Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Scribes Data Canada Independent Contractors out there???

Posted By: Michele on 2005-09-02
In Reply to:

I have been working at home as an independent contractor for Scribes Data out of Ontario, Canada for the past three years and have loved working for them. I have worked my way to the top of the pay scale and am currently earning between $38-$40/hour. Recently I have been contacted twice by management asking me to consider becoming a full-time employee with benefits rather than an independent contractor. This would mean a dramatic decrease in pay... a $17,000/year base salary plus 60-70 cents/minute of dictation. For the last year I had been paid $1.60/minute of dictation, but just this past month they decreased that to $1.50/minute, stating that was more in line with their pay structure and that I would only be earing $1.60/minute on the radiology dictation I typed. And then a couple of weeks later they contacted me again statingn that I was no longer going to type any radiology dictation unless I was needed and then I would still only be paid the $1.50/minute.


This decrease in pay of 10 cents/minute does not really concern me, it just means I may have to work a littel longer than my normal 5 1/2 hours per day and I do not have a problem with that. My concern is that they are really going to push me to become an employee and just keep taking accounts away from me until I do just that.


Just wondering if there is anybody else out there who may be worried about the same thing.


 




Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

No More Independent Contractors

Has anyone heard that independent contractors are going to be a thing of the past within the next few months according to the IRS?  I have been told need to be an employee or incorporate.  Anyone have an incorporated small business from their home?  Pluses or minuses?  It is confusing.   What about all other self-employed people in this country?  It is the same thing:(  So sad that government is taking over.


Independent contractors

I was wondering if someone could give me an opinion. I have had 2 ICs working for me for about 5 years.  I have paid them by the line all the time a very good rate, which I cannot continue to do anymore. I still have to go over every bit of their work after all this time and there are still errors and I am so tired of this but have not had the chance to look for anyone new and don't have time right now to try training anyone new.  Would it be unethical to pay them less per line or convert to a page rate that would be cheaper.  I feel like I am throwing money out the window but until I find someone new I just have to do something short of getting rid of them.  Is it unethical to just cut their line rate or pay by the page a cheaper rate. 


Independent contractors
I let it go on so long because they were reliable which I needed. I am not curently set via digital, can only access through a C phone but that will be changing in the near future. It is the same account that they use, same doctors, good dictators, they just don't get it. Until I can replace them, I will adjust the pay rate.
RE: Independent contractors
YES I have gone over their quality of work issues for a long time and I have tried again and again to work with them and give them a chance but it is not working out. It is not just NOW that I am finding their work unacceptable. It has been for a long time. I am well aware that I have caused this issue to develop and imposed this on myself. I was just trying to work with them as they have been very reliable. I would not just purposely cut someone's pay for the fun of it without discussing it with them. I have also spent a lot of time mentoring them and trying to work with them and have pointed out their errors many times. I have spent a lot of time training them. Unfortunately, they both work a full time job elsewhere, thus I think that may be where the problem is. I have placed ads on occasion but I am limited with this call in dictation system that I have that can be only utilized via a C phone and there have been problems with people hearing the dictation. I will be changing over in the near future to another system. Any suggestions for good dictation systems that can be utilized via the Internet? The accounts that I have the doctors prefer a call in system just picking up the phone.
independent contractors are sometimes the worse - sm
I hired a courier service to run reports back and forth to the city for me. They informed me that their couriers were independent contractors. One of the independent contractors came to pick up the reports as scheduled on his route, came in to my apartment, locked the door behind him, and let's just say I was extremely lucky that the building maintenance guy was in the apartment next door and kicked in my door.

I contacted the courier service and the police, of course, only to find out that the guy had been arrested for rape and burglary.

So would you like to comment on that!?

What is the big deal anyways. You are getting a company computer and in some cases you have information on patient's insurance and social security numbers because of the platform you are using.
General Liability for Independent Contractors

I have just started a position for a company, and they require that I hold general liability insurance, but am a little lost as far as how to obtain that!  Just wondering if anyone had any pointers for me. 


 


Thank you in advance! :-)


Medical records are data driven. Numerals are data.
.
ANY SCRIBES IN THE BOONIES

Anyone living in the country using SATELLITE and accessing a VPN successfully?  If so, can you tell me who u use? 


