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

Any current Focus employees? Pros, cons, good, bad comments? - TxMT

Posted: Nov 17, 2010

Is there work? Do they pay on time? Any comments on overall experience there would be appreciated.

Focus - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
The pros: Pay is on time every time and usually correct. QAs won't ding you too hard for small errors like commas etc. Platform of Escription is very easy to navigate and learn. Old reports easy to get. They pay relatively well per line 4 cents editing 8 cents typing.

The cons: The accts are 95% voice recognition, so you never get any 8 cent lines and if you do they are the difficult dictators. I believe the QAs are allowed to cherry pick the best dictators since they are thrown into the pool to compete with the MTs for lines (how else would they make more money than an MT when they are paid the same??) Focus accts constantly run out of work (I believe Focus manipulates the flow of work to every MT so that they have to come back and work 2nd, 3rd shifts and weekends since it is difficult for these shifts to get enough coverage). They always promise you some new bigger acct but trust me, every acct they give you will run out of work in a few short days, weeks or months. I had accts that had no work the very first day I started on them.
They have rigged Escription platform to not allow you to skip over bad dictations ( I know this is cherry picking but honestly, anyone who has worked in these sweat shops long enough will quickly learn this is the only way to survive because you either leave a lot of blanks in the bad reports (QAs will target you and make you pay for this) or you spend hours on one bad report and not meeting production.) Also, they insist you stay on the yahoo IM where they have these annoying Indian acct monitors and or American team leads who constantly IM you about the status of reports. My favorite is the holidays you are forced to work even though they have very little work the day before, the day of and the day after. Production bonuses ( you can never obtain these because your accts will always run out of work). You never get any kind of raise in pay. In all, if you are willing to work for peanuts around the clock, then congrats, you will make a whopping $200.00 a week.

Thank you for your detailed reply. It is much - TxMT

[ In Reply To ..]
appreciated. What is their current production requirement? I've never worked on Escription before, but I'm constantly being told this is a great platform for VR work.

Focus - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Production requirements usually entail that you meet your state's minimum wage per hour; otherwise they have to pay you what they call make up pay and they get very angry over having to do this. If you can average around 200 lines an hour for VR work and 125 lines typing, you should not have a problem meeting production. I would suggest that you let your team lead know if you have dictators that are too difficult for you and slow you down too much. Their Escription platform has a well-trained VR engine (this does vary among the different companies that are using Escription) and it is very accurate, so you don't have to make a lot of corrections with it. I could average as high as 300-400 lines an hour if they didn't run out of work. Escription is also a very good platform for various text expanders, it works with a lot of different ones. I strongly recommend Instant Text, which also works with many different platforms. Good luck in your decision.

Thank you again. You have given me good - information to consider. TxMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I appreciate it :-)

I am a Focus QA.... - wrong info given

[ In Reply To ..]
and you are VERY misinformed about QA. We are NOT allowed to cherry pick and have to go by TAT. We also only transcribe/edit when there is an overabundance of work and the MTs need help...and we ALSO are QA'd MUCH harsher than the MTs. Also, Focus does NOT manipulate the flow of work...it comes in and is sent out according to TAT requirements, which are listed in each account specific according to the client preferences. The workflow has been up and down, but when it is up...it is WAY up...just like with ANY other job. So, please do not make your decision based on ONE person. I feel if this person were THIS unhappy, they should go elsewhere and see just how everyone else is doing. And before you even say it...NO...I am NOT management, just a QC.

Have to back this poster up - former Focus

[ In Reply To ..]
I worked for Focus for 2 months in the summer. I hated it and left for a couple of reasons - 4cpl on VR and not being able to pay my mortgage for 2 months being the biggest one - but in all of that QA was great. They were knowledgeable, helpful, and did not talk down to me like I've heard so many people experience with some QA folks.

I didn't like my experience with Focus and certainly would not recommend them to anyone, but have to at least defend the QA people there, as they were about the only positive thing that came out of my experience there.

oh.... - wrong info given

[ In Reply To ..]
also, we DO make the same amount of money as the MT when we transcribe/edit, but we do make a different amount when we QC, and can actually be LESS than what the MTs make because we have to provide feedback to the MTs, which cuts into our production, because yes, we are also paid on production too. So again, get your facts straight before you spew garbage....pppfffftttt!!

focus - anonymouse..

