You're omitting some very important factors.
Posted By: IMO on 2009-09-03
In Reply to: Wages - Taylor
1. The cost of living has increased drastically since 1992. That $15 an hour was worth far more than it is today.
2. TIME, which to many is the most important factor. You really can't put a value on what you're losing with your family when you have to work *that couple more hours* to make what you made 15 years ago. In fact, if we had worked that *couple more hours* 15 years ago, we would have been paid time and a half as overtime. Also, 15 years ago when I worked in house I was paid hourly. If it took me a little extra time to find the address for a copy the doctor wanted sent, I was still paid the same. Have you figured the percentage of lost work now working production and trying to find the addresses, first names, correct spelling of referring physicians, etc., for the hundreds of different doctors from multiple accounts for multiple national MTSOs over the 15 years? Our job requires the same, if not more, amount of unpaid time...yet we're not paid hourly anymore.
3. I really liked your phrase *the benefit of working from home.* LOL Sure, we don't have to buy business clothes or pay for gas, but what is the employer saving by having us work at home? We buy the computer, buy the printers to print out the hundreds of pages of account specs, the ink, the electric, the internet access, our research materials, and in some cases even the software. In fact, this brings me to the next point you never considered.
4. IC status. More and more MTSOs are asking for IC status. When I started working at home about 14 years ago, I was an employee making 12 cpl WITH the best health insurance I ever had, weekends off, all holidays except 2 off with pay, AND 2 weeks paid vacation. Here it is 15 years later and the MTSOs not only want us to work for less than we did then, but they don't even want to pay benefits, taxes, disability insurance, or unemployment insurance. They want us to pay all that for less than what they paid us 15 years ago...AND THEN, they want to tell us what hours to work, what days to work, and how much work we have to do in a day. In other words, they want to treat us as employees, but put the price of all the employee *extras* on our backs.
And you're content with all this?? Maybe I shouldn't use the word content. You're used to all this and accept it? Now I see why posters have made the correlation between battered spouse syndrome and our profession. The more you become used to the abuse, the more you accept it.
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- Wages - Taylor
- You're omitting some very important factors. - IMO
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other factors . . .
I think besides the server being busy, my slower processor contributes to the slow word appearance on my screen from time to time. My computer is on my long list of things to replace around here!
too many factors here
are people giving net, take home? How much are they contributing towards taxes, 401K, health ins., equipment rental, on and on....how many hours are you working, what are you paid per line, employee or IC (big one), etc. You can't just ask someone how much they make.  And it's just causing a big feather-raising ruckus.
There are a lot of factors...
But I think also if you can get up to $15/hr, that would be okay because it will be dependable. You also need to consider how much driving is involved each day, will you have to pay for extra daycare, how much the benefits cost, etc. If you can get $15 and all of the other factors are good, I would probably take it. You can always get an IC MT job on the side to make extra money.
Pay plan factors
Those factors include monthly QA score, production (lines/hour), and how much you send to proofing for help. Also if you have the CMT there is a differential. It really does put us in control of what we can make and the potential for increases is there as you get more familiar with what you are doing. It's been a great plan for me to work on! Insurance is with Blue Cross, rates would depend on whether it's just you or a family plan.
It depends on a lot of factors for both.
How big is the page? In other words, how many lines define a page, and how many characters in the line? Or, if paid by line, how many characters in the line? Are spaces included? For both, are headers and things included. I assume you're referring to Silent Type. I have always heard they paid archaic wages per page. There are posts on Company Board about them - I would search back a few pages. I know they make you travel to their offices for 2 or 3 days, and even though I live in NJ, I would never stoop to that in this day and age - not very high tech.
Lots of factors..
