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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Offshoring to India is the direct result of declining quality

Posted By: RockinMT on 2008-07-08
In Reply to: Re:school - Tina

being produced by American MTs.  The declining quality being produced is the direct result of inexperienced, under-educated MTs being churned out by these online MT schools.




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Actually, the testing is a direct result of...SM
all of the schools and training programs out there that don't begin to teach a person what they need to know to be able to do this work. People come out of the training programs and think they are ready to go to work, but in reality they haven't got a clue. The only way to weed through these people is to require testing to be sure the person being hired can actually do the work. That's the long and the sort of it, in my opinion.
Offshoring to India...Offshoring.
nm
A lifeguard and now an MT without training! Bahhaaa! No wonder the docs are offshoring to India! C
---
The company that I edit for the ONLY quality MT we have is from India..that's pretty sad!!
x
Now MT companies in India have control over the work produced. Quality is much
zz
Thanks to you all - I ended up declining this offer after all. nm
xx
MTSOs: Politely declining a job opportunity?
I sent out some flyers and got 2 accounts at roughly the same time. One is wonderful, keeping me busy, and I love, love, love it. The other one negotiated the price down and has not been particularly cooperative. I realized today the latter account hasn't signed the service agreement, and I would just like to tell them properly and politely that it simply isn't working out, but I don't know how to go about it. Has anybody had to do this before? How would you suggest going about it? I don't even know where to begin.

Thanks in advance,

Tonya
They have to make money somehow since they have declining membership dues. nm
x
Hahah!a! Funny typo: not quality 'scAre', quality 'scOre'. LMAO!...nm
nm
I think that depends on the quality. Do you honestly think there is good quality just throwing every
MT on any account like they are. I also think QA has been told to not waste a lot of time on blanks so I think the hospitals are getting a lot more blanks. I certainly have more when I get in a hospital I dont know and they talk 100 miles an hour.
I thought quality was a given. Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. sm

I maintain 99% accuracy above on my reports.  However, the original question was regarding personal preference, and I have stated mine, and I respect your opinion as well.  :-)    I do think if I was working in an office or hospital setting, the setup you mentioned might be more profitable in the long run.  There are too many interruptions and such when you have other people running in and out, phones ringing, etc. 


I doubt that anyone but me really cares about the lines per hour it takes for me to do a report.  They just want an accurate report in a timely manner.  I take pride in my work, and would never just slop something out for the sake of the almighty buck.   And, as an added incentive, I work for 2 companies, and one of them has my name on each report.  I don't have a problem with it, but I did think it was a bit unusual at first.


Oh well ... I must confess that what I'd TRULY like is to be paid lots of money to just sit and play Battle Phlinx on Pogo all day long, but as of yet, no such luck.  


INDIA, INDIA, NEWBIE LOOKING FOR INDIAN-OWNED COMPANY-FORGET AMERICA COMPANIES HIRING NEWBIES!!!!
Our country sucks when it comes to teamwork.  My experience is in hospital transcription and 95% foreign dictators.  Most of my dictators are from India and surrounding countries.  Give up you all, India is already way ahead of us!
Used to think we were using India, but now realize India is using us for our med. info, jobs,
:{
I did exactly what you did and had the same sorry result

I came down with repetitive stress injury after typing for hours each day for years. Now after an hour of typing my fingers are sore and stiff. I went to DNS for the same reason, did the Know-brainer, got the excellent mike and trained the a** of the thing - after months, I still could not get any production out of it. I can type circles around the thing-- except I can't type! Furthermore, the thing is so touchy, requires frequent re-boots to get quality production, and I would have to redo my dictationary every three months because of a **known** glitch in the system. Then the thing has to hear the whole sentence and think to make sure it gets context right-- you are dictating the next sentence while it is posting the previous sentence and you're trying to do both at the same time. hated it.


