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Here's some points to ponder....sm

Posted By: Legal eagle on 2005-09-08
In Reply to: May want to hold off on cashing it - Message to MQ, MT

1.  You can go ahead and cash the checks you received and it 's guaranteed money.


2.  You can wait and join the class action suit if you haven't and not cash the check; however, remember that in class action lawsuits the only true winners are the lawyers.  They end up getting most of the money in the end and generally the plaintiffs end up with a very small amount.  It irks me to see things like class action suits that results in the attorneys receiving millions of dollars in legal fees and the plaintiffs end up with less than  $100 because the legal fees ate the money available up.   Look at people who sue insurance companies over automobile accidents for example.  Say an attorney gets them $500,000 - well the attorney gets $250,000 for legal fees and the injured party receives $250,000 - and in situations where they receive large monies it's generally because the person is going to have permanent health problems related to the accident that future insurance companies will exclude paying for.   $250,000 isn't a lot of money if you have an injury that will cause chronic problems throughout your life.


3.  Remember that if you do join the suit that this will probably be tied up in court for years so don't expect a quick settlement if they do decide to settle.  Agreeing to settle a case outside of court doesn't mean the defendant is guilty - sometimes it's cheaper to settle out than to continue racking up costs associated with the lawsuit.  


As a note I don't work for MQ - I've just been out there in the legal world to see very commonly that what people think will happen isn't what happens in the long run.  The best you'll get is checks for any amount you weren't paid properly and possibly some interest, but don't expect to get a truckload of cash because they messed up your paychecks.  Instead if you wait on the lawsuit then you may end up having to share the back wages with the attorneys. 




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and ponder this as well...
greenjeans, not only do the Indian MTs get a very discounted rate for certification and all else, but the American CMTs are paying for it with the increases they have had in the past few years.

American CMTs in this county are actually sponsoring non American MTs.

I e-mailed the former AAMT asking for a discount for hardship reasons, and was told no way, not possible, never will happen. They offered a discount once a while back but no indication it will happen again. No concern for me and my dilemma whatsoever...
Just something to ponder - sm

Make sure you are putting some of that "good money" away now while you are able to make it.  15 years from now, you may not be able to bang out those 1500-2000 lines per day and your check is going to shrink. 


I was just like so many of you and became trapped by what I was doing.  After 15 years of it, i was so severely burned out and I am unable to keep up that pace any longer.  I'm in school now so that I can get a better paying job outside the home.  Being here when my kids were yougn was wonderful, but now I need to get out, but I need to continue at the level of pay we've grown accustomed to.


Ponder this thought
I agree about proofreading and finding errors, but geez, that person(s) was very hard on her. Don't think she will be back in a while:(

My gosh, think about those doctors that cannot speak and then to have a Transcriptionist that cannot type - YOWZEE - Wouldn't want to decipher that report - LOL!


Question to ponder...If there is such a huge shortage of MTs, why is everybody always

Imette St. Guillen's death should make you ponder
There is simply no rhyhm or reason. Random acts such as this, to innocent souls. It makes no sense to me. As I grow older, I believe less and less in a higher power and more and more in luck.
There are good points and there are bad and ugly points. Unfortunately, the bad and ugly get
deleted.  Just the other day there was info and it seems to be more positive.  Like any MT job, some love it, some hate it.  But, having been employed there, the bad parts are/were true.   The changes sound great but not great enough to make me change my mind about working for them.  I do say she pays well for the area.  She is one of the rare business owners who actually started out as an MT..I think that makes a big difference in pay.
Two points

According to the BOS:


1.  You are supposed to substitute mL for cc.

2.  When quanity and unit of measure immediately follow a heading such as estimated blood loss, use numerals.


two points
what is a sentence ends and the next sentence starts with...
80% how do you do that?
Just a few points

Okay...here goes...


