A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
How can we unionize - Not a union fan
Posted: Apr 13, 2012
But it sure would be nice to get some protection. Im not looking to bilk the government or anyone out of any money..But I have never worked in a job where I make 10 grand less then I did 10 years ago...I would be happy just to be making the same salary as I was back then..
Back when I was paid a decent wage, I didn't see - much need for a union, either. (s/m)
[ In Reply To ..]But look at where we are now! I now make less than I did in 1976! It's RIDICULOUS!
And the MTSOs continue to rip us off BECAUSE THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. There's no one watching them, and no one negotiating for a fair wage for us, or lobbying for us in Washington. (The only lobbies in Washington these days are AHDI, trying to force us to buy their stupid *credential*, which we all know won't earn us one more red cent... it will just line the pockets of AHDI).
We need a union, or some kind of labor representative, that will put the MTSOs on notice to clean up their acts, and who will kick AHDI's @$$es all the way to China.
I agree - Alias
[ In Reply To ..]I've heard this so often on this board. Not working right now, so decided to do a little research. There is a union we could contact. Here is the Union that could actually benefit the MT, and I found the information on Wikipedia:
"Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues."
It also said that union workers average 10-30% higher pay than non-union workers.
I personally will only be in the industry another couple of months at the most, but if someone wanted to take the time and make the effort, it might be worth checking into. I know there will be some who come on here, and say it would be impossible with everyone kept so separate, but just remember those who were able to get it together enough to take action with the lawsuit a few years ago. Just a thought.
Someone Did it!! - Alias
[ In Reply To ..]Just saw on Main Board someone just sent an e-mail AFL-CIO. Way to go MT2!! Finally, someone has taken some action. Whether it works or not is to be seen, but you never know until you try.
No Unions, Please! - See Message
[ In Reply To ..]Please, no unions! They just put companies out of business with their ridiculous demands. AND, if they go on strike, SO DO YOU, whether you are for the cause or not, with zero pay. Talk about NJA. They also make it impossible to fire the low-lifes.
How do you think a big car company could to go out of business? Paying some $30 per hour to hitch a door on the car, $60 per hour on a weekend or holiday.
They're off the wall, and you will be their slave and have no control over your job.
Yes, Union - Alias
[ In Reply To ..]And we're not slaves now, and we have control now? Granted, there are cons to a union, but there are also benefits, and something seriously needs to be done about this industry.
I am 100% anti big union - but we need HELP NOW
[ In Reply To ..]I worked on the police department in 1982 in an area with no union, our pay sucked, our equipment sucked. we were working 2 jobs to pay the rent..We started a union, got a living wage (not outrageous like NYC) and now are one of the best trained departments in the country..And the union is gone it did what we needed it to and it faded away...I will not ask for or participate in outrageous demands..Like the northern unions they ARE bankrupting the country...I want a union to do what they were designed to do originally, protect workers rights no more no less. How can we survive making less than I did 10 years ago its just crazy, we are living slaves as someone said..
Besides the fact that outsourcing is illegal - HIPPA doesnt apply in India
[ In Reply To ..]I go to the doc and sign all these Hippa forms..I sign a Hippa form to work here...Great I agree with it 100%..But it doesnt apply outside the US and they have all our information, and at a time when Identity theft is at record highs, doesnt that make you kind of wonder..Not to mention doctors dictating in unsecure areas,,if there are people in the background talking well then it should be illegal..The only ones that should hear a dictated report are those that need to know and a receptionist has no need to know MY medical problems unless I choose to give it to her..And a report should never be dictated from home or on an unsecure CELLPHONE!!!
Outsourcing is *not* illegal and it's H-I-P-A-A - Honestly
[ In Reply To ..]People for pete's sake, learn the darned lingo.
It's HIPAA, *not* HIPPA.
Outsourcing is NOT illegal. In fact, *offshoring* (the term I suspect you're grasping for) obviously isn't illegal either, as it's being done.
How is anyone ever going to take any of you seriously who can't be bothered to learn the appropriate terms and phrases of your own profession?
Educate yourselves before you attempt to educate the masses, please. PLEASE.
But it SHOULD be illegal. And who gives a rat's - patoot about HIPAA spelling?
[ In Reply To ..]
Who give's a rat's patoot? Anyone with a shred of integrity - Who alleges to be writing correspondence regarding
[ In Reply To ..]When you're allegedly writing correspondence to officials, it would be difficult for them to lend you any viable credibility when you cannot even properly articulate things vital to your career, such as HIPAA.