Thanks!


Canada? When did Canada become a third world country?

.


I have current QA contractors.
It would be cheaper still yet to give them a good raise and let the offshore MTs do the work, or so it looks on paper.

Just weighs heavy on the mind.

Dictaphone contractors
Does anyone know who Dictaphone is contracting with to transcribe their accounts? 
Sub Contractors or Employee
Does anyone know what the industry standard is on employees or sub-contractors in the medical transcription business?
That cpl is for contractors working directly with doc.
I made 14 cpl (65 char including spaces) when I had my own account.

data entry

Has anyone done Data Entry jobs from home?  Thanks


 


I use Northstar Data .... I think they are
at www.MTFTP.com

I started using them in April, and their website and FTP are really easy to use. My doctors were new to digital, as was I, and we picked it up quickly.

hth!
We are more than data entry BUT...
Yes, they will still need us to copyedit and clean up the voice recognition and offshore "crude" product, but from what I've read on these boards, there's not going to be much money in this for MTs.

I too am thinking of leaving MT for another field. This summer my 15-year-old son got his first summer job as basically an unskilled laborer at minimum wage, and he was making quite a bit more per hour as I ended up getting, turning an Indy 500 ESL's mishmash into a perfect operative report. The day I learned that, I decided to start rethinking my career choices.

By the way, I'm one more experienced MT who finds it mind-boggling that people are still out there debating the merits of the various MT schools out there. Wake up and smell the coffee, people!
Backup data?

I'm glad this subject came up as we do some traveling and I was just thinking about this as well.  How is the best way to back up the data?  Just use a CD or someone mentioned a flash drive external hard drive?  Don't know much about this new fangled technology, so am finding this very interesting and helpful.  Thanks for the info. 


data entry
I agree. But don't you know, there's always someone lurking in front of their keybord waiting to belittle someone else's from-the-heart question??
That study used very old data.
EHR has come a long way since 2004.
SAVING MY DATA

I have an external hard drive and want to save my data from my old computer to my new computer.  How exactly do i do that.


Copying data
Can anybody say how to copy a large amount of data to a DVD without having to copy one page at a time. It's a training program that I'm not going to be able to finish before the time runs out.  Since I paid for it, I want to be able to have it available to study on my own.  Thanks. 
Here's some interesting AAMT data...

According to the October 2005 JAMT financial reportings:


Revenues from membership in 2003:  $1,053,516.


Revenues from membership in 2004:  $   920,681.


You'd think they'd get the idea with so many people not renewing memberships due to their stance on overseas work - especially since it's hitting them hard in the wallet!


 


Data Entry Jobs

Does anyone know where I can find information about legitamit companies that hire for data entry work at home. Looking for my daughter, who wants to stay home with her small child.  Thanks!


Is it transcribing or data entry?
/
Data Hand keyboard

I just received my new Data Hand keyboard and am starting to use it.  I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has used one of these.  Thanks.


Ours is "diagnostic data" and includes it all.NM
s
Data entry position
My post did show so I will ask again...does anyone know where I can find a listing of jobs for data entry positions? 
certainly not data entry or typing,
my reward, aside from pay, is satisfaction that i am doing a very specialized job in an excellent manner. after 34 years, it seems more tedious and difficult, but i enjoy the work.
Canada Day
I know this is late, but Happy Canada Day to you too!! :)
I wonder if she was from Canada. sm
Used to have a doc from Canada who talked like that. It was hilarious to see how it printed out from voice recognition.
Where in Canada was this??
Did you go to private school in the U.S.?
Canada--MQ
MQ has offices in Canada, have you tried them??
MT in Canada
There don't seem to be any large companies like in the States. It seems most jobs are in-house with the hospitals. I consider myself very lucky to have found steady work at home with a Canadian company.
Hey what about canada
I live in canada and I would love to edit reports from home. If you know of any jobs, let me know okay.! It is desperate up here for jobs!! Hubby out of work and so am i!!

rigi60@hotmail.com
canada/USA

offered overflow work from Canadian company at 9 cpl. Don't know if this is good or not. Can anyone help advise me, I really need it. Thanks.


