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You got it!! Not to mention that the stress of

Posted By: MQ makes us sick so that we on 2008-06-16
In Reply to: Used to work for MQ, too .... s/m - K

have to use our PTO for sickness rather than fun.  I also never got anything of substance approved as far as days off, so my PTO time was useless, just part of the games of no work and getting sick over no work.  I feel so sorry for those who stay in that situation, thinking they are going to lose out on PTO by starting over. Its your LIFE at stake, right?  We are so worth more than PTO at MQ.


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Totally. Stress of less and less money. Stress
My health is starting to slip because I never have time for exercise anymore. I can't afford healthy, fresh foods (they spoil too fast), and I can only go to the market once every 2 weeks. I'm depressed. I'm over-snacking. I have headaches. MT work makes me feel completely hopeless. I work for this invisible, omnipotent being that affects my life so adversely, and I can't even confront them in person, because the MTSO's all exist in that netherworld of the internet. They're nothing but evil electronic impulses that chain us to our computers and ruin our lives.

Stressed? Oh, yea - you better believe it. And an entire nation of people feeling exactly like I do? That's pretty da***d scary.
You don't need that stress..
or stick with the radiology.  Who needs that?  You must feel so degraded!  What a poor ethic that company has...  I feel sorry for their clients!
Does this job stress you out?
I do love so many things about being an MT, but does it stress anyone else out knowing that you HAVE to type a certain amount to get the bills paid?  I try to explain that to my husband.  I seem overly stresseed a lot because like I tell him, if you have a NORMAL job and one day you just aren't feeling that great, you can still get your paycheck because you are clocked in.  A foggy head or drained feeling doesn't affect your work.  Being an MT, you are pushed to type or you don't get a check.  You have a slow day and your paycheck is affected.  It's staring to REALLY stress me out!!!
Stress at Amphion!
I left Amphion for TT, too, and I can sure relate to the stress there. Sheesh. I was on the big university account, which I really liked, but I stressed over the QA reveiws every single month, and I absolutely hated the mandatory overtime. Granted, Amphion is the ONLY MT company I know of that pays true overtime for working over 40 hours--and doesn't quibble about it--real overtime as in time and a half per hour over 40--plus your lines, which is why I will not work over 40 hours for anyone else, not as an employee, unless I get true OT. I also miss the no major holidays on that university account and I HATE the 2 weekend days per month at TT--because on those 2 weekend days all I get is crap, BUT my stress level is a lot lower now--that's a good thing. If I were on a better account, I would have absolutely nothing to complain about. HAHA.

Fortunately, we have insurance through my husband's work and it is great. I don't get these exorbitant MTSO insurance prices either. My husband's company has about 200 employees and they have BCBS and the family rate, including dental is $250, a month!

No matter where you go it is always something.
Still Stress-Free...

Some of us still enjoy stress-free living w/o a care in the world.


We never had kids! (LOL)


More money + more peace and quiet = Stress-free living forever!


 


 


Does it stress me, nope but tell you what I would do if it did
I would not sit here complaining about the lack of work, no decent salary, not enough to pay bills on and so forth. I am sure most on here lot younger than me and I can almost assure you this profession is not getting better, in fact seems to be headed the other way. Why wait on some job that stresses you, not enough money to live, cannot make it, why not find something else to do? Is it that important just to stay home and not be able to live on this pay now? There are jobs out in the world. Why not train for something that maybe would not be outsourced and make a decent living. Lots here sound like the passengers on the Titanic. Someone fill me in on just why everyone is stressing just waiting around.
Not worth the stress...move on...I did.sm
I went with a co. started on 10/25 and turned out the platform really sucked..too much stress. I quit..got hired two days later..move on. Your home is your life..you don't need to be stressed out over your work when your work is at home.
Not enough for the stress they're putting me through . See msg
From what I've read in the past, and my experience, they pay anywhere from 7 cpl to 10 CPL (I personally make 8 CPL with 10 years experience, no raises since I started there despite numerous requests for one). THIS IS FOR STRAIGHT TRANSCRIPTION. Most of us work on ASR now (voice recognition) which pays 70% of your pay (example, I make 0.56 CPL for ASR). I have lost a LOT of money since ASR began. I average around 150 lines per hour for ASR. I averaged around 250 lines per hour with straight transcription. In other words, I made around $20/hr before ASR, now I make $8.40/hr, just above minimum wage in my state.

