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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

just started and so far so good, i will eventually

Posted By: sm on 2005-12-02
In Reply to: Medware - just me

be a reviewed but I am typing while in training to become familiar with the accounts. I do recall the the pay per line rates were in the 7 to 9 cent range with incentives to make more, which I believe is about the norm these days. Also, while in training you get feedback on every report you type.


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Yes, I started a new job..so far, so good. NM
d
That's a good question - I just started doing it...
...and I swear, I'm only doing about 320 lines an hour - and I type 300 lines an hour, so I'm quite concerned! Especially since my line rate will only be around 4 cents a line! Did you all start this low when you began, and can you offer any tips for increasing production?
Good for you and hope you get started on a new position soon
Great for you! I hope you don't miss much money waiting for the new job to start... but to validate you, here is a true conversation I had with my doctor... I was talking about my company going VR and my stress level (the meeting with doc was about improving stress for health reasons). I said that I knew no matter how fast I could type, with my personal need to have great QA, always wanting to send great reports, that I could not afford to go VR. I did not explain further. He totally understood. He told me that for a while he typed his own notes into his system. Then, he had a trial of VR and he had to edit the VR and it was a disaster!!! He said he could write/type faster than he could correct, and too many errors came up. He said among his colleagues the other docs, they really don't care of we do traditional or VR, they just want great work, and if VR does not provide it they, the docs, will go elsewhere (to another vendor) for their service. He said that he understood that we get paid half or less and that would be silly. He suggested to either hang in there with my VR job while finding a straight transcribing job and have no problem saying bye bye to my present VR job no matter how wonderful the company is! He said eventually if all MTs (even the ones in India, as he is from India himself) leave for lack of pay and ability to pay bills, and certainly when the docs get poor work and demand a better provider of transcription, the companies will soon switch back to the traditional way of typing, or pay us a lot more for correct the VR (it takes more time to do, he admits). Bottom line is, the docs will not put up with poor quality b/c they are responsible for patient care. So, he told me to hang in there. If I can't pay bills, go to straight transcription, go back to school and get funding, etc. He said he promises that it will come back to our skills and we will have to be paid for what our knowledge is worth as we always have. Finally doc said, Docs don't care how it is done, as long as it is done right. If it is not done right, they will demand it be done right and that is good for the MT. Sorry for the long post but this is a true story directly from the doctor, as he has first-hand experience. Thanks for reading such a long post, hope it helps, and good luck to you and all MTs who refuse to put up with this treatment!
I started there about a month ago. My two accts are good. Not sure on the switching nm

I started 18 years ago and gave up a very good career
at a major medical association where I was just starting to move. I was 26, married three years and having my first child. I wanted desperately to stay home with him, but back then, my husband was not making quite enough to keep us afloat.
I just fell into MT when I saw an ad in the paper posted by a local MTSO. I thought, I've worked with doctors before and I know how to type. Well, I failed their test, but they were running an in-house class that cost $100 for six months, and the promise of a job as long as I could pass the test at the end. We had $123 in our savings account, and against my husband's wishes, I invested $100 of it in that course. It was well worth it!
Socially, it was hard at first to be isolated at home with children and work, but it's great now that they are all teenagers. I've always known where my kids were and been there for them when they needed me. I worked part-time for many, many years, and that gave me the chance to relax, not be stressed, go on hikes in the afternoons, or have a paddle in my kayak occasionally while the kids were in school.
I have a bachelors degree from Temple University and majored in marketing. My husband is a CPA, and we'll be married 22 years this January. He is now a partner in a small firm. He gets very good medical benefits and insurance, but no vision or dental plan. I'm sure that if I had worked for 20 years and attended to a career rather than a job, I'd be making six figures these days. I certainly don't make that doing medical transcription! But, I worked hard at raising my kids, and I have three great ones! I've saved bushels of money because I've not had to buy an office wardbrobe, pay train fare to the office, or send my children to daycare.
I have been very, very fortunate in that we no longer need my income to survive, but now I have the time to work full-time, the kids need me less, and I can still be reasonably flexible and unstressed. And, I'm still here when my teenagers need me, even though that's not as often as before. Yes, the industry has changed, but if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!
I just started on eScription and it's pretty good. Higher than the last place I was
at. Starting base at 4 cpl, which is 1 cpl higher than I was making at TTS.
I just started with eTransPlus! Maybe that is a good thing....too busy typing to be here, sm
I will be working second shift, so I am here now. I tried to e-mail you, but for some reason would not go through.  So far so good! Keeping my fingers crossed.
Eventually...
they are eventually going to change everything over to Triton and voice, but all of my accounts are on the same platform now (Extext). The pay is going to be 4 cents....no way near worth it for me. I can type most reports myself just as fast as I can listen to it and edit it so that means to make the same I'd have to be able to double my line rate...don't see that happening.
then I am going to aim to work for them eventually
Then I am going to aim to work for them eventually, ASAP. Excellent benes and computer provided, sounds awesome! Thanks for the info. I will be aiming for that.
What goes around will come around and eventually your clients
They see that all the other doctors are hardly paying anything per line for it and they'll expect you to adjust your rates accordingly. This is precisely what happened in my area. All the doctors started thinking they should get bargain-basement prices because they could use the threat to send it offshore. So wallow in the green while you have it, at the expense of your offshore workers (and hey, if they're truly so great, why not pay them US rates and really do something really noble to improve their lives?)

