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

Anyone out there heard new lowered pay for MTs is a market correction? - Mad

Posted: Sep 21, 2010

Pay has been cut by 25%, told we are lucky to have a job, that we have easy accounts, and that our pay is a "market correction". That's encouragement from an employer!

well how much were you making on your easy accounts - was it cut due to Speech Recog.

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Just curious. My pay was cut 4 years ago due to speech recognition, so I suppose you could look at it like you had 4 better years than me!

In no way arguing that all wage cuts are market-appropriate, but - Tough Times

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15 years ago my friend was making $62K/yr wage (to start) + production pay bonuses, plus benefits, transcribing for a world-class university hospital. The hospital was in competition with others in its area for the best MTs living within commuting distance; there was never a glut of really good ones.

When it became possible to hire from a labor pool of many thousands all over the country, should wages have stayed that high anyway? When lots of us would be happy to work for a prestigious front-line institution?

Also, if they're hiring MTs to work remotely, should they continue to offer the high wages needed to offset high urban living costs or offer a lower wage in line with that paid in most areas of the country? (Remember, every dollar paid to us is one taken away from other stuff, like research and patient care.)

Then editing came along. My friend more than doubled her line count almost immediately. She told me that for a while she was making 6 figures a year. Should her employer have continued to pay that amount even though they could now hire a bunch of good people happy to make $40K+ and good benefits?

They didn't of course. Market adjustments, coming in repeated waves, ended up cutting a lot more than that 25% figure for her, and she had to make some serious adjustments to her lifestyle. In fact, I sort of lost touch with her when she sold her tiny, outrageously expensive Hollywood Hills house and moved back to the South.

Since most of us aren't going to identify with someone adjusting from $115K to probably about $50 per year last time we talked, her experience actually offers a fairly clinical view of some of the dynamics involved and is the first one that comes to mind when I think of wage adjustments, except my own of course.

Where's that 25% figure come from, BTW? Any support for it? If at all accurate, I suspect much of it comes from drops in wages for high-paid people like my friend, not 25% off the wages of someone working for a small-town physician practice at $16K a year.

Wage cuts for SR - discouraged

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I can relate to your friend! Two years ago working at home with a large company on straight transcription, I made $54K. Then enter SR. While my line count increased, my pay went from over 10 cpl to 6 cpl, an automatic 40% decrease in pay for the same hours of work. Last year with the same company I made $26K. I was typing frantically all day with hardly any breaks trying to make up the difference, but you can't make up that kind of difference by typing faster or more. Kind of sad, but I guess that's the trend. I'm on the search now for new career opportunities because $26K is not going to cut it for me anymore. Adding to the 40% cut in pay, the company discontinued any and all incentive bonuses, MT week prizes, employee of the month incentive, and 401K matching. Not much left after that. Good luck to you!

I'm so sorry to hear your story but very glad to hear - Tough Times

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you're looking for another job. Good incentive pay is the critical element production workers need to raise their wages from the base pay offered everyone. Good luck finding a place as good as yours apparently once was.

highest pay was 45K in 2000, steadily declining to average of $25K per year since then - mad

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Had really only that one year that I felt I was making an incredible salary and that I was paid what I was worth so can't imagine anything higher than that no matter how many years experience or credentials. sounds like some MTs don't even value their own work.I hope once patients start to have access to their records routinely they demand improvement and the health care facilities realize the risk management issues in sending work to cheaper sources.

I made 56K in 1998, it's been downhill since (nm) - Long time MT

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NM

Yeah, you guys. I know. I never made that much because - Tough Times

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I'm getting older and working 5 dedicated, unpunishing hours a day for a smaller but still respectable income suited me fine. Back then the knowledge that I'd "retire" when I couldn't remember what the keyboard was didn't bother me. Sigh.... :)

Following your logic, our wages should have been SM - anon

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cut with every technological improvement. How about going from manual typewriters to electric? Should there have been a penalty for being able to increase output? Went from electric typewriter to early word processor. No wage cut then for being more productive. Expanders came along and once again no wage cut for increased production. But now with your logic, we should be happy to take a 25% to 50% wage cut because we are able to produce more lines with SR. I have never heard anything more ridiculous and just plain stupid.

