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

Cherrypicking - a fresh post - there are cons and then there is reality

Posted: Feb 13, 2010

I have worked for several small and mid-sized MTSOs and have an opinion about cherrypickers. I will jumpstart things.

I have been hired to start on a particular account or pod of accounts only to later be moved around a lot by the MTSO. This has happened to me several times and I have ended up leaving because of being moved around. It seemed to me that others were given easier work while I was being given harder work, and I didn't like feeling that way. What I have found is that there are some MTs who ARE better MTs, and then there are some MTs whose work ethic was better than others. There are those who seem to be only interested in taking care of themselves, and this category can have better-than-average and less-than-average quality MTs.

I have seen some MTs who put out a lot of work and know they get their high line count by clearing the work pool by whatever method they can, whether it is personally cherrypicking or the MTSO funneling the easier work to them because they need to keep a tight TAT. I see both types of MTs in this group - those who care and those who don't.

I think at times it is a necessary thing that an MTSO funnel easy work to certain MTs, or permit cherrypicking for them, because they have to manage the work flow. It is a fact that every MT has different capabilities. Some may go faster, but have QA issues. Some may go slower, but have no QA issues. Some may have good MT skills, but are deficient in understanding ESL physicians. Some may know how to brown nose better than others to make their life easier.

The end result of this is something that carries over into all professions...whether you work as an MT or slinging burgers or parking cars...there will be people who manipulate things to suit themselves. My tolerance level has changed as I have grown older. I know I am not the best or the fastest MT out there, but I have a particular skill set that works for me and the MTSO where I currently work. There is a lot of cherrypicking going on there. It bothers me more some times than at others, but I know that my job security is probably higher than those who are doing the cherrypicking. I see them NOT being moved to harder accounts because they can't do the work. For now I have to accept that CP is part of my life - and that is my choice. There is nothing I can personally do to change it so I have to work around it to get what I need from the situation. My alternative is to leave and work somewhere else, but I will probably find some element of CP at the next place to, and I am just not at a place in my life right now that I want to make another move.

Whether you feel cherrypicking is right or wrong, what do others do about it? Do you move on? Do you stay and suffer? Do you stay and make it work for you?

I will tackle pretty much every job that come my way, - but there are times when I will bypass a job. -sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Out of the hundreds of doctors I transcribe (multiple accounts), there are about 3 that I just cannot understand. Period. In a case like that, I think it makes better sense to reject a single job that will have more blanks in it than written words, that I'll have spend hours trying unsuccessfully to transcribe, and to go on to the next 4 or 5 jobs that will have varying difficulty, but that I CAN transcribe in a timely manner. My employer (and I) will make more money off those 4 or 5 completed jobs done in a shorter amount of time, than an incomplete job that will miss TAT, end up in the QA pool.

There are some docs that I have no trouble with, whom other people can't understand at all. So I have to assume that there are also MTs in my company who understand the docs that I can't as well. It all balances out in the end.

Sometimes you have to choose one doc over another in the name of working smart and producing more overall.

It's definitely ok for an MTSO to funnel work appropriately not not the MT - Cherrypicking is cheating others

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I don't consider it cherry-picking when the boss decides who gets what. It sure is though when an MT decides this is just too hard or will take too long or just not the kind of report I want to do. That's just wrong on so many levels. They need to grow up and take responsibility for doing the work like a big girl (or boy).

I would let the supervisor or team leader know if I'm getting more than my share of difficult dictation. Then if it continues, I would look for another job. Cherry-pickers usually don't last long though. They last longer than they would if I was making the decisions, lol, but usually not more than a year or so. I wonder what they do after that.

I think that making the occasional choice of one job - over another isnt necessarily "cherrypicking".