I only work flex-part time now for MQ and work full time somewhere else that pays fairly with NO ASR and NO outsourcing outside of the U.S.

It is my strong belief, after 10 years of working for MQ, that we will all lose our jobs soon now that the board of directors is Indian based. Believe it or not, they can pay Indian workers even less than they pay us.

Yes, they pay shift differential, 0.5 CPL more for evening shift, 1 CPL more for night shift.

A slew of workers have left since the news so it is my belief that's why they're hiring now. If you're interested in a short-term job, fine. Good luck though.

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY.
Don't stress. Tell her you are nervous, and she will be very nice about it. sm
You can't ask for a nicer group of people. They worked with me through my husband's long illness, house problems due to his illness, followed by a few health problems of my own that I still think are the after-shock of dealing with his illness. He is fine now, I am fine now, and I will never again look for another job because Keystrokes treated me like family, not just a number.

I had been at the Q for 17 years in some form (company I worked for was gobbled up by them) and was very nervous but they were very gracious about and put me at ease. That was 3 years ago and I am grateful that I took the plunge.
Does anyone else feel the stress mounting?

I don't know if it's just me, a bad year so far, or what, but it just seems as though this job is becoming too stressful for me.  I've been doing this for almost 18 years and I have never felt as stressed as I do now.  I can't even begin how many companies I've switched after a 2-4 year period because they keep changing the terms of employment that were originally agreed upon.  It just seems that they expect more and more and more and give less and less.  At the job I work now I have a primary account and 4 backup accounts, yet I have to sit and wait for work on all of them. 


They changed platforms that doesn't pay for what was agreed upon when I took the jobs.  Used to pay for everything, including spaces.  Now, it doesn't pay for patient information, which I have no objection to if the information is automatically entered, but it seems like we have to enter more and more information all the time.  It doesn't pay for headings in a report any more. 


Every new secondary account that they give me is more time intensive than the last one.  I normally work on acute care accounts, but as a secondary they gave me a clinic.  I thought to myself, at least now maybe I can get some better lines because it is clinic.  On this account, we have to look at an email they send every week that lists all patients seen that week.  We have to search for the physician dictating, find the patient he is referring to, take all the data from the email, and then enter it into the patient information fields (none of which is paid for) and it can't be copied and pasted because it is all in different fields. 


I've been so afraid to look for another job because I'm being paid a good line rate, until we go to VR rate (within the next 2 weeks) at more than 65% less than my current line rate on accounts that haven't even been trained on the system.  This is just getting so frustrating.  I've sent my resume out and get replies offering me 8 cpl employee or 9 cpl IC. 


I'm really sorry this is so long.  I just needed to vent and try to network here.  If anyone knows of a good company that will appreciate having an MT with skill and experience, and will pay a fair line rate for it, can you please email me?  I promise I'll keep it confidential.  Thanks for letting me vent!


Did not mean to stress you out! After all we need health insurance
have not met line requirement for insurance and pharmacy... did not mean to stir a kettle, just wanted a reality check... you sure gave it to me!!!
Don't stress over gifts at Christmas -
that is NOT what the holiday is about - haven't been able to afford gifts for MANY years now - and when I can again I will be VERY conservative about it.

We have been brainwashed to think we HAVE to exchange gifts.

The best year was when I cooked a really good meal for all and placed one small gift at each place setting.
Repetitve Neck Stress Injury

Repetitive Strain Injury Advice:  Bad Neck Pain-I have a lumbar support chair but I am still getting repeat shooting pain in my neck.  Is there anything I can do to ease this?  Better support while I am working etc.?  Any advice is appreciated before I run to the doctor.