[ In Reply To ..]
I work at Focus, and I will agree that the pay is ON TIME EVERY TIME, no ifs, ands or buts. That means a lot. Every other Monday my pay is in my mailbox.

The QAs are like anywhere really, some are nice and some are nitpicky. I've had some be very good and not ding me for little things and some will ding you if you miss a comma one time. It depends on the QA, at least in my experience.

Escription is a great platform. I love it.

The pay is average. Like the other poster said 8 for straight and 4 for editing. If you work after a certain time, not sure what time that is (I forgot), you get 5 cpl editing and 10 cpl straight. You don't get that much though because onshore teams usually are done by 9 pm. They have gotten more strict (at least with me) not wanting anyone on there after 9 pm cst because there are no QAs working after that time to QA.

The accounts are mostly VR, but I love VR. There are a fair share of difficult ESLs on my account. You just have to practice and do your best to learn them, and you will in time. I don't know anything about QAs or cherrypicking or anything like that. I do run out of work frequently. I used to never run out of work, but now I do a lot. I just deal with it. I don't have to depend on my pay to pay my mortgage of course, or that might would be more of a problem. From what I hear on this board, it seems running out of work happens with a lot of MTSOs.

Fortunately, my team lead does not bother me. I don't hear from her usually unless I have a question. She leaves me alone to work. I don't get any nitpicky questions.

We do have to work holidays, but when you do medical reports people get sick on holidays so there ya go. Unfortunately if a holiday falls on your normal workday you gotta work BUT you only are required to work half your shift (preferably the latter part of your shift). So Thanksgiving day I will have to work 4 hours that evening.

Everywhere has pros and cons. I like Focus because I have worked at a lot worse places, and that is putting it lightly.

reply - Ann

[ In Reply To ..]
I was told I didnt have to work the holidays! maybe we are on a different account?? I love the platform but I am not loving my 500 dollar checks I get every 2 weeks.

If you work on a clinic account... - anonymouse.

[ In Reply To ..]
I believe they said that clinic accounts aren't required to work on holidays. There may be some accounts that aren't, but unfortunately, my account is not one of them.

Don't feel bad, my paychecks are the same amount. I haven't been able to get above 30 hours in a week in a few months. My last paycheck more like 25 hours per week average. So hence the small checks. But right now I really don't want over 30 hours a week cause I have too much around my house to take care of, but I would like to get 30 a week.

focus - Ann

[ In Reply To ..]
I have to say I agree... I took this job because I was misinformed about them having a lot of work.. and you are so right... they just got a new account and we were "promised" that the work load would be huge! well, 2 days later it was back to no work. I havent worked 40 hrs since I started 3 months ago. I am glad I have another job, otherwise I wouldnt be able to pay my house payment.. I make about 250 a week, that's it... Any other ideas for another company?

I started at Focus 7 months ago... - anonymouse.

[ In Reply To ..]
When I started 7 months ago, there was an abundance of work. I never ran out. I had 40 hours a week with no problem. About 3 months ago, that changed. Ever since, no more 40 hours. I make the same you make myself, about $250 a week, cause not enough work to make any more. I know ever since I was hired they have never stopped hiring on my account. That has been 7 months. I still see my team lead training new MTs on the IM when she puts the message not to disturb her cause she is training, and we have no work as it is. So I guess they hire more than they need to make sure they have quick TAT.

reply - ann

[ In Reply To ..]
I know... how unfortunate. I can understand the reasoning but, because of this, I have a 2nd job I go to the minute I have no work... and I have a 3rd one on the horizon. Just glad I am on my husband's insurance. I really like it.. love the platform.. but I am getting 25-30 hours per week if that

Nothing worse than a cherry picker. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Lazy thief, too lazy to do the work everyone else does & in essence stealing from the others who have to pick up your slack. DISGUSTING. Cherry pickers have no business in MT.

I tried working for them. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
But I ended up leaving because of their QA dinging me on optional commas. I know my grammar very well, so what they were doing was ridiculous.

I was told by another QA that at Focus, you have to fight QA and teach them to leave you alone.

Life is too short for the sandbox... I found another job much better, pays more, better benies, plus I have always gotten the respect everyone should get.

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