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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Because owners, managers, and CEOs are all trying to cut costs

Posted By: training newbies is expensive on 2005-09-29
In Reply to: Very Angry MT - Angry

so they can make as much moolah as possible.  EVERY OTHER JOB I have ever had provided on the job training, EVEN the salaried professional white collar positions.  Going to school or college does NOT train a person to automatically step into a position knowing everything.  Nurses, doctors, lawyers, managers, HR directors, personal bankers, vice presidents, all of them had apprenticeships, internships, training, or worked their way up.  MT is the only field I know of where nobody is willing to train or mentor newbies.  The training at my last MT job consisted of an emailed two-page explanation of how to pull up their jobs.  That's it.  No account specs, nothing.  Go live on day one.


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middle managers/acct managers
Most of the time they have no control over what is going on either. They are employees just like the MTs who do what the upper crust tells them to do. They have no control, none of us do....
Beware of ink replacement costs. The more inexpensive the printer, the more the ink costs.
s
shhh, if CEOs see this they'll cut our pay even more
Another STARVING MT over here.
How would the doctors/rich HMO CEOs feel about
..
And the CEOs keep finding new ways to cheat and bonuse themselves.
while keeping MTs from making any money at all.  We are the ones who pay for the bonuses for CEOs, lawsuits and bad business decisions.
Yeah, so now CEOs are billionaires. They just moved the money from one place to another.
dd
Another example of how managers

This is part of an e-mail from a QA Manager, for crying out loud!


Please note that when you get feedback from a QA specialist, they go by these guild lines if the account allows and it is of the utmost importance to take note and change transcriptoin style if it does not reflect these guidelines.


 


Managers are just that - managers
they make schedules, they place people on accounts, and manage workflow. You really don't need to be an MT to do that. I myself would never want that responsibility of handling all the disgruntlement, complaints, sick days, time off, blah, blah, blah. Of late, I notice more companies are going to the concept of having a team lead who also types, handles the schedules, does evaluations, etc. everything that a manager would do. I personally like this arrangement better because they know where you're coming from because they're right there with you. Teamwork really does work best, makes people more productive and is less intimidating.
I'd be right in the managers office. That's just not right.
l
Amphion managers
. . . and if you know the salaries those women make to hound you about line counts, you would flip!
To MTSOs or QA Managers
I recently took over QA for a small company just purchased.  Previously there had been essentially no QA rules.   If any of you could send me examples of how your QA is set up, the percentages you deduct for errors - common, critical, etc., it would be most appreciated.  Any rewards given for high QA or deductions would be appreciated as well.
Most have office managers.
They are the ones who deal with hiring people and services like transcription. Most times the doctor has no idea, and don't want to know. That's why they hire the managers!
So I am the one doing the labor and get 8 cpl. Frank and all the managers
need a little something-something for all their "hard" work.  We MTs are so
Of course you second this. That's what MQ managers do. Doesn't make it right

or relevant.  Keep putting out those fires of MQ discontent, or at least until the big guns with the lawsuits put out MQ for good.


What a crummy job you have to defend big business against the little guys who are just trying to make a living.  Kinda have to sell your soul doncha? 


 


I didn't think former bank managers
made any mistakes.
DQS only does what it is told to do by the account managers -
Whichever company you work for can set up DQS to count lines any way it wants to. Hence, if your line count seems incorrect it has nothing to do with the DQS program itself, but with how the company you work for manipulates how various Keystrokes or lines are counted. The same olds true for how many jobs you pull at one time. Both of these features are able to be manipulated by actual people.
You misunderstand. I'm overhearing the managers
talking about other employees, and I've told them I can hear them when they do it. So you want me to "get over it" that they talk about other employees in front of me? Am I supposed to get over the facet one of them left a copy of all the employees' pay rates on the printer for hours? What if your info were being leaked around an office where you worked? Would you get over it?