You might be helping the economy in third-world countries (they'd starve w/o you?! Get over yourself!) but you are INDEED helping to lower ours here. You can justify and deny that all you want, and frankly, I don't care that you sleep at night. The fact that you are here defending your stance so vehemently tells me you know deep down.

You can also claim there are no good workers here, but you're wrong. We just don't work for MTSOs with your attitude. And guess what? There ARE plenty of doctors that DO care where their work is being done. You might have found a few who don't care (if you truly told them), but that's not par for the course in most places, my dear. Most ESL clients are the most adamant that the work be done here because the US MTs are the only ones who could clean up their grammar!
Do you know if they have plans to eventually sm
start up SR on the DocQScribe accounts?
it will change eventually when the sm
companies get tired of the crap being pounded out in India. Then what will happen is the MTs who have hung in there are the ones who are going to have the jobs. It won't be the entitlement crowd or the whiners.
My 2 cents on whether my pay will be cut eventually
From 1991-97 I worked for a small company that was bought by MQ then (97-98). MQ took a long time to make major changes (except they cut pay for QA by $4 almost immediately from 20 to 16 per hour), and I mean YEARS. I believe this was because they had gobbled up SO many small to midsize companies in a span of 4 to 5 years (the company I was with was the 14th or 15th company they had merged with since 1994). So, as I said, no immediate changes that affected me personally. I had a great transcription supervisor, and actually asked for a raise that year 97-98. I was raised to 10 cpl. Over time, one of the things MQ did was try to standardize all of its companies slowly but surely to all one thing. At first the allowed us to remain SE (you pay some of your taxes)... then IC (you pay all of your taxes)... did away with bonuses that I had had with original company. Years later, you all know MQ forced everyone to become employees, no longer offered IC status, enforced strict scheduling and punching a clock and no overtime at all unless approved. I'm assuming it is still the same, it was when I finally left in 2007. I will say that I did not get a pay cut directly from MQ, but, in essence, received one when they did away with a tiering bonus program.

I took a lateral move at 10 cpl. What amazes me is that this is a great cpl for here and now, but the reality is is that I have been making the same amount since 1997. Twelve years with no raise, no cost of living, and prices of everything including my health insurance (individual policy) have shot through the roof. And to be faced with the choice MDI made for its MTs - to have to negotiate and possibly lose a pay rate I have been making for twelve years - to go down even more? Or be forced to VR to take even less? and my options, because of the upside-down-ness of this industry is to find another job for 8 cpl?

