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Ummm, thinking twice already (sm)

Posted By: Have to ask on 2005-11-03
In Reply to: well I was lucky, the base rate is 6 but my mom used to know one of the owners - and he added a little extra which I really appreci

Not going to take my 10 years experience anywhere and be paid less than a trainee new grad from high school because her mom knows some guy.  No offense to you but I'm offended honestly.  Call me old fashioned but I want to be hired and paid based on what I know and not who I know.  Where are the honest companies that will pay for experience ??????????????????????  I mean obviously you caught a break but this is distasteful to me and frankly turns me off towards this company.  Just dropped an account I loved because the managers and owner have no MT background, can hardly spell, but are all chummy friends who allow cherrypicking and all sorts of crap based on favortism...not signing up for that again. 


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    At first I was thinking that you were being unrealistic, not thinking about taxes, benefits, etc. bu
    surprised to find that you are not asking the moon. Let me clarify a few things: Rates charged are not as high as 0.25 per line, but no one that has U.S. employees goes as low as 0.115 or they would not be able to pay their bills. A more realistic range is 0.125-0.165, and that top end is hard to find, most falling at 0.14-0.15 per line.

    The rates of pay you propose are very reasonable IF the following is true: These are seasoned MTs who do not need a lot of hand-holding, QA or blanks filled in, unless a very difficult/impossible doctor.

    How about a scale based on experience and accuracy of 0.09 - 0.105 per line (acute care), and $1.15-$1.30 per report (radiology)?

    The VR one is tough as everyone, MTs and MTSOs and facilities are still feeling their way on this. As an MTSO who was an MT, I feel that VR editing is as difficult to do as regular transcription. I don't think that it should be substantially less pay or charged less as the end product is still the same.

    Funny thing here? My company already follows that scale. We should work together, not at odds, to reinforce this industry and bring it back to where it should be, right here in the U.S.A. with a decent paycheck.
    UMMM
    Well when you are told to be careful and ask questions, that is when you need to a QA person, which you are told are available to you at all times. And if that person did not have the skills, I doubt OSi would have hired her in the first place. QA can pick on whatever they want with OSI. They are the "Gods" of transcription. Get real
    Ummm....
    And you're griping why? It was YOUR choice to be an SE. OSi didn't choose that for you. At the time you are hired you are told SEs don't get the same benefits as employees. DUH!
    Ummm...no. Obviously not.
    There are certain circumstances where it is understandable that someone left a job or has multiple jobs on a resume. I don't necessarily see that as job hopping. That's just survival. As I said below, it's fairly easy to spot the job hoppers as opposed to legitimate job changeovers.

    A little advice, though. If you only worked somewhere a few months and it didn't work out and you had legit reasons for quitting, sometimes it's best to leave it off your resume. It's not a huge benefit to your experience and it might serve to make you look unsteady. You can still say you have some degree of experience in that specialty or whatever, but there are just times where it's best to just omit the small stuff. I think we've all been there -- got hired on my some small MTSO that didn't pay and left soon after. I don't even include those on my resume because it was just so inconsequential.
    ummm... no
    That is what the AZ MT said. She said I said a lot of things. Which are incorrect. I never said I spoke to the owner. She just assumes it, or hears what she wants, or is spreading her fair share of lies herself.
    ummm not at all!
    nm
    Ummm....

    Ummm...it's my DAY OFF
    ever heard of those??? Keystrokes does give us days off. Amazing, huh?
    ummm sm
    My rate last year was 0.9 cents a line. I worked an average of 6 hrs a day. I grossed $36K.

    I took a pay cut...initially...with a new company this year. At my usual 16-17K lines every 2 weeks (now that I am up to speed) I get 9.25 cents with incentive. I work an 8-hour day, but the money is better $150 a day? I don't have the calculator out right now. That is what? $750 a week? Yup and $3000 a month, $36K for the year. Though this last week I did a bit better than that. I have been with my new company right at 2 months and quit my sucky part time job, so my lines are going up. Shooting for 2000 lines a day over the next month or so, be where I want to be then, and my line rate will go up yet again when I get this done.

