A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
What would be an ideal company? I would like to build that company. - MTSO
Posted: Mar 31, 2010
We are a pretty big company, and we think we know what transcriptionists want, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
There are a lot of top people in our industry that are finding themselves without jobs, often without notice, both managers and transcriptionists. I think that the tide is turning, and that we need to make sure that we treat our people right, so if you could take a few minutes and answer this, maybe we can make a difference. I am asking for real answers, ones that are realistic, as I truly do care.
1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
9. What benefits are important to you?
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
Anything else?
We are going to be hiring again in the near future, but we are trying to restructure a few things internally and want to make the changes before we hire. Any input at all would help, either here or through email response.
Thank you in advance.
**** Moderator Note****
Since this company is not willing to put its name out here so you know who you are responding to via email, I have disabled the email option. It may well be your own company and you might feel a bit uncomfortable to realize that later. You can safely respond with posts. Moderator
(good job, moderator) some answers - sm
[ In Reply To ..]1. Yes, very important, but not a deal breaker. Key is not to encourage work offshore. Give us plenty of work.
2. 5 yr, 8 cpl (contrary to current standards of course)
3. 10 yr, 10 cpl
4. 20+ yr, 12-14 cpl -- all these as employee with other benefits (trying to be reasonable without being greedy).
5. PTO is important (3 wk with option for more time off without pay), as well as paid holidays and fair overtime pay.
6. --
7. --
8. -- (out of loop on these)
9. Flexibility is key benefit for me, ie, work in a 12-14 hr time frame. Long and short term disability. Gym membership reimbursement is very nice.
10. to make it better? Good line rate, kind and helpful QA people/mgmt, work-wise platform, 24-hr tech support, and not requiring VR work. I want a company that will let good MTs work without being bothered or micromanaged, give us steady accounts with ample work, pay for spaces/headers etc, and that has direct deposit. An occasional personal recognition for good work is always appreciated, and makes me want to work extra when needed.
If this is a serious inquiry, thank you for asking.
Ideal company - Good Luck
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
Yes, this is hugely important! NO OFFSHORING!
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
7-8 cpl.
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
9-10 cpl.
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
11-12 cpl.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
Yes, extremely important! There is a very high burn-out rate in this profession (what used to be a profession). Minimum of 2 weeks per year.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
Sorry, I have no experience in radiology, and do not know what is fair.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
GIVE UP THE EDITING! Too many mistakes get bypassed with editing.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
Again.. GIVE UP THE EDITING!
9. What benefits are important to you?
All benefits are important.. Give us what you get!
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
Quit changing things. MTSOs used to make tons of money before all these changes! Now the are going bankrupt and selling out to offshore. Go back to simpler times.
Anything else?
Yes... Recognize a good worker with perks and praise. There are many LOYAL MTs out there, when you get one... keep one, and let them know it.
Treat MTs as if they are your lifeline, because they ARE!
Never, ever decrease pay for submitting a job to QA for a second listen.... we are human and sometimes need an extra ear. The patient comes first, and a quality report is what we are trying to produce.
You can catch more flies with honey than with crap. Stop the constant e-mails about when we are working and how much to work. We are all grown up and know what work has to be done. Give us a timeline and those who do not complete it, give them disciplinary action!
Be HONEST! If there is no work and you know you lost an account, tell us before there is nothing there! Then get out there and bust concrete getting us more work!
I guarantee if any company decides to seriously treat their MTs with dignity and respect, their business would thrive.
answers - Nocturnal Hooter-Girl
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you? EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience? 8-9 CPL (INCLUDING SPACES AND INCLUDING FULL PAY FOR EXPANDERS! 65-CHARACTER LINES)
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience? 9-10 CPL
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience? 10-12 CPL (or more)
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair? I think PTO should be commensurate with what would be offered at any other job: 2-3 weeks per year, 6-9 paid holidays, 3-5 sick days. When I have to explain to friends and relatives that I do not get any paid time off, they are shocked!
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line? No opinion.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic? VR editing should be paid at the same rate as straight transcription. Every word must still be listened to. There are often multiple changes needed to be made to the report. The VR salespeople have lied to the hospital administrators and the MTSOs. There is no substitute for a skilled MT's knowledge.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology? No opinion.
9. What benefits are important to you? 1) Affordable health insurance with genuine coverage, not a sham policy that doesn't cover reasonable expenses. One that has low out-of-pockets and low deductibles. 2) Genuine, fair PTO, holiday and sick pay.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you? RESPECT my knowledge and be willing to pay for my skills. Do not send my job and your patients' privacy anywhere outside the USA. Set fair and uniform standards for transcription quality and formatting guidelines that don't change from hospital to hospital or from doctor to doctor.
Hey NHG!!!! - Where have you been!
[ In Reply To ..]I answered right above you, darn near the same thing.
Good to know your are still around.
Cap'n.
RIGHT-ON, Hooter! (Especially #9 and #10!) - WheelCog
[ In Reply To ..]nm
To the "Big MTSO" - Zircon
[ In Reply To ..]1. Q: We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
A: VERY! The more US work that goes offshore, the more US workers are out of a job, not paying US taxes, and not contributing to their local and US economies. Offshoring during these "hard times" (you can call it a "recession", for most of us it is a "depression") is morally reprehensible.
2. Q: What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
A: MT should START at 10 cpl, and go up from there. What did you pay last month to fill your gas tank? Or insure your car? Now imagine doing that on what most MTs get paid. If your clients think that's too much to spend, they should consider cutting the fluff (management, perhaps?) in their hospitals, not transcription. If it's now imperative for the new HiTech Act and HIPAA regulations that the work be near-perfectly done, we need to make enough per line so we can slow down and do it right the first time. You could probably cut costs more by hiring fewer (and better!)QA people, too. And pay them what they're worth, of course.
3. Q: What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
A: When you compare MT work, plus the skill that goes with that amount of knowledge, to other sectors of the US workforce, probably 15 cpl. Sound like alot? Don't forget, after taxes and payroll deductions, we don't get the whole 15 cents.
4. Q: What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
A: 20 years+? 20 cents plus. And no, I am NOT kidding. Had I chosen to be a court reporter or a paralegal, I'd be making a lot more than what 20 cpl averages out to be, even with overtime added.
5. Q: Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
A: PTO should pay us the same as we get for actually working. It is a very hard-earned benefit.
6. Q: What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
A: I've never been paid on production for radiology, only by the hour, since my hospital considered radiology to be one of their most important departments. It was also one of the most picky. Per-hour rate on-site about 5 years ago was around $23/hour. Have no idea what it might be now.
