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


Fair pay?? - MTTLT


Posted: Mar 24, 2012

This may have been discussed before, and if so, I missed it, but SR seems to be getting worse and worse all the time (and I use M*Modal for two different MTSOs), picking up less and less of what is actually said.  This is even on very clear-speaking dictators.  Some have been to the point of SR getting maybe 2 words right in 2 sentences.  In this case, I'm actually "typing," but getting paid the SR rate.  It struck me that the only fair way to be paid would be to be paid "per correction."  Boy, think of the $$ we could be making then...... Just my 2 cents (literally).  Smile

Yes, discussed before, but you are soooo right. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I am not opposed to VR. I think it is actually the answer to American MTs losing their jobs to off-shoring. It is a good thing if used properly and for its intended purpose.

The problem is when companies try to put anything and everything on there. This only saves THEM money in the long run. There are physicians, and not just ESLs, that do not belong on there for whatever reasons. VR is not cheating the MTs, the company is. A doctor/NP/PA, etc. should have an 80% accuracy rate if their dictation is placed on VR. This does not really even mean 80% because the computer is the one who decides what is accurate or not and, as we know, that is poor at best. It is probably closer to 65% at best.

If an MT is paid 6 cpl on VR, she should expect frequent corrections. If an MT is paid 3-4 cpl on VR, there should not be that many corrections required at all. This would straighten out the wage complaints, but the MTSOs are cheating.

There should be some calculation by the VR system once the MT is finished with the document. That is, if there was not truly in fact 80% accuracy on that document, the MT is paid extra for the percentage that was miscalculated before the document was done. This would solve the problem of us being cheated out of wages, and would keep the companies from putting anything and everything on there, and actually improve the quality of work done.

As we all know, VR has not been perfected to constitute fair employment or incomes. I would suggest that instead of complaining about VR to the MTSOs, we learn it, perfect our skills at it, and demand that they actually perfect the system accordingly. It would be a win-win situation all the way from the patient, client, MTSO, and the MT.

I am so glad you brought this up. I agree with you 100%.

This should definitely be discussed on every job interview. - Ask questions.

[ In Reply To ..]
Even if you are interviewing for 50/50 VR and typing. We should all ask questions about an MTSO's VR system. This could be the beginning of letting our expectations be known/demanded. Is there an 80% accuracy rate? Is ALL of their dictation put on there, etc.

This is something we should all start questioning MTSOs on. VR is here to stay. If you want to stay in the MT business, you need to master it. We need to somehow think of a way to force them to improve upon their systems, expectations, pay, and accuracy rates. This really does affect quantity and quality of production, our pay, and patient care.


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