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

How are all those out there adjusting to being - outsourced to MT company??

Posted: Apr 08, 2012

I have read a few posts on here by transcriptionists who worked for a hospital that got outsourced. I am one of them. I still keep in touch with a couple of the women from my dept and only 4 of us went with the company we got outsourced to. Some of the ladies were older and just took the severence pay; a couple took severence and decided to apply for unemployment when it runs out. but I had to keep working and could not afford to turn down a job. So here I am, I have gone from making what I considered a very good hourly wage to now making cents per line. I have never worked in the company industry before until now; however we were all home-based. It has been a few months for me and I am adjusting (finally). But I will never forget the day they called the dept mtg and told us that our dept would no longer be and they told us what our options were. The only halfway decent thing about the way they did it was that they told us 2 and a half months in advance.

Outsourced to MT company - Cassie

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi - This was my situation, too. I've kept in touch with many of my former hospital coworkers.

The hospital where I worked closed our transcription department and outsourced everything. We had known for about a year that "something" was coming, but everything was really vague as to exactly what. We were led to believe we would still be employees of our hospital's parent corporation, which didn't turn out to be the case. We were all offered a job with the MTSO. Of our 20-some employees, I think 3 MTs quit before the official announcement and got jobs at another hospital. Two MTs turned down the MTSO job. The rest of us started with the MTSO; but within 6 months or so, only about 3 or 4 of us remained.

I know what you mean about never forgetting the day they made the announcement (our lay-off notice, actually). We had less than a week to decide if we would take the MTSO job. I felt I had no choice as I HAD TO HAVE the health insurance. We were told by the MTSO that "nothing will change" -- except that we were being paid by the line (instead of the hour plus a generous incentive bonus). I had never been paid piecework, so I wasn't sure how it would translate into hourly, but I soon found out.

At first, we were kept on straight typing only. I found that my hourly pay dropped from $20-something an hour at the hospital to about $13/hr. I knew this was part of the new reality of transcription; and I accepted that while it wasn't good, at least it was a job with the health insurance I needed, and the benefits of working from home made it still worthwhile to me. We were doing the same hospital's work, which I knew like the back of my hand.

After 5-6 weeks or so, we were "gleefully" told that we were going to be introduced to ASR! Yes, we would be paid "slightly less" per line, but we would see our production increase by 40% or more; and "the bulk of" our work would still be straight typing at the higher rate. None of this turned out to be the case for me.

I did increase my production slightly; but because of the majority of work now being mostly ASR rather than straight typing (instead of the other way around), the extreme lack of accuracy with ASR necessitating tons of correction, plus the fact that the rate went from 9 cpl for straight typing to 4 cpl for ASR (less than half the pay rate--not "slightly" less), it did NOT end up being anywhere near equitable compensation. My pay immediately dropped to about $10/hr; and then, as more and more HORRIBLE reports became the norm (only the very, very worst dictators that can't be run through ASR at all) and the ASR seemed to get worse instead of better (we were told it would get better and better as the system "learned" our corrections, but it didn't), my pay dropped even further, until I was averaging $8 to $9/hr...and that was only if I counted my actual hands-on-the-keyboard hours. If I didn't deduct every minute I took away for bathroom breaks, coffee break, getting up to stretch for a few minutes, etc., my pay would've been about $5 to $6/hr.

When the MTSO which I had been outsourced to got acquired by M*Modal, I just couldn't continue. By that time, I was able to line up an individual health insurance policy, so I declined the M*Modal offer.

I'm sorry--I wish I had a better outcome to report. I guess I think you might want to know the truth about what someone else has experienced, though. I'm not suggesting that you won't end up having a good experience, and I certainly hope you will.