Overtime laws are federal/state. Federal law is 40 hr/week. States can supercede that to an 8 hr/day, etc. Company policy doesn't matter. Classification of employees is key. Some employee classifications do not quality for OT pay and can be required to work 60 hours a week with no additional pay. Company policies/collective bargaining agreements can grant benefits not required by the law (sometimes including, but not always the ability to grant comp time in lieu of OT), but cannot offer less than the minimum required by law. Example: If you are in a state that requires OT after 8 hr/day, then you cannot be offered comp time in lieu of OT. If you are in a state that required OT after 40 hr/week, you can be offered comp time SO LONG AS it is taken in the same week. Some employee classifications have different requirements, which may allow the comp time in the same pay period (2-week, month, etc), but for the classification that MT (not supervisory, just plain MT/QA classified as employee - not IC, SE is gray area) fall into, pay period doesn't matter. For those, comp time must be taken in the legal period, whether it be day or week in order to be in compiance with the law, which we all know not all companies are.
Here are the factors in my opinion...$1.10 is okay if...sm
... they pay for links meaning if the CT chest, abdomen and pelvis are dictated together which most radiologists do it gets counted as three reports.
Some companied including Medquist counts this as one report now.
Also if the account is not a teaching institution - no residents only attendings dictating then that means better usage of macros/word expanders.
If the account is a teaching institution with lots of residents and ESL attendings and does not pay for links then it is definitely way too low.
Hope this helps.
JMO
Could be any number of factors
It could be any number of factors. For someone to be on actual QA hold for 15 months sounds a little odd. How do you know the account requirements do not specifically call for 100% review from the service. I think you answered your own question. If someone needs actual QA hold for that long they'd be released. I think there is more to this behind the scenes that you are unaware of. If you're making your lines and an income, who cares how anyway? I can assure you the QA person is not making any extra money and enjoying the power by having to review each and every document. I suspect it's more of a client requirement for it to be going on this long.
All of these factors depend on the
x
Some other factors to ponder Maggie...sm
I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.
I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I. I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.
Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals. The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.
It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.
MTSOs have no control over the factors that would make this
:+
I would go back. The factors that made it difficult to work there before are no longer there
Clear expectations, documented style guide, friendly and helpful staff from the top down, consistent QA. They put in writing what they expect and if you do your thing within those expectations, you will thrive!
(I'm only a lowly MT, not anyone in a position to profit from these statements!)
I agree. Big factors- ease of dictators, length of reports, platform. NM
.
It isn't important...
which account I work for. I have worked for the VA account in the past. I worked to help out with the backlog. In 2 days I typed 3000 lines. They were my first 2 days on that account. Hope that answers your question.
and this is important because.....??
x
if it is important -
They outsource. Apparently have set up shop in at least two cities in India, looking at Phillipines, have 2600 transcriptionists in India.
important
I have a message already from the recruiter. since your e/m isn't working for me, can i call you in about 30 min? (got to go do something).
and ... this is IMPORTANT
You do get paid by the line, NOT by the hour, and the only way you get credit for all the lines in the report is if you do a full listen from start to finish. If you are filling in blanks, no matter how many blanks, you get credit for only 15 lines. I am going broke and I can't understand my manager because he is in Bangalore, India. Also, there is NO paid training and I had to start working as an MT although I was hired as a QA. It took me over a month for my so-called promotion to QA. So I made a LOT more money as an MT than I am making as a QA because I make no money on reports with blanks.
That's why it's important...
to wait until you're released from QA at MDI and are free to type as many reports as you like before quitting another job.
But that's just common sense, no matter what the circumstances. *shrug*
Something VERY important to consider!!
If you really to to try to fix what has gone terribly wrong in the MT industry, you have to be willing to be educated about how our system of government works, and how it might mean that a UNION is not the only answer, if an answer at all.
Seriously, stop and think. Supposedly the Democratic party (and this is not all political so chill) stands for the average joe right? Then why did Clinton with support of the Republicans sign NAFTA into law - which was the vehicle that drove our MT jobs to India?
In other words, this was done to provide the cheap labor Americans WON'T (and can't) provide.
The reason? Obviously to bump PROFITS for the corporations who provide the service.
