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

What would you do if your company - started requiring 99% accuracy?

Posted: May 20, 2011

Would you be able to perform at that level? I'm sure there are some of you that say you consistently produce 100% quality and at least 400 lines an hour. I'm not talking to you. How about the regular MTs out there? Are there any companies that require this? Is it even attainable with the subjective nature of this job? How about if all of your accounts are ESLs and your pay gets docked if you send more than 1 document a day to the QA department? Any feedback on this? Is this "constructive termination?"

99% accuracy - old hand

[ In Reply To ..]
I try to do the best I can with every report, and that takes time. Plus sometimes the English is so bad or the sound quality so poor, I am not sure that I am as accurate as I want to be, and those reports take even more time! The platform I have to use is slow, there are a lot of demographics to look up, etc., for which I am not paid, and the pay rate per line is just averagely so-so, rather poor, given the difficulty and complexity of much of the dictation. At some point, I am no longer going to be able to afford to do this job, I have lowered my standard of living as much as I can, and not lowered my standards of what is acceptable medical transcription. If and when, the pay gets too low, I hope I will either be old enough to retire or I have found something else I can do. I'm actively looking and I have gone back to school. I'm philosophical about this, things are not very good for us, and it is rather difficult to understand why. We are uniquely skilled, our skills are rare, and there is a real demand for them even though the technology is changing a bit and our skill set will have to adapt -- nonetheless, it is the knowledge in our brains (and knowing how to listen) that is needed and takes many years to acquire. It's puzzling it should be this way but that is how it is. There will be a breakpoint when none of us will be able to afford to do this anymore -- and that breakpoint is a little different for each of us. My hope is that the hospitals will recognize the importance of an accurate medical record and that it costs money, and take control again, hire us back, recognize the fact that there are intelligent and capable young people right here in this country who need to be mentored by the seasoned old hands who want to retire in the next 5 to 15 years, and pay us all a living (hourly) wage. Otherwise, there is going to be a mess in the record keeping area of health care, and the patients are the ones who will pay the price.

To old hand - a1typist

[ In Reply To ..]
Very well said! You put to words what I have been thinking all day. At least there is one person out there who understands what I am thinking, thanks.

To a1typist - Ruth

[ In Reply To ..]
I hope you consider yourself a transcriptionist, not a typist. There is a world of difference!

99% - SS

[ In Reply To ..]
Eloquently stated...

agree with you - Millensue

[ In Reply To ..]
My sentiments exactly. I, too, am going back to school because I cannot live on what I make. This profession needs to unionize and have a standard hourly rate.

99% accuracy - Jada

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm no lawyer, so I cannot tell you whether it is constructive termination, but I can tell you it is unrealistic and unfair.

To Ruth - a1typist

[ In Reply To ..]
After 35 years I would suppose so, just couldn't make an expander work on the board! Be nice......

99% accuracy - nina

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, I definitely don't have 100% quality and definitely don't do 400 lines an hour. I WOULD NOT work for a company who docks my pay for sending work to QA . . . that would be a deal breaker for me. Sometimes I'll go a week or more without sending something to QA, then there are nights where I just can't figure some things out and have to send 2 or 3 reports to QA. I would be looking elsewhere, just my opinion. :)

Yes - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
My employer requires at least 99% accuracy with quarterly QA (not an MTSO, a private employer). Anyone who falls below 99% gets their pay cut by 5% and goes on monthly QA until they improve. It's been attainable for me but I can't speak for others.