I found a new job, and I'm helping some of the other employees find new ones, too. Seems more logical and helpful than "getting over it."
More like 90% are completely inept managers.
I have one currently who is good but the rest have been the pits, pits, pits.  And they're getting worse. 
Beef about account managers
I'll say right off which company I'm talking about, it's DTS out of TN.  I'm not mad, just at the point of head banging.  I'd really like to know what it is that some account managers do and where they get them. I transcribe on several accounts and without fail, not one of them seems to know anything about the account.  One particular one, "GK", I'll email with a question and IF she answers back, it will be somebody else's question, an "I don't know" or "where did you read that" (well DUH I read it in the account instructions).  You get doctor lists that came out before modern medicine was invented and after requesting new ones 10-20 times, you just give up (some you can't get online).  Then you get emails if you leave a blank for a doctor or feedback from QA that they can't find them either.  Two accounts are GONE just this month, wonder if this has anything to do with it?
K-Mart managers...Good money! Yes!
You have GOT to be kidding. I don't know about TODAY'S wages, but K-Mart, (or Safeway or Target, etc)managers USED to make GREAT money!! Yes, they DO prefer a 4-year business degree. These are/were not low paying jobs. Minus the business degree, one would have to play "work up" and it could take 20+ years to get up that high. The pay was about 4-6 times higher than a beginning school teacher last I knew.
and it's mostly owners now but....sm

I have lived under 3 different families with children, all children being in the MASTER bedroom above mine.  I have had to wait for TWO sets of kids to grow up.  It's the noise from the kids from the first 2 families.  Ok, this current family, has toddlers - little toddlers of which the older one (5) is a little terror....


I transcribe in both bedrooms, the master for private MDs (as the 2nd BR used to be my daughter's but she's married now and out of here), and the 2nd BR for a national.  With this 3rd family, besides the children, this bruja (Spanish for witch) decides every now and then to BLAST her music at 3 PM so loud that my walls shake (it's the bass that bothers me the most).  I have complained at the concierge desk, has been documented for one year, and then a few weeks ago I decided to introduce myself, big smile on face, while her music was blasting, and tell her that I live under her.


HUGE MISTAKE!!!  This bruja says *oh, YOU'RE the one (who had been complaining)* and pointed her finger at me, and I said *NO, YOU'RE the one, the one who is totally inconsiderate of those above you, below you, to each side of you, and across from you* to which she said *take it up with the concierge* who met with her and said *you can take action* -


an hour later, the police came to my door, BECAUSE I RANG HER DOORBELL - can you imagine - well imagine the courts today, how they worry about the rights of the criminals and what about the victims.  While I wasn't a *victim* - the years' worth of documentation with the concierge AND security, should've been enough.  Nope, they told me not to ring her doorbell anymore and if her nose level gets that bad to avoid the concierge and CALL THEM.  I hate bothering the police for things like this.....but I WILL.


S. Florida is where I live in case you might be wondering where they could possibly be THAT inconsiderate.......yep, S. Florida......


Welcome new owners, but please let us know
or if our posts or information are shared with anyone.
Real Life 'Dilbert-type' Managers

"My boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected." (CIO of Dell Computers)


Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)


My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)


"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)


We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the memo mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division)


One day my Boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards.)


As director of communications, I was asked to prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In the body of the memo in one of the sentences I mentioned the "pedagogical approach" used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the executive committee, I was called into the HR director's office, and told that the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I asked why, I was told that she wouldn't stand for perverts (pedophiles?) working in her company. Finally, he showed me her copy of the memo, with her demand that I be fired and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his dictionary and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later, a memo to the entire staff came out directing us that no words which could not be found in the local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I resigned. In accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo by pasting words together from the Sunday paper. (Taco Bell Corporation)


"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
(This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, WA.)


"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
(Lykes Lines Shipping)


"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)


"This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)


"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule."
(Plant manager, Delco Corporation)


"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)



Irresponsible pet owners
This is similar to thread on the spotted board about irresponsible owners.  The posters there had sympathy for people who were careless with their pets.
This IS the owners board to do with as....nm

owners trying to compete
The companies are trying to keep their profits high, be competitive with India and the doctors want to pay next to nothing. It's a tough business right now. I would look to other options or really push for more money. I wouldn't work for less than 9 cents. On the other hand, there are MTs out there who think they are very good, but they are honestly terrible. I think if you push for a quality company and sell yourself and you truly are worth the money, you will get it.
I don't get it....the owners, the advertisers....
nm
Owners set the tone
Owners can indeed be nice, but they also need to set the tone, or the corporate culture, for *nice*.  Polite and respectful has to be the clearly stated expectation for behavior by everyone.  *It goes without saying* does, indeed, need to be said and reiterated every so often.  The idea that everyone in the firm is a client of every other employee needs to be stressed.  Some of these things are fairly easy for the owners to check.  Ever call your own business as a potential new hire and see how you're treated?  Ever call Technical with a problem and describe yourself as a worker instead of a boss?  It can be a real eye opener, and it's something owners need to know.
That sure is odd! I wonder if they meant the OWNERS of
nm
OSi owners can do transcription...lmao