What is wrong with this picture? My guess would be greedy CEOs telling us that it VR and offshoring cutting our pay not them. Everyone from the CEOS who say we are family to AAMT has not advocated for us, for keeping work here - because of the bottom line, money. If the CEOs, if D were TRULY struggling and about to lose her house, barely making payroll, changing their eating habits and lifestyle to make ends meet - then I might buy that VR and offshoring are the direct cause. More and more I think the direct cause is simply greed. They want more and find ways to do it, and that means happens to be VR and offshoring. Okay, nuff said. That's my 2 (and then some) cents on whether my pay will be cut by Trancend.


Don't be too hard on yourself. You'll get it eventually.
nm
in my case, eventually found out
yeah, she wanted the easy stuff, even though she was making money, she wanted to add to her income and took all my easy jobs
MTs working for offshorers will eventually be let go
American MTs working for them now, gives those companies time to develop their Indian resources and once the Indian MTs can pass muster, the American MTs will be looked at as high overhead and they will be eliminated in a heartbeat.
But if you report them to the IRS, they will eventually stop -
The IRS will determine if they are breaking the law, and if they are, then they will be seriously fined and penalized -- and the IRS loves to get those fines and penalties!!!
Eventually codes are going to be "attached" to
There will no longer be a need for coders.  The diagnosis will be entered into the computer and the code will already be coded in with the diagnosis. 
QA will eventually be replaced by Indian QA/editors.
dd
Yep, it will eventually happen; just don't be stupid like I was and train them to do YOUR work.
You will eventually knock yourself out of your job if you allow it. Don't agree to it, don't allow it, and don't train ANYONE not even a backup MT, and most importantly DO NOT edit. Once they get it down, bye bye to you it will be.

Good luck to anyone going through this with Medware. I feel for you as this happened to me in the past as well back when I made real good money and cannot ever make that now.
Guess our work will eventually go to India now. Going to start looking for another job! (NM)
nm
YUP, health problems eventually set in and with working 17 hours/day, they'll be popping up very
You're so right.
I was hired and started in 1 week. That is not a long set-up time. When I started with our local h
I needed to get a physical and go through orientation at the hospital which is only given two times per month. This is a 900-bed hospital, so it cannot be an unusual process. MQ took 2 weeks. KS took 1 week. SoftScript never got me started even after repeated calls and emails.

I have only been with KS for 9 months but would never put them in the same catagory as the others you mentioned. They are the best company I have worked for, and unfortunately, I have bounced around a little in the last 5 years.
I was hired and started in 1 week. That is not a long set-up time. When I started with our local h
I needed to get a physical and go through orientation at the hospital which is only given two times per month. This is a 900-bed hospital, so it cannot be an unusual process. MQ took 2 weeks. KS took 1 week. SoftScript never got me started even after repeated calls and emails.

I have only been with KS for 9 months but would never put them in the same catagory as the others you mentioned. They are the best company I have worked for, and unfortunately, I have bounced around a little in the last 5 years.
I was hired and started in 1 week. That is not a long set-up time. When I started with our local h
I needed to get a physical and go through orientation at the hospital which is only given two times per month. This is a 900-bed hospital, so it cannot be an unusual process. MQ took 2 weeks. KS took 1 week. SoftScript never got me started even after repeated calls and emails.

I have only been with KS for 9 months but would never put them in the same catagory as the others you mentioned. They are the best company I have worked for, and unfortunately, I have bounced around a little in the last 5 years.
The best co. ever! Good work, good people, good pay, good bennies.
x
Yes there is! Good pay and good bonuses and good benefits.

