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

Wages Owed - Help Me Out Here - wheres_my_job

Posted: Mar 10, 2012

I've got the form to file a complaint re: Not getting paid for research, verifying patient name, cruddy dictators who shouldn't be in VR/ASR, etc.

The person filing the complaint has to figure out how much the employer owes - any suggestions, or examples? Say, for over a year's time?

My example would be: It takes 8 minutes to go through all my emails (a requirement of my job) weekly (yes, I timed myself) - so that's 8 x 4 = 32 minutes a month JUST for emails...I could multiple the 32 minutes by my pay per hour on production - like if I get paid 10 dollars an hour equivalent production at 3.5 cents a line (for example), then they owe me 5 bucks x 12 months = 60 dollars...JUST for reading emails.

Laugh if you must...but if anybody wants to take a shot at calculating what they are owed, for uncompensated "nonproductive" or "nonactive" work, I'd love to see your examples. Each state has its own form that you have to file. But I've had it with donating my time to a company, how 'bout you? Let the Labor and Standards Division show me where it's legal for us to work for free....

are you saying you only make 3.5 cpl for VR? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I would think your best argument would be inadequate pay - at VR rates - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
the VR rate speaks for itself especially if you are only making 3.5 cpl.

A new study needs to be done, to determine exactly how beneficial voice recognition really is and how much work we as MTs have to do edit it. Then they need to come up with a new pay scale because right now its highly over-rated (VR that is).

it's not 3.5 cents a line - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
I just used that for the sake of argument - 3.5, 3, 4, 4.5, 5 - I think they're all too low.

I'll get to work calculating how much more a cruddy dictation should pay, in that it requires more work on part of MT...thanks for the feedback.

That's just an example - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
not the specifics of my situation.

oh, I thought part of our job was to research - and that is factored on line rate

[ In Reply To ..]
Just like if you are a secretary and your job is to answer phone, type letters, file paperwork, and if someone comes in and askes to speak to so and so and you have to go find them, that is ALL factored into your hourly rate, all the work you are required to do. Well, all the work we are required to do, research, cc's, etc., is included in the line rate. That is why we get paid so much better than India, they dont have to research (as proven by their reports) and their line rates reflect that. If you dont want to research, you probably could get paid like over there, 1 or 2 cpl.

''Oh'', what a silly comparison. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If a secretary's pay was production-based, i.e. each letter typed, each phone call answered, she would have a very valid complaint regarding extra duties piled on. (And the reference to Indian wages is equally dumb when the cost of living in India is compared to U.S. costs.)

Thank you, that's my thinking too - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
to me the central issue, IF you want to actually file a complaint, for wage theft, the onus is on you, the worker, to CALCULATE the amount of pay you think you should be getting...due to the amount of NON-production work required by your employer to KEEP your job, and yet they are paying you ONLY for production (sorry for caps, I get a little excited on the subject).

So it's like, all you MTSOs out there, you can do the math - well, we MTs can do the math too, and come up with some numbers as far as dollar amount of uncompensated labor.

That's all. I think of the Bangles song, "Walk Like An Egyptian," except the words should be "Think Like An MTSO" - and start coming up with some dollar amounts to go with our complaints.

Exactly. When the MTSOs paid decent wages for research they got it. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Not now.

if research is factored into to cpl then we are - really underpaid - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
Thats pretty insulting when there when people are making 4 cpl for VR.

this is part of her reason for wanting to see what she could do about being underpaid.

Here's the cupcake analogy - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
If I get hired by a cute little cupcake shop, and they say, "we'll pay you 10 cents per cupcake frosted," that's my job, I frost cupcakes, and they say, "come in tomorrow at 8 am to start," and I show up and put on my cute pink and white striped apron with flowers on it, wow, what a fun job! And then they lead me AWAY from the rows of waiting cupcakes to the back, and say, now, here's how to make up a batch of frosting, when you run out throughout the day, come back here and make frosting...they MUST pay me for making frosting!!!!!! Their choice as an employer is, either pay me $10 per batch of frosting (production rate), or $10/hour for time spent making frosting (yeah, apparently I don't make frosting cheap).