VR done by other companies uses the Dragon platform but then changes the software so that edits are easy - not the bulky, slow, fingers off the keys editing that DNS has. Our hospital had the radiologists go to Dictaphone's Powerscribe and in 30 days they were doing all their own dictation without ANY editing by MTs. So depends on the platform. VR definitely works.


what is the result if you make the same
checking on a free AV?
As long as your end result is verbatim, it should be up to you how you get there! nm
..
I agree I learned more as a result of the
I never worked on production back in the olden days, though. I was always paid hourly at my in-house positions. I never received production pay until I went home to work. It's a whole new mindset, and I believe wholeheartedly in using whatever tools are at my disposal to increase productivity. However, I'm very glad to have learned the old-fashioned way, too.
And the result is like a Catch-22. Clients/MTSOs

so they turn to alternatives like offshore or VR.  But they don't look far enough to see that the root cause of not enough experienced MTs is because the experienced don't want to stay in a sinking ship.  I think they feel that using the excuse that lack of experienced MTs validates them turning to cheaper alternatives, which in turn, makes the ship sink even further.


Think it's a result of that darn "vote-for-the-worst" sm
group that is skewing all the results. Wish that site could be abolished.
Sage advice. Consequences would result in being out of the loop
But I can live with that.
The result of MTs' efforts to make a living wage are (sm)
And of COURSE we don't want less - we DO want more. That goes without saying. But you see - the type of verbal attack that you and other "Debbie Downers" like you launch every time an MT says, "Wait a minute... maybe there IS something we can do is so typical of the type of thinking that holds not just MTs, but women in general back. I have already checked and made sure my doc's MTSO doesn't offshore. If that changes, my ins. (which is just your average, run-of-the-mill HMO) STILL allows me to go to other providers. If you "don't have many options", have you ever wondered WHY? Could it be that you keep SETTLING for less and less? And could it be that other MTs, when they read the gloom and doom in your post, will think THEY have to settle, too?

As for pulling other endeavors out of other nations, hey - there are quite a few that I think others would LOVE to see pulled out. Such as tech help for just about everything from your PC to your cellphone being sent to places where they can't understand what you're trying to tell them, and vice versa. I have a friend with a Masters degree in software engineering who is working menial jobs right now in order to pay the rent, while he looks for a job in his field that is a full-time, benefitted position, rather than as a part-time IC with no benefits. He says even the part-time jobs are getting hard to find because so many employers are sending EVERYTHING out, including part time.



The old, "Go ahead and try! Why don't you quit MT? Oh, boy - more work for ME!" song and dance may fly for a while, but why sit back and seemingly enjoy watching your profession go extinct, when eventually it WILL affect you, too? Do you really want to sit there all day as an "editor" and stare at work typed by other entities? How boring is that? Where is any ounce of creatitivity? At least when you transcribe, you are producing something of value, and can take pride in it. And at a lousy 3-to-6 cents a line, where is the pride in speech-rec or editing work?




Anyone had a positive result of posting a resume through this site?sm

Once again, I am on the lookout for another service because work load is starting to slow down.  Quite frankly, I'm a bit scared!  We had no work for many days starting about this time last year, and it looks as if that cycle is starting again.  I was just wondering if anyone would suggest I post my resume here.


 


This board's image problem is the result of complaining MTs.

--should become the new logo.


Once had an ESL cardiologist who dictated every lab result done during hospital stay
and even the normal ranges for each test!!! 45 minutes long and of course it was a PRIORITY/STAT.. yeah right
If you google the phrase "Letterman sign" it is the fifth result listed ... sm
It seems to be the same thing as the Terry-Thomas sign. It was new to me, too.
How common are server issues and other technical problems that result in downtime? (sm)
Do you get compensated for your downtime?  I'm thinking of going to work for a national, but I've heard there are a lot of technical issues at these bigger companies.  True?
If Joint Commission audits and finds "patient care" errors it can result in very...
...serious fines and repercussions. 
Direct TV

We have had Direct TV for approximately 12 years now.  The price is reasonable and I just got an upgrade to the DVR for my sons to record shows, sports events and Direct TV took the box on the t.v. in the living room and put it on the t.v. in the kitchen for my husband to watch.  Direct TV is great.  We only have problems with it during severe lightning storms, but turn it off anyway, (picture freezes when storn is overhead).  It costs about 94.00 per month for all the sports channels, movie channels and then 5.99 month extra for the DVR, which works great.  But our price is expensive because of all the sports channels.  Hope this helps in your decision.  I have never had DISH, as we tried Direct first and never stopped or switched to cable or anything, as we found the service is great. 


