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

I'm sorry - afraid I will be lost below! - sick

Posted: Dec 11, 2009

Under IC QA - thanks (waaaay down there - lots of comments) but after you read this - do I have options?

I was holding my comments - I do not think you will like them

I am using the word you here to mean the person in question dealing with the QA issue.

I think you need to suck it up and deal with it. Whether or not anyone on this board agrees or disagrees that it is right or wrong, the company is not going to stop doing QA. It might make you feel better if some people side with you, but that will be short term with no real gain. QA is here and it isn't going away. It doesn't matter whether you work as an IC, SE or employee. Bottom line is that the client has a right to take their business elsewhere if the MTSO/IC/SE/EMP doesn't do a good enough job. If you work for an MTSO who wants to keep the clients they have and they feel they need to QA their MTs in order to meet a quality standard that will keep their client from leaving, they have every right in the world to do QA.

If you don't agree with that policy, find something to earn income that doesn't have QA associated with it. Let's see what you could do.

Pharmacy tech? Nope. Automatic QA.
Car assembler? Nope. See above.
Medical records clerk? Nope. See above.

see what I mean? Bottom line is that whether you get QA because of some law (in the case of pharmacy tech) or because it is good business practice, whoever writes the check gets to make the rules.

Although I work for an MTSO where there is no formal QA, I do random QA without being paid for it just because I see things that concern me. One client already left for quality issues and I don't want to be let go for account QA issues, whether or not they are my QA issues. I also MT for a private doctor and believe me, he lets me know when I make mistakes and I have to correct them if I want to keep the acct. So you see, I am an IC for an MTSO and an IC for a private doc, and since I don't want an interruption in my income, I care about QA and I have no trouble accepting that.

Like I said, you may not like what I have to say, but it's kinda like QA...you got it anyway.

Totally agree! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Will you marry me? :) - Great post. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

You're right on point! - LS

[ In Reply To ..]
The MTSO could still do a QA review without the MT knowing, and if the MT did not meet up to the qualifications she claimed on her resume, MTSO could just kindly let her know that her services are no longer needed - which is legal for an IC. QA is necessary, even for those who meet qualifications, as MTs can get lazy. There is certainly a way around this IRS law. I think it is ludicrous for an MT to believe she should have the ability to type an inaccurate medical/legal document and have no repercussions, and it speaks volumes regarding her character/integrity in my opinion. If I were an MTSO, I'd certainly fire the MT, if not for the sake of my business, but for the sake of the patient's health.

Another QA question to throw out there - tiredtyper

[ In Reply To ..]
With my company, you can look up old reports. I looked up an old report the other day to look at the patient's med list. The report I pulled up was obviously a VR report. The editing was horrendous, it actually looked like it may not have been edited at all, or at most skimmed through. Now, this is my account, an account I really love and would hate to lose. It makes me mad to see such poor quality work when I try so hard to do the best job I possibly can, especially when such poor quality could cost my company that account. I will not say anything at this point, but I will keep an eye out for this MTs reports. I feel I should mention it to QA if I see it is something this MT does consistently (not editing at all or just doing a lousy job of it). I do not want to be a tattletail or cost anybody their job. If someone is too lazy to do the job correctly or has to rush through it to get their lines, maybe they should be in another line of work. Would you tell?

Would I tell? - dolphin

[ In Reply To ..]
You betcha!

Maybe we work for the same place, lol! - Keeping Quiet

[ In Reply To ..]
Same situation here. I'm appalled at the quality of some of the reports I've seen when looking at previous documents. Some of the reports, as you said, were obviously edited and would appear whoever uploaded the job didn't even do a cursory edit, just pushed it on through without any cleanup whatsoever.

I haven't said anything. I love the job and love the account, and although it pains me to see such atrocities go through, I honestly can't think of a diplomatic way to tell my supervisor, "Psst, have you checked out some of those older reports? Christ on a crutch, what a hot mess those are!"

The closest I've ever had to come in saying anything was when I was trying to look up a medication being dictated by a slurring ESL. I checked 3 previous reports; 1 had a blank, 1 had an obviously incorrect medication and the 3rd report had obviously just looked at report 2 and perpetuated the error. I sent it to QA with a notation that I had tried to check prior reports but the prior report was obviously incorrect. I received a "thank you" email and never heard another word. I guess if QA isn't worried about the lack of quality in completed reports, maybe I shouldn't sweat it, either.