Canada/USA

Hi Janett, could you provide the company name that is offering this job?  I live in Canada and was just curious......


You can email me privately if you want to.  Thanks so much.


What does Canada
have to do with the price of tea in China?

Canada
Hi Molly - I'm currently taking the Canscribe course and it is excellent.  From everything that I've read they are the best school in Canada.  I would certainly look into it further.  The course is very thorough, well layed out and very user friendly!  I'm pretty sure employers are happy to hire Canscribe graduates.
So where will the MDs run if both Canada and

So, the issue is because all the MDs in Canada left and came to the USA because they did not agree with the government run health care?


So if USA goes to the same thing, where will all the MDs run to?  Don't they have the same thing in Europe, too? 


I just don't understand.  Will they all leave the profession?  It is because they want more money than the government will pay? 


It just all does not make sense to me.  Reading this, I am more apt to blame the doctors than the government.  They are the ones protesting the system and running away, all because they want more money. 


Please tell me if I am understanding this wrong. 


Maybe at the very least, we will get younger doctors getting into medicine for the right reasons and not so much for the big paycheck. 


But I am probably understanding this whole thing wrong.


Thanks for your reply.  I will probably read it again a couple times because it takes me a while to register things.  Thanks. 


data processing...medical charges
okay, so I've been doing medical data processing for a clinic for the past four months and the office lifestyle is NOT for me. Does anyone have information on work at home medical billing? I sure would like a nudge in the right direction. Thanks!
How can I record patient data as fast as possible

Radiology patients, so reports are short most often.  We have to log two several digit numbers, the types of exams (chest/abdomen) dates.  We have sheets to do this on but am thinking I should keep Wordpad open and type in there.


Any ideas on how I can do this and not lose momentum or time?  I do about 100 exams a day.


Thanks!


Of course, it is only as good as the people entering the data...
Also, when computers make mistakes, or are hit with malicious worms or viruses, etc., it could be devastating, could it not?

Also, more and more lately we are noticing actually a lot more mistakes with things that are automated, and once there is an error, it has been extremely difficult to get it corrected. Such as - errors at the DMV (?), errors in our car computer (? - again, it is always a mystery when trying to get things fixed), lets see, then there is the mixup with our phone number that belongs to about three other people (still not fixed because we are told it is all done on computer (?)...

Also, who takes responsiblity when there is an error, because with everything automated, there seems to be little or no accountability - you can hardly get through to real people in a lot of businesses today.

The idea of technology is awesome; however human error will always have an affect...

my humble opinion and just an observation. most information still has to be entered by humans. perhaps we will be obsolete.
It's putting criminal data into the computer and


no ESLs to listen to!


Medical transcription isn't data entry, but you can
check with Career Builder and Monster and see what they have, you can Google for it and see if there is a board like this for data entry. 
I'd like to see hard data before buying into that belief
I will blast a poorly performing QA'er all day long. Someone with something of substance to offer in critiquing my work is someone I communicate with and have nothing but respect and praise to give. I won't get into a snit about the use of too many or too few commas, but a QA'er who fills in a blank I sent in for a second ear and fills it with something incorrect IS someone who holds no respect in my eyes. That is the person I'll blast all day.

Darn. I was not quiet. Wonder what this will do to my image on the board?
You purchase the plans which allow so much data to be transferred.
I paid for the $59.99 monthly package, which is a lot of data usuage and have used programs such as Dictaphone ExText and Escription on the road. It seems like someone told me you'd have to pretty much be on it nonstop to use up all the data allowance but you can check it out here..http://b2b.vzw.com/broadband/bbapccard.html
HAPPY CANADA DAY TO ANY
OTHER CANADIAN MTS OUT THERE!!!!.
MT Companies in Canada
What part of Canada are you from?
Canada drugs
I used them. Did not seem to have any problems. I figure you do not hear of Canadians dropping dead left and right from using the medication. Saved some money.
Hello there Canada :) Here is an idea.
Spheris offers training for a price and then will place you in a position. They hire Canadian MTs.
offshoring to Canada sm
My supervisor said offshoring includes what MQ does which is "offshoring" to Canada.  Are they saving money there?