The above post is directed to Tough Times nm - anon

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zs

Now where did I say that? Anyway, it's not my logic - Tough Times

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it's Macro Econ 101, first week, and unencumbered, laissez-faire markets is the religion of the economic conservatives who've driven policy for the past 30 years. I've just read the book.

BTW, that background sound? It's not all traffic noise. Some is that famous "giant sucking sound" of our national wealth flowing upward into the accounts of the very wealthy. Stagnation in real terms of middle-class income for the past 30 years? For myself, I'm just grateful to be allowed to contribute to such a great system.

"Market correction!?" LOL - is that this week"s excuse? - see msg

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And hmmm.... what exactly will happen if and when the economy should suddenly and robustly rebound? Will our pay go up?

We should cut THEIR pay by 25% some month, by all walking off the job for a week, and see how they like it. Betcha they wouldn't like it one little bit.

bah humbug! market correction!! - longtimecmt

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What a sorry excuse of a reason! The true factors, I believe, are VR and outsourcing. The level of knowledge needed to do an adequate job at this profession is high. MOST other jobs would reimburse this. You need to have excellent English skills, excellent auditory skills, ability to make sense of dictation done on cells, while the dictator eats, in a tunnel, in a crowded room where it sounds like a party is going on in the background. You need to understand anatomy, medical words, medical slang, and know when something they are saying is wrong and flag it, not to mention being able to understand every accent under the sun and translate! We should unionize and get raises!

Well, yes, to both of you. This is a supply-and-demand dynamic. - Pragmatist

[ In Reply To ..]
Labor = Supply. Jobs available = Demand.

Labor supply > Jobs: Pay goes down.
Jobs demand > Labor: Pay goes up.

Supply of labor: At this point people are working for what is offered now, albeit unhappily. When the economy improves, line rates will stay right where they are as long as people will work for those rates. They could continue to go down until people would no longer take those positions, i.e., until finally supply is less than demand (even with offshoring of work offsetting lack of willing workers here).

Demand could change, and everyone knows it is doing that now, just not to what degree, shifting away from people to computers. Also shifting somewhat from on-shore to off-shore work forces. Our big hope is that neither computers or offshoring can eliminate all demand for us.

So you see, Bah Humbug, VR and outsourcing are true factors in the dynamics of market correction. You're right, even if you came about it funny. Our whole free-market economy is based on what you call a sorry excuse, but as we can see here and all around us in other areas, while often touted as totally wonderful in theory, it very often fails to work well in practice.

Supply/demand - N/A

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Did you all hear the news. The recession ended in 2009!!!!!!

I always thought - sm

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I was getting "away" with something while in this profession. I felt grossly overpaid for minimum skill. I knew it wouldn't last, and I was right. We are not that important in the big scheme of things. Medical transcription is not a difficult job by any means. I don't understand why people keep saying this. I only stayed because my philosophy is worker smarter, not harder. I can't believe i'm the only one who thinks like this? Making over 40k a year for sitting and typing without an education is a dream job, its cushy, and thats about it. The easy money was the incentive, and thats gone.

SM - N/A

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Are you for real. "Minimum Skill". "Medical transcription is not a difficult job by any means" Then just let the doctors do their own!!!!!! We spell and understand the english language better than the doctors we work for.

Difficult job - SM - Anonymous

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1. No education. Many of us probably have at least 2 years of college, plus all the terminology, anatomy and pharmacology a person needs to know, I'd say that is an education. Many nurses with college degrees change careers and become MTs so you are mistaken about us not being educated.
2. I also disagree with your statement about this being an easy job. Working in a production setting is not easy. It requires sitting in one position for hours at a time, that is hard on a person's body. It is also very mentally taxing because of the concentration required. I love being an MT but never thought it was easy. Easy compared to what?

Maybe you and I need to switch employers for a while so that I can have your "easy" job and you can have mine.

