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try taking your own advice and work on that

Posted By: attitude (nm) on 2005-08-25
In Reply to: First of all, have a decent attitude - sittin pretty...

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So YOU are the one taking all the work!!
Just kidding
I'll tell you how its taking work

Say you, and others like you, come on (or remain on) at the beginning of my shift.  The work volumes drop dramatically as YOU make up your hours - TAT issues or not.  By the time you've made up your time, there's maybe an hour's worth of work left.  That runs out rapidly as my shift was already FULLY staffed, and I get stuck sitting there the whole 12 hour window - and if I'm lucky enough work will trickle in during those extra 4 hours that ALL of us scheduled to work my shift that are fighting for it can get their time in and call it a night.


Night after night I run out of work an hour or 2 before my 8 hours are in.  Sometimes I only have 20 minutes left to type - but I am forced to sit there 4 extra hours in order to get that stupid 20 minutes - knowing I'll be short EVERY night, so if I don't make my 8 tonight, the chances of me making it up another day are very slim, because everyone is flexing all over the place.  Sure it gives us perfect TAT - it also gives us 4 hours of our lives a day, wasted and unpaid!


No I do NOT want to make it up on my days off.  I am already spending 12+ hours a day chained to my workstation.  My days off are sacred for my sanity.  Maybe it doesn't bother you, but it certainly bothers me, and I quit the last job I had where flexing 24/7 was expected.


I know you need to make your hours.  We all do.  The MTs are just doing what they have to do.  The only real solution is to STOP OVERHIRING.  Otherwise flexing eventually gets forced on every employee on every shift, whether they mind it or not!


NO FAIR LEADS TAKING BEST WORK - sm

But I don't suppose this is a new issue, is it?  Leads have to get in their lines, too, which I was surprised to learn - however, it shed light on a lot of things, like getting all crap/ESL, difficult work, this was before good work went VR and we actually did have some good dictators. 


But as soon as one of the good jobs turned up in the MTs queue (after a while can often tell by MD ID#) - it disappeared just as fast, replaced by a piece of ----.  Had asked lead a few times after this happened, who rudely answered that, what difference did it make to me - I hadn't started on the job yet, anyway.


In all fairness, work should flow naturally - first come, first serve, with the next available MT for the next available job.  But as long as the Leads have control over this, they'll continue to get the best work.  Lot of complaints also on this board re. Cherrypickers and blaming the MT (who get blamed for most everything, anyway) we need to look at WHO has control over work distributed and who benefits from having that control, and it's not the MT.


work is decreasing because VR is replacing 10 MT's with 2 and India et al is taking 2 jobs out
x
Out of work - need advice (sm)

Okay, folks, I am not sure what to do here, how to approach this.  I am an IC for a company out of Massachusetts (not Focus), have been for well over a year now.  Working on the ASP platform, begging for work.  I did seven piddly jobs today, and prior to that had not worked since the 17th.  Had been tremendously busy before that, and then all of a sudden the work just dried up.  I am not a perfect Transcriptionist but I am good, darned good.  They keep telling me there is no work on the ASP that is available but boy, those job numbers sure keep moving right along (you know, the numbers the jobs are given when the docs upload them?  The ones that tell me several thousand jobs have been uploaded in the last few weeks?) I have started applying for other positions but I am somewhat discouraged.  I keep hearing about how companies are desperate for good MTs, and I know I am a good MT, but no one seems interested.  Anyone else experiencing this?


Any advice appreciated, even constructive criticism.  Oh, BTW, before someone tells me that maybe my quality is not quite what I think it is, I have not had a single report returned to me or had a word of complaint in well over six months.  As far as I know, the client is satisfied with my work. 


Thanks, y'all.


HC


anybody work for DIGITRANINC? I need advice!