Now I don't suggest the above is the whole story, but it's a critical point and if we in this discussion don't understand that part of the problem is that we are where we are because it was INTENDED, then starting a UNION in and of itself is not going to be a fix-all.
Our country is in an economic free fall - no one knows if or when we will stabilize. Keep this in mind, too, if you are hoping for a magic solution. There may not be one.
Being in this field for 22+ years, I have read the writing on the wall.
GO FORWARD with plans for a Union but understand there are many many factors at work here.
In the meantime, how many of you here have contacted YOUR representatives in Congress to ask about regulation for this industry? Don't wait for a union, or for someone else to do this simple act: Look up the numbers and call them. Follow up with a letter. There is power in numbers and if they hear from us throughout the nation they will take note.
Just my 2 cents.
Best wishes for a better 2009.
Exactly. Seriously important.
.
Depends on what's important to you.
Low pay, no raises, deceitful but polite about it (hard to get your vacation time, say they will not bounce you around but do, say they will customize to what you want but don't, etc.), expect you do to a lot of free work, very top-heavy, volunteered AAMT Employer of the Year (don't know by whom, I was not given a vote). It probably also depends on what accounts you are on, whether you do acute care or multispecialty clinic, and who your team lead is. Communication: Very one-sided; lots of e-mails, etc. from them for you to read/take action/respond to (unpaid), but not so interested in you communicating with them and giving you timely answers; I've been blown off A LOT. They are VERY into AAMT and CMT certification, but don't pay well for it. Oh, and they offshore. When their system goes down, you don't get paid and can't take sick or vacation time to make up for it (was down for 2 days last week).
On the plus side: Good insurance benefits, easy platform, my accounts were good for the most part, pay on time.
My opinion: If you're experienced, you could probably do better. If not, good place to get more experience. Hope this helps.
I think the most important question is
whether it is good money for YOU.
:)
While the work is important,
please keep in mind that you're doing it to earn a living. While it is often said that it takes about 3 months to get up to speed on an account, it seems that you have some sense of the situation already.
If the finances aren't working out, I would start looking. If it's not a win-situation for the employer and the employee, it's not the right job. Good luck.
Doesn't seem too important to get especially
if you have to get CEU's and renew. I already do that as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I don't need the additional expense and there doesn't seem to be a financial benefit.
Thanks for all your responses.
the most important question is how
important is it for you to work from home versus out of the home - with today's escalating gas prices, figuring in everything related to traveling to and from work, dress clothes for work, meals, day care, etc. etc. etc, you must weigh the pros and cons - for some it is not enough whereas others find it very worthwhile.
Yes, you are so right. The account will be important. nm
xx
It's important to ask if you will have 20,000 a pay period
xx
and I never claimed to be more important than others
LOL LOL LOL. How do you know what is FAIR to you and others? You don't know me. LOL. Stop analyzing so much and stop twisting people's words around. I bet you're one of them gossip-busy bodies that have nothing to do interrupt other people's lives. Take care of your own business.
Could I please ask for an important opinion?,,,,,sm
I work for a great company as an IC, and love the work, my bosses have been great (been there about a year), love the accounts, platform, etc., but something bugs me. In the beginning, I told them strictly, verbally and in writing, that I needed to really be flexible hour-wise, I have 3 kids and also take care of my 90-year-old mom part-time, etc. They said sure, jump aboard, very flexible. Okay, lots of days they are okay, but we have dedicated queues and at times I know i am working TWO JOBS instead of part-time, I signed on for approximately 25 hours a week. I have a fabulous line count to show for it, but I keep getting roped into these 12-hour work days, 1200 lines or more, and I am getting wiped out. They are great about so many things and the pay is fantastic, but should I complain, what would you do?? THANKS!!!
Thanks for sharing, very important!!!
Though I did not apply at MDIT, I can relate. United Transcription out of North Carolina used ExpressScribe and MPWord (not MTWord) plus a FTP. The lady VP was not a transcriber so had not ideaaaaaa.