Same thing with research, emails, verification, notation, etc - company either has to pay THOSE THINGS by production also (50 cents per missing patient name, 50 cents per looking up address, etc) OR by hourly, hey, it's their choice - as well, I have to get compensated for horrible dictators who don't belong in VR, because they are extra work on my part (ie, uncompensated) not captured by the flat rate.

I work, I get paid. That's the basic principle.

Straight from the escript-horse's mouth - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
Note the phrase "often doubling productivity." Notice how the MTSOs took this and ran with it - you cut someone's pay IN HALF, based on the notion they will DOUBLE their productivity. But eScription doesn't say that, they leave themselves (legal?) wiggle room with the qualifier "often." Maybe the fact is, it's not actually "often" out in the field, it's "occasionally." If we were hired on the presumption we would OFTEN double our productivity (without any time card shenanigans, that is)and this does NOT pan out - then we have been intentionally misled by a company regarding the terms of our employment, and this is illegal.

"eScription is the leading on-demand platform for computer aided medical transcription. With this solution, intelligent speech recognition software turns clinician dictations into formatted draft documents that medical transcriptionists quickly review and edit, often doubling productivity. Deployed enterprise-wide at healthcare organizations, the eScription solution is proven to improve turnaround time, increase productivity, and reduce costs of medical transcription, without interfering with clinician workflow. The product has received a Best in KLAS Award for seven consecutive years!

To learn more about eScription, please visit Nuance at http://www.nuance.com/products/escription/"

It is my opinion that anyone who wins Best in Klass as they claim bought this award. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Just Google recent winners.

LOL! - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
yeah, seemed like them giving themselves a pat on the back, for nothing...thanks for the tip on googling recent winners...I can throw that into my complaint too.....

Research (cc's, demographics etc.) has ALWAYS been part of the MT job. - when has it not? nm

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nm

I agree - thats what I said

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It is factored into our line rates. All part of the job. Dont know what people expect.

It's not factored into line rate... - wheres_my_job

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what's all the ballyhoo about "fingers on the keyboard" "active" and "productive" work? That does NOT include research, etc - because if it did, we wouldn't be getting a single rate for ALL VR that we do. True of many companies.

Why are MTs working from home selling themselves short - IAMT

[ In Reply To ..]
and why are we paid differently throughout this industry by way of working for an MTSO. No, research is not part of the job for all MTs. If I worked in an office or hospital, I would be compensated for the TIME I spent doing research, correcting demographics, sitting and waiting for work to come in and all else included in providing the most accurate patient medical file. Just cuz we work as MTs from home, we should have industry standards that provide us with an income equal to the time we spend as professionals.

I agree - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
Reasonable research (confirming drug name spelling, dosage, medical terminology, surgical equipment, etc) is and always has been part of the job whether straight transcription or VR -- as it should be IMO. Any quality MT/ME is capable of doing his/her job while doing this research and still producing a reasonable line count -- and this research IS part of what we are and always have been paid to do. If you are spending so much time on this type of research that it cuts noticably into your line count, you are doing something wrong or you're not in the right profession. (Newbies aside -- I realize it takes time to acquire the knowledge & skills needed to not look things up constantly and also the ability to research quicker as you gain experience. I'm referring to experienced MTs.)

Also, confirming demographics, adding physicians to cc list, transcribing "challenging" docs (ESL, yawners, chewers ...) etc, also is now and always has been part of the expected job duties. Again, a quality MT/ME should be able to do this and still produce a reasonable line count.

NOW -- not all transcription programs/platforms or accounts are created equal. If an MT/ME finds herself in a job where the platform is cumbersome or the account is impossible (52-page account specs, 98% ESL ...), it requires more than the average time for demographics, etc. or the employer starts requesting more and more of these tasks be done for some reason, that is when the MT/ME must decide to either discuss it with the employer & come to a new agreement on pay/job responsiblities or decide that this job/platform is not for her/him & find a new job with a more MT-friendly platform.

