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

M Modal Voice Recognition - Courtney

Posted: Sep 24, 2010

The company that I am working for is going to go with M Modal VR. I currently use ChartNet and they are switching to VR. I have never done this type of transcription before. For those of you who use it, is it that hard to learn? I am at this point so tired of learning new programs and I only wish I could retire now. MT is not what it used to be and I used to love transcription, but I am at this point just burnt out. I used to make good money working for a hospital, then they outsourced and now only make half the money I used to which is so depressing. They have given us about 90 days to learn it and for some it will work I think and others will have a hard time as I hear it is not for everyone. Mentally I am done for and I feel it is time to step away. Right now I get paid per line and when they go totally VR I am sure I will make half of what I make now and if that happens I will not hesitate, but to call it quits. It has been such a struggle for over 2 years now since the hospital that I loved outsourced and it has never been the same. It is not a fun job anymore and I do not enjoy it like I used to.

Truly hate it - tired too

[ In Reply To ..]
My compamy also did the same and I really hate the editing part. If I were using it just for straight typing I wouldn't mind it at all. But for editing it's awkward and it doesn't learn like it is "supposed" to learn.

Maybe you will have better luck with it. I sure don't.

M-Modal, VR, SR - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Addressing 2 issues here. Yes VR/SR one in the same.

Courtney, I hear what your saying, but don't give up. I also fought VR and still not very proficient at it. I am very slow, but I am switching to a new job which VR may or may not be better. The differenece is my ATTITUDE has changed. I am willing to learn it to stay an MT. I am too old to switch to another profession. I also loved being an MT, but our world has changed to a technical world and it is not going away. Please give VR a chance. If you start out with the "I can't" attitude, you won't get it. There aren't many goodjobs out that don't have VR, if there were I would have taken one. Since it is 2 years until I can retire, I'll do the best I can. I have been at this for over 25 years, so change is hard, but with a different attitude, hopefully, I can make a better pay.

So true what Anon says. Plus, many editors are - Skilled Editor

[ In Reply To ..]
doing quite well, and this change may be just what you need. Or not. You're sure not happy now, so a definitive decision within the next (set your time period here, 3 months?) really seems in order.

If, like Anon, you decide you do want to build on your years of experience in this field by developing your skills, instead of getting out and training for a whole new field (those are your two choices), how about setting yourself what should be a very reachable initial monthly income goal, based on the minimum you need to make to stay, and analyzing and planning on how to build to that? Once that challenge is met, you can then work on moving it up where you want it. The important thing is to set yourself weekly goals on paper--LPH, development of macros and short forms in your expander, use of new keystroke combos, etc.--and work to meet them.

You've apparently read enough here to realize that slopping along reluctantly at editing, refusing the challenge, is just a long, painful, and ultimately extremely costly way of getting out.

BTW, don't worry about working with M*Modal itself. It's a competent SR system, in spite of what some people are saying. Like other systems, though, the quality of work considered appropriate to send on to us is agreed upon by the provider company and your employer. M*Modal at 5% correction is mostly reading and listening, whereas 25% often can be transcribed faster.

What we need to understand is that either and anything in between are all fine--they're all paying work, and we don't do this for entertainment. The prize is the number on the paycheck, so what we need to be concerned with is whether the line rate we are being paid is appropriate for the work we are doing on each account. Not every company is paying adequately, and the second step to transitioning to editing could be a lateral move to a company that doesn't underpay.

As for the first step, learning, we're all in charge of training ourselves. Some people have been asking about that. Although many companies do offer some basic assistance in getting started, our skills belong to us, not the companies we work for, and as investments we make in ourselves go with us wherever we choose to work. There are a bunch of threads here with some good tips to start with. If there's a forum where you work, by all means get reading and posting there too.

Again, please realize that many times more editors are happy and making decent incomse than show up here to report they are failing. So why not YOU among that large group? Good luck, Courtney. Keep asking questions.

Perfectly said "Not every company is paying adequately" - Jane

[ In Reply To ..]
Excellent post Skilled Editor, and I couldn't agree more. One of your statements stood out above the rest, "Not every company is paying adequately, and the second step to transitioning to editing could be a lateral move to a company that doesn't underpay." Hence, lies the real DILEMMA and ROADBLOCK and constant source of frustration regarding VR.

Agree it's tremendous dilemma for those affected; however, - Skilled Editor

[ In Reply To ..]
some people working for companies that pay appropriately are also failing to make the transition. That means there ARE other important factors involved.

Even before editing, some were hit with drastic cuts in pay as transcriptionists for neglecting to keep their skills up to date. I'm talking primarily about developing expander use to greatly increase their speed. There are still some MTs who don't even have one, and lot of others who are basically playing at its use. Of course they're going broke. Transcription itself, forget editing, has changed to the point that some MTs are no longer competent to do the job they were once good at.

Then editing. A lot of people, sadly, are simply not trying to learn the new skills required. We all resist change to various degrees, and it hasn't helped to be able to come here these past few years and find crowds of wishful thinkers all agreeing then that VR would never happen and now that nobody can make a living and it's just too awful to bear. The hard fact is, we all have to work on our own to make ourselves as productive as we once were--a task some people have been refusing to take on and still are.

Some few are finding they are not as good at editing as they were at typing and thus are experiencing a drop in income. Many people still denying change are totally unable to assess their own performance with a clear eye, focusing on blaming others instead of how to still make money. Some of these people could do well but are not. Others, who would never be as good an editor as MT, are hanging on months and years past when they should have moved on. So much anguish both ways.

In addition, hit especially hard line count-wise are some of those who have been exceptionally productive (and valued) as transcriptionists. Some will continue to be as exceptional at editing, some not. Also, a few companies did not encourage their best people to learn editing when they should have, preferring to keep them typing as long as that work was available and doing them no favor.

In any case, those of us who didn't take the reins in our own hands to get ready for the change are now finding ourselves faced with the task of learning real fast how to earn our living at quite a different production-pay job. Hard, but no points for those having the foresight to bury their heads in the sand. And certainly none for blaming lack of preparedness on everything and everyone but ourselves.

Good news? Even though incomes have come down, it is still possible to earn good money at editing, for those who will.

Agreed, technology & progression go hand & hand - Jane

[ In Reply To ..]
No argument there, of course technology demands individuals to progress along with the times, no matter how resistant one is to change.

Again, great statement, "how to earn our living at quite a different production-pay job." Hence, lies the original dilemma, "PRODUCTION PAY JOB" with inadequate compensation. Not much incentive for even the most open to change and adaptable individual let alone the resistant to change individual when your pay is cut almost in half.

The American MT profession is sorely overdue for becoming unionized with an organizational bargaining power to fight for fair and just compensation. Until that day, MTSOs will continue to monopolize the market and compensation for the average American MT will continue to erode at an alarming rate.

The resistance, the negativity, the moaning, groaning, and downright ambivalence stems from the inadequate compensation that the average and ABOVE average American MT position has been reduced to. PERIOD. You just can't sugarcoat that unfortunate and very realistic fact, nor lay that responsibility on those that are resistant to change. They're resistant to change because they CANNOT AFFORD to be OTHERWISE.

Perhaps on some of it, Jane, BIG however, though. - Skilled Editor

[ In Reply To ..]
Many, complaining or silent, have NO idea whether their compensation is appropriate or inappropriate. Until they upgrade their skills to an appropriate level, then test them against the rates they're paid, there is NO WAY they can know they are underpaid. And many who believe they are are not.

One thing is for sure, though: People who did not develop their skills in step with developments in technology have been cheating themselves.

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