MTs on the Radar survey - educatedMT

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According to MT on the Radar survey of 2007, 18% of MTs have bachelor degrees,
25% have associate degrees and 42% are high school graduates. So, we are not an under educated group of workers. It is a very special skill set and RNs who change to MT find it very challenging. It's a very special skill set and requires years of experience, dedication and devotion. Years back, MTs shared comraderie and a sense of professionalism and now we are like factory workers getting paid by the piece under less than ideal conditions with a lot less pay and respect. The comraderie we once shared is also gone due to the intense competition.

seriously? - sm

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You make it sound like we work in a high stakes high pressure environment. LOL this isn't Wallstreet. We get paid to type reports fed to us word for word.

Really??? "Fed to us word for word??" WOW, I want some (sm) - SillyTricks

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of whatever you are taking! I wish that even a quarter of my reports were that easy. High pressure, yes it can be, high stakes, if you are the patient or the doctor depending on the report being perfect, yes, definitely high stakes. I will agree with you though, this is not "Wallstreet," please note YOUR spelling, not mine.

Are you seriously a MT?

again - sm

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Who cares if I spelled Wallstreet wrong. If the reports are not fed to you word by word, what are you doing, making up the entire report yourself? LOL. Get a life! There is no pressure with this job, if you think there is, you have got other problems.

Very nice and inspiring, and we DO perform a valuable service, but - Cynic

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our high schools are famous around the planet for their low educational goals, associate degrees are usually just trade school plus some basic classes trying to fill in what should have been learned in high school, and bachelor degrees--depends on the person whether much was learned or whether the only goal that mattered was that paper ticket into the middle class. Many colleges are handing them out to anyone who jumps the bureaucratic hoops.

Plus, this is not a field that attracts high functioners from the college grad level, including nurses choosing this from a very large array of possible sit-down choices. On the plus side, a lot of us do love to read and are able to convert that "commute" time to a much higher use, but anyone visiting here will soon learn many do not continue their education in any form.

Very well said - nm - MT for 17 years and proud

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nm

I entered after the really good days, but yes, - Cynic

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basically I agree that in the past, for a while, people who lucked into this were...let's just say, extremely well paid for the work. Not as good as court reporters for a while, though. The legal system, private and public, has a lot of money floating around, and with the use of new technology those stenographers were raking in some really big bucks before some very delayed adjustments finally started kicking in.

Education? Not to insult people who've done the 2 years of trade school (a lot more than I did in preparation for this job), but in the past that was not required and just a perusal of these boards shows clearly that the average educational level is still pretty low.

OTOH, we're all fully literate and can be proud of ourselves for that. Not everyone who graduates from college can claim that achievement.

I have always felt that I am paid well - sm

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I have worked many different jobs, and believe me, there are many different jobs that are harder than an MT. I know there are some that have transferred from other professions with degrees but probably for many reasons such as the work-at-home advantage we have. You definitely do not have to have a college degree to do this. It took me about 6 months to finish my schooling. I had worked in the medical field for years and already knew a lot what I needed to know.

I agree, I am very fortunate to have this job. I definitely have a cushy job. I can work from anywhere and have very little overhead. I think some people need to talk to people who work in doctor's offices and hospitals with the amount of education that it takes for us to perform this job and ask them what they make. I think you would be quite surpised how close it is in comparison.

Sweetheart, let me tell you what.... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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Your attitude toward this profession that so many of us take a great deal of pride in only tells me that you do not take this work seriously. If you don't take it seriously, the only conclusion I can come to here is that you therefore must be putting out some pretty shoddy work. "We are not that important in the big scheme of things." BULL!!! PATIENT'S LIVES are dependent on the information we are transcribing. If you think that is "not that important", then do EVERYONE a favor and get out. NOW!!!! I just hope to God no one like you ever transcribes a medical document for me or anyone in my family; that's all I can say. PS: When you don't use proper punctuation, especially while making the types of statements that you are making, you are only making a fool of yourself.