So, currently I work in-house at my local hospital.  (Probably shouldn't mention this cuz it's rude, but just trying to give accurate information)..I make 16.47 an hour, plus benefits.  I love my job and it is supporting me and my husband (who is in college at the time...graduating in JUNE!!!)...So, it's worth it.  However, I have to deal with a LOT of crap from the other MTs in-house.  Lots of bitterness, competitiveness, bi*chiness, etc.  I am dealing with it because I know I am not going to do this forever.  Which brings me to my next point:


Don't stay in this job for a long time!!!  You won't go anywhere with it, if anything you will probably get laid off due to outsourcing.  I, myself, am starting school for medical coding.  I will be done with school ($2000) in June and then get started in my new career.  If have been a medical Transcriptionist for 6 years and have done everything from psychiatric to internal medicine to sleep studies as an IC (and it's not worth being and IC in my opinion because of all the taxes you have to pay...big bucks) and my best job yet has been working in-house at my current job.  However, like I said, MTing is not going to get you anywhere fast.  If you want a job that takes you to the next level, go into coding.  There are a lot more career opportunities out there and you can eventually work from home being a coder as well. 


If I had to do it over I would have gone straight into coding (except for the fact that I got a lot of medical experience working as an MT).  Good luck to all of you who decide to stick with MTing, but I don't think it will reward you in the future.  I believe it is a dying profession and we all need to move on while the opportunity is here. 


I pray for all of us to be able to support ourselves and our family!  I know it's tough out there and we all are struggling to make end's meat.  Just keep on keepin on and we'll all make it through some how. 


 


Points well taken, thank you.
Your points are well taken. I was being a bit vague in what I was actually thinking - there are times on this board that things turn really nasty and hateful, and some of the MTs who are on this board appear to turn on each other, squabble about meaningless points. I really didn't want to encourage a hate-fest against anything, that's all. I think that is indeed unproductive.

BUT, you are right... we can't just be all happy we want fair pay and expect things to change or that we will be heard. We do have to have a stance and a mission and goals. After posting, I did a search here on AHDI and found that I'm hardly the only MT who feels this way, and saw some really great posts back in Sept 2008.

And, I do agree, there are times when it pays to be against smoething (and risk appearing "negative").

So, where do we go from here? Most of these threads seem to die out... and maybe this one will too. I'm hoping it won't, but I really don't have a clue where to go from.

My thought is to brainstorm and continue this dialogue - but I'm not sure MT Stars is the correct venue?

What does anyone think about an email list - that would mean using our real names and emails - to interact off of this forum. I may be way off here - if so, please, opinions welcome! I am not sure going on and on about it here is the momentum that is needed... nor am I sure talking about it on an email list is either, but it's the only idea I have. I don't have the knowledge or time to create a website forum for a group to form via that method.

Maybe this will all sputter out after we all vent again here, I dunno, but I really hope not. Someone mentioned to me today it may well be too late, that trying to organize could push VR and offshoring even faster... I don't want to believe that.

I have a ton of ideas and thoughts and have seen so many good points and posts about how AHDI has hurt U.S. MTs.

We need to band together.

So. From here I make the suggestion that anyone interested in participating in an email list (where we can send a group email by hitting reply all and sharing our thoughts and hope and ideas for a mission and how to get something organized) write to me via email.

I'm not interested in being a leader of this per se, but I am willing and motivated to try as best I can to get some sort of ball rolling.

Let's do this?! I hope the MTs who were posting about this way before I did, back in 2008, will reply too.

Tech Support, your thoughts are exactly what I am envisioning us doing on an email list. Let me know what you think of this and if you want to participate. Thank you for responding so thoughtfully.

Any other ideas, please!



Points well taken, thank you.
Your points are well taken. I was being a bit vague in what I was actually thinking - there are times on this board that things turn really nasty and hateful, and some of the MTs who are on this board appear to turn on each other, squabble about meaningless points. I really didn't want to encourage a hate-fest against anything, that's all. I think that is indeed unproductive.

BUT, you are right... we can't just be all happy we want fair pay and expect things to change or that we will be heard. We do have to have a stance and a mission and goals. After posting, I did a search here on AHDI and found that I'm hardly the only MT who feels this way, and saw some really great posts back in Sept 2008.

And, I do agree, there are times when it pays to be against smoething (and risk appearing "negative").

So, where do we go from here? Most of these threads seem to die out... and maybe this one will too. I'm hoping it won't, but I really don't have a clue where to go from.

