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You make us laff here, girl! Love your point of view! :) nm

Posted By: Monday, Monday.... on 2007-09-03
In Reply to: Hardly any jobs out there post the salary. - Hayseed

s


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Mortgage? On an MT's wages? Dont make me laff!
nm
My point of view
I don't think anyone is goint to find a perfect company. I have found OSi to be pretty good to work for, comparing to two other nationals I have worked for lately. THe work has been slow because of the holiday and hiring so many people, but I think they're moving people around and evening it out. I have plenty of work now. And I find my coordinator very knowledgeable and professional and very ready to help. There will always be things to gripe about, but I'm making my line count easily and can't complain.
Here's another point of view. SM
No benefits, no direct deposit, run out of work very very often with no compensation, HORRIBLE ESLs, all going to speech recognition and pay is very low for editing.   If you can live with that, go for it.  I sure couldn't.  If you take wonderful money and subtract insurance, taxes, vacation, sick time, you are making about 5 cents a line. 
Just a different point of view..
Maybe after questioning something QA did wrong, they're being more attentive to quality. For example, if I get a QA score that isn't acceptable to me as a personal goal, I'll make it a point to be even MORE attentive to my work and quality.

I'm not sure QA gets reprimanded for errors such as yours, but I'm sure they do. That would be an incentive for me to pay better attention, and now for you! :)
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot.  I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism.  I get paid by the line, not by the feedback.  It would be fine by me to give no feedback.  Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback.  The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it.  I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again.  You shouldn't take QA personally.  It's an awfully hard job.
QA point of view
Giving feedback slows me down a lot.  I try to give feedback to help but people take it as criticism.  I get paid by the line, not by the feedback.  It would be fine by me to give no feedback.  Right now I have an MT who can't do basic 6th grade punctuations and writes me long emails in response to every bit of feedback.  The work is so easy and she can't seem to get it.  I get the MTs making the same mistakes over and over again.  You shouldn't take QA personally.  It's an awfully hard job.
Thanks so much for the realistic point of view.
I need some reality-based grounding and your post really helps a lot. I don't want to make any rash moves out of fear of the unknown. But it is so hard, as you know, when your bread and butter relies on the unknown (almost). I am sorry the stress is taking its toll on you. I hope that things get better for you. At least the pay has not dropped considerably because that would be really bad. With the econmony the way it is it is impossible to get credit and really it would not be good to live off of credit cards anyway. We have to keep a roof over our heads and it is really scary to try new things while needing the money. Thanks again for your point of view. It really does help.
And that point-of-view is why we're all suffering huge
They'll pay as little as people will accept, and too many of you will accept anything.
EXCELLENT post. Thank you for a balanced point of view. nm

Interjecting a point of view is fine, but if you find it offensive...sm
people bash their companies, how about people who bash other people and taunt them by posting ridiculous statements about dark evil forces and then give you the Tony Robbins about how they should live you life.

I am a little tired of people saying blowing sunshine out my a$$ is going to pay my bills when work is sparse, wages are being cut by 1/3 to 1/2, and insurance is eating up almost half my paycheck.

I am an adult, I don't need to grow up and look on the bright side, and I don't need to bend over and take it anymore. I need to stand up to the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, department managers, supervisors, recruiters, and company acquisition specialists and tell them that my job is every bit as valuable and technical as theirs is.

They're not sitting in meetings all day groveling about how bad the economy is and how lucky they are to have jobs. They are capitalizing on a bunch of people by forcing their wages down and then saying it is their own fault because there was a typo in a report or transcriptionists in VietNam can do their job just as well and for less.

That is the truth.
Different view: If we all went to hourly pay to make sure that we are paid during downtime, it wou
what we earn on production. I make upwards of $30 an hour on production. Most hospitals are under $20 an hour. I think we would lose money if hourly and if they pay us for downtime, I am sure that the money would have to come from somewhere, so they would lower rates.


Move on, girl - gotta make a living
.
The point I was trying to make was...

that it is very unprofessional for a recruiter to email me and schedule an interview and then not call.  This person acknowledged my resume and test, said they were very interested in discussing a position with me and then failed to follow through.  That makes the company look very bad.  I realize there are recruiters who are great at what they do.  I have dealt with other companies and their recruiters have always been very prompt and efficient.  I have never been turned down after testing with any company and I am not inexperienced.  I am not complaining because I did not get a response from a company after apply for a position, I am complaining about the recruiter not following through with his/her scheduled interview.  I already have a job, was just applying for this on the side.  I have other things to do with my time than just sit around and wait for the phone to ring. 