    It didn't come with food stamps...but I can manage on $36K a year as I don't have to buy makeup, nice clothes, gasoline or lunches out.
    ummm...
    your old company DOES
    Ummm
    It's actually a lot more derogatory than that, at least where I come from. Chicken necks were girls who performed certain deeds for men for money. Called chicken necks because they made the same movements as a chicken with their head during said deed I guess. Makes the poster that much more disgusting, huh?

    BTW it was called rubbernecking when trying to look at car accidents, etc lol!
    Ummm, no it's not
    There is likely no home MT that has the security required to be able to store patient info. So if you are assuming that because your employer says Save the reports you're safe, you're wrong
    ummm...
    No offence, but that is a pretty piss poor attitude to have about work.

    I understand if a major company cannot give you one on one time or will not go out of the way to help an individual. But when you have a small company of maybe 30 people and the QA person personally insults your work and you that is another story.
    Ummm,YES
    If you wanna be a machine, go ahead. I would rather be a human. And no, I am not a transcriber, I am a transcriptionIST, thank you.
    ummm excuse me...
    First of all, a company is a company, no matter what size it is. Next, there are a lot of people who want to keep their company small for many reasons. For one, they have so much less on overhead and therefore more money to make their employees happy! None of the mom and pop companies I worked for EVER had serious issues (stayed in business for years), and had plenty of potential for growth just by word of mouth. Where do you get off?? As far as being turned away when sick, etc., the opposite of what you say is true. Mom and pop love your work and need you, know you as a person, and will treat you well as long as you are a good MT. The dog knows the hand that feeds it.

    The rest of your post is babble...you are defending your love of TT and what a great MT you are, not afraid to work on more than one account, etc. Has absolutely nothing to do with my post. BTW, I am not complaining about the company I am with, and I make twice what you state for 2 weeks, even after all deductions. Maybe tomorrow you will be in a better mood. I was simply stating MY opinion about a topic I have been thinking about and don't appreciate your B****y post. Take a chill pill. I've been reading your posts and you definitely need one. Good day mate.
    Ummm. Hello. Gee wiz is not the same poster.
    Because I am the nut case whose post you continue to twist around 9 days to Sunday to suit whatever rant you are in the midst of. Since I have already given you permission to trounce me to your heart's content and you apparently still seem to need to continually reinforce your insufferable self-righteous superiority complex, I will leave you and your hateful blather to the others wolves in the pack.

    Before I do, though, I will point out how extremely threatened you start acting whenever you sense you are being confronted by anyone with greater than a double-digit IQ. You also seem to have less than zero tolerance for clever dialog (your words, not mine) other than your own perceived brilliant insights, being a legend in your mind and all.

    I'm not planning to push any more of your buttons, so you can relax and have the stage all to yourself. Not to worry. I'm also not jumping in to confiscate (LMAO) YOUR conversation, dear...only trying to defend the innocent poster you have mistaken for me. I wouldn't dare think of stealing your thunder. You have a lot more use for it than any of the rest of us ever could.

    Your silence is not my victory? Gee, not only did I need ou to tell me what a failure I have been all my life, but apparently I am too stupid to even realize that I am participating in some sort of delusional contest you seem to have conjured up.

    Ummm...she said that the patient himself...

    asked her to go over the records.  I do believe that fact that the patient himself makes the request would be the required consent. 


    Ummm....I have been with MDI a LONG time
    I know a lot of MDI MTs and everyone I know says how many lines they will do on any given day, but they are NOT required to work specific hours.  As I said, I've been with MDI a long time and before that I was with Signal, which was also Dorothy's company, and it worked the same way.
    Ummm, ever see the original MT ID field?
    .
    Ummm, well of course I'm not speaking for all accts..
    However, I do happen to know that the majority of the accounts have ADT feed, which provides all the DI info right there...nice try though!
    Ummm, this is a message board, not a test.
    transcription test, thank you very much! 
    Good quality reports? Ummm, no.....sm
    The reports I edited when I was there were NOT of good quality. Sure, there were a few MTs (maybe 1 or 2) who produced good work with very little errors, but many of the MTs were offshore, and the work was atrocious. Had to fix MANY errors, and unfortunately the MTs never learned from their mistakes. It's frustrating having to correct the same mistakes over and over and over again. Even the American MTs work was not the greatest.
    for being sick. geez, louise ! ummm, not doing your job and disappearing? perhaps...
    they have great benefits. I've been there for almost 5 years and it's great. Don't listen to the naysayers. Make your own opinion after you get here. Bitter people make the worst advocates.
    Ummm...No, large account I'm on just has good dictators....
    It's on EditScript, and I was system receiving alerts of higher priority jobs coming through and I accepted them. The dictators were by and large very good and many of the reports required minimal editing.