7. Q: What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
A: It should pay the same as MT. It requires the same amount of knowedge and experience. And besides - we all know it's where you guys are headed in the future, anyway. The docs gotta have their toys 'n gimmicks to play with, even if they don't work very well.
8. Q: What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
A: See above.
9. Q: What benefits are important to you?
A: Healthcare, of course. And preferably a plan that doesn't have a yearly out-of-pocket minimum that dings healthy employees who don't go to the doctor much. And dental that pays more than just half of dental expenses. We're also very VERY tired of having to fight insurance company denials over every little thing.
10. Q: There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
A: 1 - PAY US A RESPECTABLE WAGE.
2 - The way to get higher production and faster TAT is to simplify our work, not continually make it more complicated.
Q: Anything else?
A: Yes. MTSOs need to get over their fear of charging more for their work than the competition. You're eventually going to drive yourselves into the ground if you keep lowering your pay and driving the nation's top MTs out of the MT business. After all, for most of us anyway, MT is NOT a hobby, it's our sole livelihood. Pay your MTs better, and you'll get better work.
Stand your ground against the hospitals. Of COURSE they want it cheap! But eventually, when they start getting fined or sued for problems that develop from shoddy, hastily-done transcription, done by less-than-minimum wage workers, they're going to be more interested in getting it GOOD, not just FAST and CHEAP. Many business owners know that although it may seem foolish in the short-term, in the long-term, charging more money for a clearly better product or service pays off in the long run. I used to have a business of my own when I was younger, and learned that usually the more you charge, the happier people are to pay it, because it implies that they are getting a better product. And I made sure they got what they paid for. The only accounts I lost as a result of charging for were the ones that were a pain to deal with, anyway.
I'm sure this MTSO already knows all of - this if he/she is a SM
[ In Reply To ..]MTSO with any knowledge of the industry. Seriously. It's kinda sad that we have no idea who this is.
I dunno - if they "know all this", then maybe they - should be implementing it.
[ In Reply To ..]After all, what they've got now is broken, and it ain't working. (Kinda like the rest of healthcare, huh?) Maybe it's time to start fixing it.
I don't think it's broken for them, especially - the BIG ones. SM
[ In Reply To ..]Raking in the big bucks at our expense.
I agree but if a smaller one or several want to fix it, we could all benefit. - Observer
[ In Reply To ..]I am going to think hard about my answers and answer then later. I am ready for an MTSO that wants to help us, not harm us.
I want to keep it neutral, so I am not saying yet who this is, but most MTSOs could benefit from the - MTSO
[ In Reply To ..]Yes, I know most of this, but it seems that since everything changes so quickly in transcription, especially the last few years, there is comes a time to make sure that we really do know what transcriptionists are looking for. I know that MTs think things about MTSOs that are not true, i.e. that we charge 20 cpl or more (not true anywhere anymore that I know, more in the 13 to 15 cpl range), so I decided to see if what we think we know about MTs is true or not.
In the few replies, I have been surprised of what most think is a reasonable rate. We pay higher for 5 years and lower for 20 years than the answers, so it gives us an idea of where we should be looking to make changes.
The more answers there are from transcriptionists who are happy, unhappy, looking for a job or happy where they are, then the more all of us as MTSOs will learn.
I see that MTs are unhappy, but not all. Knowing what's really on your minds can help all us stop making the same errors through assumptions over and over again.
I agree that there are changes that need to be made, and that rates should be higher, but our costs as employers are sky-rocketing too. There HAS to be a middle ground for this industry to survive. Look how many companies, good ones most of them, are either gone or completely changed from 5 years ago. How many more MTSOs are thinking of selling out too? Let's stop this together and if more smaller MTSOs know what you're all really looking for, maybe we can build this back into the profession it once was, technology and all.
The best way to get MT back to a true "profession" - would be to entirely eliminate the MTSO,
[ In Reply To ..]and go back to working directly for the client. This profession needs no middleman. Once the Internet was born, and the ability to telecommute arose as a viable option to inhouse transcription, a bunch of people with dollar-signs in their eyes came up with the idea of running these huge McTranscription companies. They knew they could bring sweatshop labor and pay to the U.S. by offshoring the work to Third World countries, where sweatshops are still the norm, and still tolerated. This is the United States, and we MTs should have seen this coming when it first started, and demanded that our jobs NOT become sweatshop labor.
And to those of you who think VR is where it's at, I wouldn't go alienating/losing/firing your MTs just yet. Imagine having to rely 100% on VR, with no skilled people left to do the editing? It would be a joke, to be sure.
Eventually India's going to catch on, and they're going to want more money, too. They're already pretty close to zero pay as it is, and I don't think even they will fall for the "MT-as-a-hobby" platform most MTs seem to desire.
typo in last sentence: MTSO's, not MT's! ;) - Typingly-challenged person
[ In Reply To ..].
I'd like to add to the VR comment, most doc's get started on that - and end up hating it. sm
[ In Reply To ..]and those systems are now picknik to peck on. lol/late/tired.
kapish?
VR - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]I've been through that with VR in rad with 2 VR systems, the 3rd attempt is in the works. Most of the time the decision to use VR is made by administration, not the physicians.
Admin. are a simple lot. They like silly gimmicks - and bright, shiny objects. -nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
I didnt say who bought into VR-where I worked they would not - use it and made us straight type on it-ick
[ In Reply To ..]x
that's the radiologists would not use it - to be clear. - it was a waste and a shambles for the scriptionist
[ In Reply To ..]x
Radiology VR would be a waste - jm0405
[ In Reply To ..]An MT can whip out an easy 75-100 reports a day as is/no VR. How and why? Docs dictate them in bunches. You can have 20 chest x-rays back-to-back, all of it is a macro. You can fly through those. Mammograms = Insert macro and then fill in the blanks mostly and delete a few lines here and there. Only ones you usually have to type out are ones where cancer has spread. I think VR on radiology is a waste...more time consuming for an MT to fix what the VR messed up.
Radiology VR - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]Where I work we transcribe a lot more than chest x-rays and mammograms. We have templates but 90% of the time the doctor doesn't use them and dictates the whole report. What about MRIs and CT scans in addition to all the orthopedic reports? Many of our reports are 4-5 minutes in length or longer and we're not flying through much of anything, struggling to make turn around time. We're getting VR and hoping that it will help with the workload.
Amen and thanks for looking for answers - nm
[ In Reply To ..]xx
and a big "PS"!! -sm - Zircon
[ In Reply To ..]Pay MORE for ESL transcription than regular English-speaking transcription. The last time I checked, English was still the national language of the US. Charge the hospitals a LOT more for transcribing ESL's, and maybe they'll stop hiring so many of them.