To make my point-SM

To make my point please see the message decent pay at the time of this board...the poster doesn't want much, but everything I said in my earlier post...now tell me I'm wrong. I will say it again, this job is 24/7, 365...so she thinks she is going to go to a new place, and start from day one working days, no weekends, and have no ESLs plus make great money...these are things you work TOWARD when you have been some place for awhile, not what you get when you are just starting some place.  Does she expect the people who have been there awhile to work nights, weekends and do all the ESLs?  The poster and others like her are part of the reason the work is going overseas...no one here wants to make any sacrifices.


maybe if you are trying to make a point
about skills you should have proofread this post because I am so not impressed with your grammar. In 10 lines I can count 5 errors. If Transcend is be good or be gone, you might start worrying now.
Hafta laff -- SM thinks she's quite the master of sarcasm.

You'd make more of a point about offshoring sm
if you asked the company representative. Besides, it will save you time. If you feel you don't trust this company now (you mentioned that below), maybe you should keep on looking. Good luck to you!
You make a good point..
You know what, you're right. An experienced GOOD MT will hit the ground running and not need their hand held. I'm sure an experienced, good MT is worth their weight in gold and SHOULD be paid more. There should be a way to do that, and if all those companies out there that are crying because they can't get experienced MTs would compensate in a way that is perceived as more fair, people would be beating a path to their door. The only thing that bothers me is the assumption that all MTs with many years experience are good at what they do. I've seen with my own eyes that this is not the case. Some of them don't seem to even know proper English usage. Why should that person be paid more just because they've put in X number of years? I guess it just reminds me too much of the labor union seniority systems that protect and reward the mediocre. I didn't mean to offend anyone with my post above; just wanted to give another perspective. If I were sitting where you are, I'd probably feel the same way. The MT profession has been eroding for years, and it's got to be tough on those who were part of the good old days of being an MT when they felt reasonably rewarded for their expertise.
You make a ver good Point.
The stuff that I have read was from 2 years ago, alot can happen in two years time. Every company has something wrong with it in someone's opinion. I just saw a lot of bad remakrs about it. Maybe it will be more of a positive experience for me.
At this point....I make top dollar at MQ sm
I am part-time and have been working for MQ over 16 years. The day they tell me I have to do ASR, I will quit, but until then I am satisfied with what I make per hour. Look around...there are layoffs everywhere and I am grateful for my job with MQ for now.
I'll try to make this point again...
wake up. MTs are not the first Americans to lose their jobs overseas. Look at your clothing labels, look at our TVs and other entertainment items, look at your children's toys. WHERE were they made. If you want AMERICAN JOBS FOR AMERCAN WORKERS, put your money where your mouth is and BUY AMERICAN. Consider all the toy recalls and the pet food poisoning epidemic from CHINA...How many American workers were displaced when these commodities started coming from overseas. If it's the cheapest brand on the market, it's probably from overseas. Bite the bullet and buy ONLY AMERICAN PRODUCTS TO PROTECT ALL AMERCIAN WORKERS, not just yourselves.
You make a good point
You were able to get some recogniton because the doctor knew who YOU were and the quality that you put out. That doesn't exist much anymore. I think THE major factor contributing to the decline of the MT profession is depersonalization. As employees of MTSOs, we are no longer individuals, but part of a big MT machine that cranks out dictation. The true consumer of the MT product, the doctor, has no contact whatsoever with the person who transcribes the report. That means that there is no recognition for the excellent MT; they are mixed in with all the substandard MTs and the doctor never knows who is typing the report. He gets back good, he gets back bad, and everything in between. Basically, the only reward we get these days is our own pride in doing a good job. Unfortunately, that doesn't pay the bills.
You make a good point -
I think you're spot on ~ each of us has different needs and different capabilities. Some companies get bashed just because they weren't a perfect fit for someone and some companies are really are validly not so good to work for.
I've been with SoftScript for nearly 7 months and I have nothing bad to say. I had about 12 years experience and a few years away - things in this business changed drastically during that time. Softscript gave me a really fair go. I worked for Medquist before for many years and did a short period of time with Spheris, but went back to Australia. I was doing VRE with them ~ that was weird, but not their fault.

Some people can't be satisfied with anything ~ I'm happy knowing I have a job and the people are really nice.

Just my dollar's worth (2 cents doesn't go anywhere anymore)
You make my point. Find what works for you. You
s
Doesn't seem a valid point to me. Most people can make 250 lph sm

so why not do it making 8-9 cpl (or more) and make $24-27 per hour?  I don't think $15/hour is much nowadays, but that is just my opinion.  I made that 10 years ago in an office setting -- hate to think of going backwards, although I do reailze that is the trend in transcription nowadays, sad to say.