    It's luck of the draw when it comes to being placed on an account. I am very grateful to have been hired for the account I'm on.

    Sorry you apparently aren't as happy. I hope your day gets better.


    UMMM - I'm not at work, no need to correct as I stated below, I know post had errors.nm
    nm
    Ummm, I work outside my comfort zone, in fact, do all worktypes on 2
    both speech and traditional, and I don't have any work, either.
    That's exactly what I was thinking
    I didn't see anything about 10 cpl for ESL accounts.  Thought I was losing it.
    Could you tell me why you think this. I was also thinking of looking into them.
    :
    What I was thinking!
    x
    Exactly what I was thinking.
    nm
    I am thinking that..........
    I am thinking this is a former disgruntled employee who acts like they are still employed.  According to other posts in the past it seems some on here post info as such.  Possibly they are trying to stir something up.  Search it out on your own to find out fiction or fact and make own judgement.
    i was thinking...
    if it was a total of 150 reports and they paid the $3 for only the first page of those 150 and the $1.50 the other 149 pages, that would still equal almost $230/day. Did I do that math right?! Sounds good to me!

    that's what I was thinking
    NM
    Thanks.....that is what I was thinking too.
    This is for a hospital
    That's what I'm thinking and

    y


    Thinking of doing ASR

    I've been an MT for about 20 years - 7 years with MQ.  I used to do on average about 300+ lines per hour on my primary and made a pretty decent living.  With ASR, I've gone down to an average of about 239 lines per hour.  Plus, they pay us about a penny a line less on ASR after you do a 60-day trial.  I tried quitting the ASR, but if you do that, all you get is the really crappy dictation, so the ASR becomes the lesser of two evils. 


    My theory is that, since the ASR system apparently learns as we make corrections, that MQ is going to keeping sending it to us while we teach the system.  Then, when the ASR system has learned all it can and is doing perfect work, they'll ship all the work to India and pay them (the Indian ME's) 2 cents a line to edit it. 


    If I were you and I were making a decent living doing regular transcription with a high line rate, I would not consider ASR.  I think the only ones who make any money at the MT's who did not produce huge amounts to begin with!! 


    I would NEVER recommend MQ.  They're all about the bottom line and I guarantee, MQ ASR will be going to India -- just give the machine enough time to learn. 


     


    That's what I was just thinking
    They sent me an attachment that had a bunch of questions like what version of MS Word do I have, version of windows, etc. They even asked me if I would buy a foot pedal from them for $60! On the top of the attachment, it had my full name and state that I live in. Hopefully I don't hear from them again!
    I'm thinking....sm
    I have been an MT for 10 yrs.  Been on a 5-month break and just recently started hitting the job search more seriously.  I've already been off for five months so what's another few weeks (hopefully no longer) when I could just avoid the exasperation of the last couple days and not embark with them at all.  Just received an e-mail that they once again cannot locate an attachment I sent them, which I have sent TWICE.  This is just too screwed up to even dabble in while I keep looking.  They drained me.
    that's what I was thinking, too.
    nm
    Not yet. Thinking about it though
    I'm just afraid of change, whether it will be better somewhere else. Things have been okay for me at OSi up until now, but things are changing. Things have gone on the last several months that have really started to take away my enthusiasm for my job there, and now this. There are people there that I really like, and then there's one that has made things not so nice anymore. I've gone places there, so leaving would be a step back in a way, but with what's going on now with the new partners, and with what I know is going on with certain accounts, I just am not comfortable staying here anymore. I think more changes are coming, so I probably should just go now. I just don't know.
    Thinking about what I want

    I heard back from a position I applied for.  The person is asking me about what I want in an MTSO & I thought I'd share: 


    No micromanagement.  I will work the hours I say I will work and if I’m doing so, leave me alone.