If you want demos and cc on a report - PAY FOR IT - if they do not populate automatically
[ In Reply To ..]and stop all the games with VBC, with spaces, 65 characters, 50 characters, one rate for VR, one rate for typing, and on and on.
Plus look at all the cr@p dictation we get from the docs. - THEY get paid the big bucks, they
[ In Reply To ..]should be held a lot more accountable for getting it right at THEIR end, too. After all, I sure wouldn't want some guy who can't remember whether his patient is a male or a female, or decipher left from right, doing open-heart surgery on ME!
Not politically correct - tiredoftyping
[ In Reply To ..]But I love that answer!
it's called weighting and perfectly fair. cuts cherry picking, too. - just saying
[ In Reply To ..]x
[Sigh].. This isnt about cherrypicking, its about - making enough money to live on.
[ In Reply To ..]
[UGH] I was addressing the comment of being paid more for ESL and - mentioning other advantages for that to better us.
[ In Reply To ..]x
LOL - Is there anything in politics that IS correct? - nm - Zircon
[ In Reply To ..]
Big MTSO - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]Sounds wonderful but I think you'd be charging your clients more than the market will bear, that work can still go offshore. Your company is going to have expenses, it is not clear profit for them as some people seem to think. You will need administrative staff, an HR Department and recruiters and have other salaries to pay. 50% reimbursement on dental insurance is pretty standard on group plans. Wish I did radiology where you worked. Even today, I make $4.00 an hour less than that at my clinic and I'm at the top of the pay scale. We never got paid by the hour for VR editing either, it was per report. You have an amazing sense of self-worth, good for you. Why do you think hospital management is fluff, there are a lot of other departments to be run. Maybe the MTs could run the place as well.
So my "worth" as an MT (and yours as well) is not - what it once was? And why would that be?
[ In Reply To ..]?
Because computers can do our jobs now - the technology has advanced
[ In Reply To ..]unfortuate but true. A good VR engine will make use of 1 MT to do the work of what 3 used to do. There are more MTs than there are jobs, therefore the supply/demand ratio goes down the pooper. Just like the factory workers and horse and buggy drivers.
I have yet to see or hear of a "good" VR engine. - Its a waste of time and money. nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
EditScript by eScription is amazing - double or triple your production
[ In Reply To ..]I've used it, we lost nearly half our department months after go-live
Yeah, RIGHT. - Uh Huh
[ In Reply To ..]nm
say what you will - anon
[ In Reply To ..]if eScription is used like it is supposed to, with MTs making the correct edits, it will pick up a hell of a lot. I wouldn't be suprised if some of the same kind of software is going to be integrated into the hand-helds or iphone type devices and completely bypass transcription altogether. There are already plenty of front-end VR programs out there, they will only get better and better. I used to think I could work in transcription until retirement, not so much anymore...
Production should take a back seat to QUALITY. - Notta Robot
[ In Reply To ..]
I love Escription VR - jm0405
[ In Reply To ..]I love Escription VR cause it can translate/understand ESL docs better than I type them. I made good money on Escription. No complaints!
Computers do our jobs??? - SecondWind
[ In Reply To ..]Not hardly, not yet, now quite and possibly not ever. Those VR engines slow a good transcriptionist down. They might help newbies some, but with the VR engine's, more often than not, weird phontetic translations, they are not the best learning tool for newbies. However, I understand it would be very difficult for MTSOs to admit the very costly mistake they have made in purchasing this VR software and how the industry leapt like lemmings buying into the VR hype to their near demise.
Worth - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]What we think we are "worth" and what someone else thinks we are worth are obviously 2 different things. I'm good at what I do but I don't think my skills are worth the equivalent of 30 or 40 dollars an hour. The MTs at my facility are paid better than the nurses. You might think that's equitable but I never have, even though I am one of them. It's a different economy than it was when many of us started in this field. Yes, we deserve to be treated fairly and make decent wages but unfortunately hospitals and clinics are struggling financially and are looking for the most cost effective way to get their transcription done. Offshore labor is one of thing that diminished our worth and new MTs entering the field who are willing to work for less money also diminished our worth.
But why should we work for fewer dollars per hour - or cents per line, when - sm
[ In Reply To ..]a dollar buys far less in 2010 than it did even in 2009. So we're making less in 2010 than we did in 2000. Think back to what you could buy for $10 in 1995, and what can you buy with it now? In 1995, $80 would fill a grocery cart with food. These days you don't even need a shopping cart for $80 worth of groceries, and can carry your $80 purchase out of the market in 2 small plastic bags. How is that logical or fair?
Hospitals would "struggle" a lot less financially if they thinned out their management and middle-management ranks. Or if they worried less about stylish furniture in the lobby, and original works of art on their walls.
As for the problem of all the non-insured and indigents they treat in their emergency rooms for non-life-threatening problems, they need to figure that one out. There's got to be a cheaper way to do that. And if they keep cutting out benefits for their own employees, and lowering their pay, they're just contributing to the problem, because that's where those employees will all end up - an uninsured freebie in their ER.
Why should we work for fewer dollars per hour - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]Don't....find a different job, but good luck finding any employer, MT or non-MT willing to give you everything you want.
I used to get all that and more 20 years ago. Im sure - you and many others here did, too. nm
[ In Reply To ..]
20 years ago - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]20 years ago I was working my way up the pay scale ladder. I switched jobs, took pay cuts and worked my way back up again. I've never worked for a service and have always had on-site MT jobs. I never went to an employer and made demands but there were a lot of things I would have liked to see changed. I'm grateful for my current employer, who saw the value of having an on-site MT staff. I make pretty good money, but my goodness there is a limit. If you wonder why work is going to India, look to this board. No one seems happy and it sounds as if it would take quite a lot to make them happy, employers don't like negativity. We chose this occupation and if it no longer meets our expectations it is time to move on.
I agree with anomymous - we want (obviously) what you have... - you would have to really upcharge - see inside
[ In Reply To ..]yourself out of the market and cut corners on us again. We can get that with a union.
Best to move over. The idea is to SAVE the client money and give us what we need, or it'll go off the continend and never come back.
Offshoring work and underpaying MTs does NOT give - the client what they need. With the new -
[ In Reply To ..]legislation in place, the shoddy work that offshoring and racing through reports for TAT and peanut pay is producing 3rd-rate medical records. It's a ticking time-bomb for the hospitals, and the whole MT industry.
LOL you totally did not get what I was saying. - oh well.. NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
Youre right. Not only that, my answer was a bit on the - cockamamie side, as well. Need more coffee!
[ In Reply To ..]I misread your sentence, and my own sentences/thoughts were broken up. This job can do that to a person!
;) Typingly-Challenged
My Answers - Since you asked
[ In Reply To ..]1. Yes
2-4. 7-9.5 cpl, depending on acct.