I would add that the whole change has been kind of soul-crushing for me. I'm currently not working but trying to find the right fit of a job outside of MT. I have tons of experience, and I was a really good MT; but what I saw become of the field--well, for me, it's just not the same career any more. I'm more fortunate than some in that my husband works, and we can get by on just his income by cutting EVERY extra expense possible. It's not great fun, but it was a lot less fun being angry about my situation and miserable every day! :-)

If you're not really looking for advice, just ignore this; but if you ARE looking, I would advise that if you don't mind the work and the compensation, keep at it, if meets your needs....but if you begin to feel that things are going downhill, I would suggest you start looking for something else while you're still working, if you can. I envy my former coworkers who did that, although a couple of them who found other MT jobs in local offices were terribly unhappy with those jobs, too. Working in-house as an employee for a hospital is a WHOLE different ballgame. We were treated much better and had MUCH better compensation and benefits...but those days are gone--in my city, anyway. The only hospital here that still has MTs is going to introduce VR in-house this year, but I fear for my former coworkers who are there now...I wonder how long those jobs will stay around.

Hoping for the best for you, and all of us--we all just want to be happy, healthy, and productive!

Thank you for your response! - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
I guess there aren't very many outsourced MTs that visit this board. I actually found it when we were told about the outsource through trying to do some research on other companies out there.

I would like to know where you found an affordable individual health insurance policy though? I would really like to have as little as possible taken out of my check considering I dont make what I use to. All I need is something for preventive care.

I plan on going back to school soon, hopefully this fall and until then I will be sticking it out and probably even continuing to do part-time rather than getting out altogether.

Good luck to you and again, thanks for your post!

Individual health insurance - Cassie

[ In Reply To ..]
Wellll, I'm afraid we might not call it "affordable" health insurance, but my husband and I got on a policy through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of _____ (our state).

We're in our mid- to late-50s, and we bought a pretty basic, major medical plan -- no Rx coverage (with a fairly high deductible....$2000 for each of us....but it does cover some basics like well exams and some preventative screenings like mammograms), plus we got the standard dental coverage, and we're paying about $707 all together, for both of us. :-(

The same type of policy might be less expensive if you're younger. My husband's policy is a lot more than mine because he's turning 60 this year, and I guess being a male of that age puts him in a higher-risk range, even though he's one of the healthiest men I've ever known....not a single regular medication or chronic illness of any kind.

We got turned down by another company, which would've been a less-expensive policy, for a very flimsy reason. Our doctor's office had given some vague information on a previous illness; and even though the doctor later clarified our record (which would've made all the difference), the ins. company says they will not reconsider for ANY reason until 2 years have passed....even if it was a doctor's record error.

I would recommend that you apply to several different companies at once, in case one of them turns you down, and then steel yourself for what the actual price quotes will be! :-) Our actual price ended up being higher than the estimate that they gave when we got a preliminary quote on-line, but we still caved and got the insurance because it was better than being trapped in a job where I was extremely unhappy.

Hope this helps!

thanks, I am going to check into this - "preventative care.gov" see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
My husband and I (say husband because its been 10yrs), but we we are getting married in September and I wont qualify to be added to his insurance until their open enrollment period, which is almost a year from now.

So until then, I need something. I am pretty healthy and not quite 40 yet, but close. But its time for my annual pap and I think it's about time I start getting mammograms too. Plus I have a couple medications I take daily, that need to be maintained (nothing serious).

A girl that I worked with before the outsource went along to the company too and she got their insurance just for herself and is paying $66 dollars a pay-period, she said its basically for preventative care. So I was thinking about that as well.

Thanks for your feedback though, appreciate it.

are you sure? - Pjk

[ In Reply To ..]
When I married my husband, I was able to be put on the insurance right away with proof of the marriage license. Usually insurances will let you make an adjustment with life-changing events (i.e. marriage, having kids) so why don't you have him check with his Benefits dept? Maybe that will make your decision about a job with benefits easier to make.

what she says is true...you don't have to wait - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Same thing if you have a baby...eligible as soon as the "life changing event."

Thank You for the info!!!! - will get right on it, losing my

[ In Reply To ..]
is a life-changing event and we can do a court house wedding, no need to wait. We have done some checking and it's pretty cheap, all we have to do is set up a counseling appt and get a date with the judge, all for a pretty low cost.

Then maybe I can be added right away without having to wait almost a year for open enrollment - Not that I am marrying him for his insurance, we will have been together 11yrs come October and we have lived together 7yrs, so we are common law anyway in my state.

I dont know what I would do without him, after taking such a cut in pay. Man or no man, I really like my independence.

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