new way to rip us off. Transcriptionists are the modern day factory workers, sweat shop laborers with no voice, no union, and we just keep taking it and they take our jobs away from us with voice recognition or cut our pay in half to have a job. If you call that fair, they you are in the right position. Nothing in our society goes backwards in price - except the pay of the transcriptionist!!!
transcend/mdi
I was just hired by them, starting training today. However, I'm only doing radiology-hope that is better. Anyone else out there with an opinion???
Transcend

Hi,


I hope you enjoy your training.  It is kinda rough the first day.  I don't know much about the radiology accounts at Transcend, but I do know that the people are very nice.  I had 2 weeks of a slow period, which was frustrating.  However, this happens at all companies from time to time.  Especially in the summer.  I know this because I have worked at other companies and have had the same slow time.  At Transcend, I never had to ask for another account, a secondary, one was offerred to me and I started right away on it.  I have a very good line count and make good money. 


I may have to take on other accounts in the future, I don't know.  If I do, then I will.  Transcend is not the only company that this happens at.  It is all in how you look at it also.  The more you can do, the more valuable you are to your company.  This will only benefit you.  Of course it is not ideal, but sometimes unavoidable.  Yes, it does slow you down but this is just at first.  You eventually become accustomed to your secondary, or whatever number account that it is for you, just like you did on your primary when first starting at Transcend.  I have found in my experience that the less flexible I am, the more limited I am.  In this line of work, that is not good. 


You will also hear about Transcend using VR.  I am getting ready to train on that.  I hear horror stories about the whole thing and I am sure that it is everything that everyone says it is.  But the thing is, a lot of companies are going to be using it.  Maybe not all of them, but a lot.  It is a step towards the future and we have to learn to accept that.  I am not worried about doing it.  If I have to work longer hours for a while to get used to it and get my $$ back where it was, then so be it.  I believe that this too will be something that an MT can get used to and become good at, just like having multiple accounts. 


All I know is, at Transcend, I have always been paid on time, paid well, never had a check bounce, and I have not ever been lied to or mislead.  This is my experience and my opinion.  Good luck to you!


transcend/mdi
I was hired for Fri-Mon. Was told they have little coverage at that time. Not true???
MDI/Transcend
Wre they the same company or 2 different companies?  They are being lumped together a lot in posts.
MDI/Transcend
MDI was bought out by Transcend, but they work as a separate entity. It's like Time Warner and AOL.
Transcend/MDI
All the posts are too far down.  I can't keep up with all the drama way down there, so I thought we could bring it up here where it's easier to find! 
Which one MDI or Transcend?
nm
MDI/TRANSCEND
And if MDI/Transcend do become one company, I'm out the door....Transcend was a horrible place to work, and I would hate to see that happen to MDI. While it's not the perfect place, it beats Transcend all to he@@...
TRANSCEND
I do not work for Transcend, but have done my research!.  Has anyone stopped to look up info on Transcend?  Note that all upper management is comprised of men, and their salaries are all over $200K a year and then there's one AM who's salary is $200+K a year plus something like $10K bonuses every quarter, yeah, and they aren't making any money!  And here we all sit typing our fingers to the bone, barely ekking out a living while some CEO of a company, who by the way is not an MT, and has never transcribed, literally forgets that we are the back bone of his company, while upper management collects their 6 figure incomes, and forgets to recognize that without US he would have no 6 figure income!  Gee, how many lines is 200K????? It's all pubic information!  The good side is offshore!
Okay first it was MDI-FL, Transcend, MQ, SS
and now KS! The post below me is starting it now with Spheris. What is up with all of this? We all know that each and every company has their issues. We get it already. People are bashed on here if they say something good about a company, because they must be management, or if they say something bad, because they must be disgruntled. We all will not have the same experiences. Different strokes for different folks! I have worked for 4 of the companies listed above and have had a different experience with all of them. A few I would not go back to at all and 1 I have; however, just because Joe Blow had a better experience than I did doesn't mean I get on here to bash that person and INSIST they must be lying about their experience.

Can we all just agree to disagree on certain issues?
Transcend

To the questions about 20,000 lines per pay period, I noticed that the poster(s) are not saying whether that is post escription lines or preescription lines.  Beyond Text, or the other platforms that Transcend has.  In order to answer, these questions have to be more specific as to what platform someone is working on.


I get 20,000 lines per pay period, however, that's after they do the conversion rate on my account and take 20% of those total lines. Standard = transcribed.  Edited = VR lines.  And that puts me in the incentive.  The incentive Transcend has it the BEST in the business, and it is attainable. And they pay a shift diff for both weekend days, which I work to get the shif diff.


There's lots of questions of what to do when work is low, well work is not always low, and you have to go with the flow and work as hard as you can and  keep your butt in the chair, and not do dishes, laundry, clean, watch TV, play with the kids, visit with your husband, boyfriend, significant other, or any other activity that takes away from truly being productive.  Then when work is slow, there is less headache of worrying about whether to get your lines or not.  And NO I am not one of those people who works "off the clock" that only hurts all MTs in the long run.  I work my 8 hours, no more no less on the days I am scheduled.  However, if I missed some hours because of running out of work or slow work, I will get prior approval BEFORE I come on to make up the time, or wait until late when no one wants to work, which is usually between 6p and 9p.  Always with prior approval!