For the board owners, just a note to say
nm
I would!!! I get so irritated at irresponsible dog owners (sm)
I hope you file a complaint. As someone else said, at least it will be on file.

I second the pepper spray!!! We have dogs in our neighborhood whose owners let them use others yards at their litter boxes, so to speak. I don't have dogs but have a yard full of dog doo. With kids who like to play outside, or even when MOWING! that is nasty!!!
Question for MTSO owners/ICs
After years of working for others, I am looking to start up my own service.

Can anyone tell me what is the average going rate to charge for a hospital/acute-care account ? I have no idea of where to start my offers out at.
outsource overseas...and QA and managers "above" MT, period. It was parallel to the old EdiX
too bad, because they used to be awesome, then lost of lot of people skills and adopted the edix mentality...

I hold no grudges, just giving you my own opinion, my own experience. I moved on and am in a better place...
Previous owners were jerks....dog got hit by a car, by the time they took it - sm
to the vet it had gangrene. They told the vet to put the dog down (a year old)...vet called a Husky rescue organization who "rescued" him and had the necessary surgery done. My family adopted him about 2 years ago....great dog, keeps our lab company too. He can run like the wind which is pretty amazing.
Service owners/cherry pickers
Why do service owners never seem to notice cherry pickers? Even going to great lengths to deny there are any in their group?
I've noticed a lot of business owners
have their own way of doing things - sometimes too extreme for me.  They either have done so long their way - they don't realize things have changed since they started - or they go by the BOS down to the letter - each and every single letter - and possibly your accounts have not followed that closely in the past - or they are just picky as all get out and have a huge ego and want to make you feel inferior.  There is also the possibility you may be doing some things 'wrong' - but if you have been in the business for 20 years - cannot be that serious - and obviously you know what you are doing!!  I have run into absolutely crazy things in the last year with different MTSOs.... you dont' even want to know!!
Any small MT business owners in CA out there? I need advice!!

I'm looking start up my own small bus., just a couple accounts, but I need to know if there are any HIPAA contracts or anything else that I should be providing for the doctor and myself to sign.  Any advice would be truly appreciated!!


Thnx, Rachel


The owners of both Andrews and M-Tec very accessible and can help you with your decision.
Best of luck. :)
Why do you assume the names here are made up? Could it be the new owners
just posting to post? I have always been here (ss) and I have seen Hayseed, TRose, Country MT and many others that I no longer see anymore. If everyone would keep using their same names, initials we would know who is who.
The owners of the companies I work for certainly could increase my cpl rate. nm
:}
the people who really make BIG BUCKS are business owners
especially when they go into...say- window washing or something right away, instead of into debt. In general, I'm for college - plan to push my kids to get their master's right away as that seems entry level nowadays - but where I made really good money was owning my own service. Make(made) more as an MTSO than I ever will as a nurse-practitioner.
And will you admit there are plenty of wannabe service owners also?
nn
American Association of Medical Transcription Service Owners
They do not represent the rights of the individual Transcriptionist it seems but rather promote their organization in order to continue to exist and to continue to survive, they seem to think they should stand up for the service owner and not the MT.

You'd think they would be giving information on how to get more production since our wages have stood still and unless speed engines are used, we make much less than what one would think.


Solid company, nice owners, LOTS of ESLs nm

Wow..I'm so shocked. I didnt know this happened. I know the clients pay the MTSO owners so why ca
the MTs who do the work. Is this the same person. It sounds like she is a nice person but nice does not pay the bills. Anyone care to give initials of the company as I have been looking for a IC job and obviously with these people having a huge turnover due to nonpayment, I do not want to fall into that trap. How awful!!!
Dogs dying from 'miracle drug'. Heads up, doggie owners
Marketed as a miracle drug for man's best friend, Rimadyl is one of the most popular painkillers available for dogs. And it's killing dogs by the thousands.