LOL! patient's lives are dependent on us? wow. - okay.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

YES!!! - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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Excuse me, I did not say their lives are dependent on "US", but the information that is transcribed in the REPORTS that we do!!!! A critical error in a transcribed report CAN result in tragic consequences. The fact that your response to this is "LOL" tells me you need to get out of this profession as well!!!!

judging by the reports I have QA'd in the past - sm

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Patient's lives are not dependent on them. Or else MTSOs would have quite a few lawsuits. Just sayin'

OH, okay.... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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So it makes no difference whatsoever what we type in a report. So, let's say, an incorrect drug spelling or dangerous abbreviation written in a report would NEVER affect a patient. I'm sure NOTHING like that has ever happened before.

JUST SAYIN'

have you heard of a patient dying as a result of - an MT misspelling a word?

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nm

Well... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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it would depend on the WORD now, wouldn't it? Certainly, one can see how transcribing a wrong drug name or drug dosage, or a mistaken laboratory value, for example, can cause serious consequences for a patient!!!!

so... - sm

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You don't think there are people at the facilities our reports end up who make the necessary corrections to prevent that? Or do you really think the final judgement lies with the transcriptionist, as opposed to..a doctor? a nurse? LOL. Besides that wasn't the question, I wanted to know if you personally were aware of someone dying based on a clerical error by an MT.

I think you know as well as I do... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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that there is no way to guarantee that an error made in a transcribed report is going to be caught by the facility, a doctor, a nurse, or anyone else for that matter. What is upsetting to me here is that there seems to be an implication that the work we do does not matter. These documents are a vital part of patient care, and it is up to us to make sure that they are done correctly.

There are some of us who still take pride in our work - nm - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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nm

I have always taken pride in my work - I just have never deluded myself...

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Into thinking my profession is more important than it is. Like I said originally, I always thought I was "getting away" with something, having almost no education but making bank with little effort.

Well, turns out I'm not half the cynic you are. Disagree strongly. - Many patient deaths result from mistakes. Cynic

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Swift access to accurate information is critical to patient care. Who could be so foolish as to not realize that?

if this is the case - sm

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Why is the work going to non-English speaking transcriptionist's overseas. Shouldn't there be some concern about sentence structure, context, language barriers if our jobs were so important? Just sayin'

Of course there is concern... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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The problem is that this apparently is not a concern of the people making the decision to send the work overseas. It does NOT mean that our job is not important! If you don't feel this job is important, then do not do this job!!!

Thank you... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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Why anyone wouldn't realize what effects there can be on a patient as a result of critical transcription errors, I will never understand either.

Like I said before... - MT for 17 years and proud of it

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we may not be doctors, but that certainly doesn't mean our work is unimportant. If providing accurate patient documentation so that a patient receives proper care is not important to you, then you need to do those patients a favor and get out. How would it sit with you knowing that someone with your crappy attitude is transcribing a medical report for you or a family member of yours? In the meantime, I will continue to "get away" with researching and proofing to make sure I put out the best documents possible. Seriously, you need to quit talking about "getting away" with something and just GET AWAY!!!!

MT for 17 years... - rikki

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The one claiming to be "barely educated but making bank" (or whatever silly way she put it) is probably just a troll (an unskilled ancillary administrative/office worker with an envious axe to grind and not an actual MT--why else would she demean herself by boasting about being uneducated?) An example of the vital importance of text accuracy and/or labeling is the actor Dennis Quaid's near fatal incident with his twins due to a heparin labeling error (and 3 others not so fortunate who did die after receiving incorrect dosages.) Can't help but laugh at those who try to diminish the importance of MT (usually by those who can't do it in the first place or those who can, but are inept.)

Taken pride in my work - anon

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What a worthless piece of garbage. I don't understand why your doing what your doing except your money hungry. It is people like you who give the rest of us "Old Timers" and all MTs a bad name. No wonder they are going to VR. With people like you transcribing I can only imagine what the H____ kind of report your sending out. GO AWAY and leave the reports to those of us who are proud of what we do.

Could you tell us who the company is please (sm) - Long time MT

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So the rest of us can avoid them.

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