Offshoring
Just remember YOUR elected representives allowed this offshoring to happen. Nothing illegal thanks to the politicians is happening when work is shipped offshore while allowing Americans to lose jobs while increasing taxes.

This is all the fault of the greed and power of the politicians and the corporations. It's not about an Indian worker who has been offered a job and can't lose their accent to please the consumer.

As far as contacting you in a few years when our jobs are overseas, they are shipping them out daily. Where have you been? Check OSI, Precyse, etc. They all offshore some outright and some undercover.

I don't have problems with the workers. I have problems with the government allowing this to happen and the corporations who cut costs while cutting quality by shipping work out of our country.

Keep you eye on your enemy and it is some Indian who is trying to keep a job to make a living.
To those against offshoring...
Have you noticed that anywhere you call, whether it be the phone company, the gas company, the insurance company, you get someone foreign on the phone.  Oh yes and do not forget Microsoft and other computer related companies.  I realize this cuz i get so damn mad because i can't understand what they are saying to me and they don't understand what i am saying to them.  Now I noticed the post below about Earthlink and I am wondering...all of you who are against this..what are you going to do about the fact that the computer company that creates most of the software you use has places in other countries..your gas company..you insurance company, etc. etc. etc.?  I, too, do not agree with offshoring, but I do not think there is REALLY anything we can do about it.  Not working for companies that do it, yes thats a start, but what are you going to do about the rest of reality and everyday living?  Just curious to opinions on this.  I am not flaming..just concerned.
Offshoring - don't be too sure.
Look at history....work will be outsourced whether we like it or not. What happened to the steel, printing, shipping, automotive, and many other manufacturing efforts is happening to transcription. While we may produce a better product, if it can be produced cheaper somewhere else it will be. Sometimes MTSO's are forced to look at other avenues because they can't hire and maintain TATs. Clients want their costs reduced when it is already at rock bottom. Transcriptionists want higher pay and the profit margin isn't there to allow this. The transcription business has changed and will continue to change. After all....the only constant in life is change. The offshore MT is hungry and willing to give up just about anything to put food on the table. They probably don't argue, call in sick, complain or quit without notice. They don't bad mouth their employer. They just want to work...much like American workers decades ago. Take heed. I'm in the same boat and don't want to see it happen, but there are many factors that result in change. Transcriptionists are by nature not an organized group. We are mostly solitary and therefore have no voice or at least not one loud enough to be heard. We're all on production. We don't have time for such things. There is no large group lobbying for us. There isn't enough money in transcription anymore to have lobbyists and that is how...regardless of our protests...change happens...silently. People in India and other countries will learn to transcribe. It's only a matter of time. For myself, I am just going to try to do the very best job I can every single day and hope it is appreciated and know that I am not adding to the problem. Actually....I need to get back to work.
A - As soon as I tell them my pay has gone down about 40% since the offshoring (sm)

they are no longer interested in entering this field.  In fact, their mouths about drop to the floor.


Having another American MT is not going to save another American job.  They will send their work offshore if you are living next door and can do a 4-hour turnaround, just because the price is lower.


I'm getting out also, only doing part-time now and probably won't be doing part-time much longer.


offshoring
Don't know about this company, but there are companies that offshore and lie about it.  Know this for a fact.  I work for one.
OSi Offshoring - sm
If you are an employee of OSI, you should be able to access that article from the employee web page, try going back to about April or so...it should still be there, where it was originally posted. Read it for yourself and maybe then you'll believe it.
Offshoring

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me. All this happened before I started. New employees are probably not aware of it, like me.


I probably got myself on the $hit-li$t now, but that's okay for something I did today to see any reaction.  It wouldn't be the first time I've been on the list and probably won't be the last.


I will stay, though, as I really do like working for them...and I like the work..


OSi Offshoring

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me. All this happened before I started. New employees are probably not aware of it, like me. This breaks my heart.


I probably got myself on the $hit-li$t now, for something I did today to see if there was any reaction, but that's okay. It wouldn't be the first time I've been on a list and probably won't be the last.


I will stay, though, as I really do like working for them. I like the work, and really don't have much of a choice anymore.


I think if these companies are going to offshore, they should send the work from the ESL's that can't speak English correctly. That work should be easy for the offshore companies for them to do.