My thought is to brainstorm and continue this dialogue - but I'm not sure MT Stars is the correct venue?

What does anyone think about an email list - that would mean using our real names and emails - to interact off of this forum. I may be way off here - if so, please, opinions welcome! I am not sure going on and on about it here is the momentum that is needed... nor am I sure talking about it on an email list is either, but it's the only idea I have. I don't have the knowledge or time to create a website forum for a group to form via that method.

Maybe this will all sputter out after we all vent again here, I dunno, but I really hope not. Someone mentioned to me today it may well be too late, that trying to organize could push VR and offshoring even faster... I don't want to believe that.

I have a ton of ideas and thoughts and have seen so many good points and posts about how AHDI has hurt U.S. MTs.

We need to band together.

So. From here I make the suggestion that anyone interested in participating in an email list (where we can send a group email by hitting reply all and sharing our thoughts and hope and ideas for a mission and how to get something organized) write to me via email.

I'm not interested in being a leader of this per se, but I am willing and motivated to try as best I can to get some sort of ball rolling.

Let's do this?! I hope the MTs who were posting about this way before I did, back in 2008, will reply too.

Tech Support, your thoughts are exactly what I am envisioning us doing on an email list. Let me know what you think of this and if you want to participate. Thank you for responding so thoughtfully.

Any other ideas, please!



I agree with you on several points

That is, if you have a reputable daycare that is organized with caring people educated in childhood development. My neice was recently changed from a nursery (2 yrs old) because she was found lying on the floor in a corner at the nursery by her mother who came to pick her up at 5:15 p.m.. She had a 103 degree fever, and no one had bothered to call my sister about it. Anyone knowing that child would know she would have to be sick to be lying around when other kids are present. The new nursery is the different in night and day. She gets a report every day from what the child eats to even how many times a day she poops. It's wonderful and the child's attitude when she gets home... a world of difference. My sister thought she had a caring daycare, until she moved. Now she knows what one is really like. To all who have to put children in daycare, KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOURS!


Also, you second point, the shyness... I was also raised at home by my mother and never put in daycare and I was "painfully" shy when I got to school. I had a hard time throughout my school years because of it. Now as an adult, I don't think there is anything holding me back, but I had to work hard to get out of the shyness. I think because I was at home, I didn't know other kids but they knew each other and I never seemed to fit in.


 


 


great points...sm
You've really given me a lot to think about this early Thursday mornin'...thanks! You're right, though. A lot of the issues you bring up, I have NEVER thought of.  Wow, pretty eye opening post! It's about time something worth reading was posted...
You made several of my points..
With hard work and encouragement, the helping hand from the government helped produce productive citizens.  You had the advantage at least of an intact family.  Think of a poor baby born to an uneduated teenager mother with no father.  Without a lot of hard work and self determination, no amount of money from the govt. is going to end that vicious cycle.
what is their points review
doesn't sound like its in our favor, is it part of the new mt/me rewards plan??
I agree with some of your points. sm
I didn't post my original post to argue. I simply offered a different opinion and what I thought were some good suggestions. I didn't realize everyone here had to have the same cookie-cutter opinion or they would be broad-sided. I agree that everyone needs some alone time. Never said they didn't. I just don't think a vacation is the way to accomplish that. And I never said I take my kids with me everywhere I go, and for you to make these assumptions is pretty rude. What I said was that I don't take a VACATION without my kids -- I think it's wrong. My opinion, and I'm entitled to it. And I have a very healthy relationship with my kids. I never said they were angels -- that's your assumption (again). But I did say that my kids are treated with respect, they treat me with respect, and we enjoy each other's company. Sorry if you don't understand that. I'll try to keep my opinions to myself from now on in case they conflict with the prevailing cookie-cutter opinion.
A lot of good points, especially one (sm)
I also like to stop and do other things.  Constantly popping laundry in and out of the washer/dryer, running back and forth cooking in the kitchen, etc.  So I agree that by the line is probably the best. 
Excellent points! (sm)
I like the idea of the letter serving double duty both as information about and an example of your transcription.

[I also like how you broke your post up into small paragraphs -- so much easier to read online where solid, dense paragraphs appear so inpenetrable.]