99% accuracy - anonymouse

[ In Reply To ..]
My company requires 99% accuracy. I work for Nuance. When I started I was off QA the first week with a 99.8% accuracy. That said, there are no ESLs on this account, and I would have to say on a scale of difficulty with easy being 0 and 10 being difficult, this account is a 4. So if I was on a more difficult account, which I've been on before, I don't know if I would have achieved 99% in such a short time. Like I said, Nuance does require 99% accuracy. I do not know what other companies require that score. It is obtainable. I have done it on the acct I am working on now, and I have done it on an account that I would say is rated a 9-10 in difficulty. The very difficult acct took some time to achieve the 99% accuracy, a lot more than a week. They did work with me on this because of the difficult nature of the work, but I did achieve the 99% finally. I would definitely find another job if a company docked my pay for sending jobs to QA. Nuance doesn't do that, and I hope they never do.

How about 99% quality, yet maintaining speed - emptyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
slowly sinking here because my quality has always been 98-100 quality, years and years. Now, however, I am expected to maintain 99% quality, on a hideously difficult account, but I must also maintain my LPH.

In other words, I have to listen to reports on the fastest speed I can to get my LPH yet maintain some form of quality. The reports go to QA who in turn listen at the slowest possible speed to give errors for not including 'the' and mind you this cannot even be heard unless you completely slow the speed down, squeeze the earphones to your ears, and go over it 2 or 3 times. Now imagine doing this on all entire reports.

These never used to be errors when it did not change the meaning, yet now they are all errors, everything, even punctuation.

Is this a precursor to get rid of 'regular' MTs, which in my opinion there are no regular MTs, we all work extremely hard and deserve SO MUCH more than what we get. Are there only going to be QA/editors in the future, because I am good, I am very good - yet every day getting hit now more and more with QA errors in order to keep up the mandatory LPH.

Would this be a clearly no-win situation, and if so, my question is - is it legal, to create an atmosphere in which the MT can not possibly maintain speed AND accuracy in any kind of situation without perhaps working 12 hours a day? Eventally, there will be no MTs left because it just is not possible to do this unless you are extraordinary, and perhaps have no life outside of MTing.

Are we being weeded out, only the strongest to survive? and then 1 mistake and you will be gone...

I cannot even make my LPH anymore doing voice recog because the dictators are quite abusive in that they don't seem to even care what they are talking about, don't appear to care about the patients, cause HIPPA violations by constantly entering incorrect data and throwing the responsibility off on everyone else. They chew in your ear, have conversations on their cell phones, dictate while there are screaming patients or sirens going off, and yes even swear occasionally, or worse.

When did we accept all the responsibility and become the scapegoats? HIPPA is supposed to protect personal information, not terrorize anyone in a low-paying job as a constant threat to be terminated.

Everything you say is true - started requiring 99% accuracy

[ In Reply To ..]
It is impossible. With all the odds stacked against us, we are bound to fail. Then the transcription companies can justify sending everything overseas. I believe it is constructive termination. They didn't require it when we were hired, but changed the rules to make us fail. I feel this should qualify us for unemployment as they are basically laying us off even though they're trying to make it look like it's our fault.

Laying off/firing (sm) - Concerned MT

[ In Reply To ..]
If they fire you for a bad QA, (98%) how can you prove they are trying to make it look like it is our fault? Isn't it their word against ours?

So silly. There is absolutely nothing to keep them from firing - MTs outright. They need no

[ In Reply To ..]
Engage brains. All you ever have to do is put yourself in their places to understand at least a little better. Solid information needed for real understanding, of course.

You can take this to the bank, though: If they didn't make money from us, we'd ALL be laid off--now. Employees are EXPENSIVE.

Forget 99% accuracy - Nell

[ In Reply To ..]
This is absolutely absurd. Sounds like these people are looking for perfection, like 99% accuracy and 400 lines per hour. What are you a machine? Stop trying to fulfill this outlandish request. I'll bet if you gave the doctors and other dictators this same stringest requiremet, they would FAIL, FAIL, FAIL. Half the time they don't know what they are saying, can't say it correctly or intelligibly and mumble beyond belief. No one is perfect, so stop trying to live up to such ridiculous standards. I'd rather scrub toilets for a living that put up with this nonsense.

Can't believe you'd even consider complying with this.

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