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Tell me about it. A doc I see, his front desk secretary's (sm)

Posted By: ready to give us a true love for sake of self dign on 2008-07-19
In Reply to: Sounds like the natives are restless - MTME

duties include: answering the phone, which barely rings, and surfing the net. That's the easiest $14.00 per hour job I've seen. We're busting our butts for pennies and she's doing practically nothing. Are we insane? What is it with us? Why do we allow ourselves to accept these insulting ridiculously low wages?


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I've learned that it is exactly that - a store front. Or maybe just a front. nm
,
It felt more like a secretary.
I lasted only a month.  I felt more like a secretary than an MT.  The amount of demos and information that had to be searched before you begin transcribing was unreal.  QA also picked everything to death. 
I had one similar, no MT experience but was a legal secretary
she demanded testing so I finally said okay come to the office and take the test. She was there the entire day and typed about 4 pages! When I called her to tell her she failed (really bad I might add) she told me that was impossible. I emailed her the corrected test and never heard from her again. THEN! Apparently another recruiter at the company I worked for later hired her, I saw her name on the list of MTs and I nearly fainted... lol
she used to be the secretary for the chief cheese -- no clue!!! don't do it.
xx
HR Department at Keystrokes is a director, a clerk/secretary sm
and a recruiter. The director is new but only does the legal stuff and is working on the benefits package, etc. The clerk is doing the paperwork. The recruiter is doing the recruiting, interviewing, checking references, passing hire info on. The pieces are in place now and you just validated what has just been put in place. I know there is talk of a second recruiter, one for radiology and one for medical records, but I think this is still in the baby stages. The HR Director heads the department but will not recruit.
help desk
yes, that doesn't do any good when they only accounts they give you (or even have) are all overflow, they can't just make it appear out of nowhere!!!
Chained to desk
I didn't say you were lying; you may very well have felt that you were chained to the desk. But it's not true that you have to clock out every time you take a break. I don't feel "chained" in any way. I also feel that I'm making decent money. Spheris employs close to 5,000 MT's,and I'm sure some are not happy. Probably most of them are, though, or they wouldn't stay. There are unhappy people in every company, in every business. Not every company is a good fit for everyone, but to call Spheris a "bad" company doesn't make a bit of sense to me. I think it's quite a good company.
better a desk clock

than a time bomb attached to aforesaid desk clock or even worse a pound of headcheese.


 


What about MT Desk? They are free and very
nm
Chained 2 desk, I hear...
Figuratively speaking of course - but it stands out in my mind that someone said U have to clock in and out to go to the bathroom - yuck. No way, Jose, that's why I left the office!
Does anyone have the # to Spheris Help Desk? My TWS will not open. TIA
x
As long as it's not a desk clock...
I got that from my (ex) company for Christmas one year. Stupidest gift ever.

When I worked in an office, we played games with prizes and ordered in lunch each day, but since I've been at home, I've appreciated gift cards.

I got a very pretty handmade card one year with a gift card and I really appreciated that.
Yes, supposed to notify help desk
Every time we run out of work (or at least the first time each day) we're supposed to let them know, because it helps them document workflow issues.  So if OP is always out of work at certain times, her supe would be made aware of it through the help desk, and see a pattern.
I already know 1 person who died at her desk, and
If MT continues the way it's been going, I'm sure those 2 numbers will go up.
If you work for Precyse now, try calling the help desk, if not sm...

If you're not with Precyse now, you work on one of their PCs with everything already loaded.  My best guess would be to say "no, you can't use a laptop", but I never had to use one, so don't quote me on that. 