Cold-calling and mail solicitations rarely yield immediate results, but within 3 to 6 months inquiries should start trickling in from the managers who were impressed by the presentation and filed the letter for future need.
a couple of other points
This is not only about our jobs - this is about our medical records - the quality of what is done overseas is not the same as what is done here.  Errors made in medical records should be taken seriously.  Secondly, our privacy is protected we are held accountable for that in the US - do you think for one minute we could prosecute someone in India who does not follow the rules?
And very good points. nm
x
Excellent points. Very well said.

There were 2 points to the post.

Both points were addressed and specific solutions to both problems were given. Obviously, there are those readers, such as yourself, who only want to focus on one of the problems. I don't feel a need to lecture anyone on financial planning. I am simply offering a solution to helping this person overcome her problem for the future. Please trying offering a suggestion yourself instead of pointing a finger at those who do.


Good points. nm
x
Interesting points...

I did some research on HIPAA compliance with companies who offshore to India.  From the looks of it, the American-owned companies can be prosecuted for violations.  Also, it appears that India has similar laws and can prosecute their own citizens who violate confidentiality.  I definitely think there is more to the story than just people typing from cafes with no rules or laws.  Being that offshored work is big business in foreign countries, it would be to their own advantage to prosecute anyone who violates confidentiality.  I imagine there are laws in place already.


Under the summary points

This statement was my favorite, and I do hope a lot of companies read this survey and learn from it!


"Speech-recognition technology is only a transcription tool, and not a transcription replacement. The job involves too much professional intelligence and sense-making ability to have it migrate completely to speech recognition."


I honestly don't think a company should be able to lower our rate of pay because of VR...We are still responsible for sitting and listening and correcting mistakes...although I have been fortunate enough not to have my company have any accounts that use VR yet...but I have a friend and her company is doing VR, and her rate of pay is ridiculous!


why not? it's just key points of the chart ---
or chart condensed. anyone needing to know anything will go into the chart itself, including the courts.
specific points
Any specific points that you feel are meaningful to you. Whereas in my situation I am going to make the point that I applied at a hospital and intended on working for the hospital and not being outsourced after 10 years. The benefits aren't going to be as good for me, and also with outsourcing like that they put so many people on the account to get that turnaround time real fast that you run out of work. Those are just a few of my points. What I am going to do is make an outline of why outsourcing is a bad idea for the hospital and bad for us on a personal level just to sum it up, and then I am going to proceed on with my letter.
You also brought up points sm
I had overlooked. Being willing to work Sat, Sun, holidays etc. I realize there are folks that dont' want this type of job, unfortunately, IT IS THE JOB! Medicine is 24/7 and so is this job.

If a person doesn't want this kind of life, then they need to get out of acute care at least. Work in an office, M-F making an hourly wage. But, to make it in this business, at home doing acute care for hospitals, you have to be willing to work outside of what most people call normal hours.

Another point to be thought about is if you are willing to do this, when these companies are approached fron clients about taking in new work, guess who will get called to do that work? You will because you are reliable and good and they are trying to "land" an account. It is very nice to help a company "land" an account. Most of the time, you will have your choice as to whether or not to do that account or not and that is more stability in your job.

There are so many variables you cannot put this profession in a box like any other. You essentially make your own paycheck! Its up to you. In this economy, people better be ready and willing to work outside the normal 40-hour a week, M-F box if they want to keep a job. That is just the way it IS!!!!!!!!!!!
You gloss over several points
A) The majority of Canadians are quite happy with their care, and if asked if they wanted to switch to a private provider like the US has, they overwhelmingly vote 'No' (under 5%).

B) The average Canadian is not coming here for health care. The average Canadian cannot afford to come here for health care. And if you're going to judge the quality of health care by whether someone travels there to get it, India must be even better than us since a lot of Americans (and not naturalized or ABCDs) go therefore for their health care.

C) The mentality of punishing everyone for the 'sins' of a few is egregious, especially if you're using them as your rationale for withholding health care to the working poor.

D) And I'm sure this is heresy, but maybe I don't really need an MRI every time I stub my toe, a CT angiogram for a charlie horse, or a colonoscopy everytime I fart.

