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

This gov't agency does not prohibit offshoring,

Posted By: SM on 2007-07-03
In Reply to: Do you still have time to protest? sm - old ears

that is, it was not explicitly or implicitly stated in the RFP.  But I have a feeling they knew by the ridiculously low price that the "C" company was funny business.  My company did state in its cover letter that the agency should inquire of other vendors whether they offshore work. 


Anyway, my company is not going to protest because the contract went to, I have to say, a great competitor.  Frankly, we don't want to be bothered because the agency made prospective vendors jump through hoops of fire for a small amount of work each month (IMO and exp). 




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

Offshoring to India...Offshoring.
nm
Any agency you use should be licensed and bonded.
and always to check to make sure that's really the case because some tell you they are when they are not, just to save money on the fees and make themselves appear more credible and trustworthy.

Merry Maids is a good start!
As far as creditors, once you signed up with the agency, they have sm
NO CHOICE but to work with the creditors and YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT calls from them. There are plenty of laws on the books protecting people like you. You need to contact your agency ASAP and tell them which creditors are harrassing you (yes, that is what they are doing if you cannot afford to pay them), and quit talking to them. Trust me on this one. My husband and I years back got into a major bind and worked with a credit agency where we learned about a lot of laws.

So, we began writing our own cease and desist letters directing them to our agency or saying "we want to deal with the original creditor and not YOU", i.e., capital one, etc., and they left us alone. We cleared out debt and it's been pleasant ever since.

So, you have fallen upon rough times. We all have. You HAVE options. You can keep your house and you can have phone call-free days.
You are doing the RIGHT thing by using an agency instead of filing for bankruptcy. Too many people are filing because they see no end, but there are ways to avoid bankruptcy. Plenty of ways.

Good luck
It is JAHCO and having worked for a gov't agency
with rules also in place - there was a 5-day rule to have your interview dictated - although they then wanted typed within 7 days - the biggie was having dictated w/i 5 days so would be fresh in the mind of the dictator - and think that sort of applies here too... obviously H&P needs to be dictated so patient can be admitted and paper work started but in my mind thinking OP needs to be dictated STAT while still fresh in mind of doctor before he forgets a lot of the details!  There are also safety issues obviously - H&P first, any consult next before surgery so surgeon can have all the facts, but just because dictated does not mean MT has to kill herself to get it done - what is that saying about 'your incompetence is not my emergency'............Or something like that???? 
2 words - collection agency
Technically speaking you have to use a collection agency of some sort for a certain amount of time before being able to write it off as a bad debt. Yeah, they take like 30% sometimes if they collect the debt but 70% is better than 0%. I have done it. I have had to do it twice. One i had to write off and the other I got paid. You will have to have some proof of billing and your trying to communicate with them. I would even send them a registered letter via mail and give them 7 days or you will turn them over to collections. Add a nice fat late charge to that...i dunno 30% or so. hee hee. :)
What agency can help me with a co. who consistently underpays me....sm
then says they will have to make it up on the next paycheck. This has gone on for over a year now, with so few checks correct that it just boggles my mind. I just want to know who I can contact to make this company pay me correctly. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance
Can you send it to a collection agency?

Is there any way you could send this to a collection agency?    I don't know if it would work for this, but I know that some places that give out equipment (like Direct TV, etc.) has in their contracts that the quipment is only for as long as you have the service and must be returned to them as it's still their property.


I know it's not the same thing, but it seems like this would fall into that category as it was assumed that it's still your equipment and they were only allowed to use it as they were working for you.


I agree that it's stealing.  You wouldn't go into an office and just take equipment home from there, so what gives you the right to take it from a company via mail?