Hope this helps some


Me too! Got 3 foot pedals under my desk - lots of fun!!
X
My wave pedal would not work..have 2 under my desk.
Had to buy the compatable pedal for Emdat then ended up hating Emdat....
you will if its their problem, call Help Desk, get ticket #.
nm
No one is changed to desk or have to post potty breaks. Probably better than ever,
zz
Thanks for the information..I'm with you.. Not enough desk space or desire to pay a deposit
Probably pass too..
I am back in. The help desk at the hospital told me 10 minutes. nm
nm
I have 3 pedals hooked up under my desk! :) They're not the problem. Software
s
Kinda funny, they call themselves DTS America, but help desk calls are from India. sm
Otherwise, though, the people are good to deal with, pay on time.  I only worked part time, and my account was on ExText.  After 90 days, you can have direct deposit. 
Kinda funny, they call themselves DTS America, but help desk calls are from India. sm
Otherwise, though, the people are good to deal with, pay on time.  I only worked part time, and my account was on ExText.  After 90 days, you can have direct deposit.  I quit a couple of months ago and still get emails and phone calls asking for extra help, so maybe whoever said they are disorganized is correct.  I didn't care for the account I had, but my supervisor was great.
In the "old days", the machine on my desk that played the tapes was called the transciber. sm

People who type the dictation are called transcriptionists.  I realize in this new day and age where people would rather google, spell check and guess rather than look it up in a dictionary or other word reference and actually know the meaning of what they are typing, such things make little difference, but it means something to me.  I also have hated the word typist since I do so much more than just copy type.


I know ... pay me and you can call me anything is the predominating theory here.  I just have noted that it is usually the Indian-based company that uses the term transcriber.


They do tell you up front that they have a lot of ESL. At least they don't lie about it like mos
nm
I have it in front of me and it says
39 hours working 150 lph gets health insurance, 401K and PTO and soemthing called EAP (employee assistance plan-help with family situations?) 39 hours at 100 lph gets 401 K, PTO and EAP Part-time 24 hours with 100 lph gets 401K and PTO and EAP. 16 hours with 100 lph gets 401K, EAP. 8 hours with 100 lph gets 401K and EAP. You need a manual to understand this manual. hahaha. So you see how the lph plays into the benefits now, not just hours but lines per hour. you can work 39 hours and if you can't get 150 lph done you don't get health insurance.
LOL, I have always said I will die in front
x
I also ask up front if they do VR. sm
Haven't done it yet and I am not going to. I will get out of the business before I will do VR. There are still companies that dont do it and some of them I don't believe ever will.
So sorry about this, yes, they should have been up front with you about what was going on, but (sm)
the norm seems to be to keep quiet until everything is finalized, and then let the ball drop.  They should have had the decency to at least make a phone call, that was a nasty way to treat someone.  I would tell you to come with my company, but we have work shortages too, so I don't think it would help you.  Good luck, again!
Look, if you want up-front responses SM
from people, you need to be more up-front about who you are, what company you are hiring for, etc.
That was kind of them to tell you up front
instead of trying to sugar coat it like some do.
Why not ask for this IN WRITING up front?... SM
However, most of what you get in writing from MTSOs is (have you ever read a rental lease drawn up by LL/mgmt?) almost always in THEIR favor, whether it's an IC contract or employee agreement.  Ever notice how they hedge on where it comes to pay rate?  Mine states only compensation.... on an agreed-upon rate. Still, you could probably negotiate items that are important to you and not negotiable, like in your case, no typing, specific pay rate, hours, schedules.  If they refuse to state these in writing, don't count on being able to negotiate them later.
I was not told that up front . . .
that was the first excuse I got when asking about my check. I have been in this business a long time and this is the first and only time this has happened. Sometimes you can do everything right, but still get ripped off by unscrupulous people.
Perhaps sometimes, but so far these people have ALWAYS been up front with me. (sm)
I also have to admit that today I have had relatively few of those dictators that make you cringe, much less than what I usually get and I have to wonder if perhaps some people were not taking heed to the warning.
Be up front with the company.

I never had OP experience when I was with a hospital and was scared of them. When I went for a national job,  I told the company I was lacking in OPs.   When I felt a bit e comfortable with all the other acute care that I never had experience with (ophthamology, cancer, etc.), I asked to have a few ops downloaded to me to try them.


Now I don't turn down a single job and believe me, there are a few like the above I don't get too often, but when I do, I just take my time with them and try not to leave blanks. Sooner or later, they will all fall into place just like acute care; i.e., it will take a long time to get through the first few reports, but it's well worth it. I now like doing OPs and am happy when they download first in my queue.