5. Standard 2 weeks with holidays.
6. ?
7. 5-6 cpl.
8. ?
9. PTO, holidays, health insurance, dental insurance, 401K with employer contributions, and bonuses.
10. COMMUNICATION!!!!! MTs should feel free to contact their account managers and/or QA with any questions, and expect to receive an answer the same day if at all possible. ALL inquiries should be addressed.
I, for one, do not appreciate being used to maintain TAT on an account, even being asked to work overtime on it, simply to have that account offshored or put on VR with no notice that I am going to lose my job. Some of these MTSOs have high demands from their employees, but when it comes to consideration of the MTs - ZILCH. We should not repeatedly, for months on end, be asked to "flex" our schedule when work is available because of overhiring.
You did not request it, but:
11. DO NOT OVERHIRE. It affects everyone's income.
It was certainly nice of you to ask for these opinions.
Ideal Company - Roe
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you? It is extremely important, but not mine to battle. No one asked my opinion until now. I can only disagree with it and hope that common sense takes hold very soon.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience? 8 cpl
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience? 10 cpl
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience? 14 cpl and no cap. We do it all, every day, without question or concern other than accuracy, expediency and confidentiality, wearing high heels, backward and with our eyes closed. We do it for you.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair? Absolutely. Minimum 2 weeks first year, 3 weeks after that. Time off allowed without pay.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line? 10 cpl across the board. Terminology is limited and 10 cpl will only bring them to where they should be right now. Raises to come yearly.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic? Only 2 cpl less on the above-mentioned rates. We cannot get twice as much done because less is spoken. There is more work to manipulating formats and changing the printed word.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology? Only 2 cpl less on the above-mentioned rates. We cannot get twice as much done because less is spoken. There is more work to manipulating formats and changing the printed word.
9. What benefits are important to you? PTO, Insurance, Stock Options, 401 K.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you? Be fair, place your trust in us. Monitor us to weed out those who cannot accomplish accuracy, expediency, confidentiality, those who cannot stick with a reasonable promised work schedule, but please don̢۪t micromanage. We know what you expect of us.
Stop sending global e-mails for continuous mistakes. For the love of god Marvin, you have to have some idea of the person or persons making those mistakes. Send the e-mails to them.
I promise you the best that I have to offer and it occurs during the better part of my day when you allow me to work my shift.
I am loyal, will volunteer for anything to get you out of a jam.
I promise to continue to learn and educate myself regarding my profession. I take pride in my work and thereby will give you the best of myself.
I promise to embrace change including new technology so that I can make my job and yours easier.
Stop this ridiculous testing for new hires. Look at my resume. Take a chance. If I can̢۪t do what I say I can do, let me go. I̢۪ve spent hours testing on suboptimal sites with no function key availability, no foot pedal, poor sound quality. Failed a couple, passed a couple. Didn̢۪t hear from those for whom I̢۪ve passed. Get real and personal on the interview process.
Anything else? I have done all of the above for the past 40 years, having maintained 98% or above QA score, member of Swat Team, working weekends and days off to keep records in TAT, carried a minimum of 8 accounts, 75% ESL̢۪s, dropped everything many times to accept emergency calls and e-mails for stat reports. Was fired for insubordination on 2/11/2010, no warning, no documentation. This last year I sent a lot of e-mails begging for more work. Still looking for a job, being offered 5, 6 and 7 cpl and most of it for night work. Not hearing from others and one wants me to get myself from North Carolina to New Jersey for a mandatory 2 weeks of training.
I hope you are not playing with me, deceiving or using me with this request.....I am ****** When you make these changes in your big company, if you̢۪d like to see my resume, feel free to request it. ******
Good company - tired metatarsal
[ In Reply To ..]Please give your dictators instructions on how to dictate - if you are in the ER do not sit next to the EMS squawk box and try to talk over it - do not use the speaker phone - do not bring your pager up to the phone when you are paged as it blows our eardrums out - dictate in a quiet atmosphere, not at the nurse's desk during shift change, not in the patient's room with alarms going off - do not eat and talk at the same time - it is not a race, if you slow down the report might come through without any blanks - speak up - don't mumble.....
IDEAL MTSO - MO MT
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
YES!! Offshoring not only eliminates/endangers US jobs, it also compromises the security of medical records.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
9 cents per 65-character line, including spaces. With production incentives. That's what I make with 5 years' experience and it works for me.
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
12-15 cpl, again with production incentives.
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
12-15 cpl, with more vacation.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
Extremely important. At 5 years, I make about 7 hours per pay period. That works fine. Paid holidays (alternating) would be nice.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
Should be by the line. Some radiologists are quite verbose. No lower than 10 cpl.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
Get rid of it. The technology is NOT there yet.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
See above. Who needs a lovely view of the sunset in a knee x-ray?
9. What benefits are important to you?
401K, health insurance, disability, profit sharing.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
Stop REQUIRING one weekend day per week. Rotating weekends are fine, we realize it's a 24/7 world, but let us live in the real world where our spouses and children live once and a while.
IMHO, "experience" needs to be defined. Five years in one - specialty or clinic should not rate the same as ac
[ In Reply To ..]nm
Post above should say that pay for clinic experience should be less - than for acute care. nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
oh don't go there, just keep it to years. the ones who can't do one or another - will not get the job anyway
[ In Reply To ..]look at the Q tiers - jumbled but of kakamamie so confusing NO ONE gets it.
but one-on-one in one area like AC, the longevity should pay off. the new ones w/o that much experience lose enough in speed getting their feet wet.
fair would as listed above xx for == years.
Important Points in MTSO - not all answered
[ In Reply To ..]While I cannot answer all the questions in your poll, I will just give my opinion. #1 is very important - extremely important. #2-4: I have almost 20 years experience as an MT and I started out making 8 cpl counting lines (not characters or words). At this point in my career, I feel that the line rate has continued to drop due to undercutting by overseas companies, but I would expect to make at least what I started out making almost two decades ago. We work hard and long to produce an accurate professional document. We are not machines that just fill in the blanks and have no regard for redundancy or errors, i.e. he/she. Our job is to make the physician and office look professional and non-individualized reports that a robot could produce do NOT do that. Therefore, we should be compensated for our hard work accordingly.
I have not been an employee, have never done VR, and have always been paid by the line/character, so I cannot comment on #5-9.
As for #10, my opinion of something that would make things better for the MT, is getting rid of the slow, clunky, time-wasting platforms that make our job difficult and tedious thereby making it even harder to produce and earn a living. I guess that is kind of the "help us to help you" syndrome, lol. When our job is made so difficult with "technology" and that is added to the fact that we are forced to take such cuts in pay, and on top of that we are asked to "produce, produce", it is very difficult to continue to strive for the same level of excellence.