Vince Sharkey was faced with the decision every pet owner dreads, whether to euthanize his beloved dog King Billy.

Arthritis and deteriorating bones made it too painful for the 8-year-old golden retriever to walk.

His veterinarian recommended putting the dog down.

"He had so much life in him. I said, 'I just can't do that'."

Then Sharkey discovered Rimadyl, a prescription anti-inflammatory drug heavily marketed to owners of older dogs. Sharkey says Rimadyl saved his dog's life.

"Before I had him on the Rimadyl he was not even able to walk. He would drag his back half of his body. The moment we got him on Rimadyl, he was back to being his normal self again.

But Lynne Bradburn tells a very different story.

Her Saint Bernard, Honor, was just 22 months old when he died after taking Rimadyl for a sprained knee.

"He'd been sitting in my lap. And he looked up at me, and he died," Bradburn said.

Honor died after taking just four doses of the drug.

"They tell you it's as safe as aspirin. But it's not. And yes, I'm angry. And I will always be angry," Bradburn said.

The FDA reports some 12,516 complaints about Rimadyl dating back to 1997, including more than 2,300 cases where the dog died or had to be euthanized. The largest number of cases involve liver or kidney failure or internal bleeding.

Rimadyl's manufacturer, Pfizer, maintains the drug is safe, saying some 10 million dogs have taken over a billion doses of the drug, with less than 1 percent of them experiencing any negative side effects.

"There are side effects just as there are benefits with all medicines, with all medical procedures and certainly with Rimadyl. The good news about Rimadyl is that for the overwhelming majority of those 10 million dogs, plus, it has provided safe and effective pain relief," said Pfizer spokesman Robert Fauteux.

But the FDA approved Rimadyl after it was tested on just 549 dogs, raising the question, were the rest of the dogs that took the drug acting as guinea pigs?

Retired veterinarian turned attorney Paul Mabrey says a drug for humans would never be allowed on the market with such a small sample.

In response to continued concerns about the drug, Pfizer sent a letter to veterinarians across the country warning them that some side effects may "occur without warning" and, in rare situations may result in "hospitalization or even death."

Still, veterinarians continue prescribing Rimadyl more than any other drug in its class. But they're careful to warn dog owners looking for a miracle cure.

"There's a lot of people that want the medication not fully aware of everything that's entailed with that but we make sure to do everything we can to educate before they go on the medication," said Dr. Deborah Feltz, a the Elliott Bay Animal Hospital.

It's a warning echoed by those who know first hand what happens when a miracle drug proves imperfect.
costs
I also agree that the cost of vet care has gone way up in the last 10 years, having animal companions is expensive. I think as more and more people are coming to realize their companions are senient beings they are willing to do whatever is necessary for optimum care just as you would do for a human. That being said, it is extremely expensive and where I used to have 5 cats and 2 dogs, I now have 3 cats and 1 dog due to losing some to old age and illness. Although I would love to have more, I know I cannot afford it if one of them gets sick.
Can you tell us how much this costs?
Have the Martel catalogue but oddly it does not give price. Am hoping it is under $50.
Rx costs
I get 2 of my meds from Canada.  Can you get yours that way and save $?  Just do a search for cheap drugs or Canadian drugs.
MT Costs
I have been a working MT for 2+ years and I am still buying things.  I have a full library of books but there are only a few I use all the time.  Still there are days when I find I need the others.  I believe I have around 16 total.  The Book Of Style is an important one.  I would recommend that for sure along with any other specialty books for the type of account you plan on typing.  I had my computer prior to training but with books, the MT course, pedals, software (spell checker, expander) I spent over $2,500.  This doesn't include a desk, chair or the other things you'll need. I would suggest you buy some 3-ring binders to keep samples in for each account you type.  I have a binder for every doctor/client.  Every doctor you come to learn to type will have his/her own rules.  The binders are my Bibles.  At first I went through a ton of legal pads.  I always keep one at my desk to jot things down.  Now I only need one on occasion.  It will be a learning experience and slow going at first, but hang in there.  Like some other MTs mentioned, it is not as easy as it sounds, but I do enjoy it.  Welcome to the club!