I just hope he/she (and everyone) finds something that pays more than that, especially for IC work. 


girl-on-girl crime

Being remote, it makes it easy for someone to mess with your life if you get them angry, especially if they can manipulate line counts and the type of work you get. 


Perhaps that is why most of us don't speak up more, although that is precisely why we should. 


Who's going to be the overseer for this industry, to make sure that all is conducted fairly and within the law?  I don't think anybody outside the industry cares that much.  There are much bigger things to worry about right now, I guess. 


Peace.


 


Love Ops, make more lines on Ops than

anything else.  If you haven't done it in a while may be slow going until you're familiar with equipment/procedure terminology. 


I do VR and love it and yes you can make money but
you need a good platform to be able to do it. I work on Escription, possibly the best according to others who work on it also. I make 4 cents a line,the biggest percentage of my work day is VR but also have some straight thrown in. I do NOT use any keys to help me. I have done MTing now over 30+ years, no newbie here and fast speed of 120+. I usually average over $20 per hour. I am very familiar with my acct (same hospital job now for 19 years), hold my pedal down and fast forward as much as humanly possible and really like it much better than straight anymore. No secret on my end, just able to edit fast and yes, I do read each and every word and do not just let the work go through in order to make what I would consider decent money.
Maybe they are like me, love the platform, but can't make money with it
xx
Agree. I would love to make $20 an hour
nm
I absolutely love it and make lots of $$$ on it. sm
Been working with eScription for about 6 years now and absolutely love it. Would not want to go back to straight transcription ever.

I also make great money with it ~ at least $50 an hour, consistently.

I count my blessings every day!
I love the platform and make good $ on it. SM

I do believe it has to do with the accounts though.  I've used it for 4 hospitals and have made great money, both VR and straight typing.  VR gives me more than double the lines of typing but I do think it is an acquired skill.  Learn the shortcuts and use them.  It is also only as good as the team training the VR. 


On the other hand I've used it on a clinic account and the lines were just not coming in like they do in AC.  A very heavy, 90%, ESL verbatim account and I lasted all of 2 weeks on that account. 


I'd say I do about 90% VR and 10% straight typing and all in all I'm impressed with the accuracy of the VR. 


Gosh, you're lucky! I'd love to make that much!
I do hope to at least get 9 cents a line somewhere anyway.
I work at DDS and love it. Make great money!

I make good money with them and love working there. sm
Here is why: I have one account with a backup account that I have only used twice and both times because they needed help not because my primary was slow. I do 1600+ lines in 8 hours. I started at 8 cpl and was raised to 9 cpl at 90 days. I have as much work as I want and while my PTO days are less than the last place I was for 8 years, I make more during the year. I literally made $17K more with KS last year than I did with MQ the year before. I am higher this year.

I love Chartscript. The account I am on is wonderful and yes, I use ShortHand with it.

Good to me? I made $61K last year with them and so far this year, I am at $56K, so I will pass that for sure.

No to paid holidays but if you work them, it is time and a half.

If my account needs extra help, they offer time and a half for weekends.

I would rather work for less per line and be able to do more lines than make more per line but struggle to get 1000 lines in a day.

There are nay-sayers for KS. They are strict on quality and expect everyone to work their schedule. Not all accounts are great, but that's anywhere. The only people I know who left were either let go for either quality or not working their shift or they quit because their lead was about to fire them.
The upgrades for Meditech Magic make it very, very fast. I love it !
nm
ditto to anon. Love my software tools that make
x
I totally disagree, love VR and can make good money at it
I have been doing now for about 4-5 years and hate it when I have anything straight to type. I have done this for over 30 years, have excellent speed at straight but Escription is a bowl of cherries where I work. I would never want to completely straight type again, never.
Love, love, love TransTech! Not overhiring, just growing like crazy!
x
Why the view on QA?
I've seen some slamming of the QA dept of OSi here. I'm curious to know why the negative view of their QA? What is the reason that you think it's the worse QA department anywhere?
A different view
I'm not sure where the other poster's info regarding mostly verbatim accounts comes from. Not one of the 4 or 5 accounts I've worked on over the years have been verbatim. Ease of production of course depends a great deal on your individual account. I happen to have a good one, although challenging, and I don't have any problem getting my lines on it. Management has been great to me personally, and I have no problem with the company whatsoever.
Osi and another view

On the other side of the coin, yes, being a newbie there was difficult because they threw so much at me at once, so many specialties, over 100 physicians all at once on a verbatim account.  Yes, I did get e-mails where I had to go back and point out to QA where they were contradicting the account specifics.  They had too much to handle.