    I don’t want to hear about everyone else’s mistakes in a nasty e-mail where you threaten to dock everyone’s pay.  Address the issue with the individual.


     


    No demanding I work overtime & then being unwilling to pay extra.  If you ask me in a civilized manner I will see what I can do to help.


     


    No new and creative ways to rip the MT off.  I don’t care about your VBCs.  I want to be paid for my time and typing – including templates and spaces.


     


    A company which pays on time.


     


    Low ESL, while I can do ESL it doesn’t mean I should have to do so continuously because everyone else has cherry-picked or they just can’t do it – they need the practice, I don’t.  While it’s true I can make money on ESLs because they tend to say the same thing over and over, when they don’t, they are a royal pain in the @ss.


     


    Pay equal to my experience level.


     


    State of the art equipment – No DOS!  No cumbersome software wasting MY time looking up patient demographics.


     


    I think I might prefer ER or clinic, I can make more money with those than with op notes, even though they pay less per line.


     


    A company that DOES send positive e-mails and keeps its MTs up-to-date with feedback from the accounts and abreast of latest terms.


     


     
    Anyone thinking about going IC?
    Just wondering if anyone is thinking about it, or is doing so soon?
    Exactly what I was thinking....sm
    I am so hurt over it and I keep thinking....what am I going to do if this credit check becomes the norm? I will never be able to pay the bills then. Also, I used to be employed by them many years ago and did a fantastic job for them and was sought out by them, tested very well, and then offered a job, did the paperwork, and then apparently kicked to the curb without even letting me know why or the fact that I didn't get the job afterall. It's not the correct way to deal with anybody, good or bad credit! Merry Christmas.
    What are they thinking?
    Glancing at the job board just irks me.  This Denise Workman with SW Transcription offering a whole .06-.08 per line for exp acute ESL work.  Pulled up their website out of morbid curiosity to see no where on their site is a physical location, which normally means they not US based.  Of course they want US employees for acute work because their .02 per line employees can't hack it yet.  Shows on their site they charge .10 to .12 per line to their customers.  My feeling is this company is an Indian company disguising itself as an American company.  It's either that or these two women running the company are disgraces to the American transcription society.  That's my feeling. 
    Yes, that's what I was thinking too
    This is a relative of mine who has told me this story. I knew it didn't sound right. I also had a feeling she wasn't working her schedule, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was it. She seems pretty devastated today about the whole thing, but I'm not sure she should be surprised.

    I've been accused of never believing what she tells me, so just wanted other opinions on this. Thanks to all.
    That's what I'm thinking
    I'm thinking I have the ability to do more work on my own schedule rather than just 8 hours with one.  I appreciate your perspective into this as I needed to hear from others that are doing it already that it is the right thing to do or at least plausible. 
    I was thinking that also...sm
    I'm trying not to worry so much like I did at first. I've only been doing radiology for 6 years and it's my favorite so I hope I can do this. Right now, I'm just glad I got the position. Thank you for the assurance.
    I was just thinking that before. An old saying my mom
    would tell me, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Funny how as we get older these cliches seem to make more sense to us!
    I was just thinking that... a lot of it has to do with me
    because as I have aged, I have had a lot on my mind, and also having a family with more responsibility took some part of my brain power. When I was single and up to about middle age the sky and energy and time I had to work was the limit. So was spending money on me, me, me. But now that I have gotten older, I have slowed not only because of age, but because of other things taking up my brain waves. On the plus side, my quality is much better so I provide better service to the patient. It is hard to come to the conclusion that sometimes we make less if we are slowing, but at least I still earn a decent living and know that I am providing good quality care to the patient. That must account for something, but does not necessarily pay the bills.
    Thats exactly what I was thinking
    what is in store for us now....I hate the unknown.
    Thinking

    It's really difficult to move from one platform to another at this company.  It's almost impossible, actually.  There must be a lot more to it than we know.  Maybe their profit is somehow connected to all MTs on one platform staying on that platform regardless of whether or not they have work?  I know it sounds really stupid, though.


    Since everyone is an employee, and US Labor laws should still apply, I wonder if any of the MTs who lost work on EditScript, who they won't move to Dictaphone, have bothered to file with unemployment for reduction of work.  I think the unemployment office calls this partial unemployment or something like that.