WOULD I TELL? ANSWER TO ANOTHER QA QUESTION - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
WOULD I TELL? First of all, my answer is YES ... for one reason and one reason only .. patient safety. A sloppy, incorrect report could cause a patient his or her life, esp. in terms of drugs, labs, etc., on which a doctor will often base his/her patient care accordingly.

From the viewpoint of the MT (I am also a VR & dying to get out) .. I can at least understand, if not condone, the MTs actions: He/she is desperately trying to get in lines and earn a living, which for the past few years has been virtually impossible, with the advent of VR rubbing salt into already open wounds. The MTs actions in this case are wrong, wrong and wrong, but there are, on some level, at least understandable.

Third and last, but not least, as for my pulling my hair out and worrying about the "MTSO (sob, sob) losing the account because of poor quality" ... well, you greedy, high-falootin' suits, you're making your own beds & if there's any justice in the work world, hopefully you'll get to sleep in it. It won't be ME sobbing about your losing the account. Sob-sob-LMAO).
My sympathies lie, first of all, with the patient (It could be me, my child, my spouse, my parent or other loved one who will bear the brunt of this). Second it will lie with the exploited MTs,the vast majority of who are still turning out top-notch work, all the while virtually "working for nothing".

In the meantime (re: MTSOs), maybe they won't be deluded into thinking they can get consistently top-notch, quality (albeit VR) work while paying that person insultingly bottom-of-the-barrel, slave wages.

can I have a little salt in the wound with those bitters? - not one to pull out hair

[ In Reply To ..]
If one wants to get in lines and come flying in under the QA radar, one should learn the rules of the game, no matter who writes them. To cry foul game and not try to please the one writing checks will not increase one's pay.

Secondly, should the MTSO lose the account, I would assume by your written comments, that you would be the first to whine about today's economy and the unjusticeness of your unemployed situation.

I don't accept slave wages, but if I did, I wouldn't whine about it. I would be using my resourcefulness to find a way out. Should one not have that option, one usually resorts to less productive means (i.e., whining), because some limited income in the short term is preferrable than no income for any length.

And finally, it is patient care that is at stake, and sadly I must agree that there are too few who could make a difference who actually do, whether bitterly working in VR or by seemingly productivity in straight text.

There are people regardless of profession who feel trapped and helpless. I have only to look at people who lived in the late 1800s to appreciate that I have nothing of which to complain.

re: sick - justme

[ In Reply To ..]
I responded to your first posting, although you may not like what you read. You don't give concrete examples of the mistakes you feel were incorrectly red flagged, but from what you did post, it would appear that QA may have be correct in their assessment. Hopefully my comments will be taken in the constructive manner they were intended.

to "sick".... - Nocturnal Hooter

[ In Reply To ..]
The key issue is this: The client is who determines what you should do. If the client wants exam instead of examination, then you would be wise to give them "exam." It's really not an issue of who is right and who is wrong. It's an issue of giving the paying client what they want.

In every example you gave below, QA is SM - QA person

[ In Reply To ..]
correct and you are wrong. Whether it is legal or not for you to be QA'd they're going to do it anyway, so you should take their feedback and make sure you never make the same mistake twice.

If you are coming in under 98% consistently, you may be told your services are no longer needed.

IT'S QA ATTITUDES LIKE YOURS - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Holier-than-thou QA attitudes like yours is the reason the vast majority of MTs would rather listen, re-listen & then re-listen again to the crappiest of dictations just to leave it under 2-3 blanks..rather than have it come under attitudes the likes of you (esp. your condescending last sentence.)

Hope you're not being paid on production .. notice your work is just dwindling down a little (LOL) ???

I don't see anything wrong with the post above yours. - Multi-MTSO MT

[ In Reply To ..]
She is correct. She is giving good advice and a true recognition of the situation.

YOU are the one with the attitude! - Boy O Boy!

[ In Reply To ..]
She is only telling you how QA works, seems to me you are a little defensive in your attitude.

I am a QA person and saw absolutely nothing condescending about her post.

QA PERSON IS CORRECT and does not have an "attitude." SM - Fingers

[ In Reply To ..]
When you look at previous reports and you see things like:

"Benign prosthetic hypertrophy."
"Pupils react to light and accumulation."
"Copy file syndrome."

The list goes on and on. These are not things the MT did not HEAR correctly. These is total ignorance and total lack of research, i.e., laziness. This is probably going to be the same MT who complains about pay, work, QA, etc. SHE IS PUTTING THE ACCOUNT AND OUR JOBS AT RISK.

Meant to say "This is total ignorance." - Fingers NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Similar Messages:

Aug 25, 2012

I am afraid to be an independent contractor! Between no benefits and no work. Does anyone have anything good to being an IC? Don't the employees get the work first? Do you "babysit" the computer a lot? ...

