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

Pay scale dropping - Jazzy

Posted: Oct 22, 2010

Does anyone else notice the pay scale is dropping for transcription to 7 cpl being standard now??? Was 8 cpl not low enough. Why are we accepting this??? Come on MTSO? What's up with that?

Regarding accepting pay cuts, Jazzy, some ARE not accepting. - Anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
and are training for other work or have left the field.

Many of us, though, are nearing retirement age (overall, MTs are an aging group) and are trying to hold on until it's time to get off. I'm in this group, and with the use of my expander I've been largely able to limit the hit--so far, so accepting the changes is still working well enough for me.

Of course, then there's the large group of people doing poorly who substitute outraged complaints for badly needed self-help. Why do some claiming to be making minimum wage come here and shout insults at their employers instead of serving notice? I don't know, but I wouldn't try rallying them to action--unless it's to launch a balloon.

dropping pay - curious

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi Jazzy, I am one who is not taking that rate. I am going to get out of this business. I am fast approaching retirement age myself, but I will start over at something else rather than working more but earning a salary that steadily goes down instead of up. I refuse to do this line of work at the same across the board pay that everyone is offered. I have almost 20 years in this business, but apparently it doesn't allow me to get a better rate than someone just starting. Granted, I am very fast and can earn a little more because of my experience, less looking up info., etc., but I have never seen an industry with continually lowering pay where everyone just accepts it. I will not stick with it just because of the convenience of working from home. There are other work from home jobs, and it may take me a while, but I will find the right one and move on.

Its sad - Jazzy

[ In Reply To ..]
It makes me so mad when these MTSOs are so controlling and demanding. They dont care about the transcriptionist. They work the transcriptionist like a dog, 24 hour or less turnaround??. And when they feel like it, some of them, they just take the work off your queue because you did not start it right away even though they say 24 hours turnaround? And we are doing this for what, just to work at home? I think doctors need to start hiring us in-house again but I know it won't happen. I have friends who work in an office and make anywhere from $20-$25 an hour, so how does that equate to .7 cpl? And with benefits. I have my own doctor and I refuse to work for an MTSO that will pay less than 8 cpl and even that is crappy. They treat you like you are not to have a life. Work holidays? weekends? Why? When I worked in an office, there were times when we were a week behind, the doctors lived you know. It was okay!!

Sad? - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I am one of those people who have an office MT job. We earn what you say but it's straight production and we work hard. There are also pretty strict line rate and QC requirements. 24-hour turn around is required there as well, 1-2 hours for radiology. We work weekends. My employer closes on the holidays, but we'd be working if it were not. Any hospital with on-site MTs requires weekends, evenings and holidays. I made the choice years ago not to work at home and in many ways it is probably better, but there are still many similarities in the job requirements. It seeems that the grass is always greener somewhere else.

The willful ignorance about what's happening in other industries - Anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
is astonishing. Grass is greener, indeed (for some apparently always, Anonymous). It's so obvious which posters don't read newspapers or news magazines at all; but don't MTs who are sure dropping wages, layoffs of the highest skilled and paid workers, "horrible" abuses by greedy evil employers, etc., are our own special problem have any input from friends or relatives about the devastation hitting many other fields?

Some of the posters here definitely aggravate my split personality. One part is so exasperated I want to see them hop straight into another frying pan. NOW they'll find out. Another is grimly aware that this kind of ignorance is all too likely to land them straight in the fire itself, and my bleeding heart takes over.

Jazzy, and others who do not read for information (you know who you are), for your own good, get a free e-mail subscription to a national newspaper or news magazine and READ just the parts that jump out and intrigue you each day.

New York Times
Christian Science Monitor
Newsweek Magazine
Dallas Morning News
USA Today
L.A. Times
Seattle Times
Salt Lake Tribune
Miami Herald
Boston Globe Online
Dozens of others

Take your pick. They're all FREE!

other industries - curious

[ In Reply To ..]
How do you know what we read or don't read? What in any above post says we are not aware of what is going on in other fields? I don't recall anyone mentioning that all of their friends and family are in fabulous positions with huge pay increases all the time and have not suffered. However, since you are so well read, you must be aware that some fields are actually predicting a shortage of workers in the future and big growth potential.

Yes I MAY jump into another frying pan! How do you know that if we leave what we are doing we ARE going right into another frying pan? Maybe we will find a very fulfilling career and maybe not. What are you saying, we should just stay in the frying pan forever and not even try to get out?

My salary has gone down, but I still work directly for a hospital, actually have great management and do not work for an evil employer. My salary has gone down some, but my income is secondary and I can make do. I just do not see any growth potential in this industry. I only see people with pay cuts and cannot find one post or have talked to one person in transcription that has received a pay increase in a very long time.

At this point, my hospital is potentially cutting more pay, so in the meantime I am taking my time and reading up on many different career options, calling and asking questions of the professional organizations I am interested in and looking into what classes are needed to go in these various career directions. Maybe I should just read a newspaper about how bad everyone else has it instead of researching what fields are expected to have growth in the next few years? If it means going into another frying pan, then how am I worse off than the frying pan I am already in?

willful ignorance - jazzy

[ In Reply To ..]
You sound like the ignorant one. Actually, you sound like you are the owner of an MTSO. Why don't you work for pennies an hour or maybe you do and just settle for staying in that frying pan. We have our opinions and you have yours. I REFUSE TO WORK FOR 7 CPL OR LESS. Good luck to your reading of your magazines. Stay depressed.

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