A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Word recognition - Last straw
Posted: Mar 05, 2012
Ok, so what are we going to do about this industry. We complain and complain but something has to be done to get out line rates back to where they used to be when we could make a decent living as a "transcriptionist". So, who has any ideas on how to address this.
Boycott it. Refuse to edit it for a week. - Or even just a day. Eye-opener for MTSO.
[ In Reply To ..]=^..^=
It was take knowing that most transcriptionists will do it - last straw
[ In Reply To ..]If only a handful are willing to follow through, a handful of job openings will be available for newbies.
Speech recognition - mommt4
[ In Reply To ..]I agree, something needs to be done. It's not like anyone who walks in off the street can do MT. I make less now than I have ever made and am seriously thinking about leaving this profession altogether.
In my experience, VR takes more skill (you have to - maneuver all over the page to - sm
[ In Reply To ..]repair mistakes). Hot keys and shortcuts don't make up for this - only make it slower! Because you're just reading along, you also have to be more attentive, and that's harder to do when editing than with typing, where the words often go more quickly "from ear to fingers". Same with editing the Indian cr*p. Editing should pay JUST AS MUCH as straight transcription, if not MORE, because it takes more time, and it's easier to make mistakes with it. In some instances, such as my own, MS Word doesn't work right when editing VR, and the end result (which you cannot see at your end, only at the hospital's EMR) is that the format is all screwed up. So it becomes much more difficult to have an end product that the client is happy with.
I think the MTSOs that bought into VR were mostly men - who by nature are infatuated with bells, whistles, gagets, and other bright shiny things. They like their toys. Unfortunately, WE are the ones that are stuck playing with them.
It was well established early on that editing takes - more skill and it was assumed would be
[ In Reply To ..]paid more--by experts in the industry. As it happens, though, the intense competition the editor faces from front-end processing and a planet-wide employee bank, combined with severe economic pressures, turned that reality on its head.
*EVERYONE* write their congress person. - Send letters to the White House
[ In Reply To ..]Do whatever it takes to draw attention to this industry. Transcriptionist are only a small percentage of the workforce and we go unnoticed. It has only been recently over the last 10 years or so that educational training at community colleges have even put in place training programs for the job.
We are not as recognized as we should be and therefore, fly under the radar in my opinion without much of a voice.
Write your congress person, send letters to the White House, let them know that we exist and what our working conditions are like.
Does the US realize they have women out here literally working for 4cpl and in some cases 3cpl??
#1: FIGHT LOW PAY by honorably and responsibly - not providing higher quality than is required. SM
[ In Reply To ..]Most of us to varying degrees can't resist "holding the standard" style-wise, so the clients get better-looking text than they pay for--at great cost to us.
MTSOs know this all too well. They're constantly instructing their editors in responsible ways to drop style quality that don't affect medical care. Hospitals/clients know this too--they're directing us to produce a simplified style designed to cost them less and are paying less for it, while shaking their heads as so many reports still come back edited to JAMA quality.
My big suggestion is to scrupulously follow their instructions throughout each and every report. This will be a BIG CHANGE in this industry. On our side, we most of us will make not just more, but MORE. MTSOs will make more. The client institutions will pay less per report but may not be as happy with what they now pay gets them--good! The dictators will get what they dictate, and no more--good. Mostly though, following the guidelines will work for everyone because it will lower costs for everyone, including processing time for us.
PLUS, though, I also suggest speeding up by not spending extra time looking up many of those last blanks--you know, 1, 2, and 3 or so before the requirement is triggered to send the report to QA. Research those terms you really feel you should know as part of continuing education, but let the rest go and send them off to the clients. This shifts the cost of finding the correct spelling of a referring physician, for instance, off our backs and onto those of the client institutions.
ALSO, if your quality is good and you have room to send more to the MTSO's QA without losing pay, do so. Search through old reports to fill in blanks for some awful, poor quality SR text/dictator--butleave the last 5 when you can and move on to the next report. Again--shift more of the cost of cleaning up bad-quality text back to the MTSOs.
Bottom line: These steps will speed most of us up significantly, making up for some of the underpayment. They will also shift part of the cost of production away from us and back where it has always belonged--to those we've actually helped get away with exploiting us so badly. START TOMORROW: FOLLOW THE RULES FOR EDITING.