BUT -- and this is a HUGE BUT -- I left there knowing so many specialties precisely because I got it all dumped on me at once and it had better be right.  It was not a job, it was more like a school and I was being paid a little bit for doing the work. 


Where I am now, no matter what they give me I can do it.  I've had experience in almost every specialty, close to 30 or more.  I've learned to push and push and not give up and take advantage of the overload to better myself.  My Stedman's books are loose from the covers at this point.  I don't think any school could be harder than OSi because of the pressure, the exposure to so much all at once, and you HAVE to do it as fast as you can because for me at least it was my only income.  Sometimes the worst experiences pay off the best in the end.  But as of the time that I left which was not that long ago, I would not advise a newbie to go there unless they had another source of income and could afford to get fired.  They are VERY strict.  I won't even go into the line counting debate. 


To the one who has a different view
I agree with you. I think you have hit the nail right on the head. As to what will happen in 2 years, I will be happily retired (hopefully in Florida). Two years until retirement and I can hardly wait. If a child of mine ever wanted to become an MT, I would absolutely discourage them from doing it. Anyway, for what it is worth, I completely agree with your opinion and I have been an MT for a goodly long while!
another view
Hi all.  I'm the original poster that caused so much backlash (ss# question).  I am very happy to say that the replies to kitty and at the response I got for my seemingly simple minded question have changed my view.  Just for the record, I understand HIPAA laws and have seen this before, just not as an IC with no background check, etc.  To be honest, I never really paid attention, just did my job and did it well I might add.  I'm one of those lucky ones who has never been without work and has had no trouble getting job offers with a respectable line rate.  I was so happy to have found a place to communicate with others like me and I guess I kind of got knocked off my square a bit with some of the responses.  I'm going to take the advice given and turn the other cheek and stick around.  Those of you who are so helpful, pleasant and kind to one another have changed my mind.  Thanks again to all of you for showing me the positive side of this site. 
Thanks for a different view
You could be so right about this, just was not thinking that way. I am very careful person and I really pick and choose carefuly when I try to do something. I thought she figured maybe I was on a scam which is far from the truth. My daughter tells me I cannot rescue the world (do animal rescuing also) but gosh, I can give a little of myself sometimes. Thanks for the insight!
curious about your view
Did she not break the law and was it not her own doing?  You make it sound like she has had such a hard life.  If she has because of this, it is her own fault.  She made the choices and now suffers the consequences as we all do.  Why are they bringing all this up now?  Maybe she is into something she shouldn't be again?
Can you view old reports on Beyond Txt?
Offered position with Transcend on this platform and forgot to ask.
A little more balanced view
It sounds to me like most of you are wanting to throw daggers and justify it by stating these are facts about companies, not just opinions. You feel that stating facts exempts you from wrongdoing. I don't see it that way at all.

All companies and all individuals make mistakes and errors. When even these so-called facts are presented in a way that give a bad light, disparage the character, of the person or company being talked about it, it is simply not okay at all.

The ONLY fair balance I see is this: It is okay for you to speak of every factual error and mistake about a company if the company can name you (you are, after all, naming these companies) and every error you make in your work and every time you are late to work, etc.

It is no more fair for you to sit here under the disguise of anonymity to name companies and attempt to set the world straight about them than it is for them to do the same about you.

I really truly believe in treating others as you would have them treat you. If companies came here and did the same, you'd all be filing into an attorney's office so fast it would make our heads spin.

Just sign me ...

Truth-n-Fair
Believer in the Golden Rule

My view of the VR situation...
Seems to me that the companys that talk the hospital into the VR programs can be slick talkers...basically the hospitals spend VERY BIG money for the system, to just cut our pay and have to use something we DON'T want to use in the first place... They should have forgotten about this new improved program Extext or whatever, and tell the MTs it is beyond their control to make a cut, but let us type, and save the money installing the program... and a smaller cut... most of us would have gone with that. !!! Again the big companies have to much influence on those that decide to buy the equipment...

My new system can't even count the lines... not set up to do that... unbelievable
A typical 'management' view of MTs. So sad. -nm

Personally my view is not that ignoring is
necessarily defending. However, cherry-picking is rampant because cherry-pickers know nothing will be done about it. Thanks to people like you. Cherry-picking is the thing that is pointless and wrong, NOT saying something about it.