Well, that is a little of my "2 cents worth". Thanks for reading...
Dump production pay, require certifications that mean something, - make it as respected as coding. nm
[ In Reply To ..]mm
Except coding is going offshore more and more, as well. - (Those pesky Indians....)
[ In Reply To ..]*
I think most hospitals want to keep coding close to them. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]Too much at stake revenue-wise.
ok, but then you have to dump the ADHI - (grrin) oh! sorry, late. nm
[ In Reply To ..],
Dumping AHDI shoulda been FIRST on my list! - Ha ha! - Zircon
[ In Reply To ..]
certifications - dmz
[ In Reply To ..]Certifications are like any other thing - a piece of paper that says you completed a course. I don't agree that MLS should have a requirement to be certified. There are some certified people out there who are book smart and job stupid. Just my 2 cents worth. :) The ideal company is to have enough work for your MLS' and to pay them on time! :) No suits running the place - just hard-working normal people in the industry who know what makes things work as far as TAT, etc. AND, of course, USA-based ONLY! :) Have a Happy Easter, all.
some answers - sm
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
Only if it affects the type of work I recieve on a daily basis. If all the "easy" jobs go offshore leaving all the horrible, ESL jobs here, then NO THANK YOU!!
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
6-7 cpl
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
10-12 cpl
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
13 to no limit....this much experience deserves no cpl max.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
1 week 1st year; 2 weeks 2nd year; and then 3 weeks thereafter. Preferrably designated towards personal time off and not required for making up hours secondary to lack of work. As well, they should also give a couple of paid sick days to their employees.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
Don't do it, so don't know.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
It should be no less than 0.5 cpl under current transcription cpl rate. In many instances it takes just as long, sometimes longer, to edit a report as it does to actually transcribe it.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
Again, don't know.
9. What benefits are important to you?
Medical, dental, vision, disability offered at a minimal payroll deduction rate. Preferrably under $50 for a family and even less for singles.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
The perfect MTSO would not require specific hours to be scheduled; just a generalized time frame where within you'll work. They would assign specific accounts (drs.) to specific MTs. They would have a reasonable lph rate and one that is easily obtainable without MT having to jeopordize quality to achieve lines. They would never penalize their MTs for sending reports to QA to check over work. As well, they should only mark down MTs for errors that are critical and could affect patient care negatively. They should not be auditing for style, grammar, etc.
Furthermore, Part-time employees should be given similar benefits as full time, especially if they are allowed to work up to 40 hours a week.
some answers for you - thanks for asking
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you?
A. Yes, it is important. If MTSOs would quit offshoring, then there wouldn't be US MTs trying to compete salary-wise with India. If a report is offshored, send it to the doctor the way it comes back with only filling in QA blanks. Let them see what a mess these reports really are. It won't take long for the docs and hospitals to be screaming about those reports. If they want a US MT to correct it, make them pay extra for it.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
A. I would say 8-9 cpl with spaces including templates etc, and based on 65 character.
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
A. 9-10 cpl with the above mentioned. This would also depend on what they are experienced in.
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
A. 11-12 cpl depending on what they have experience in.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
A. I like to work IC, so PTO is not a deal breaker for me.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line?
A. I don't have the experience to be able to answer that fairly.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
A. .06 cpl if the platform is a good one. I have worked on good platforms and bad platforms. With a good platform and a good dictator it is fairly easy to produce double the amount of lines that you type. If you are on a bad platform then you average about the same amount of lines/hour as straight typing.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology?
A. Again, no experience here to be able to say a fair amount.
9. What benefits are important to you?
A. If insurance was offered at a reasonable rate, then I would be more prone to not want to work as an IC. Holiday pay, as in if you work on a holiday and/or holiday weekend, then pay should be at least time and a half (normal pay is .08 cpl, then on a holiday it should be .12 cpl).
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
A. Instead of a set schedule, give me an amount of lines that needs to be completed in a day and per pay period, and let me set my own hours. Be flexible. I will get the work done daily that I need to get done. I would be more than willing to help out in a pinch and throw down some extra time/lines if it was needed.
Anything else?
Have fair QA staff and pay them what the are worth for their time and skills also so that they are happy with their jobs too. Have a standard way for QA to be performed so that the QA staff is not QAing by their own personal preference, it needs to be consistent because too many times I have run into it not being consistent. One QA person thinks a report should be done one way, while another QA person wants it done their way and both will ding you for doing it the way that you were told by the other.
I don't mind VR on a good platform and on a good platform, I don't mind getting paid a little less. On ExText Word Client I was easily able to do about 400-500 lph and it saved my hands tremendously. I loved it. I have also worked on very cumbersome platforms that were a nightmare and impossible to do more than 200 lph.
Be accessible to your MTs and let them know when things are going on with the company. If work is low on a consistent basis, tell us why (be honest about it).
I understand that it is a cutthroat business for the MTSOs also and price cuts are everywhere. But, if the MTSOs would band together against offshoring and do what I suggested in my answer to #1, then things would turn around in this industry pretty dang quick.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to listen to us. Thank you and good luck with trying to help turn this industry around.
Radiology Transcriptionist - tiredoftyping
[ In Reply To ..]OK - I have never typed acute care, only radiology for the last 20 years. I see there are not many radiology answers so I will put in my opinions.
1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you? YES - American companies should hire American people, how else do we keep the American economy going? I cannot buy anything if I have no money - and right now I have no money, though I am working full-time.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience? NA
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience? NA
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience? NA
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair? YES - Everyone deserves a vacation. I think maybe 2 weeks a year. Unfortunately, working holidays is a given in the medical field. We should be compensated for working them though.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line? I think paying radiology by the line is a joke. I have never been able to make any money that way. I use to make $1.25/report (made this rate with two different companies, so it is a fair wage) with incentives after every so many reports and was able to live that way.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic? NA
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology? I don't think you should pay too much less for editing. I am constantly correcting the radiology reports I edit and don't seem to be able to accomplish that many more in a day than I did at straight typing.
9. What benefits are important to you? Health, dental, vision insurance and life insurance.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you. Respect my time and experience in my field. Communication, keep me notified of any possible changes in my account, especially if they are going to change my expected income or future with that company.
Also - I think that transcriptionist that are willing to work the less desirable hours, i.e. third shift and weekends, when work volumes can be low, especially in radiology, but the client still demands a TAT for any dictated reports, be it 1 per hour or 25 - the transcriptionist should be given a guaranteed hourly wage. Even if work is low, they are still sitting there, up all night because the client demands that coverage.