Nov 21, 2012

Is everyone too afraid to answer or are they keeping you in the dark also about human resources. I know about 10 years ago or so MQ settled a class action lawsuit about how they payed wrong or something or another, but since then it seems like everyone who works for them is just like cows to slaughter. Step right up, work for us and bend it on over. Someone has to stand up and say something, and I think it might have to be her - if she can find out how to get to human resources ...

Feb 12, 2013

http://www.mygeartools.com/articles/transcription-outsourcing-leads-to-womans-death-140m-settlement/ ...

Feb 20, 2013

Article about MT abuse by the industry. I was nauseated after reading this. I absolutely love my job, not the industry. "Part of the problem as I see it is that medical transcription has become a commodity, paid on production, with little or no acknowledgement of the wealth of knowledge a transcriptionist must have in order to perform the work." "Medical transcriptionists need to stop being afraid of what will happen to them if they speak up, and start thinking about what i ...

Dec 30, 2009

What has happened to us as an MT community. Whenever someone speaks up with anything negative (but factual) about this so-called profession, there is always someone there to belittle the person, or give the old (my personal favorite) just shut up, take it, and LOVE it attitude. We have absolutely NO POWER left whatsoever? Is this true? Can this be - in our great country - are we just lying down and accepting all that is happening. We are allowing ourselves to go ba ...

Jun 17, 2010

If anyone is still reading this, at tihis point, question is about time off. When MQ bought us, we were told they would let us keep our time off hours. Except they must be used before the end of the year. Only problem is, they are not letting us take those hours. We were even told we must use MQ time off hours or lose them before the end of the year. I'm scared silly to ask this, but is this what the swap board is all about? If you need time off and someo ...

Nov 20, 2010

I have an account with a physician whom had one of his office staff call me yesterday on their cell phone, asking me to "delete" information on a particular patient, certain things in their weekly follow up visit reports. He is being audited by someone, and this sort of freaks me out. I do not want to alter a dictation that has already been billed to insurance for. I asked him to send the request to me in writing, so that in the event something would happen, I would have that infor ...

Feb 04, 2012

After my company recently dropped my account by 1-1/2 cents, I have been considering either a job switch or maybe even an inhouse hospital position but the thought of it puts me in a panic. Has anyone else experienced that? I have been doing this job at home for 20 years and one of the reasons I love it is I don't have to deal with the politics of a work place or people in general. I was a vet tech before an MT so obviously I love animals and prefer being with m ...

Aug 29, 2014

After 20+ years in the industry, I've seen a lot of changes, but these big companies take the cake. They all want to be the big dog and think that eating up smaller companies, dropping everybody's wages, and sending the work to India and generally becoming a company that MTs ran from should be a goal or something to be proud of. Sure, boast that your company made 50+ million dollars last year and then tell your MTs in the same breath that they are not worth paying. As if one Nuance wer ...

Nov 20, 2013

I know that sounds crazy, but this company is MAKING me crazy! Up to now, I haven't signed up for the medical insurance, but now I need to and am afraid that will make me a future "target" for firings/layoffs. That's the main issue I have with this company right now - the "unknown." I know that many people really don't know what the future holds with their company and that layoffs happen, but this company has a striking track record for mass firings, and it always seems to b ...

May 31, 2014

time spent trying to get out a decent product with these guys. With technology on one hand and India on the other getting the good guys, ESLs are pretty much the norm for MTs with any given company these days and we know how to leave blanks and move on. "Afraid" of ESLs? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You don't put that one on the MTs. It's the bill collector that drives us, and you will get what you pay for based on the premise that time is money. enough said. ...

Dec 04, 2014

I have noticed that there is a lot of fear among workers here when it comes to reporting any suspected illegal or even unethical activity on the part of their employer. Therefore, I will put you onto a tool that might help. It's called TOR and it was developed by the US Government to help people in places like Iran post on line without fear of repercussions from oppressive governments. This tool not only allows people to browse the Internet annonymously, it allows users to ...

Jun 21, 2010

Procedure EFM toco? ...

Jul 22, 2010

I need advice. I have just recently gone from employee (for over 35 years) to independent contractor. This has probably been asked or discussed before, but I never paid any attention to the discussions as it never pertained to me; now I wish I had read the posts. I feel lost here. I was hired in the usual manner, and told what my line rate would be. I understand the part about no taxes taken out, no benefits, etc. I was also told what hours/days they need ...