What I do is email my supervisor and ask her if it is alright to adjust my hours to accommodate the the flow of work.  There is also a tool on the internet with Transcend to see when everyone's schedule and to be fair what I do is work when there is very little coverage, or hours when there is a break in coverage, that ensures that there is work, but you have to be flexible.  I have found that many of the MTs that work and complain about not getting their lines want banking hours, and this is not a 9-5 job, M-F.  I work BOTH weekend days and ALWAYS have plenty of work.  In the few months that I have been with Transcend work was slow on one weekend day, otherwise I can manage to get usually about 3000 lines per day on the weekends, now that's VR and transcribed lines combined, and NO I am not typing 3000 lines, but remember there's a conversion formula.  I usually work a split shift on the weekends, there's work in there in the a.m. and then I start up in the afternoon (when NO ONE is around) on the weekends, and I have plenty of lines on the weekend evenings. That's how you get your lines, you work the hours no one wants. 


And a comment to the posters down further on the board.  Everyone is correct about speaking up.  So few people do that, and chose to fly "under the radar" because of fear of "making waves."  Well, there are those of us who make the waves, and do not fly under the radar, and we are the people that help make it better for those who want to sit back and put negative posts on these boards, but do nothing to make it better.  It's like the people who complain about who we put in office, but they do not VOTE!  If you do not vote, you have no say in what happens.  That one vote could make a difference, and the same with MT.  We need to be more unified as MTs and then the nationals might sit up and listen.  We need to refuse to transcribe, edit, etc., all these horrible dictators for the ridiculous rate of money they offer, if we all got together and stuck together and had ONE VOICE, we WOULD MAKE  a DIFFERENCE!  I have been very successful in this business for almost 30 years, and have been in management in 2 soon to be 3 companies, and the only way I got where I am is to SPEAK UP and get noticed!  Otherwise, you are just another stereotyped warm body in stretch pants with a cigarette hanging out your mouth and a beehive hairdo to these companies.  (Nothing wrong with stretch pants, beehive hairdos nor cigarettes either, if that is your choice, to each his own) but that is how most nationals see transcriptionists, and that is just not so. 


Do not let anyone tell you that it is a "privilege" to work at home.  It is not a privilege, it is the only arena for us to work in because almost all transcription is done in the virtual office.  So it is no longer a privilege and I will correct anyone who makes that statement.  If you do not work at home, you most likely cannot be an MT.


Most of us are well educated, intelligent women, who love our families, who love what we do, and enjoy transcription.  But we can't make any changes if people do not "vote."


I am management, but not at Transcend.


 


Transcend
Transcend does not pay 10 cpl anymore.
Transcend

Just curious.


Does Transcend have a "honeymoon" period or bait and switch like some other larger companies I've heard of and do they overstaff accounts with MTs?  And, if you know, do they cherry-pick like some others I've heard of?  TIA.


RE: Transcend
No to all of the above.
same transcend
I just saw 2 posts on there just from looking today about how they loved beyond text.  They did have some static on a few jobs and didnt like that but did like the platform other than that.   Some people do like it, some don't.  Good luck to you. 
transcend job
Was just offered a job with Transcend a 8 cpl...after reading all the negatives about this company and seeing all the positions they are looking to fill, I'm really starting to think I should look for another company??
Maybe PT for Transcend

since work is so low and go ahead and start with Amphion, see if you like it better, and then maybe make the switch.  If I were you, I wouldnt put all my eggs in one basket in this business.  Or maybe PT with Amphion to see if you like it first.  But I definitely would not rely on Transcend for my bread and butter since they have shown just how much they think of their MTs lately with the pitiful new platform, low work volumes but continual hiring of MTs, etc., etc.


I agree-get out while you can!!!


Transcend.....sm

I see that some people have made negative posts on this board about Transcend.  I've been with the company for a long time and have been using the editing platform for several months now.  At first I was concerned about what it would really do/not do; however, I've learned to love it and now am glad that I've made the change to editing reports (as well as transcribing some that aren't on editing yet).  


Transcend announced last week that they're providing a word Expander program to those moving to the editing program free of charge, and it's a great program that would retail for $100.  


Therefore I encourage anyone reading posts about this company to remember that there are plenty of us happy on this new format.  I know because I've talked with many peers on it who have been on it as long as I have and we all have the same sentiments. 


Well you should go to Transcend if you like $8/hr...nm
nm
Transcend - sm
If you searched the archives and STILL accepted a job wiht them, I'm amazed that you ask if they have work. The archives are full of posts about NO work at this company. Be prepared to babysit your PC waiting for work because they run out constantly.
About Transcend
I left after many years for lack of work, but apparently a lot of the new hires are getting plenty, so I can't tell you in all honesty that you won't have enough work. There seem to be plenty of people who are happy enough there for the moment.
Ex-Transcend x3
I have been hired and quit Transcend 3 times because of lack of work. They overhire, and one time, they had no work for me during training. It took 3 weeks to accumulate 40 hours of training pay. They are transitioning to VR and will be paying about 4 cents per line. They are notoriously out of work, and many people have left for this reason.
It is the same as transcend's.
x
Transcend

The ad on the job board says IC for 90 days and then if satisfactory, transfer to employee - does this mean you work 6 months before being eligible for insurance, rather than the normal 3 months?