Has anyone ever worked for a temp agency? sm
I am thinking of working for a temp agency for extra income. I am trying to find out what kind of testing do they do.
Per above posts, often it only takes a letter or two to the company and/or right agency. Is
:+
That's what I'm thinking, too. Our agency told us to refer ALL creditors to them
and they were awesome. I'm thinking she doesn't have a good one, either. She definitely needs to call them or switch agencies, like the one you mentioned, to help her.
if the child is adorable and has charisma, i would take him to a professional modeling agency.
if they see something in him, they will pay to train him and do the photos for free as they will make money on him. if they aren't willing to do this or they want to charge you, i would think he is just like millions of other children, adorable but not so much that an agency would hire him as is. most models are "discovered" because of their charisma/beauty and don't go through the costs involved to get photos, etc. the agencies do it for them because they see potential.
What about your local hospitals, Manpower, employment agency, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. nm
s
Could your hubs become a patient of a home health care agency and then you could work for them
s
I work for an agency, type for a major hospital - no hourly wage - just production. nm
x
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."

again, offshoring.
nm
Offshoring and tax time. sm
Don't forget, a lot of these big box tax preparers and even some local accountants send the work to India to be done.  Ask ahead of time.  I did, so I went back to doing them myself. 
Offshoring is still an option

I am working in an offshore MT company and our US client is happy with the result of our transcription work. To those against offshoring, do not be greedy. Have the heart to share! ... PLEASE check your spelling, it's "REQUEST" not "REQUIST."


If the company offshoring gets 8-9 cpl, then YOU, an
You should sell your services on the QUALITY of your work, not how cheaply you can give it away. If you work for less than 9 cpl, you ARE giving it away.
You asked how he could not be offshoring if he was from
But no, I'm not the rimrod poster. No, I don't have any other information.
Offshoring may not be the problem
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.
Unless Offshoring is reversed.. SM
(BTW, to the moderators, I responded to this already and a bunch of other people did… when posts are moved are the responses deleted or something?)

Anyway, back on topic, until the trend of offshoring American medical records to other countries is reversed, I don't see how anyone would find this a good field to get into (again, at this point in time) unless you can find your own accounts and they will pay you what you are worth!

offshoring to Canada sm
My supervisor said offshoring includes what MQ does which is "offshoring" to Canada.  Are they saving money there?
OFFSHORING JOBS
Would also recommending sending it as a CC to all your state's congressional delegation.
Take Further Action On Offshoring

Please, PLEASE people, especially all who left posts on the news story below, call the White House.  It is your right.  I do it all the time and I have not been abducted by the FBI yet.  They do not ask for your name or phone number or anything.  They usually are pretty decent to talk to. 


Tell them:  I AM CALLING CONCERNING THE OFFSHORING OF AMERICAN JOBS, ESPECIALLY OUR MEDICAL REPORTS LEAVING AMERICA WITH SENSITIVE INFORMATION ON THEM SUCH AS OUR NAMES AND SS# . Then take it from there.  Tell them that you MUST make your feelings be heard and you want the President to take action on this situation. 


As one person, I am only making a peep with my calls and emails, but if we all start calling and emailing in droves, we will make a roar.  Please, don't be afraid, we have to start taking action here folks.  Time will not wait.   


The White House Phone: 202-456-1111


ALSO: 


The Capitol Switchboard:  202-224-3121


Email:
Obama and Biden:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/


 
Middle Class Task Force Questions:  Tell them to save jobs and stop all offshoring:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/strongmiddleclass/
 
Your senator: Upper right hand corner, "find your senator"
http://www.senate.gov/
 
Your congressperson: 
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml


Let's do this together people


excuse for offshoring.
nm
The point is they LIED about not offshoring.
x
Just found out that my company is offshoring

However, it is still hush-hush, and evidently people aren't talking.  It is a company that has prided itself on never offshoring, and I think employees would be totally shocked if they knew.   Is it true that this board does not allow these companies to advertise here, and if so, what is "proof?"


You can thank offshoring and the companies who offshore for most of this. SM

Been in the business well over 20 years and I am working twice as hard for half as much.  It started with offshoring and the big MTSOs who bolted the US like their pants were on fire.  They used the excuse that were not enough US MTs.  LIES.  All LIES.  They forced the smaller MTSOs to charge less.  We got paid less.  Many of the smaller MTSOs got gobbled up by the Squid (MQ).  Now there are only one or two superpowers and they all offshore.  Some of them lie about it, some are very open.  This business is not even close to what it should be as far as making a living.