I just started working for this company and cannot got the FTP info up and running correctly.  The instructions I have gotten from the owner are extremely ambiguous and her emails are very short.  I spent 20 minutes transcribing, but over 20 hours trying to get the correct file setup!  Some of the instruction information seems to be a little outdated as well. If there is anyone out there with friendly and patient help, I'll be indebted to you!


 


Does anybody work two jobs? Advice please :)

I work as an employee for a company with a 12-hour window, 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday, 1200 lines per day minimum.  I've been offered something local to do on my own, approximately 1200 lines per day of work, but I would have the entire 24 hours to do it.


If I get my first job done at 1 p.m., I could get the other lines done in 5-6 hours max.  Geez...I don't know.  I'm probably going to kill myself doing this, aren't I?  I was just calculating this as I was typing and didn't realize what a long day that would be.


Does anybody else do this?  If so, how is it working for you?   Do you feel burned out?  I would really like to manage this somehow but want to be realistic.  Any advice from someone who has done this or is successfully making something like this work would be appreciated!   The extra money would be soooo nice right now.


Good advice, and advice that I'm giving real thought to ...

If I had known that they offshored before I accepted employment with them I never would have gone there to work.  I've been here long enough now though to not want to lose my benefits. 


Still ... making a DECENT PAYCHECK and making a living without being stressed out over the type of work that I'm doing is just as important as good benefits. 


Advice: Go over your lead. Go to the next person up. There is work there. sm
I would call the office and talk to Karyn or Becky. Your lead might not be conveying the message for some reason. Sometimes they are too busy, sometimes they don't want to share someone. Just call. That's the only way to make it happen, and you will be glad you did!
Are you telling her to work for $5 an hour? That is not healthy or good advice nm
nm
MD-IT hiring - looks like a really cool company to work for... any advice/information?
I sure would love to know more about the company - a search of this forum turned up zilch.  I was with Medquist for 8 years, and the company I went to did not deliver on the acute care account I was hired for..... 
Thanks for the advice. The idea of clinic work sounds good, but I do feel comfortable with acute ...
care. I have a lot of experience with operative notes, DS, consults, radiology etc.. but I am not that thrilled with ESLs. It is just harder to make money on them. I think I will look into clinic work. It was only the lack of work that was bothering me about these companies and mismanaging the accounts they did have, broken promises, and just getting the runaround.. over everything from benefits to work.
BUT...you are taking them at their SM

word that the production rate will increase.  The reality?  It doesn't.  I have been doing VR where I work for about a year now and even after the system was trained properly it takes JUST AS MUCH IF NOT MORE time to edit versus straight-typing the document.


You must always remember that when the company presents a plan and its assurances that you will make more money in the end, YOU WON'T.  They may (cheaper labor) but YOU will not.  That's guaranteed.


 


Not currently taking on new MTs (sm)
according to a form email I received. They seem to have a great reputation among MTs.
Well, someone must be taking it or
xx
Taking less pay
In 1981, I was making 10 cents a line; now it is 9, soon to be 8. We, as professional MTs, have let this profession go underground and isolated, many of us working at home and not in a social setting. Its time to RECLAIM our profession, re-emphasize the LEGAL IMPORTANCE of the work we do, and raise the standards again to catch up our salaries and inflation. I'd hate to have to move to India to make what I made 25 years ago!
about VR taking over all by itself but
rather the air heads out there that think it saves time and money, so they take on VR accounts and we as MTs get stuck with the editing. The original poster is correct. If doctors and/or hospitals want to change to VR, let them use it entirely on their own--no editing and no retyping from MTs, nothing! They would be throwing those machines out the windows in just a matter of a few hours. That is what our profession/industry needs. No help for VR accounts, plain and simple.
Have you tried taking Tylenol PM
It helps take away the pain you have in your shoulders and back from typing all day and it helps you sleep. May be a little better than Benadryl.

I know how you are feeling regarding MQ; I am there too and deciding on jumping ship.

That is another long story which I will have to go into at another time.