IMO - asking to be paid for the time it takes to read emails is ridiculous. I would never expect my employeer to pay me in order to communicate with me!

If you are receiving an inordinate amount of nonessential emails ("junk" mail), discuss it with the appropriate person, but an employer should not be expected to pay you for the time spent in communication.

All the cute analogies of the OP aside, I think the OP is taking the terminology "paid on production" too literal. While we are paid on production, part of that production DOES include some tasks that are not directly production oriented -- it takes a certain amount of time to log into your machine, it takes a certain amount of time to download & upload each job, and yes it takes a certain amount of time to do the job well (research, demographics, spellchecking each document, etc) and even time to communicate with your employer, especially as a remote employee. These are all tasks that are inherent in the job and IMO are a reasonable expectation of the employer and are part of doing your job well.

IMO, if these things are taking up so much of your time that it is making a notable difference in your pay -- you are on the wrong platform or quite simply in the wrong profession.

But, but, but... - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
all over this message board, MTs have seen dramatic pay cuts - and these are not all newbies who don't know how to do transcription, or take "too long" doing research etc. I'm sorry, let the Wage and Hours Division make a determination, and show me the LAW specifically stating companies can arbitrarily decide not to pay for work performed. All those minutes of unpaid labor add up - I remember how it was when I started out way back when - the amount of so-called "nonproduction" work we are expected to perform has MUSHROOMED.

But thanks for your input anyway.

but, but, but ... - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't believe the dramatic pay cuts are due to time spent on "nonproduction" work as you have described it (research, email). We had to do that type of "work" before VR and will have to continue doing it with VR.

I see the dramatic cuts as coming from (1) people sitting around with no work available because of offshoring or overhiring/mismanagement by MTSOs and (2) pay cuts due to VR/SR. The lie being spouted by the VR creators/marketers and the MTSOs that our production will increase astronomically by doing VR/SR is just that - a lie. But, they use that lie to justify cutting our pay and that is when the MT/ME takes a hit.

Now, if you want to argue that VR is not what they claim it is and that they are not taking into consideration that we still have to do all that research/demographics/etc. ON TOP OF now also editing the nonsense spit out by VR -- Okay - I agree. But, it's not the time spent on research, etc. that is causing the cut in pay - it is the fact that VR does not work as well as they say it does and we should never have to take a cut to use it to begin with.

that is what I'm arguing... - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
"Now, if you want to argue that VR is not what they claim it is and that they are not taking into consideration that we still have to do all that research/demographics/etc. ON TOP OF now also editing the nonsense spit out by VR -- Okay - I agree"

Yes, that's what I'm saying - but I still feel LEGALLY, under US law, we MUST be paid for ALL WORK we do. This isn't something decided on a message board, it's something Wage and Hour Division decides, based on law. I can remember when I started as an MT, way back when - there was a BARE MINIMUM of what is currently referred to as "nonproduction" work. I mean, is it inpatient or outpatient, I or O? And that was IT. We're WAY beyond that now, for many many companies.

Thanks for sharing your thinking, I do appreciate it

and this is why - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I believe, especially with the advent of VR/SR, which whether we like it or not is not going away, that all MT/ME, whether in house, at home, working directly for hospital/clinic or working for a service or working as independent contractors should all be paid hourly.

I read your initial argument to sound as though you were taken by surprise by the "nonproduction" work an MT/ME does and that it is not part of our pay, and with that I just can't agree. It is part of what is required to do the job and produce a line.

But, we could argue semantics all day long and obviously never agree.

I do agree that in some jobs out there the MT/ME is now being required to do more and more as compared to the past, which is why, again, I agree that the industry should move towards hourly pay rather than production (or they should improve their platforms -- we shouldn't have to do a great deal of searching for demographic info. We should just be confirming/verifying what is there - not searching all over for a DOB.) BUT, they also have to be able to ensure that all these remote employees actually work and don't visit message boards, vacuum, do laundry, etc. :-) (not saying anything personal) and then claim they were researching something. I support an hourly pay rate with a minimum line requirement and even incentive pay for exceeding a certain line count and penalizing for falling under the required line count. Of course, I also feel quality should play a part in our pay as well.