If they'd tell us up front what is in store for us, they would
save us all a lot of time. Is it too much to ask to have an idea of the type of audio, dictation, the details that can make or break the enjoyment of a job? After 25 years, I have paid my dues and would like to have an account that is enjoyable, gives me an income I can live on and a management team that doesn't use the drill sargeant approach. What is up with all the rude attitudes? Maybe the account they acquired should either be dropped or charged more if no one wants to transcribe their work. That, in turn, would snap lazy inconsiderate dictators out of their mode of let the MT figure it out/look it up. While they rake in the money because time is money and when I am not typing in a report, folks, i am not making any money. The day I meet a woman/man who does this job as a hobby, I'll rethink my stand.
Front end VR is a mess
A radiology group went that way and they had to hire more IT people and one more MT to fix it. Not as successful as one would think. EMR point and click takes 20 minutes versus a few seconds to dictate. Plus more IT people.
They are an offshore company with a front in the US.
 
They are actually in India, have a store front
location in MA, not Maryland.
Yep, all quiet on the SS Management Front here...

They can't refute the truth about the company, can they? 


'cricket noises' ...  all quiet from J&R... 


AVOID THIS COMPANY.  THE END.


Many MTSOs state right up front
now when you apply that they are an At-Will Employer. In other words, they don't have to have a rhyme or reason for cutting you off at any given time or place.

So, you take the job knowing that you could be history at their whim even if you did your job very well.

Of course, management are all secure in their positions.

Could it get much worse???


Best advice...make her pay you up front before sm
you will even considering working another second longer, and then when she pays you RUN....
Front end speech not so great either
I used to work for a rad group that went to front end speech. The lead MT is a good friend of mine still. They mostly have inside MTs who transcribe and edit. Some of the docs absolutely refuse to use it and then others tolerate it. The real crux of the issue in this particular instance is that they got rid of their 3 outside MTs and kept all of their in-house to edit the mess but had to increase their IT staff by 5. So now the docs who bypass edit must spend more time making sure the machine is picking up their exact words (which they miss a lot. For instance, the machine can't seem to change degenerate into degenerative no matter how many times they correct it) so bottom line here is the docs must spend more time being concerned with the report and they must pay more for the pleasure!
where i live, everybody is jumping in front of
trains right and left, at an average of about 1-2 per day. that sure tells you where our heads are at in this country, huh? at least here, they cover you up afterward and dont go publishing the gory details. but maybe if we all hadnt been so screwed these past few years, it wouldnt be coming down to this.

and now the commuter trains are always late.
jumping in front of trains
and now the commuter trains are always late.

you are hilarious! i nearly choked on my coffee when i read this!
On the front page of my morning paper
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/214991
but what did that original message allow you to "know" up front?
like they failed to mention some employer contribution to HI, what KIND of insurance it is and all the other types of benefits they offer.

I always get minute details when chosing an employer, especially when it comes to HI (example: Is this a PPO/HMO/major med with huge deductible?) All sorts of questions were left unanswered when compared to looking at benefits on ads from other MTSOs.

JMO
Nearly all the offshore companies have front offices in the U.S. sm
Sometimes their actually hotel rooms.  They use international phone numbers and purchase a phone # in the U.S.  In point of fact, clients many times don't even know they are dealing with an offshore company.  The owner of this website has done extensive reseach and knows who offshores and who doesn't.  It isn't that hard to figure out when you start connecting the dots, i.e., visit the website and there is no place for MTs to apply. Almost all U.S. based companies have a place to apply.  Notice that all the offices, including those in other states, all have the same address and phone number.  And notice if you call that 24/7 phone number you always get a voice mail.  There are lots of ways to tell.   The offshoring companies are getting more sophisticated about how they work things.  And some hospitals are getting more persistent about not contracting with services who are offshore.  It's a shill game. Dishonest and deceitful. 
We should all start asking up front "If you are paying under 9 cpl for 10+ yrs exp. you better te

Heck no, it is not okay. But do you think they are going to start being up front and honest just
;P