Have a good day or try at least and try the Tylenol PM


They shouldn't be taking someone right off the
This profession isn't greeting or flipping burgers at Wal-Mart or McDonald's.   Why hire someone off the street with no skills in the first place?
THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME IT IS
THANKS!
Taking pole. Which would you take? (sm)
I won't name the companies but have been offered a job from two, both paying the same amount per line.  One is as a employee with a company that so far I've seen mostly bad things about on MT Stars.  The plus side is they take out the taxes/social security.  The second is with a company that I've seen both good and bad things about on MT Stars but it's as an IC so I have to deal with taxes and social security.  The only reason I lean towards the first one is because I don't have to provide both parts of social security, but as I said, I've not seen anything good about them.  This is a second job to make up for the loss of overtime/bonus time no longer available.  What would you do? 
taking a pole
I'm with you
taking a pole where?
I think people from Poland are just fine and it shouldn't be painful to take one somewhere, should it?
You are taking my post a little too seriously
You are also obviously missing the point. My post was purely hypothetical. Again...you totally missed the point.
Taking a stand
I work for MDI-MD which does not offshore. There ARE companies out there with integrity. I think it behooves all of you who are looking for new jobs to be very clear that you will work only for companies that do NOT offshore. You should also give the AAMT a piece of your mind since they have been supporting (and profiteering from) offshoring for years. Think about that the next time you write your excuse to this pathetic organization.
So, you don't mind that they are taking
I hope that one day you don't wake up to find out they have outsourced your position and you are now without a job. Let me know how that works for you.
I'm taking the test now. I'm not too sure about this?!?! sm
I saw somewhere where somebody said they got paid every Friday. Somebody else said about once a month. I don't know. Their website looks promising. I'm in the process of getting the test ready to send now. I'm not sure if I'll even finish it.
thanks JD for taking time out of

your busy day to post that.


 


Nowhere does it say anything about taking our night
differential (not that I can find, anyway).  They took one bonus and replaced it one other and another on the way.  Rarely do I run out of work. They could have cut our pay even more to get us on a more even keel with the other nationals that only pay 50%.  At least that didn't happen yet.  It's not a bad place to work.  I have always been paid on time, have a good PS and WFC, accrue PTO even though I'm only part time (30 hours per week).
I know the OSI accounts U R taking about
The OSi MT's are in the dark about so many things. Evil people who run this company.
Test taking
I have just taken a test that must be designed to get into medical school with all of the choose the correct, fill in the blank and give the definition, was sooo..long.... and so intense, and why do we have to take 5 voice tests, don't they understand if you can do one or two, you must know what you are doing? Just tired I guess trying to find a good fit after doing this for 20 years.
Test taking
It was for DR and it was just long and timed too.

Are you sure taking all available deductions?
x
taking the spaces away ????
What is the purpose of taking the spaces away?  Any line counter can count spaces as well as characters - and a stroke to the spacebar is the same effort on the part of the MT as a stroke to a letter key - I don't understand the rationale??
Not taking sides
Actually I am in the same boat as everyone else. You have to work harder to make more money because this industry does not give raises. Our economy is hurting; however, I would NOT want live in India or any other country that is being sent work because their economy is obviously worse.

Also OFFSHORING is when transcription is sent to other countries. Outsourcing is what hospitals to when they send their transcription to companies rather than being done in house.

Lots of industries are offshoring. I just sit here in my peaceful living room and decide how much money I want to earn today and determine how hard I want to work. Some days I don't want to do it at all. Other days I am grateful I don't have to go wait tables or tend bar for a second job. As much as people complain about this industry, I can't think of anything else I would want to do to make extra money.
not taking sides but...
I completely understand what you mean about the pay...it is quite a long time to wait for a full paycheck.