That being said, kudos, you actually spelled it correctly in your snarky reply. Perhaps now you'll commit it to memory and never type "hippa" again. Brava!
Outsource vs Offshore - See definitions, big difference
[ In Reply To ..]Hopitals outsource to MTSOs. MTSOs offshore to India. There is a big difference in the definition.
HIPAA - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]You should give a rat's patoot. HIPAA is an acronym for Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act. Before you spout off on this board or anywhere else about it, you do need to familiarize yourself with it, patient rights and so much more. It's dangerous to present yourself as if you know what you are talking about, especially if you want to present yourself as someone trying to bring about ohange in your profession. Off shoring is not illegal, I don't know where you got that information.
HIPAA correction - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]Oops, that's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, even I get mixed up, sorry.
Union - Mg
[ In Reply To ..]I agree! "I want a union to do what they were designed to do originally, protect workers rights no more no less. How can we survive making less than I did 10 years ago its just crazy, we are living slaves as someone said.. "
Companies always use fear tactics to keep away unions, i.e, the company will go out of business, etc., BS! We need a union, and I'll be first in line to sign up! I'm a good employee, conscientious, and take pride in my work. Just to know that I would be paid a fair wage would go far to help my motivation. IMO, we've needed a union for a long time, and I hope something comes of this.
Never saw the need either... - LeavingMT
[ In Reply To ..]I'm also leaving. I don't feel it necessary for me to go through years of "maybe" seeing change whilst seeing reports that years ago would have had a person fired. It's all about not having blanks now, regardless if they are correct. I knew it was getting bad, but in the last year or 2 it's been REALLY BAD.
That doesn't even touch on the fact that I've made nearly the same salary for 20 years give or take a few thousand. I type 300 LPH on average and yes with 99% accuracy , but I don't fill in something I don't know and I can do VR at 300-350 depending on the day for an 8 hour shift. So I'm not bad at the job, but I could make as much working at a local store and get a discount on things I buy (i.e., 20% discount on groceries is a savings for my family of 5 with the $2 less per hour or thereabouts I'd be making). Granted I'd have to drive to it, but meh I'd be more social and not aggravated.
I do hope for future transcriptionists that PROFESSIONAL treatment and pay is brought back into the fold. I don't predict it will, but here's to hoping :)
Unions Make Me Gag - Old MT
[ In Reply To ..]Sorry, I will not go for a union. They are complete bullies and suck companies dry. Unions are why bad teachers can't get fired, child molesting teachers can't get fired (they often just relocate them), etc., etc.
And where do you think the hospitals are going to get that kind of money? With the way insurance is these days, they're not making much money, either. So,
I think MTSOs are horrible these days, but at least you have a job. Get a union, and MTSO will go out of business, as it would be cheaper for the hospital to hire their own hourly-paid employees without a union and forget the MTSO.
In-house sounds pretty good right now, but - MT
[ In Reply To ..]I always thought that if we could somehow form a union, that it would drive all MT jobs offshore and we would be left with no jobs. Am I wrong? Like the Union jobs in Detroit going overseas? Why would the MTSO pay us higher wages when they could just have the Indians do all the work?
In-House - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]I work in house and go to the office every day because that's my choice. We have quite a few people who work at home as employees too. We work weekends and are expected to keep schedules, that's how it is with health care. Production and QC are monitored, and people suffer consequences if they are not cutting it. Those are things that me and my coworkers accept as part of the job, but that I read a lot of people complaining about as being "unfair" in this forum. I share your point of view about unions driving jobs off shore because cheap labor is available, it has happened in other professions. Also, the unions are helpless to stop VR and point and click technology. I am familiar with some MT union members who were left out in the cold when their facilities converted to Epic. I understand why people are unhappy but at this point I don't know if there is much a union would be able to do.
I had a "in-house" but we were outsourced. We all - worked remotely from home and
[ In Reply To ..]a big healthcare system came along and bought out the hospital after that it was only maybe 2 or 3 years later that our dept got outsourced because everything had to be "uniform" and the other hospitals in their health care system had been outsourced for years.
Every hospital in my area is outsourced. I applied for a job in another city about 45 min. away and was offered the position with the understanding that they too at some point would be outsourced to Nuance, as they had been acquired by a bigger healthcare system also.
So here I sit, working for the company that my dept was outsourced to, after making a good living for almost 13yrs and having good health insurance, this has become my new reality.
I do plan on going back to school pretty soon though. I really had my heart set on being able to retire from my nice cushiony hospital job.