With this setup most of the demographics are entered by the MT (remember her/him making production, not paid unless something on the page).
There were plus 15 different popup screens to click, unclick, delete, type in name, plus flipping back and forth between window screens. Really ridiculous. These things should be put in the system by programmers not the MT EACH REPORT. Image with very small reports, making nothing and those Keystrokes are not paid.
There was no hard copy of doctor roster, so had to scroll through entire list trying to figure out the name referenced. Equally hard to even figure out first letter sometimes. I was told, why didn't you look it up I said I could not even figure out the first letter.
It was a ridiculous way to work. She was probably a good person but she just had not IDEA what MTs need, are about, about platforms. Just got the impression she had not idea how to process pertinence of something as she had bad-mouthed previous MT or MTs during the interview, has general bad thoughts, I told her she was wrong, MTs work their guts out, they are not lazy and on and on, I said they make nothing and go to great efforts to get the answer (I volunteer on 2 Word Help Boards.) Pissed me off her idea what an MT is about.Like sneering (sp?
Wow! Thank you for writing this. This is very important
Yes, I do depend on a paycheck being timely and so do my bill collectors. My rent cannot be late either. And I have a small child to feed. Thanks for letting me know the history of this! Now back to the drawing-board for my job search :).
It's so important to her that she mentioned it not once
Maybe it's just my perception, but that post came off as really pretty arrogant. I know things can be conveyed wrong in writing but she does not sound like she would be a pleasant person to work for, that's for sure. The whole tone of the post made me go EEK...
As if your opinion is so important...
Get over yourself already...
The accuracy is also important when they end up -
in court. This year I was a juror for an assault/'attempted murder' trial. I tried my best to get out of it, seeing as how my company doesn't pay for jury duty. But, when the attorneys were screening the potential jurors in the courtroom, asking among other things what they did for a living, you should've seen the judges face literally LIGHT UP when I told her I was an MT. I knew immediately she wasn't letting me off. The defendant's attorneys weren't going to let me go, either.
And later I could see why. While in deliberations, we were presented with a pile of medical reports that were at least telephone-books thick.
I was the only one that knew their way around those reports, so that was my job to read through them. I was grateful that the transcriber of these reports had been very accurate, with few blank spaces. The doctors in the key part of the reports, which had to do with the forensics of the stab wounds themselves, were accurate and to-the-point, and there was no confusing double-speak. That would've been even more important had a non-medical-language-understanding lay-person been assigned to read through the medical evidence.
As it turned out, these well-done medical records had evidence with regard to the placement of the stab wounds that proved without a doubt that these wounds were made in accidental self-defense, and not as the aggressor. This prevented an innocent woman who was being beaten by an abusive husband from going to jail.
So, the records we type every day, day in and day out, can have far-reaching consequences that we'll most likely never even know about, but which we should always be thinking of.
IMPORTANT DATE
Another poster just indicated the date of the official merge is September 1st.
I just wanted to point this out so anyone intending to take a stand could make August 31st, 2009, their last date of employment for MDI-MD.
Another very important thing
Leave the pet name calling i.e. sweetie, honey, sugarplum, whatever, to my hubby. I have a name.
I must have missed something important
I thought there was the question was aked about retaining PT status and that was going to be okay. Who said the PTers are being let go? Aren't a lot of us PT? Anyone know? Been looking when I have time but, dang! I'm not prepared yet with another job...Thanks!
Can you say ANAL RETENTIVE? Don't you have something more important to be
a HYPHEN. Get a friggin life!
Me too, emphasized flexibility was more important
x
At least we can laugh at ourselves..That is important. Sometimes, I cannot believe I get paid ...
to type.