and they started
you at 9.5 cents per line???
Well let's see, I started my day
and have sat here all day to only have 60 some reports! Sad but true. I have 2 other PT jobs for this very reason. I only stay because when the work is there, the money is good. If it does not pick back up soon, I'm gone!
Just started...
using CS this past week, and it is very, very easy and practical to use. You should love it!
I started with TT at 8 cpl - sm
and I was told by Debbie that top pay was 8.5 cpl, not over.  Maybe it was the account I was on.  Don't know.  Just relaying what I was told.  I really did like TT.  I couldn't afford their benefits, and yes, it is my fault for not doing my homework.  I
i actually just started with DRC ..
and just completed my first week. When I was offered a position, I was told that everything counts - spaces, characters, everything in expander. Considering it was just my first week with getting used to the system as well as formatting and dictators, I did very well - a hair below where we need to be for full time, which is not bad considering I relistened to all my jobs before sending it. That is my method of learning. I am happy:)
when I first started with MQ which sm
was then Transcriptiosn Limited, for years, I was a subcontractor given a 1099 and they supplied all my equipment. Probably weren't suppose to. Well, I leased it. Maybe that make a difference.
I started at 10 cpl with MDI-MA
NM
I started out at
8, then they gave me 9 because the account I was on was HEAVY esl, then switched to VA, which also pays 9. Did fine on the ESL account but can't make the new production requriments on the VA account. Oh, full time employee status.
Just started, but so far ...
I'm not having too many problems other than the usual just getting used to new things. I don't think WebCorrect is that slow. I've worked on worse, that's for sure. I've checked their line counts and found them to be accurate and they do include spaces/65 char lines.

I haven't been paid yet, so I can't comment on that.

Communication is very good. You can IM a question any time. I've never waited long for an answer. You do have to pay attention to who you're supposed to IM though.

Everyone I've encountered is very nice and professional. I might change my mind later, but so far, I think it's working out well for me.
I just started with them, but so far
Mary has been extremely flexible with the schedule. Just ask her. I would be willing to bet she would work with you. She is the easiest boss I have worked for yet and I have worked for quite a few:)
I started with them just a little over

a month ago and can't afford the $125 to quit.


Do they still charge you $125 to ship back the computer if you're there for more than 45 days?


Welcome! I just started...
recently myself.  Does your account start with a C by chance?
started at ,12, now...
make 16.
I just started with SGS
So far I have no complaints.  Im fortunate, I have a very easy account.  I have not had any ESLs so far...well, I had one, but he had an English/British accent and was not difficult to understand.  I think the platform you work with is dependent on the account you are assigned to.  I am using a web-based platform and Word 2000.  As for direct deposit, I do believe they told me they have it, but I could have confused them with another company I was entertaining simultaneously.  Benefits are reasonable for individuals, the family price is a little pricey in my opinion at nearly $178 per pay.  I have to do some serious typing to justify that big of per pay deduction and Im hoping I can pull it off because I need those benefits as a single parent. 
just started
I am just starting with them. If you want to email me I will give you what I know.
Just started
I just started with them and so far I like it. My account has been great. Everyone has been very nice.
Just started with them myself

but have you tried cut and pasting document into a Word document just to get a rough idea?  Or is that what you did already?


Just started with them....
on a brand new account. It is a group of hospitals and there is evidently plenty of work. I am doing Emergency Department Reports, which there is a never ending supply of. I am brand new, so it has been kind of tough, but everyone is very helpful and encouraging.

That's all I know, hope it helps.
No, have not started yet, my first
year as IC. Employee prior to this with another company.
Just started...sm
I am working two jobs at this point as i wanted to feel things out before jumping in and the were understanding about that, number 1.  The testing was not bad at all and was in line with the actual work difficulty.  I do ortho so I don't know about the other testing, but I would imagine it isn't bad.  Thus far, I have had plenty of work, QA is WONDERFUL--best i have ever seen by far.  The internet platform takes a little getting used to if you are used to installed programs, but still not a major issue.
and when I started w/MQ they had 12,000+ MTs

Yes, that's exactly how it started out with me...sm
She told me my bank was rejected my direct deposits because my account was closed. I was actually dumb enough to believe her for a while and kept arguing with my bank. Please keep my posted about your situation. I've recently sent a copy of all the invoices she owes me to the hospital with a copy of the job numbers, etc. I doubt they'll pay me but they'll certainly see what kind of a business she's running. I cannot even imagine where she gets off thinking that she can get away with pulling this. I just find it incredible. Hope you have better luck than I did!!!
It has still not started.

After you get started
I almost took the test, but went for a job closer to where I live, in the same state.