MT really didn't need a union back when we were all - in-house. But look at how we have - sm
[ In Reply To ..]been cheated, devalued, lied to, and exploited into working unpaid overtime since we'e become invisible, mute, chained-to-our-home-office-desk slaves since MT became a matchbook career.
The MTSOs and the MT "schools" got greedy. They just wanted more and more and more. Well, they've pushed the envelope of worker abuse about as far as it can go, and now it's time to stand up for ourselves and our livelihoods.
If unionizing will help us do that, then by God, let's start the ball rolling towards making that happen.
And being an employee is a bad thing? - LeavingMT
[ In Reply To ..]Sorry I don't CARE if the MTSOs that don't pay a living wage go out of business. Hospitals DO have at-home employees (I've BEEN one) and you don't necessarily have to be scheduled. The last hospital I worked for (at home) we had 12 transcriptionists and 3 had to be on a shift per month for a differential and the others could just get their hours in whenever. We got paid, had decent benefits, and it was about a QUALITY product.
If an MTSO whose only goal is NOT TO HAVE BLANKS and PUT OUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE is out of business, good riddance. But I was taught these were legal documents, accuracy was more important than the number of blanks, and quality mattered. If it takes unionizing to get rid of those companies who compromise our physicians by giving them crappy reports and our health by giving us crappy reports...then so be it.
What needs to be pushed is private info being shipped - out of the country and not
[ In Reply To ..]Beng regulated by the so called hippa privacy laws..I spoke with a pain management specialist I saw who totally agrees...problem is a lot of the companies say they dont send it overseas but do..
You must like being treated like a mushroom and - working for less than table scraps.
[ In Reply To ..]
Brilliant retort; perhaps she's just doing better than a lot of MTs - Not everyone is destitute in this field
[ In Reply To ..]Just because someone has an opinion which differs from your own does not mean she must "like" whatever you perceive his/her circumstances to be.
You'd do far better if you kept the sarcasm in its proper place and instead were mature enough to understand not everyone in the MT world shares your particular views.
I will never support a union - Would fight unionization
[ In Reply To ..]Unions are one of the things that has pushed jobs and industries offshore. Unions are no longer for the people they are suppose to serve, only another way for someone to fill their pockets off the sweat of hardworking people.
What pushed jobs offshore - Alias
[ In Reply To ..]Were the big tax breaks for offshoring!!
Exactly thank you Obama - I dont want my info out of the US
[ In Reply To ..]If anything everyone paste on facebook how their personal/medical information is being shipped to India and their Hippa laws cannot be enforced over there...and its basically impossible to track ID theft there as well...Ive tried to get in on the talk shows to make this knows and see what they will do to help but it takes an act of congress to get on there..we need to take a stand NOW
Off shoring - Nana
[ In Reply To ..]Its funny because I wrote to my congressman about this all and he ALWAYS answers my emails. He never replied to me on this one. Complained about shipping private info overseas with no HIPPA. Nothing.
Resend it using the right term, HIPAA - Pet Peeve that MTs cant grasp this
[ In Reply To ..]Maybe he had no idea what a Hippa is? I'd clean it up and resend it.
Why blame Obama? These tax breaks have - been in place for years SM
[ In Reply To ..]As a matter of fact, Obama wants to give tax breaks to companies who keep jobs in the US to discourage offshoring. I don't know how far this has gotten in Congress, but I suspect it will be filibustered or stopped in some way by those owned by big business.
Thats true, Obama is trying to bring jobs back to - Amercia.
[ In Reply To ..]watch the news people, and watch ALL of it. Not just Fox news, but CNN, local news, MSNBC or whatever. *C-SPAN* is even out there and they show you live whats going on in congress and with the government.
Get your information from multiple sources and make your opinions, the information is out there is you really want to know.
He is?? Thats why he has put more regulations then any - President in US history
[ In Reply To ..]Read and look,,,dont listen to the mainstream media, they are all crooks also...Businesses are running out of this country,,,gee I wonder why, cause they cant afford the taxes..Except of course the ones that contribute to his election, like GE pays ZERO taxes and the owner hangs with obama on a regular basis...Open you eyes and stop being spoon fed garbage
Then we'll fight you, too. - *
[ In Reply To ..]
Did not used to like unions either, but my - husband is a member
[ In Reply To ..]and he sure has it better than I do. We used to make about the same money. Now mine is half, his is twice, and he has great insurance. Maybe unions are THAT bad :)
sorry -- meant "aren't" obviously - above poster
[ In Reply To ..]...
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