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

For those saying we should stop training VR. If we did, how - would that affect the industry? nm

Posted: Oct 04, 2012

Yeah. Just as I thought. All horse, no hat. - nm

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ROFL at myself. Above should be All hat, no horse. - lol

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I think you had it right the first time. - Mr Ed

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NM

Nope, heard all during my childhood. All hat, no horse is that person - who is all talk with nuttin to back it up. nm

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and I think we have all the power and act like nobodies - Mr Ed

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Naaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I am happy with work. I have used my power to make - my life work for me. nm

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Easy enough to put out a call for a strike, but has there been thought given - to what that means, what would happen? nm

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they should know, they tried it once this year already, to no avail. - walking away, too. Not4Me

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I think what might happen might be something - like this. see message

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A transcription halt would instantaneously stop cash flow and income streams on both sides of the fence. Hospital billing could not proceed as smoothly, which means doctors and clinics/hospitals could not get paid for services rendered. MT services would no longer have any services being provided for which to bill, so the company income stream would be dead. The effect of no transcription would be felt immediately, not a few days or weeks down the road. Forget the legal ramifications that would develop as patient care begins to be affected. Just concentrate on the money factor, since that's where all of their heads are at anyway.

What recourse do they currently have in place to keep the machine cranking. None that I am aware of. Sure there are alternatives available, but only on a limited basis. Certainly, nothing that could alter the impact of transcription stopping. Can't use VR, because if we don't fix it, it's worthless. Can't use software programs available that require point-and-click input because it's too slow and still not widely available and takes too long to implement to stave off the immediate and serious ramifications to patient care and their pocket books. The only recourse would be to negotiate.

Collectively, we could agree to get back to it relatively quickly, but with certain caveats concerning good-faith negotiations.

That is what I see could be the short-term result of collectively taking control of the work flow and, hence, the income stream. Is it scarry to imagine yourself out of work for a few days or maybe even a week? Last pay period, I was out of work for nearly 30 hours of an 80-hour pay period, so I already put up with similar hits to my income with no hope of anything coming of it other than more of the same old crap to follow.

I don't think it would take more than a week and probably not even a week as long as we weren't trying to be unreasonable and get everything done that needs to be done all in one shot. The point initially would just be to get their attention. Subsequent negotiation could be done quickly enough to prevent them from being able to put something else in place designed to cut us out all together. There isn't recourse currently available that would allow them to do that, and our negotiations would include putting certain minimum standards and requirements in place that would preclude them from being able to do so in the long term.

I'm not saying this is exactly what would happen, nor am I delusionally imagining I have all the answers, but any assertion that due thought has not been given would be incorrect. If anything, I think all the naysayers are the ones that have not really given all of this due and fair consideration, which is why all they can see is the negative.

Yeah, start that union, call for that strike. Can see you all have a good - handle on this. (rolling eyes, walking away) nm

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same old dialog..... - anon290

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we can do it.....no you can't....yes we can.....no you can't...

"rolling eyes and walking away." sigh.

Then prove me wrong. Do it! Make it work. How big - is YOUR hat? nm

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not big... its a beanie with a spinner on top - rainbow colored

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Better than a dunce cap...

not quite as big as the your head filled with dreams - with all due respect and a lota reality.NM

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You got the wrong poster. My head is filled with ways to maximize my - $$ now. No dreams, just realities. nm

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in this profession? surely you gest. NM - threejobsdeep

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No. Just another aspect of working to figure out how to do the - best you can for you, not MTSO or others. nm

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good luck with that. - NMessage

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Walking away from what? The profession - or the discussion?

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If from the discussion, then I don't understand the mentality that leaves one feeling it necessary to get in one last negative dig before doing so. If, however, you mean from the profession, then all you are doing is striking on a permanent basis, which means you are in agreement with the notion of striking after all but just have not seen the value of trying to organize such a move to be on a more temporary basis, i.e., just long enough to take control of what has always belonged to us in the first place.

Walk away from the profession if you must, or at least just walk away from the discussion so the rest of us can try and come up with a possible solution to saving our vocation.

I am not the person you are responding to - What I mean by walk away

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is to strike, call in sick, take one day to do one job. We need to do something collectively, quickly, and something that will stick MTSOs right where they have stuck us. In their wallets.

Everyone, now, today, sometime between now and next Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. Just stop working. Just stop. Get the word out.

Collective action will get us noticed. We will be heard. We will be paid a right and living wage for our service. Management will not continue to steal my pay for their own high lifestyle while I struggle.