In other words, you are suggesting we dumb down our work. - No thanks, more self-respect than that. sm
[ In Reply To ..]Yes, I could likely produce mega lines a day if I put out slop, but I would also be extremely ashamed to have my initials on those reports. You might make more in the short run, but you will lose in the long run when your name falls to the bottom of the stack due to poor quality. I personally do not agree with jeopardizing quality in order to "stick it to the man." Fact is, no matter what little games you play, if you are costing a place too much (whether that is due to high rates or too much in-house time spent fixing your sloppiness), they will not think twice about giving you the boot. I do not advocate spending a ton of time on blanks, but I will never advocate leaving it all for someone else to do. You knew what the job involved when you signed up and agreed to the pay. If you want to make a real change, stop accepting/staying at jobs with low pay and/or poor working conditions. The ONLY way things will improve is when they can no longer find anyone to do their crap work for peanuts. Unfortunately, there are still (and likely always will be) newbies that will take any pay just to "work from home" and do not realize how detrimental it is to MT as a whole.
Nope, not true. - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]"You knew what the job involved when you signed up and agreed to the pay"
No, I didn't - and neither did a whole lot of other MTs. We were lied to basically about our jobs, and that is illegal.
Yup. A whole lotta "bait 'n' switch" going on - in this shady industry. (n/m)
[ In Reply To ..]nm
You have that right! - agree
[ In Reply To ..]!
And accepting cr_p pay makes you feel - more "respectable"? Why?
[ In Reply To ..]
Used to be a good industry - last straw
[ In Reply To ..]Not everyone accepted the pay when they first signed on. If you have been with a big company long enough, your pay was dropped. When speech recognition first came out, it was paid the same in some big companies, then the lies started and they dropped the line rates, first 10%, then 20%, then 30% to half. I left a company at the first drop and wrote a very long letter of resignation pointing out the lies. They did not deny that they were lies either. I went with another company that hadn't done this yet and then another. It is sickening. I am not a union fan but this is a case for which unions began.
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES, STOP FUSSING. - AND COMMIT TO HELPING YOURSELVES:
[ In Reply To ..]Do the work required by your employer, responsibly, according to the guidelines, and NO MORE.
No more inserting double spaces when one is programmed in.
No more changing "her" to "the patient" at the beginning of paragraphs.
No more expanding phrases to sentences.
No more adding "the" where not dictated.
No more MAKE-WORK you don't get paid for.
What on earth does this have to do with the topic at hand? - ?
[ In Reply To ..]?
Last Straw: "Ok, so what are we going to do about this industry? - We complain and complain but something has to be
[ In Reply To ..]done to get our line rates back to where they used to be when we could make a decent living as a "transcriptionist". So, who has any ideas on how to address this."
This is the topic. So, let's address it.
Step #1: We have to stop attacking each other, - and start pulling together.
[ In Reply To ..]
Step #2: We need to watch each others' - backs, instead of stabbing them. nm
[ In Reply To ..]
Great, NM. Now, how about a step 3, one that moves - us forward? Any ideas? NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
Step 3: MTs need to start networking, and - researching, and find out - sm
[ In Reply To ..]just how many of us there really are in this country. We also need to include newbie MTs that don't have work yet, and, eventually, those who are being sucked into the "You, too, can be an MT!" myth at the schools, because they're next in line for the whole con game that is MT.
Find out who we are, how many, and some of the demographics. Then, a way for them to communicate WITHOUT the prying eyes of MTSOs looking over their shoulders. It has to be a way for MTs, only to touch base with one another.
Before anything else can be done, we have to know who we are, where we work. We can't move forward until we END OUR ISOLATION.
I already do that. And still they want me to - dumb it down even more! Unbelievable!
[ In Reply To ..]
If that's the case, you're not already doing it enough. - As for dumb, they are much higher
[ In Reply To ..]educated than we are on average. On average smarter too. Be honest: There are a lot of MTs who couldn't possibly be a physician or head of an IT department. So,
Stop taking excessive pride in knowing where commas go. Stop needing to show off knowing where commas go. It doesn't make us smarter or them dumber, but it is making us poorer.
Above all, STOP GIVING AWAY FREE WORK. If the sloppy grammar and punctuation they specifically ask for are good enough for the people who dictate and read them, they're good enough.
Street smarts trump book smarts 2 to 1. - I already do those things you mention.