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I think that term has turned into a catch-all phrase for anyone who for whatever reason, chooses a do-able job over an impossible one. To me, a "cherrypicker" would be someone who ONLY types the easy jobs, and never the harder ones. But that's pretty hard to do with most of the transcription formats you see these days. My job lists have a maximum of 2 jobs listed at any given time. I can chose between the two unless one is STAT and one isn't. Then I have to do the STAT. Everything comes in as it's dictated, unless they specifically send you something that needs immediate attention, but then they usually email you first. Still, if one of the guys pops up that I have no chance of understanding, one of two things happens: I usually give it a shot, and if after a while I'm still getting nowhere, I send it back so at least someone will have a chance of completing the job within TAT. Or, I return it to the pull before typing it and try again with something else.

If I were sitting there trying to be a martyr, and wasting valuable hours trying to type a report where in some instances I'm suspicious that the speaker has lapsed back into his native language, then no one wins. I lose time and money. The report is late, and for that reason alone, the employer loses money. QA's time gets eaten up dealing with all the blanks I left in it, and ultimately the client gets a report back riddled with blanks, and late to boot.

So there's a big difference between habitually typing the easy work (true "cherrypicking") vs. what I sometimes refer to as "triage". (Doing what will allow you to make your best contribution in a particular instance).

PS: typo = "pool", not "pull"! - Color Me Tired

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I like the word triage, but - is it better to send cheese report or at least try

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I'm the OP. My situation is that I see reports being returned to the pool by MTs who don't even try to do them, MTs who will log off and return 3-4 hours later hoping that job is done, MTs who I know have asked to be Dr. Template's personal MT because of the high line count...and I pick them up at the end of the day.

A QA supervisor told me once to leave blanks where I needed them because it was easier to go in and fill those in than to have to transcribe from scratch. And over time I have found this statement to be true. I don't make money on these harder reports whether I am doing them fresh or doing them in QA mode, but it does help my morale when I know someone at least tried. Sometimes I want to ask, If not you, who?

I always give it a try, but if a Swiss cheese is in the - making, I go on to another report, instead.

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After all, if we send too may reports with blanks, (which we get dinged for), we not only lower our pay, we also lower our accuracy score. Not to mention risking our healthcare coverage, if plodding through all those impossible reports cuts too heavily into our overall linecount average.

I'm all for giving a toughie the ol' college try, but not at the expense of shooting myself in the foot.

I think that making the occasional choice of one job - over another isnt necessarily "cherrypic - eagles_fan

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"So there's a big difference between habitually typing the easy work (true 'cherrypicking') vs. what I sometimes refer to as 'triage.'"

You can call it whatever you like. It's still cherrypicking.

Well, call it whatever YOU like; I'll keep on doing it. - Rose By Any Other Name

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nm

reverse cherry picking - NotNewMT

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If the supervisor decides to put the MTs into pools and the work types or dictators are selected by difficulty, then this is a form of "reverse cherry picking." In this situation, the MTs who consistently get to transcribe the absolute crappiest dictators should be compensated for that privilege. If an MTs knowledge base is more extensive or if the MT understands ESLs better, then that MT should be compensated, not cheated out of their line count by the company because of getting the worst work while other MTs get the easier work routed to them and most likely make a better line count per hour.

And yes, when pools are set up, this situation occurs very often. Life's not fair, but dang it, stop making some of our line counts harder to obtain. That's cheating some MTs out of a decent income. Actually, I consider it stealing from the MTs who always get the hardest work.

I would gladly "reverse cherry-pick" if I could make - more money doing it. -nm

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nm

huh? - NotNewMT

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If a company uses the concept of "reverse cherry picking" and some MTs land in a pool with the crappiest work/dictators versus other MTs get the gravy work, then I suppose you would be happy if you were in the easy pool.

But, this is cheating the other pool of MTs who get all the garbage, who have to plow through the the mush mouths, the dictators who have no logical train of thought, the work that some MTs cannot or will not do. Those MTs may be able to do this work, but at what cost? Lower line counts per hour? More frustration? Headaches? And, of course, decreased income.

Reverse cherry picking, unless a company PAYS A PREMIUM to those MTs who get all the slop, is just as wrong as cherry picking by MTs.