Offshoring
I just wonder who these big businesses think is going to buy their products/services when all the jobs are in foreign countries.  Not only that, when there are no jobs, or only minimum wage jobs, who's going to pay the big fat salaries of our idiot politicians?  Heard on Lou Dobbs the other night that while the minimum wage remains stagnant, the senate voted themselves a hefty $30,000 raise!!!!  Doncha wish we MTs could "vote" ourselves that kind of raise?  Or maybe we're not so greedy and we'd settle for a fraction of that.
Offshoring
Is there any way you can share as there are others of us who suspect this also and maybe it's the same company. If not, that's understandable too.
Offshoring
Keystrokes does not!
MQ OFFSHORING

 


I need some Positive Proof that offshoring is occurring.. .will help in our hospital's fight against outsourcing all of us..  thanks


 


Offshoring
There was an article on the internet quite some time ago where a MQ bigwig admitted to MQ offshoring. I have posted on here before regarding offshoring, tell all your family and friends that when they go to the doctor, they need to tell him/her they do not want ANY part of the their medical record being offshored, including transcription. You have that right as a patient. My family and friends know. Unfortunately, none of us have been to the doc lately.
offshoring

I agree.  I am also wondering where they are making out on this deal.  I have lost 5 Docs due to outsourcing to India.  They are not making out in the end.  They just think they are.  It is such a shame that the US Transcriptionist is the one that are suffering because they do not know what they are doing.  Maybe they should have asked one of us to do the math and we could have showed them that they are not making out.  Also, you have to take in consideration that all these people's(patient) records are going over to another country.  I bet they would have something to say about that.  It is such a shame that someone thought they were going to save a buck and did not do the math, and now we are the ones that are being hurt.


 




 


Offshoring
I too have been affected by offshoring, and whether we see some advantage or not, it is here to stay, and will eventuallly grasp more than half our work in this country. In my experience, I too am amazed at how much doctors will put up with this poor quality work. I personally know of, and have seen large medical offices, radiologists, large clinics, send their work to India, and put up with their error rate as if it were an acceptable part of the equation. BUT, if an American Transcriptionist put out an inferior report, we would most certainly get that pointed out immediately. I watch with amazement at how much those clients are willing to put up with all because they are paying 6 to 8 cents a line. AMAZING. I know of one radiologist who sent his work to India three years ago, kept one transcriptionist in his office to edit. Three years later, she is still marking all the reports in red ink. She has confronted him with the red-marked reports under his nose, and told him how much he is really paying for the reports as she spends her whole day editing. He won't look at her in the eyes, ignores her comments as if she were not in the room, and goes about his business - three years later! I have been told by CFO's that this is only a transition period, that eventually, the Indians will get it right, and it will be worth the hassles, as this makes "good business sense." We all need to realize that right now is the time to be smart and start training in some other field because even if it takes the Indians 10 years to "get it right," this offshoring has dropped the American wage to a paltry low.
No Offshoring
This may have been asked in the past, but I am pretty new to the board.  What nationals do not offshore their transcription?  I am currently an in-house transcriptionists, but I am looking to do some at-home transcription on the side.  I do not want to support any nationals that offshore.  We need to keep our jobs in the US!!!!!
Offshoring
Yes post a list, and I for one will write..as that will be so helpful.. can you post addresses also?
because that is offshoring
and nobody wants that.
Say something against offshoring and see how
x
offshoring
Excellent letter. You've inspired to start writing my senator too.
Offshoring going away too?
Hi all;

Offshoring may not be the problem. All of the local med facilities here are moving to EMR (Electronic Medical Records) and releasing ALL of the transcriptionists, both in-house and contracted. Truth be told, we are more than a little worried over this. Has anyone else seen this move in their area? Is there a way to 'cash in' on this move to EMR? Thanks.

so does offshoring. nm
xx
Aside from offshoring
Regarding a post down the list a ways ... what about the EMR software that the president might be pushing for? - I think that is probably a bigger threat. Shouldn't we write about that as well?

From below: "Basically just wondering if we should write to Obama regarding keeping the same systems in place and just putting the electronic files now dictated together (rather than specific software for the docs to do their own).

We could mention that we don't want to lose our jobs."