[ In Reply To ..]When I do VR, they get only bare-bones minimum addition or subtraction of punctuation. If it sounds dumb the way the doc dictated it, too bad. They wanted VR, they get VR's version of what they said. One of my accounts doesn't pay for spaces. I leave them out whenvever and wherever I can.
I don't give a cr*p about commas. And especially semicolons. The docs don't even know what they are.
If they make up a word, they get it. If their English is broken, but vaguely understandable, I don't correct it. (I'd get in trouble if I did, anyway).
I don't proofread anymore. I run 1 spellcheck, that's it. They only pay for time spent with fingers to keyboard. So, depending upon the account and the situation, sometimes it's cheaper to take a hit for sending blanks than it is to spend unpaid time researching them.
Any "pride" I had in this job disappeared a long, long time ago. Now, it's nothing more than an embarassment.
I did it for a while, too. - Unfortunately...
[ In Reply To ..]QA still has their rules to follow. After getting notice about not meeting minimum line production, I did a trial run of "dumbing down" the VR reports. Production went up, but then was given a warning due to a QA percentage that went just under the minimum. BTW, this is an horrendous-audio account, so I'm sunk either way. Just waiting for my pink slip.
All techniques notwithstanding, - Tired of the nonsense
[ In Reply To ..]these are all games. The bottom line is the line rates are not appropriate for the knowledge and professionalism it takes to be a transcriptionist. It must be rectified.
Re: All techniques notwithstanding... - Excellent post.
[ In Reply To ..]Thanks for your accurate, concise reply---You cut through all the baloney and misplaced responsibility (on the shoulders of the MT, as usual) for an atrociously unfair and exploitative situation. You are 100% correct.
Dead-on! MT is NOT the equivalent of being - a towel-person in a fancy restroom.
[ In Reply To ..]Or a janitor. Or a security guard. Or a dog walker. Or a burger-flipper.
(All of which pay more than MT!)
The greedy slugs that run MT companies want the best-of-the-best, and want to pay them the least-of-the-least.
(Do you hear me, MT CEO's?)
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
Better not forget about those of us you step on and grind into the dirt, MTSOs. Most of us will make taking you down with us our life's work from that point onward.
But where are suggestions for action? This is just - the usual defeatist complaining. ?? NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
Well, why don't you start by giving us an example - of what YOU would do to - sm
[ In Reply To ..]start the ball rolling in the right direction?
I've already posted 3 suggestions above. MTs need to stop sabotaging each other and start having each other's backs.
We MTs need to END OUR ISOLATION, and start taking all means necessary to start linking up, AWAY from MTSO spying.
In order to pull together, we first have to be able to FIND each other.
Shall we start a page on you know where? - Boosted
[ In Reply To ..]I am recently out of the industry and am thinking of staying that way. I've got nothing to lose. If we started a paghe and everyone who knows someone who is an MT and is ready to do something about this whole situation instead of sitting here complaining but taking no action, well....the possibilities are endless.
Boosted - You build it and we will be there - agree
[ In Reply To ..]I am sure.
I'm serious - agree
[ In Reply To ..]Go ahead and start a page we can all go to and sign in at.
Good for you. I'm the #1: Fight Low Pay poster, and - I have emailed Boosted. NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
Well, this has been on the - MModal board
[ In Reply To ..]Don't do the VR. MModal has the F11 key to remove text and type reports. Don't know how other platforms work but do the equivalent, whatever key to remove text and get typing rate. Many at MModal are tired of it and fighting back, everyone should. I don't do it and won't do it. Everyone needs to stop letting these software companies trash our profession. If everyone profession wide would do this they have no choice but to start treating us better. I know some are hunky-dorey with VR but most aren't and if you want to stay in this profession, start fighting. Don't do VR. Not one of these companies could survive without us and if you really think everyone will get fired, you really don't think much of your skills. Bullying is how they got this far and you have to stand up to bullies at some point.
Maybe we should pick just 1 DAY, and - all just refuse VR for 1 day.
[ In Reply To ..]Just enough to gum up the works a bit, but not enough so that anyone has to feel they're sticking their neck out.
If nothing else, it pretty much guarantees us lots of work the next day.
;)
Well, that would be a - start
[ In Reply To ..]but I don't do it any day. Would rather get fired than accept what they want to pay for that crap. Haven't done it in years and still here. You folks just don't know that you have the power and not them. They'll get crappy with you and threaten but you won't go anywhere. They need you more than you need them. You folks just don't see that because your scared. Better do something soon or you'll be working for free.
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