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

Can you relate? My Experience as a Medical Transcriptionist - Melimeg

Posted: Oct 19, 2011

I've been an MT for 12 years. I started out with MedQuist as a subcontractor. Life was great! Then came employee status and being performance managed, VS, crappy software, overworked supervisors and nit picking about being literally 10 minutes late for work or getting heavy points taken off my quality score for typing "were" instead of "was." I went to Focus, which was then taken over by Nuance, and the same experience as above started happening. So I went to OSi who has now ALSO been taken over by Nuance, and I just quit there a few days ago because of the same exact crappiness happening, in addition to faulty software that had left me unable to work for hours until it got fixed, unable to work for days waiting for a new foot pedal, nit picking about clocking in and quality (my score was 98.8%, but I would get reprimanded for the not using a capital letter on a med), voice recognition in which I had to correct almost entire documents that were auto typed horribly incorrectly, to the tune of $0.4 per line, etc. (the VS typed out "pig entrails" instead of peginterferon!!). So now I FINALLY found 2 companies that I can subcontract for and work my flexible schedule and make more money than I was as an unhappy MT being scolded all the time. If facilities don't like us making even minute mistakes, then maybe they should stop talking out of their a**es! I also won't work for another company again that outsources; it's unethical and unAmerican. I felt like a robot and didn't see the benefit of working from home because I was chained to my computer in my cave, unable to even cook dinner because I was trapped at my desk at the craziest hours. I'm so glad I finally found a company that uses subcontractors again. No more paid time off, but I make up for it because now that I'm happier with my job, I make a lot more money than I was. I don't miss medical benefits, because I didn't get any anyway, they were definitely not worth the cost. I went to the gyn, got a Pap, and had to pay: My monthly insurance amount, PLUS $35 copay, PLUS $90 lab fee. So where's the savings?? I sub for 2 different companies, and I'm also a substitute teacher, so I can fall back on that if I ever need to. I'm also a landlady. I don't think MT is a dying profession; I think it's just being screwed up by greed.

Man, I can SO relate! Thanks for an eloquent post. - Meerkat - nm

[ In Reply To ..]

I sure do relate - marshall11

[ In Reply To ..]
Boy, can I relate. I look back a couple of years ago, making good money and so happy working from home. Then comes VR, dictations that are so terrible they would literally be easier to type than to edit (my personal favorite...."the patient is able to perform all of her ADLs inlcuding cocaine"), multiple accounts with different rules and regulations, etc. I respect the client's right to have their dictations as close to 100% as possible (and I too am always within 98% on my audits), but nitpicking about one space after a period instead of two? When I transcribed the reports MYSELF that didn't happen often...but it's harder to spot such things when under pressure to get more done faster just so I can make half as much. Gone are the days when I transcribed all day, stopped working at my appointed time, and the client was so happy with my work they requested that only I be allowed to do their transcription.

Personally, as soon as I find a job doing straight transcription again, I'm making the change back. I know it's doomed in the next few years....but I love this work and I'll ride it out to the end.

Subcontractors - Beth

[ In Reply To ..]
Are your subcontractors currently hiring?

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