We are creating this ourselves and it is continuing because we refuse to take action, and they are counting on that. Stand up. Don't just say something. Do something.

Get the word out twitter, facebook, phone calls, emails, call-in shows, NOW.

wait, wait, wait one minute.... - sm

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We struggle to pay our bills, but you want us to miss work, even for one day?

This has been tried before, you know. What, like 3 whole people didnt show up?

I have bills to pay and missing even half a day of work means days of no food in my house. You have seriously got to be kidding me if you believe that even if every single MT walked off for one day would make a difference. All it will do is send the work to India faster than you can click "send resume."

If anyone actually had a good solution, a workable way to be heard, I would be for it, but I refuse to participate in foolishness.

It is only foolishness if you believe - it is foolishness.

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Others believe it is direct action, being heard, taking a stand, banding together... Others would see it in a positive light, not a negative scary thing.

and what exactly have YOU done to change anything?? - anon

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you come on this board all righteous telling everybody else what to do, but be specific about what exactly it is that YOU have done to change things for the better? Perhaps if it worked for YOU, some of the rest of us might try to stand up and fight for what is rightfully ours. Talk is cheap. Show US some action and we MAY follow in your footsteps, but don't condemn us for "not doing anything," until you yourself have a proven plan that has received results.

Do you realize what you are saying? - Just noticing

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You can't participate in not working for even half a day because you don't get paid enough. You will have no food.

In my mind that is reason enough to participate.

We hold ourselves down while they continue to kick us. Get up. Do something. Not just talk, but do something.

you just zoned in on one thing I said, - not the whole post

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I dont believe, even if every MT in the US participated, that the MTSOs would change anything. I think they would send the work to India faster than you can blink.

That is not the answer. It has been talked about for years and proven it will not work.

I will finish school and leave this field behind, but I will not miss a day of work until then, and good luck trying to convince others as your thinking is not conducive to results.

If they sent everything to India, or wherever - that would be a good thing

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Very little if anything coming back from off shore goes straight back to the client. It has to be edited first. If we walked away, sending it to India would be pointless because they wouldn't have sufficient manpower to do the necessary editing.

The power to determine our own fate has been in our hands since the moment type written documentation became mandatory. Once the physicians had no choice but to dictate (or type it themselves), the ability to play a major role in determining minimum quality standards, working conditions, and pay standards fell into our collective laps. We've just never organized so as to exert that influence. As a result, we are where we are.

I agree with you, but - anon

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what is the solution? We post on this board about how unfair it is and how we allowed this to happen, but that doesn't really get us anywhere. I think we can all agree (for the most part) that you are correct. What's the answer? How do we organize? I posted below asking for representation, someone to give us a collective voice in negotiating with the MTSOs for better wages, working conditions, etc. Any answers?

I'm working on it. Problem is I haven't been able - to get response to my emails.

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Have tried contacting various union reps to try and get info on how to start a union or if there are any already up and running that we, as an industry, could become affiliated with, but no one returns my emails to answer my questions. Have also tried reading about how to start a union, but it's not sinking in for me.

What I am currently wondering about now and am trying to gather info on is whether or not a company would have to make a list of employee names available if requested through proper channels and, if so, what would those channels be. Company employees being scattered nationwide instead of located in a single location makes ours a unique situation, and the biggest breakthrough needed right now is to figure out how to legally acquire a list of employee names so that they can be contacted and queried regarding their desire to participate in an organizional attempt as it pertains to the company they presently working for.

Also, organizing doesn't have to happen on a national level at first. It could be done on a company-by-company basis, one company at a time. One way to go about it would be to get a group of people together who were pro organization so that each of those individuals could approach MTSOs other than their own via these "proper channels" to request names of employees for the purposes of organizing. That way, the company being approached for disclosure could not single out the person initiating such a request for an employee list and then fire them because they wouldn't be an employee of that particular company. I know this raises lots of questions as well, and I don't have the answers, but I am trying to think it through and come up with ways to suggest we could proceed so as to not get shot down before we ever even got off the ground. Believe me, the MTSOs understand full well what we could do to the status quo if we were to get organized, and they will kill any efforts to do so as quickly as they can, if they can. Our job is to figure out how to go about it and then get the steps in the right order so that the MTSOs can't stop it. We all know that the necessary labor laws already exist that can help us accomplish this. We just have a unique situation and need to find out how to make those laws work and apply in our unique situation.