Mar 21, 2012

I trained for 5 days and was called today and told I was terminated. No explanation but their instructions on page breaks sucked and I had off and on problems with them. They sent a video to watch and and would not play on my computer and I told them about it. All they did was send it to me again and still didn't work. These companies are all about greed and do not want to take time to really train someone who really wants to learn their job. ...

Aug 15, 2012

I just received an email that was addressed to us ladies stating that as of Friday this week, we are not needed anymore because all doctors in a certain place are switching to EMR. It was a whole city. This is the first I have heard of this, that is, all their accounts in this city are switching. God Help us All ...

Aug 16, 2012

After 14 years of transcribing for a medical practice, suddenly, without notice, I was "dumped." My client implimented the required EHR mandated by President Obama. I guess I was somewhat naive in not seeing this coming, but I assumed transcribed documents by a "real person" would still be wanted by my client. Now I find myself at age 57 without work. My next step is to inquire about verbatim transcription, but the idea of not correcting improper grammar and using "yeah" ...

Jan 19, 2010

Last week I was told that the account I was working on went to EMR and they do not need any of the MTs on that account anymore. :( I have been sending out my resume but no bites. I have 12 years of MT experience. Where are the jobs? ...

Mar 18, 2010

I was doing something on the internet in Explorer and I did something that made my toolbar at the bottom go away. Can anyone help me get it back? Thanks in advance. ...

May 26, 2010

Just heard today my local town's clinic will be going to EMR in September so those MTs will be losing their job (we are only 2000 people but the clinic is going EMR), another town 125 from me with about 100 MTs have just lost their jobs and a bigger town from there has lost about 100 MTs because of EMR. These are rural America and not big hospitals by any means compared to some of the bigger cities in the country. This is just not right and so, so, so sad. I also jus ...

Aug 27, 2010

From an article written 2 days ago regarding MQ's settlement of a lawsuit filed by Kaiser against Medquist (which MQ settled for 2 million, by the way): The company reported net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2010 as increasing $20.1 million or 25.9 percent to $97.5 million compared to $77.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2009. ...

Sep 02, 2010

This lost accounts business is b.s. They have been pushing overtime in QA for a long time because they needed people and now they have the nerve to lay people off. Nice way to do business. I actually feel sorry for the workers left there with all of that work. They are going to drill those employees into the ground with work. ...

Nov 25, 2010

Has anyone else lost their job with MxSecure because of the independent contractor going to employee only status. I was informed that they are not hiring in my state and several others, but they would let me know if they decided to later. Any information? ...

Apr 29, 2011

The (leaves) of the (blood) ligament was dissected anteriorlly forming a bladder flap and posteriorlly exposing the neurovascular area of the ... ...

May 27, 2011

My normally caught-up to NJA area has been frequently going out of TAT this last week with an outrageous amount of work, even after losing a huge account to the ILPs. I suspect these new expectations have caused many to quit, obviously. ...

Mar 15, 2012

Hospital I work for just switched over to Epic. I was informed this week that I will be laid off as a coder - I am no longer needed. Instead, they will hire coders as data analysts, document improvement specialists and managers. But, in order to get these jobs I need a degree. I do not have a degree, just my CCS as well sa my CPC. I feel like crying and giving up on this career. First as a laid of MT to a laid off coder. I don't want to be in this b ...

Oct 30, 2012

a report done by an MT that has been with the company since 1994 and spelled lichen planus with a K, e.g.,"liken planus." Not a good sign. ...

May 20, 2013

Well it was bound to happen. Our doctors have gone with VR 360 and we have about a month to "get out" basically. Yep us five ladies have been evicted. Some have been there 20+ years. It was only a matter of time I guess. Get this..the department head started the meeting with a prayer (probably praying we wouldn't kick his butt) and then at the end they handed us employee assistance brochures for counseling services. HA! I guess I should be happy they gave a notice but it was like "wel ...

Sep 19, 2013

Well, It is now finally official. Just got my termination letter through an Email today from K&R Consulting due to loss of contracts. I would really like to express what I feel but it would not do any good. They had already let some go and at least I got to work for a few weeks longer. ...

Jan 06, 2014

It is quite a shock the first pay check? I have always made it - lost the QA one but that one always seemed to be half tax anyway, so did not mind so much, but now that will be $100 (typically was my production bonus) less for me a week and also no incentive whatsoever to type more per line OR any more at all. I am certainly NOT going to spend 3 months trying desperately to get "back on top" and get the production bonus again. It just seems so arbitrary, and the errors have been ramped up, both ...