A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

What does MModal's announcement mean for current coders - worred

Posted: Mar 13, 2014

There are many of us who left places like that to be coders and don't want to go back.

I wouldn't push the panic button just yet - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
They are going to train 60 people. How many do you think will actually succeed?
It is a "pilot" program probably designed to test that exact question.

Check back at the end of summer and if it is successful, worry.

It means absolutely nothing for current coders. - Nothing whatsoever

[ In Reply To ..]
If you don't want to go back to MM, JUST DON'T. Simple.

Get a more realistice perspective. They are not omnipotent. They are declaring bankrupcy, for gosh sakes!! And they are a drop in the bucket.

They are training 60 people, most likely because they can't find enough coders. Do you truly think 60 people are going to affect anything?

I never worked for MModal - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
But they had such far reaching influence they caused wages to drop in transcription. I am not worried about 60 coders, but if this is something new they are starting, they will flood the market with coders and our wages will drop. They will start trying to get contracts with hospitals by paying their coders nothing, and subsequently we will be out of work.

Nope, they did not cause that problem. - It began long before

[ In Reply To ..]
Sorry.

I don't think they'll flood the market, as much as - I think they will charge so - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
for their outsourced coding services that hospitals may decide to outsource their coding, just as they did their transcription. THAT is what will drive wages down - the fact that coding middlemen could drive the price to the hospitals down.

(typo): It should be "charge so little for their - outsourced coding services -" NM

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It means that they will be underbidding and competing for coding accounts even more - anon

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I remember when some of us were discussing M*Modal taking away coding jobs (one link below) years ago. I, along with other MTs, was told by a certain arrogant coder that we were "liars" and "fear mongerers".

Of course it's going to affect current coders! MM has been in the coding field for the last few years (starting as MedQuist), including Indian coders, and now it seems they are ramping up even further. To repeat what I said further down the page: Obviously, from a business standpoint, M*Modal will want to become successful and profitable in the coding business. To do that, they will have to obtain as many coding accounts as possible. And to do that they will have to underbid other coding companies to get them and convince facilities how much money they can save by outsourcing the coding departments (the same way they did with MT). This in turn means they will be paying their coders less than the going rate. There's no way around it.

Link:

Without a doubt. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
It is like watching the MT situation unfold all over again. There was so much denial back then. I was afraid at first, then saw what VR could do and laughed it off. Oh, little did I know. Ten years later my salary has gone from $25 an hour to $12.

The difference between then and now is that it took over a decade to totally decimate the MT biz, this one will take much less time. Maybe 2-3.

Sorry, but it is EXACTLY what happened to MT.

I guess I'm not too worried about losing my job - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Our facility outsourced transcription on two separate occasions and the quality of the work was abyssmal. We had to basically redo all of the work that was returned to us. After being burnt like that we have never looked into it since. But I do worry about wages going down, if MModal thinks they are going to crank out hundreds of coders.

MM will be in another - predicament

[ In Reply To ..]
They think MTs should all be paid peanuts, because they don't know the job. Now they want to hire coders! I see a lot of ads for coders, but mostly for INPATIENT coders, which is the most difficult, isn't it? How do they think they can get around that?

they've been hiring coders - for a long time

[ In Reply To ..]
and they pay them well too.

Same way they get around everything else they - do. With lies, smoke and mirrors. NM

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What's worrisome is if it sets a precedent for - other MT companies to follow suit.

[ In Reply To ..]
nmsg

Other companies following suit? - Not ready for prime time

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know if you are aware, but two MTSOs, Amphion and Precyse have been hiring contract coders for years. Precyse is also active in training on-site coders in ICD-10. Amphion hires consultants who train and assist facilities with deficiencies. What you are referring to is not new and has been going on for years.

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