Response to tired of typing - Radiology - Radmttoo
[ In Reply To ..]I agree with everything "tired of typing" said. It is impossible to make a living doing Radiology and being paid by the line. There are days that you get nothing but short reports for most of the day, but it still takes just as long to access that patient, pull up the report screen and send the report for a 4 line report. Because of that I think that we should be paid the same for a canned normal report that we get for typing those reports.
As for VR, I have found that editing a report takes almost as long as transcribing it. If you are going to edit it properly you have to listen verbatim to every dictated word, stop and delete or correct errors, figure out what the incorrect words really are save, it and send it. You can't just read it over for errors when it is VR because of the error factor that exists in VR.
you AREN'T paid the same for canned as straight typing? - never had it that way, must be new way to cut corn
[ In Reply To ..]it's always something...
My opinion - Disillusioned MT
[ In Reply To ..]1. I am glad to hear that you do not offshore. Any job sent outside of the US means one less American is getting a job. I would never work for a company that offshores.
2. 8-9 cents per line, 65 characters including spaces, and everything is counted.
3. 10-12 cents per line.
4. 12 plus cents per line.
5. I work as an IC, and the flexibility is more important than being an employee with PTO. An employee should have paid holidays and sick days. PTO could increase every year up to 3 weeks.
6-8. Have never done radiology or VR, cannot comment.
9. Health insurance at a decent rate. Continued education for free. Medical terminology resources for free.
10. Stop outsourcing to countries outside of the US. Stop VR and get the software companies to develop good platforms for MTs and spend time training the MTs so that they can utilize the system to the fullest; do not just tell them to read a manual and they are on their own. Train the dictators to speak clearly, slower, and in a quiet environment. Tell the physicians, clinics, and hospitals how important it is to dictate a correct report. Tell them over and over until they understand. All the pressure is being put on the MTs, but no one dares to approach the dictators about their lack of dictating skills. If you have ICs, then treat them as ICs and not as employees.
Anything else? If you want top quality, then you need to make every MT proofread each report, which will lower productivity of course. Do not punish an MT for leaving a blank when inaudible or unsure while at the same time take action against the lazy MTs that produce a high number of lines per hour but obviously do not proofread! Quality is always more important than quantity. Part of being a good MT is taking pride in the quality of work one delivers. Make sure your QA staff is on the same page and uses the same resources. Give feedback to the MT in a constructive manner.
Most MT tests are a joke. If you believe you have to test, then have an actual person grade the tests.
Communicate with your MTs. Let them feel they are part of the "family" as a lot of ads state. I worked over 1-1/2 years for an MTSO who only sent me a personal e-mail for Christmas. Her reason for never just asking how I am doing was that she does not micromanage. Can you imagine how that makes a person feel to never be contacted? Also, when an MT applies for a job, have the courtesy to respond one way or another!
Be honest 100% of the time. It begins with your ads when hiring new MTs, continues through the hiring process, and lasts as long as the MT works for you. Do not promise anything you cannot keep. Whether you personally do the hiring or you have "recruiters," always imagine you are applying for a job and how your actions and statements would make you feel. Do you like being lied to? Also take actions against cherrypickers or just set up the system so that cannot happen.
Provide resources for the MTs such as patient lists and websites to find referring physicians or allow your MTs to leave blanks and your staff fills in the names.
The MTSOs must come up with a solution to help "newbies" gain experience. These "newbies" often invest a lot of money and time in their education just to be turned down when they apply for jobs. How do you expect them to gain experience when nobody allows them to work? I think it is okay to start a "newbie" at a lower rate and to give them a raise as they progress.
It is nice to hear from a pretty big company that they have given their practices some thought. I think most MTSOs need to give their practices a lot of thought and that there should be standard requirements for someone who wants to start an MT business.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
The ideal company - travelinMT
[ In Reply To ..]Your request for suggestions sounds like you have been watching "Undercover Boss". My suggestion- Go out as an Undercover Boss, see for yourself what the day to day problems, frustrations are. Listen to you employees and put a face to a name; working for an MTSO you could pass me on the street and never know I was the one who just lost my child to cancer, my husband/brother/son in Iraq. We are names with no faces when we work for you. Take the time to look and see how hard we really work for you.
WWWWELL! that paints a picture, for sure! - excellent input anon
[ In Reply To ..]the board actually made me smile tonight!
yes, and better yet, work it a month at home. - anon
[ In Reply To ..]xox
You are SO right! My ideal MTSO would have a boss - like the bosses in "Undercover Boss".
[ In Reply To ..]Now those people ROCK.
(Whereas, most MTSO bosses seem to have crawled out from UNDER a rock, instead.)
MTSO Survey - sm - greenie
[ In Reply To ..]Is this a coincidence that this surveyis posted just before/on APRIL FOOL'S DAY?
Even if it was a joke, it doesnt matter. It started a very - enlightening thread I hope all MTSOs read. nm
[ In Reply To ..]XX
joke's on them, I'm sure they ALL saw themselves in there and it's public now. - read on hospital heads. NM
[ In Reply To ..]xox
'them' being the MTSOs. NM - to clarify
[ In Reply To ..].
Ideal Company - Nostalgia for the way you were...
[ In Reply To ..]This will deviate from your questions just a little, but is from my own personal experience. Without naming names, here goes... There once was a truly great, fantastic company. I hired on with them when they were rather young. They were an incredible group of people, i.e., the owners, the office staff, the tech people, etc. We dealt directly with one of the principals, who was always readily available to answer your questions and e-mails. The line rate was average, but the incremental rates for the more than plentiful work that was available made this an outstanding job. The PTO was excellent and the insurance was fairly good. Perhaps 6-7 years ago, this was a wonderful place to be with an EXCELLENT earning potential. My day flew by and I was more than willing to put in whatever it took to make this company succeed. There was no offshoring of work, no VR. Then, part of the ownership changed, and little things started to change. I had to leave this wonderful company for personal reasons. Awhile later, they took me back. Things had changed insofar as there were multiple layers of people to go through before you could speak to the management whom you had spoken to before. Lines were harder to get. Overhiring had become prevalent. The whole philosophy of this company appeared to have changed. Ugliness started to be posted on the posting boards, with the predominant complaint being of lack of work for many of the people who posted. They were frustrated and frightened about making their quota of lines and making the money they needed. How sad, but true.
Sorry for the lengthiness of the above, but it entails most of what the posters have said in response to this MTSO who asked what is important to us. I won't state a specific line rate, but it should be commensurate with experience, as so many have answered. The work should be plentiful. We would all be willing to do what it takes to get the work done, please stop overhiring. Please do not put layers of "leads" or whatever they are called between us and you. Please do not send work outside of the states. Please pay a living wage for VR, as it takes just as much skill as straight transcription. Please be honest with your MTs when they ask a question about lack of work, understanding that it is their future and their paycheck which suffers when you don't respond to why there is no work, etc. They have children to feed and bills to pay. I know that there were other wonderful companies out there at one time and perhaps this has happened to them also.