Good question! How to handle the stress.
Would be a good thing, but what does a person do?
You need to use them for production & to presvent repetative stress injuries. nm
s
Left end of July for a company paying more and I set my own hours. Much less stress too. (nm)
x
TYPO -- wow I am upset. It is causing illness due to stress !!! Does TT care? NO n/m

and inability to meet my payments that I have normally had no problem paying.  It is so disgusting.


Don't send me a Happy Friday email.  Send me some of your paycheck, mgmt.  Nor do I want to hear you guys ROCK!  If you mgmt people had no paychecks, you wouldn't be saying that, would you?


Your paychecks come from MT's -- NO ONE ELSE !!!  And YOU want to pay us 1/3 or 1/4 of our line rate for your crummy VR dictation.  What a disgrace !!!


That is, be sure to mention sorry
:
I would not go near them. Did they mention

Not to mention,
they have no work and they don't care when you have no work and will tell you so.
not to mention

the danger of hepatitis and C. difficile from having your nose shoved that far up boss's.


 


I should mention that I'm
not a member, just ordered the BOS a couple of years ago
You mention an
Abrasive personality.....I can't imagine which one you could be talking about, very curious though.
Not to mention DSG seems to pay better
They offered me 9.5 cpl and I was only making 7.5 cpl at MQ.  On top of that, they seemed to offer a lot of bonuses.
Not to mention ...
Now TT wants us to spend unpaid time (it'd take me an hour a day or more) to explain when, where, and how weird things happen on speech reports. I've given them these lists before and they were totally ignored. I still get reports where a as much as a third of a report is omitted on a perfectly clear audio. Well, gee, they say, it must be because the dictator whispers or pushes a mute button, or wants us to use ESP to figure it out, blah, blah. No use in switching companies, though. Most are even worse, at least pay-wise.
not to mention
extremely low pay
Forgot to mention
I have worked where I am for almost 10 years for a small MTSO out of California but have only gotten 2 raises in that time because she claims her lines rates are low in order for her to compete.
The person whose name we don't mention
At Medscribe, my paycheck was always just a little light. You had to check your lines and call S.... She was always annoyed or it was a bad time. Once I called and she was busy and so she put the phone down on the desk instead of on hold or calling me back... and I was forced to listen to the clacking of her keyboard for the next 4 minutes. Very rude.
I would be afraid to mention that...sm
especially if your boss knows you have the ability to see who is assigned what jobs, etc...With that in perspective, I would be afraid because they are not really hiding anything from you.  I agree with you. I would feel very bad and that that is an unfair situation, but again, would still be afraid to bring it up since the fact is not being hidden.  Maybe there is a certain short-term reason this person is getting the easier ones.  I would hang in there a little while longer, give it some more thought, see what happens in the next few days, and then make a decision.  I know hastiness gets me into trouble more times than if I would have just waited it out.  Hang in there.  Do not get discouraged.  I have had plenty of days like you are having where I just want to stop working for that day.  Sometimes I do, and later on, I regret it.  Hang in there! 
Why can't someone mention the company by name? Thanx. nm

Where did she mention a price?
I didn't see a line rate posted.  Usually a rate like 7 cpl is a temporary rate just to see if the person has the experience they claim (9 times out of 10 they don't) or it's temporary rate to offset the cost of editing of new hires.
Forgot to mention...sm

You don't have to look up addresses or spelling of doctors' names (for one of the docs she gave me an Excel spreadsheet, but other than that you just transcribe it as it sounds).  She doesn't want you to have to spend your time researching things like that that are easy for her to fill in.