Canadians by and large love their health care system and are aghast at what ours is like. It's great that you have wealthy friends that can come here and buy the health care that most Americans can't get. But you'll have to excuse me from not feeling badly that they'd have had to wait an extra 48 hours to get those tests back in Canada; at least they could get them.
You make some good points.
.
I think it is great to get different points of view sm

If you are going to claim you type this drastic amount and not give the reasons why, then you are creating a falsehood for all of the newbies.  They'll feel so inadequate, and that is not fair.  We should be a team, not to try to see who's faster or better.  I mean, look at that ridicious shotty/shoddy crapola!  Who the heck cares??  It will all boil down to the physician's preference anyway!  I often wonder how many times I've typed a report and my initials get removed before it goes to the physician so some hot shot MTSO owner gets all of the credit for my work??  Uh oh, do I really want to open that can of worms?????  Tinks don't go anywhere.  If anon2 feels the need to leave, then so be it!  There's plenty more out there with an opinion we sure all have an opinion, don't we? 


you make some good points

Your post is encouraging.  Maybe we need to study these people you mention and learn the ropes from them. 


Yes, I've seen the pictures of the MTs in India.  Reminds me of typing class in high school.  And that's what I'm saying, just like you -- how long can this last?  You question how long before they get carpal tunnel.  Great point!  How long before they get burned out?  You can't work people like that, not at this job where you have to listen so intently and be so absolutely correct.  Transcribing a difficult dictation is akin to doing a hard math problem.  The brain can only take so much at a time.  Couple that with trying to understand a dictator whose language is not your primary one and speaks in slang or idioms you never heard.  If they work the overseas MTs like that, there's going to come a point where something has to give.  The quality of their work might suffer, even the good ones, due to burnout.  Will the American companies still want them?  How desperate are they for our work?  Desperate enough to endure those conditions?  Do they have other choices?  We see them as the foe, and yet as you say, we are turning into that kind of situation with many of our companies but we do have other options, fortunately for those who want to pursue another career. 


The medical record must endure.  There must be good MTs.  You can't work people to burnout either here or overseas.  In this country, you need to make the job inviting in order to keep the workforce up.  Lowering salaries here is not how to do that.  Running sweatshops there is not how to do it either.  Something has to give at some point.  Then maybe people will take us seriously again and this job will be what so many of us want and need it to be. 


You're right about the middle class.  Something has to happen -- this is affecting too many jobs, too many sectors of society.   


Good points, another consideration is (sm)
whether or not a service does correspondence work. I worked for a small MTSO that began doing a 65-char line before most of the others, and she chose to do it because we had clients who were requesting certain fonts and type sizes. Going to a 65-char and adjusting rates meant that she could offer different fonts and styles and the pay would be fair across the board.

It was funny, though, we always had certain clients who wanted tiny little type fonts no matter how many times we explained to them that it wasn't saving them any money. Didn't matter to us typing it; we were in WP51 and so it looked the same, the only difference being it "ran off" the right side of the page and made proofing harder!
You make some valid points; HOWEVER,
telling an MT to use the BOS is not really helpful. Many of us transcribe "verbatim" accounts where we are told to reference the BOS. Scuze me, what's the line between verbatim and the BOS? And if the BOS says one thing but the client specifics say another thing, then what? Pretty much NOTHING in this business is standardized. Not pay, not line count methods, verbatuum vs nonverbatim...

As far as looking things up, I will look for a name or address (if I'm given enough information to do so) for 2 minutes. I'll relisten to a potential blank 3 times on its own and then in a final run-through of the entire report to see if I can get it by context. But this is a PRODUCTION job and I do not get paid to spend all that time looking things up.

And there are a lot of words that really are not words that doctors use. What do we do with those?

I've been doing this 12 years and still occasionally run across things that are wrong that I was told to "do it this way" by one client or another along the way and the "wrong" way just stuck. I'm always happy to have those pointed out so that I can correct any old bad habits...

But here's another thing. If we, as so many of us are, are required to work on 3-5 accounts to get the equivalent of full-time work, and those 3-5 account all have different specs, then it should be expected that screwups are going to happen.