What I meant was, I would do the cr@p work if it were - for a lot more than our cr@p pay.

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cherry picking by management-happens all the time - Bailey

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They will do it all the time just because they can. They will lie to you and tell you it is luck of the draw.

I think it is wrong to an extent - sm -

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If that person consistently just does all the easier dictators and never does any of the more difficult then that is wrong. When I first started I worked in a pool, I was started off with easy stuff, but it ran out a lot and I asked for more work. I then had 300+ doctors all of a sudden and every imaginable work type and accent. I tried to do them all as I had to learn it sometime. There was only one doctor I would routinely send back as I could only get 1 word in 10 with him no matter how many times I did him...though a few times I did do better than that. QA I am sure was less then thrilled when I flagged those reports. So I have no problem if a MT sends back work after really trying to get that dictator down and just can't "get" them. But those that grab all the good stuff and get their lines in easily and a good check to boot are just wrong. ---The ideal situation is not work in a pool and have assigned dictators ---That is what I do now, boy it is so much better.

I would never work for a company that allowed cherrypicking period. n/m - Kiki

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x

And how, pray tell, would you know if that was............. - occurring???

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My guess is it goes on much more frequently than you know, and I can pretty much assure you they wouldn't divulge this information to anybody!

response - NotNewMT

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I have yet to find a company who does not engage in some form of pools, which is "reverse cherry picking," or who just ignore deliberate cherry picking. They just want the work done within TAT. On most systems, there is no way an individual MT can prove that someone else is taking a particular report, but there are plenty of ways for MTs to skip what they consider to be the worst dictators or a work type that they don't prefer. Some systems are easy to check the work for a particular MT or period of time and then see the patterns. For yourself, you can often just note that you rarely get a particular dictator even though that person does a lot of work... hmmm... and if you question this phenomenon, the answers will be just totally stupid.

So, where do you work that you truly believe there is NO cherry picking? Because we'd all like to work at that company.

Cherry picking is definitely monitored at my company - Kiki

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It is about the ONLY good thing about the company (MQ), so you probably would not want to work here. However, I do believe it is pretty difficult to get away with as the software keeps track of abandoned jobs, and we get written up if we abandon or "skip" jobs. Now, I guess I REALLY can't be sure if they follow through on this writing up, but I get a pretty good mix of decent and not so decent dictators and am pretty close with my CCM and she assures me they do not allow this to happen as skipped or abandoned jobs get held up in the cue and could potentially be late if someone skipped it.

It's just pretty impossible to even try anyway; there are always 2 jobs in our cues; if we skip a job, it will just pop up again as the next job. Unless you literally sign out constantly and back in an hour later, you WILL have to transcribe that job. I'm pretty sure you'd be making next to nothing if you tried doing that. Our in and out punches have to match and we have to work our schedules, so it wouldn't take long to be written up if anyone tried to pull that.

So, yes I truly believe cherry picking is minimal to none at MQ. But there are so many other cons to working here (NJA, dropping pay, off-shoring) that it really is the least of our problems.

no cherry picking allowed company - NotNewMT

[ In Reply To ..]
You're right, I'll take a pass on working for the "Q". Did that years ago and the negatives have increased. But at least they have one thing that they do right :)

I work on what is supposed to be a very difficult account. - But most of the dictators I can do just fine

[ In Reply To ..]
but there are just a couple that I simply CANNOT "get." (And don't think I haven't tried. I have. A lot.) Co-workers, however, seem to be perfectly happy to do those jobs, so whenever I see one coming up in the queue, I just wait for someone else to download it. And they always do. Quickly.

If that's "cherry picking," then I am guilty as charged.

but really, how do you know they are happy - to get what you are glad to see go?

[ In Reply To ..]
I think projecting happiness as the emotional state of the person who gets a job you don't want to do is a bit like saying I know you love eating broccoli rabe without knowing anything else about you. Maybe someone else does those jobs, happily or unhappily, or maybe they are feeling superior to you for not "getting" that doctor. Lots of supposition going on with that kind of thinking.