Chickadee


Forgot to mention
They go on and on about their quick TAT..... it doesn't really matter how fast they do the work if it's not done right.  In my experience of editing it, almost none of it can go straight through to the facility they way it is.  I've corrected things like LASIX surgery and Foot-in-Mouth disease.  What they don't know, they make up as to not leave a blank, and then claim 98% accuracy. 
Not sure if I should mention the MTSOs name but

Is their an MTSO around that doesn't nitpick your work and make you feel like you're not worth a hoot.  Maybe the problem is that by the time I work my FT job and type 1500 lines then have to go home and do it some more I am just tired.  Also, I have a huge packet called style guideI should look over but  I just have not had the time.  Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to leave it than get fired. They sent an E-mail saying that if I did not raise my score from 96 to 98 my job could be in jeopardy.  I am not sure I will ever get it right.  They have changed words in my documents and told me it should be this way but I go and relisten and I still hear what I had originally put.  Even got DH to listen and he said he heard  I heard. I wonder if they are that hard on their foreign employees.


I really started this MTSO to test the waters.  I just got so tired of driving back and fourth I was hoping this would work out.  I am just not feeling confident in my self to do this job anymore but I have to pay the bills somehow.  I cannot get by on my good looks. So, I printed this style guide, going to poke holes in it, put it in a binder and will look at it while the kids are getting their hair cuts. I will carry that thing with me everywhere I go along with my corrections and study it when I can.  If they can me before I get a chance to bring my score up, I will burn it.


Yes, and no mention of US MTs working for them, either. nm
.
no i don't mention money but
I do have a fancy resume that might indicate that I would like a lot of money.
Jo - You mention that you have 2 accounts at KS (sm)
Can I ask if you were given 2 accounts when you were hired or did you ask for another one after you started?  Not trying to be nosy but I have 1 account with them and it has been very low lately...
Yes, but as you mention they only hire FT
Have applied as an IC to several companies....same pay as mentioned in my posting.  I notice also that a couple places had very misleading advertising for their jobs posted as far as pay.  As mentioned, this has been very disappointing.
These companies you mention should
be much more worried that the complaints have VALIDITY than that they are aired.

Take care of problems and complaints are few and far between.

AND YES, most of take all comments with salt.
I have the first problem you mention

Sometimes the shortcut doesn't expand when I try to use it.  I finally decided the problem is with my keyboard not being sensitive enough.  It does not happen if I use more pressure.  Good luck.


forgot to mention..
while working as an employee for our hospitals, she worked under the vendor for the SAME hospitals but strictly doing ER work. Really interesting.

Forgot to mention that also
I was NOT complaining about my company. I have a great company with good people. They use ExText which is very slow. So my complaint is about the server only.

Don't be so quick to judge people. The only time I will air my complaints about a company (haven't had to so far) is if I feel it will save others in the future.
Oh ya forgot to mention...sm
They told me because I was not meeting my production that I would have to pay for my health insurance on my own until I met my production.  Well, how can I meet production when I never have work?! Doesn't seem fair at all.
Not to mention wheelwriters. sm
IBM wheelwriters - if you made a mistake you could back up a little with that erase ribbon, but if doc said go back up, or start over, out came the paper.  No white out allowed either, remember that any other old antiques?
Did I mention that they are paying 50% too? nm
nm
Don't forget the other 42% they don't mention! nm
xxx
Thanks so much for the info...will mention your name

forgot to mention

Oh I forgot to add they are suppose to be adding a new system and I do not think you will have to look all that stuff up.............I know it was delayed because of some MTs quitting on them.....me being one of them because I could not handle working my full-time job and that.


So it might be a nice fit for you. Good luck!


Agree 100%. Not to mention that its NOT
a good thing to claim that they promise you as many accounts as it takes to get work. Gee, doesn't this sound a tad bit like MQ?  I just can't get over this particular person just cheering this on like its good news or something.  And, yes, there are lots of WMXrs low on work right now, so don't believe everything spoonfed to you.  Again, really cracks me up how this person thinks having many accounts is great with WMX, but sucked at MQ. 
Oh and I failed to mention
that 90% of the work I do are ESL. Plus the audio is so bad I have to turn it up FULL VOLUME just to hear sometimes and then all of a sudden it comes thru normally and blasting at full volume, so its probably all in how they're holding it. The list goes on and on really but I think what I've mentioned is enough even for most hardened MTs.
Forgot to mention
that the initial dictionary entry I provided comes from Merriam Webster's dictionary.