Again proving my point that NOTHING is standardized and the BOS is, at its best, a fundraising tool for the former AAMT and, at its least, a very general sort of guideline.
You make really excellent points. sm
When somebody tells me what they do for a living, I usually try to find something positive to say about it; but what you said are very common responses and when you think about it, they're probably about as true as the sentiments people think about us.
Just as your points are logical common sense... sm
so also is the obvious reality from past performance of MQ, that you will likely not be happy there.. and need to find another place to work... you will not change the fact that because so many are "on to them" they are hiring anyone willing to work in those positions.. the only thing you CAN change is YOUR situation. You will find these same people who irritate you.. in oher places also.. but the only way you will escape the problems you have mentioned..is to leave where they are prevalent. There are many jobs posted.
As wtih every company, they have their good and bad points - sm
As long as you do not end up with L.L. as your account supervisor, you will do just fine! There is more bad than good about this company, huge turnover, etc. But you can easily make $$ with them, especially because you get paid for spaces and returns.

I did well $$ with them when I was not being moved to different accounts all day long. If I was on one or two accounts for the day, I did great, but needless to say management has other ideas.
I agree with many of the points he makes. Why post this here? nm
xx
Well, I will say this for you, you have the AAMT talking points down really good! sm
It's still BALONEY, but you repeat it well.
Yes, but the sarcastic exclamation points were unnecessary

I think you are missing one of the worst points of off shoring. sm
All of these people working off shore are not paying income tax, social security tax, medicare tax, or state tax. The government is losing a small fortune on these salaries, and as the price of their programs go up, so will our taxes. Someone has to pay for it. The people making minimum wage will not be hit hardest, it will be the middle class, those of us doing this profession, teachers, accountants, etc. Maybe when your tax hits 50%, you will begin to see the light.
not out to stir the pot or gain brownie points
Okay, I'll tell. I work for an MTSO that is known for its standard of hiring only the best of the best MTs. The only feedback I get is for the exceptionally good work I do and the raises it earns.

I just think the OP is conflicted...trying to "set" us all straight while s/he studies to move out of this profession and still projects that the rest of us should care about it - as if anyone who has been in this business has not kept up with the changes; where it used to be, where it is now and where it is heading.

I do my part through the work I produce. My work ethic would hold true whether I produce reports or greet people at Wal-Mart. I have nothing to prove or need the attention as it seems the OP does.

Again, this is a waste of bandwidth.
You eloquently make excellent points.
I also think many health care jobs suffer from similar pressures. Nursing, for example. The main difference is they are visible; we are not.
Thanks for your response. You made some very good points. sm
I guess I have to figure out what is most feasible for me. Luckily, I have had the same transcriptionists with me for a long time and they are all quality workers, but I still like to quickly check all reports before they go to the client.

Thanks for your input.
Her points are valid, true, and very appropriate to discuss here.
The only thing I would add to that is that in addition to discussing this age-old medical "dirty secret" here, it should also be discussed with anyone and everyone, until the issue can be brought to the forefront in the medical industry. A lot of terrible medical mistakes are being averted because of skilled MTs catching them.
We are an important line of defense in the medicolegal risks every doctor & medical institution faces every day. Yet because very few people know this profession even exists, we're continually being kept in the medical industry's darkest closet, and many of them get their hides saved from financial ruin every day -- literally at our expense.
Bitter? I think the recruiter/owner had some valid points. nm
x
Like the circus around my house. I type and everyone gathers around and points
Then they look at the paycheck and laugh because that is the part where the clowns arrive.
You are correct on all points-I ended up copy/pasting
XX
They also use tactics based on "sale points" which tease the customer
to the specific area (such as a microwave for $25.00) and then consider that if the customer took 10 additional steps, he would see the microwave he realloy would prefer (say a GE for $69.00) and since the customer is so thrilled with the dirt cheap price of the initial microwave, he purchases the GE microwave which is ACTUALLY PRICED HIGHER THAN OTHER STORES!!!!

Dastardly!
Any points on sightseeing in Maine and New Hampshire, just highlights that are most worthwhile. nm
:
i'd call that brownie points for heaven LMAO...and a waste of time!
;)