But...you really should have read your contract BEFORE signing it so you only have yourself to blame for that aspect.
I am taking a f/t job with them and am pretty
excited about it. They have been really great so far in the hiring process, and I have never seen anything negative, though not much in the archives. Hope this helps! Maybe we will be working together. Good luck!
well i'm taking some comfort in
that i'm not alone. I've taken a big hit in income due to my own slowness (at least in part). but i'm also working a little less to preserve my nerves from carpal tunnel, which after 33 yr is starting to creep in. I always felt that i could find work easy with my experience, but not so sure of that anymore either. So for me, no, not recession proof.
TAKING IT PERSONALLY??...SM

HOW RUDE!  It's wonderful that you are able to tell what others are thinking or what they want to do.


Who are YOU to tell an MT to go somewhere else?  The poster has a right to her/his opinion just as much as you do, although she seems to be able to express herself with somewhat more class that you are capable of.


Thank you all for taking the time to
post. I truly appreciate it as I might have taken the chance and gotten myself into a mess. Have a great day.
That's OK! We understand! Thanks for taking
I agree with you 100% and am glad I'm not the only one foaming at the mouth at these supposed MTs who beg for less money, who don't want to be paid more or progress in our industry. Its sick, isn't it?  I know many reading this think these posters are mgmt or MTSOs, but sadly I believe they are MTs who just have had their minds so twisted by conniving CEOs that they believe the mantra. Animal Farm, anyone? Cause I sure am sick of being Boxer, the horse! 
Unfortunately, probably the only way you will know is by taking the job and seeing how it fits. sm

If you have a job already, if possible, do not quit until you work at the other job long enough to know that you are in a better situation.  I have read glowing reports about a company and then signed on to work and thought it stunk to high heaven, and vice versa ... have seen companies trashed that I thought were wonderful.  Each person's experience is unique.


Of course, if you read several people saying they were paid late or not at all, THAT kind of thing, I would certainly avoid that like the plague.  Although I do enjoy what I do, I cannot afford to work for free.


I work for Keystrokes and SmartMed and would be happy to recommend either one if the TTS thing does not work out for you.  Of course, the same thing goes for them -- some love them, some hate them.


Good luck! 


Am independent, taking off day and
was told they wanted me to make it up.
Taking post down-sm
So far, only 1 vote to take the post down. Would 9 more vote to take it down, please!
Cindy - and thank you for taking up this cause. We need it! - nm
nm
Taking a poll about VR

Do you use the mouse or the keyboard to maneuver through your VR documents?  Which one do you think is faster?


I think they are taking tips from the Q then.

Either that or my QA person is moonlighting and working at #2 on the side.


Unbelievable.


taking a stand
God bless you for your courage. I am joining you. I have already told my liaison I am leaving and will prepare a formal resignation letter this afternoon. My understanding is that Transcend merges in as of 1 September. I will work until evening on 31 August but, as I told my liaison, I will not offer even one keystroke to a company that offshores. We are in a deep depression (an economic one, as well as personal ones due to what has happened!), Americans are out of work, MTs are scratching for work, and they would DARE offshore. I was told that it was only when the clients wants it. I don't care if it is because Elvis Presley wants it or my pet chow-chow wants it. It is simply WRONG. TAKING A STAND, you have said it far more eloquently than I could have. All I can say is that I agree with everything that you said. I am so out of here.
RE: MDI taking over board
The moderator is right. Yes, there is a lot of space spent on the MDI issue and there needs to be. Many, many people feel angry and betrayed. Many people have not had work for weeks. Some of us are in danger of foreclosure because we cannot pay our mortages. Others have other reasons. Please, please, be patient. No one--and I do mean no one--knows when they, too, will be sold out. I hope this does not ever happen to other MTs but I know that is not realistic. I do know that, should it happen to MTs from another company, I will be willing to be patient with them for as long as it takes. Until you have been through an experience like this, you have no idea what it feels like. Thank you for being patient and considerate with us.
Wow! Certainly is taking care of us
x
I think the OP is taking it too literally sm
because of course nobody can consistently produce 10 reports every hour they work.  I took the question more generally, like they probably expect about 80 reports in 8 hours, or 400 reports a week.