I have had coworkers like you, no I am not happy - to do your rejects

[ In Reply To ..]
You think I want to type hard stuff all day? Just because I CAN doesn't mean I WANT to, and certainly not because you are forcing me to type more than my fair share of it. When everybody acts like you then second shift gets nothing but difficult rejects. How would you like to type the hard ones, and nothing but, all night long? I don't like it! It lowers my paycheck while I struggle with the crap, but yours stays high because you skip it. What gives you the right to lower my paycheck and make me have a miserable night typing rejects?

Yes, you are guilty of cherrypicking. Be professional and type them as they come, like the real grownups on your team. I'd get banned if I told you what your team really thinks of you, but "happy" is certainly not the word.

So dont do them, then. - nm

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Geez. Thanks a lot. Of course you're guilty - of cherry picking. nm

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nm

No, the jobs don't get left for the next shift. - They get grabbed almost as soon as they appear

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in the queue. If no one wanted to do them, then they would just sit there. But they don't. Somebody is grabbing them, and grabbing them quickly. And that is fine with me. They are welcome to them.

If nobody wanted to do them they would sit there? - heard of TAT ever?

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Skipping jobs messes up TAT, you are aware of that, right? Your more professional coworkers are doing the next job that comes, whether they "want" it or not, because that is what decent MTs do. Because patient care suffers when a job is made to wait by cherrypickers. Maybe someday when you are sitting around waiting for report results so you can leave and go home, or waiting to find out if a tumor is cancerous, etc., you will realize what you are doing to the patients by artibrarily deciding who gets served first and who waits.

Justify your cherrypicking any way you please - its wrong, and you know it. Too bad your supervisor isn't cracking down on you. Hope I'm not one of your coworkers - carrying the weight while you skip along carefree and selfish. Because when everyone catches on to your game, you'll be sorry.

I'm not paid enough to care. Seriously. - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I'm glad I don't work with you. - saddened

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It really makes me sad, and ill, to see that some people have such a cavalier attitude about cherry picking.

How do you know that your co-workers are "happy" to do what you deem so difficult? Perhaps it is difficult for them too, but instead of passing the buck they do their JOB and are PROFESSIONAL.

Sick.

I wish I did. Shes one of the few in this biz with the - backbone to just say "no" to cr@p.

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Unbelievable! We ALL get dictators that we CANNOT "get" - Gotta do ALL of the jobs

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I suspect that every MT I know comes across one if not many dictators that we simply, no matter what, cannot "get" that particular dictator/s. So?

You do it anyway, period, END OF STORY.

You leave appropriate blanks or markers for QA, you ask for samples, and more samples. But leaving it for someone else and assuming THEY are happy with it, that is highly unprofessional, unfair, and definitely cherrypicking.

Are you unable to self-reflect or put yourself in another MTs shoes? What if they also cannot "get" that same dictator? Hm? But they stick with it and get slowed down while you zip along.

Can't say how many ways this is wrong and unprofessional.

There is no excuse, none. Where I work, you can get fired for this.

So let me be sure Ive got this straight: - sm

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Even if an MT is good at her job, and does everything that comes her way 99% of the time, if the occasional unintelligible job comes into her pool, she must sacrifice her day's productivity by slogging through it and either (a) guessing, or(b) leaving more blanks than actual typed words? After having spent the better part of the day on it, when she could have typed 7 or 8 STATs instead, at 7 or 8 cpl?

Yeah right.

Only if I'm paid by the hour would I do that.

Also, the more of that garbage you tough it out and DO? The more they send you.

weight the difficult doctors (pay more) NM - WorksForMe

[ In Reply To ..]
.

maybe if we ALL cherry-pick, abandon and break, - cherry-pick

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then they will notice and addresss the doctors and tell them to dictate BETTER !

BINGO. - NM

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