We need those companies back, the way they were. We need our profession to be a respected profession again. We can't have this if it keeps on going the way it is. This seems to have gotten the worst it can be. Maybe we have nowhere to go but up. Thank you MTSO who asked these questions. Maybe you gave us some hope that we can get it back.
follow golden rule of life - nn
[ In Reply To ..]Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself. Respect and pay the people who generate the money that pays everyone's salaries. Treat all people equally. What you do for one, do for all.
answers . . . - anon
[ In Reply To ..]1. Oh yea, EXTREMELY important. DO NOT AGREE with offshoring.
2. 5 years experience 7 cpl.
3. 10 years 8-9
4. 20 years 10+
5. PTO? Are you kidding? What happened to the good old days of 2 weeks a year with graduating up to 3, 4, etc???
6. No clue.
7. I agree, same as transcription. The tedious little changes are time consuming.
8. No clue.
9. NORMAL benefits, like from a NORMAL job? Health care, and not just any health care, coverage that you can be proud of. NOT a $30 copay and then none of office visit goes toward deductible. What is up with that anyway? Short term and long term disability, maternity leave (ooooo there's a thought) and maybe even some sick leave while we're at it.
10. Well the first thing a company can do is to STOP OFFSHORING. Transcription has become much too cutthroat. How about some healthy boundaries? Why is transcription a 24/7 all of a sudden? People don't have lives? How about a M-F, 8-5 with weekends and holidays?
Build an Ideal Company - Second Wind
[ In Reply To ..]1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you? Yes.
I heard this insulting joke.
Man 1: What do you call someone who only speaks 1 language?
Man 2: An American.
American transcriptionists are valuable to the industry and their earning power should not be so heavily effected by the cheaper offshore rates.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience? 9-10 cpl.
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience? 11-14 cpl.
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience? 15 cpl.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair? Yes, but because we have more schedule flexibility, I do not expect it to be the same as those who work in offices. About 25-30 hours a year seems fair to me. However, if we lose schedule flexibility as we have been, I think 40 hours for a year of full-time employment is fair.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line? No radiology experience.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic? VR is not a time saver, but it is good for drug/equipment spellings and capitalization (BuSpar, CYPHER stent).
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology? No radiology experience.
9. What benefits are important to you? An affordable health plan would be nice and it should include spouses and dependent children.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you? Good pay is a tremendous incentive for me. Lately, the practice has been to 'pay them less, so they will have to do more to make it up.' Unfortunately, that mainly served to make people ill,less productive,less focused on the job, and rresentful towards their employers.
Second Wind - No TRUER words were ever spoken - than your answer #10. - Zircon - nm
[ In Reply To ..]
CRAP DICTATION - THE WHOLE PROBLEM - yochana
[ In Reply To ..]A dictator should be called down and made to clean up his "crap" dictation or he is not allowed to dictate. But MTSOs are afraid to call down a dictator for fear of losing business. I think that is where a hospital has the advantage over an MTSO. Doesn̢۪t a dictator realized they are dictating a LEGAL document? And yet they want to mumble or speed talk throughout the whole thing. Get rid of those stupid handheld devices and make them sit at a desk and dictate.
crap and/or clean dictation still doesn't get me a living with benfits. - minor grievence.
[ In Reply To ..]x
p.s. that would be "ideal dictator" not 'ideal MTSO' - nottamessage
[ In Reply To ..].
Haha! They dictate cr@p, and then they whine about - the cost of medical malpractice insurance?!
[ In Reply To ..].
The "Ideal" MT Company - Job Seeker
[ In Reply To ..]Any good MT company wants top-notch MTs. But when they get them, they cheat them on lines and pay, ding them for "mistakes" that are frequently nothing more than style variations, and starve them out of the business by not providing enough work, and paying too little per line.
The "Ideal" MT company would not only want to attract the best MTs, but would also want to RETAIN them. The longer an MT works for your company, the better they become at understanding your transcription platform. The longer an MT works on a primary account, the more familiar they become with the account-specifics, and the idiosyncrasies of those dictators. Also, the better an MT knows an account, the more productive they are on it.
The "Ideal" MT company should have some sort of a moral compass. Yes, you do it for profits, but short-term profits gained by slipshod work, underpaid MTs may be a recipe for trouble in the long-term. Such as MTs quitting in droves, or worse - leaving the industry altogether. Rapid turnover of employees in your company is expensive. New employees have to be recruited, hired, trained, paperwork and insurance dealt with, and the inevitable mistakes they're going to make while learning the ropes at a new company for new accounts. If you don't pay your employees fairly, and give them opportunities such as merit/longevity raises, production incentives, and OVERTIME PAY, then right about the time they get up to speed, they'll go speeding right out the door for something that pays better.
Most of us are in MT because we truly love it, and love to type. We have the gift of hearing well, and understanding the spoken and written word, in both English and the medical language. We are specialists. We don't grow on trees. You can buy an MT school and crank out "MTs" faster than Detroit cranks out Ford Focuses, but face it, probably only 1 in 10 (or maybe far less) has what it takes to be good at what we do.
It boggles the mind when MTSO ads continually want "credentials" (don't even get me started on THAT joke!), experience, speed, knowledge of a specific medical specialty, etc. etc. And then the kicker: "8 cpl." All I can say is, one of YOU should try to live on that. It's tough even when there's tons of work, without too many ESLs. But when you add lousy platforms, unintelligible dictators, sloppy demographic info., system malfunctions, poor reference lists, poorly educated/paid and anal QA people, it's become nearly impossible. No wonder so many US MTs have thrown in the towel.
You ask for experience in your ads. Usually 3-5 years. So why do you turn tail and RUN when someone with 15 to 20+ years of experience applies? That kind of MT should be considered an ASSET to a high-quality MT company, not a liability to be avoided.
Finally, when you run an ad for MTs, then EVERY SINGLE MT WHO APPLIES deserves a reply, even if you have no interest in even interviewing/testing them. Even if you get 1000 replies a week, how hard is it to simply send a group email to ALL of the ones you're not interested in, stating you at least received their application?