see message.... - anon

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The problem with starting a union is that most unions involve specific companies. In the case of MTs, that would be difficult as we all work for different companies. What about starting an "organization" much like AAMT or whatever it is called these days, did in the early days, using "standard operating procedures" much like the BOS, but not changing it every year for the purpose of $$ and not costing the MT $$ every year to purchase the current version. Something like the ISO standards comes to mind. Anyway, build a web site for this "organization" and let the MTs come to you to "join." Charge "dues" if you need to, like the unions do. Find an entity, person or organization, that will "represent" us when the rules are being violated, such as pay, schedules, etc. Determine "actionable consequences" i.e. "fines" or something that will make the violating companies responsible for their actions. Allow specific "companies" to join, as well, being able to advertise that they belong to such-and-such an organization, keep their MTs and documents within the US, have a "standard charge" for their services, and pay their MTs equally for the services provided. Of course all of these "standards" would need to be set in place and equally fair to the MTSO, as well as the MTs, or nobody will "join." but it seems like a logical place to start. Having us come to you rather than seeking out others to join seems much more feasible than to try to gather everybody together to stand together. As you can already tell, there are many resistant to the idea of "joining a union" for fear of their jobs. Allowing them the choice to join an "organization" that will seek to protect their better interestes might be much more pallitable. This is just a thought, and needs a lot of thought and fine-tuning, but I think it could be doable.

anon, if she does not know the first sentence in your post - she is the wrong person to start anything. NM

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And when it came back from India, - who would fix it?

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Either the quality that we know would come back would be too appalling to allow, or we're all just kidding ourselves anyway. Let it go to India or wherever. If what we do matters, if the quality we produce is more desirable, then that would work in our favor. If it isn't, then we would be in a position to demand the US service owners stop harassing us over quality issues that their clients don't care about anyway. Death to the QA Nazis would be a huge improvement in and of itself if you ask me.

No matter what happens, we come out ahead of where we are now.

If this was something more organized and - anon

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I knew I would not be alone in doing this, I would consider joining you. But I question who would be negotiating on our behalf with the MTSOs for a "living wage." Okay, say we do this, a work slowdown or sick-in, what happens then? I want to be part of an organization and have some kind of leadership, not just a handful of MTs trying to make a point. That is why they don't take us seriously, we have no voice, no one to speak for us. I think we need that before we can take action. What would you suggest?

I agree with you 100%. Organization implies leadership. - lengthy message

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Without leadership there is no organization - just a bunch of people talking at the same time but not necessarily saying the same thing. I think the place to start would be establishing common ground for all of us to agree on even absent any organization, just as MTs trying to earn a living and survive, i.e., the most basic list of grievances that we all as transcriptionists can agree need to be addressed right up front. Establish that list, which may be initially more lengthy than we need to move forward, but once an initial list were established we could then narrow it to say the top 5. This list of top 5 grievances would be the foundation for all organizational efforts going forward, and that list could then be added to or expanded on an individual company-by-company basis, those decisions being left to the MTs who work for that particular employer. In other words, no matter who you are or where you work, agreeing that these hypothetical 5 things have to happen even if nothing else ever gets done.

*I think at the top of the list should be fair compensation for the product we provide.

*Perhaps another would be addressing this nonsense of having people sit around waiting for the next report to fight over because of overstaffing in order to meet ridiculous TAT demands. It's not fair, nor is it necessary, and there are ways to eliminate that practice without jeopardizing the client base.

Anyway, I think that might be an initial place to start. Identifying intially the common ground that we, as an industry, are prepared to defend come hell or high water. We can refine the specifics later after the common ground has been established and we have identified how to go about organizing on a national level. This board and others already provide a forum for discussion of this. We can start here to get a general sense of what people think are the most important issues upon which to take a stand. Then we can begin to organize around this common ground.

In the meantime, everyone needs to begin doing some research on how to go about organizing. We don't need a national union at first. All we need are the steps for going about successfully organizing one company at a time. A model, if you would, of how to go about contacting existing employees and polling them for the purposes of organizing that particular MTSO, keeping in mind that the idea is not to take over a company, but to make it more successful as a service provider as well as an employer. Making one's company as miserable as we are to the point it is considering throwing in the towel serves no purpose. I personally have suggestions on how the current prevailing national business model could be improved as I'm sure you and others do as well, but first things first.

My suggestion, therefore, is establishing common ground around which to organize.

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