Working at home is very important to me
But keep in mind we HAVE BEEN working at home in this industry and making GOOD money for years now. It is only recently that this downslide has occurred. It is as much a benefit to the employer as it is to the employee to work at home. Think about all the money they save in office space and utilities and more and more of them do not supply equipment anymore. They want us to keep thinking the way your post reads and forget that we benefit them by working at home too. The working at home is a wash when it comes to which side benefits so we need not even go there
The important thing is not how many MTs are looking for work. sm
What will matter in the end is your skills. There are thousands of MTs in the country, but unfortunately only a small percentage of them are well trained. Not bragging, just a fact; I know a lot of MTs. If you know the second-edition BOS well (which many companies require), are meticulous in your work, great at researching terms, and are dependable, you can get a job. It helps if you have an extensive background in various areas of transcription.
Put your strongest assets forward in your resume, and keep plugging. There is ALWAYS a shortage of good MTs, even right now. An MTSO may overhire, but if he/she is wise, they will keep the good ones in the end.
It's a little more difficult to get a job right now, but still possible. One of the biggest points is your resume. Make sure it sells your strong points, but is brief enough to be read.
Good luck to you all, especially at the big company.
I make a list of what is important to me
line rate, benefits, incentives, flexibility,work flow, etc...and compare offers.
Ive worked for a few different places and think I have finally found my home. Im getting paid a very good line rate, with incentives, benefits are not too expensive, they are flexible and I have more than enough work to make my line count daily!
So, think about what it is you need from the job and decide which, if any of them, can meet your current needs. HTH
Planning your time is very important
You don't have to be an MTSO to be an IC. You can have your own accounts and not contract work out to others. It is possible to do that and make money. No one needs to work that many hours in a day unless you are not managing your time properly.
You missed an important point
You should walk in the shoes of any nationality that will accept to work for peanuts before you make such a statement. For many in other countries what they are paid is *not* peanuts to them.
We are slowing being pushed into poverty wages right here in the US - and we still accept that work. So its all relative. What to you may be peanuts it to them a lifeline...
I, too, think free speech is very important! - sm
Although, as the moderator said, I don't base my company application decisions on what any one person says, I DO go back and read archives, compare notes, read between-the-lines, and decide for myself whether the post I read is truthful or not. Even more important is the number of posts on a company. Almost without a doubt, the more that is written about a company, the less likely I would be to apply there, as they obviously have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Also, reading & posting on a forum on the internet is a lot more interesting when you can really say what you need to, and read what others really need to say. If this board were to become so censored and whitewashed that everyone had to walk on eggs and tiptoe around, trying not to offend anyone or alert others to a situation they truly should avoid, then pretty soon there'd be no posters left, except for a very thin-skinned few.
I agree, we all cross the line sometimes, but for the most part, I think this is a fun and interesting board. I've probably learned more about my own profession HERE, than I ever have on my many years (and still counting) on the job.
I, too, think free speech is very important! - sm
Although, as the moderator said, I don't base my company application decisions on what any one person says, I DO go back and read archives, compare notes, read between-the-lines, and decide for myself whether the post I read is truthful or not. Even more important is the number of posts on a company. Almost without a doubt, the more that is written about a company, the less likely I would be to apply there, as they obviously have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Also, reading & posting on a forum on the internet is a lot more interesting when you can really say what you need to, and read what others really need to say. If this board were to become so censored and whitewashed that everyone had to walk on eggs and tiptoe around, trying not to offend anyone or alert others to a situation they truly should avoid, then pretty soon there'd be no posters left, except for a very thin-skinned few.
I agree, we all cross the line sometimes, but for the most part, I think this is a fun and interesting board. I've probably learned more about my own profession HERE, than I ever have on my many years (and still counting) on the job.
o.k., BUT very good hearing is very important
in this job, when everything goes through headsets.
Sorry for your situation. I would most definitely NOT rely on email for something that important.
Call your supervisor on the phone, and be firm about it. If they say she/he isn't there, or do you want his/her voice mail, ask for help from someone else. Explain that its VERY important, and you need to speak with someone NOW. Good luck to you!
Do you feel their platform is productive? That would be important to me. nm
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