I have 20 years in this field. - But I still think there could be an MT with only 5
[ In Reply To ..]do just as good of a job than me. You people are incredible. You want 20 cpl? Cut me a break! Go get your own accounts and be the MTSO. None of this makes any sense. The MT wants it all but only wants to sit and type with no ESL on the best platform, etc. Does anyone know what it takes to run an MTSO? Probably not! You are all a bunch of whiners! You blame everyone else but yourself. Take a walk down the road and find some accounts, charge them 20 cpl and get on with your life since you claim you don't need an MTSO and they are a middleman. Then do it all yourself and see how many hours you have left for sleep after servicing a few of your own accounts. Oh and then you all want vacation that is paid in full. So who is going to do your work while you are gone? Are you going to make your client wait?
What a joke this entire thread has turned into. It is so laughable.
I will take my 8 cpl and walk away and take time off when I feel like it. Let the MTSO find a replacement when my arms are tired. I don't need the headaches. I do have a client, just one, that is enough to keep my head spinning with their every little whimsical request. Glad it pays well! Oh sure, but 3 or 4 like it? No thanks!
"Holier-than-thous need not apply". - nm
[ In Reply To ..]:p
LONG-TIME MT/RECRUITER/MENTOR/QA - Would like to add her 2 cents
[ In Reply To ..]First, thank you for asking these questions.
While all the questions are good, I am only going to answer the ones I have strong ideas about.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience?
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience?
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience?
The 3 above questions taken together - I have been an MT for 26 years and I hate the line-rate structure. I know that is how MTSOs charge their clients, but to pay the MTs that way makes it harder to reward quality and expertise. Especially now with the HIPAA and HITECH laws, I think that the production-only model for pay should be reexamined.
If you really wanted to be cutting-edge, I think you should put some MT and bean-counter heads together and figure out a better pay structure. I envision hourly pay based on quality/quality and quantity/ability to transcribe difficult dictation, with merit raises and annual review raises, in combination with a small production incentive. Stop the madness of rewarding only quantity!
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair?
I like a prorated system that rewards part-time and full-time. A hospital where I used to work would give us X hours PTO for every XX hours we worked. Fair for all.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic?
In addition to my answer for questions 2, 3, and 4 above, I would like to add:
A. Bouncing between accounts and VR/straight dictation in a shift slows down momentum. I used to be able to reach what some have called a "zone," where I am completely absorbed in my work and my speed picks up. I have noticed
that doesn't happen as much since account-hopping and VR began.
B. Our macros/normals are often faster and easier than editing VR. For instance, often on a VR report I have to import a macro to the bottom of the reports, so I have a reference to fill in the gibberish VR had filled in because the dictator talks too fast. Supposedly the system dumps out dictators like that, but I have not seen much evidence of it yet.
I would recommend letting the VR catch up with us first BEFORE cutting the pay, rather than promising the client you are going to lower their rate as soon as you implement VR. We will have more incentive to train VR if we are not up against the wall trying to make twice the line count for half the pay.
AND, I want to be paid for the Demographics page! - HIPAA is so important? Then PAY for the Demographics Page. CHARGE your client for the Demographics page.
9. What benefits are important to you? I would like to see tiered health insurance benefits, with higher premiums for part-timers, a "catastrophic" option with higher deductibles, etc.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you?
Well you may actually be starting already by getting MT input. I would have no problem using the e-mail feature on this forum to send this to you. In fact, I am hoping that maybe I already work for you. It has been a long time since I got the impression the
MTSO really would listen to and then implement ideas from the MTs. Ah, yes, I remember those days well.
Anything else?
Yes, one thing: Please ask these questions in more places that MTs go. There are some excellent veteran MTs on other sites who do not necessarily come here. I would recommend some places, but I think that's not allowed on this site.
Thanks again for asking these questions.
- Hopeful MT
Your post was FIRST-RATE. Should have been - posted at the top of this page.
[ In Reply To ..]You've obviously had a lot of experience in multiple aspects of the MT field. I hope all the MTSOs out there read your post, and take it to heart. The changes you suggest may be the ONLY hope for this godforsaken field.
Long-time MT - Anonymous
[ In Reply To ..]I love your suggestions, especially the one about letting VR catch up before cutting MT pay, that certainly seemed to arrive on the scene awfully quickly without much time for anyone to adjust to the change.
I wondered how you would monitor hourly pay with people working off site? I think that is why so many places have production pay, too hard to keep track of people with flexible schedules, who is working when, etc. We'd all love it but there needs to be a way to monitor it.
Paying for demographics is an excellent idea, too bad some of these changes can't be implemented soon. Thanks again
I was paid hourly working at home for a hospital - me
[ In Reply To ..]I'm not sure why it can't work the same. We called in to a time system, we had a minimum requirement to make, and if we started slacking they could go in and see exactly when we were in the system, when we had a job in our players, how long it took to complete a job, etc. Really pretty simple actually. If you have 1/2 hour for lunch, and you take 3 hours to compelte a 5-minute report... it's pretty clear somebody isn't earning their wage. And if you didn't produce the minimum requirement and pass QA you were on probation or let go.
I'll answer the questions - jm0405
[ In Reply To ..]I find any questions really a waste of time since this company, in all high likelihood is asking us questions in the US to compare wages in India. But nonetheless....
1. We do not offshore. Is that important to you? Obviously. Read above. Americans need to type for American hospitals. Let India take care of its own crap - let us take care of ours.
2. What is a good line rate for an employee with 5 years' experience? 0.075 typing/editing 0.04
3. What is a good line rate for an employee with 10 years' experience? typing 0.085/editing 0.05
4. What is a good line rate for an employee with 20+ years' experience? Whatever...this varies with companies. I have been an MT 20 years and find myself in 1/2 MT and 1/2 QA...after 10 years, your income is great and you do many things if you choose to.
5. Is PTO important and if so, what do you think is fair? $10 an hour for 8-hours...5 days a year wouldn't kill an employer.
6. What is a good report rate for radiology or do you think it should be by the line? Doesn't matter - either way, an MT makes good money on radiology and you don't make more or less either way. If you pay by the page or report...60 reports, say $60...easy enough....Line count? Since radiology is mostly macros anyway, 60 reports would easily make $60 by the line.
7. What is a good rate for VR editing for acute care and/or clinic? Answered above.
8. What is a good rate for VR editing for radiology? I have never seen VR on radiology yet. I am sure it's out there, but I haven't typed a radiology account for 7 years now, so I don't know.
9. What benefits are important to you? It would be nice to have an employer that will provide insurance and give you enough work/lines so you can afford your portion. Superior Global keeps you at a very low rate of pay, won't give you work so you can NEVER afford the insurance they offer. They offer, it sounds good, but you never get it.
10. There have been a lot of changes in this industry in the last few years. What can a company do to make this better for you? You have read my rants above, so there's your answer. Provide AMERICANS with jobs on AMERICAN hospitals - let India do its own thing...provide insurance, steady work flow. All this over staffing is tiresome. There is no need for this to be a dog-eat-dog industry.
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