But, I think that hourly pay is a change that will, unfortunately, take a great deal of time to come about if it happens at all.

Personally, I work from home directly for a hospital and am paid on production for straight transcription. (Our in-house MTs are also paid on production, not hourly.) We are moving toward VR/SR currently, and I have already told my supervisor that I refuse to work for less. If they cannot guarantee in writing in my contract that I will be paid my minimum hourly rate equal to what I make currently, I will quit.

I'm sure it won't do any good and I will be looking for another job before the year is over, but until MTs refuse to accept the cut in pay for doing VR/SR they will not stop trying to make a buck off our backs.

What was entertaining to me as I sat in the meeting with the speech wreck company rep trying to sell his product to the hospital -- Our clinics already use Dragon and are not happy with it. Rep was saying well, it's proven 90-some percent (I forget his exact number) "out of the box," and our back-end speech is quite similar. Everyone around the table (HIM, IT, quality control, administrators, MTs, etc) was looking at each other and saying "I don't believe that. Do you believe that? Our clinics aren't getting that rate of quality."

BUT, when he then moved to the next slide in his presentation and said that MT production would increase by 100% they all thought that sounded wonderful.

Now, these are educated people -- why did they KNOW it was not as accurate as he claimed and yet still believe that our production would increase????

Because they (the hospital administrations) are only looking at their bottom line and how to cut transcription costs -- regardless of how it might affect the MT and regardless of how it will affect quality.

Very frustrating indeed.

So this should be a new policy for ALL companies? - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
You said: "IMO - asking to be paid for the time it takes to read emails is ridiculous. I would never expect my employer to pay me in order to communicate with me!"

So all those people who work hourly, they should keep track of the time it takes to read emails from THEIR employers, and not include that on their time cards? Could be 10 minutes a week = 40 minutes a month x 12 = 8 hours a year of donating time to a company - one whole day working for free! - I'm sure they wouldn't mind giving up a whole day's pay, 'cause it was spent reading company emails...I mean, it's unreasonable to expect to get paid to read company emails....

no, I think - ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I think it's comparing apples to oranges to some extent -- there are just some things that are going to be different with regard to pay when it is hourly versus production. There are going to be pros and cons to each and differences between the two. They will never be exactly equal. I think reading email is part of your job regardless of how you are paid. If you're paid hourly, woohoo, you get paid to read email, lucky you. You also get paid the same whether you produce 100 lph or 200 lph. Good for you - you got a sweet deal. But, I still don't think that gives me the right to be paid to read my email or review my QA (yes, someone at my office thought they should be paid for the time it took them to review their bimonthly QA.) I always have the right to renegotiate my contract and try to get paid hourly or the right to find a new job that pays hourly if I think that is a better deal.

I don't agree that if I am paid on production I should be submitting an item by item, minute by minute accounting of my day. I should not be required by my employer to do so and conversely I do not expect my employer to pay me that way. When I accepted my job as paid on production, I accepted that some things were included as part of the job.

I realize there are some MTSOs who are hardnosed about having hands on the keyboard for exactly such-and-so time, etc. I'm just saying I would never agree to work for such a company, but if someone does agree to work for them then they are accepting those terms (unless they were not told of those terms beforehand - but that's a whole nuther issue...)

For the record, I did work for a company in the past few years as a 2nd job -- turned out to be a terrible platform where I was expected to look up all kinds of demographics and import that info in, type in all kinds of headers that I later found out I was not being paid for, was tracked on how many minutes I was logged into jobs (not told beforehand that was the case), etc. -- I quit that job very quickly.

If you want to be paid hourly, find a job that pays hourly, but if you are paid on production, I believe you should accept that certain responsibilities come with the job regardless of how you are paid.

Are our research responsibilities more than they were in the past -- I don't know. From my own experience, they are not. I don't do any more demographics type research now than I did 14 years ago when I started. In fact, I do less on the platform I'm currently using. But, I know that there are many out there, especially with some of the SR/VR platforms, that are doing more and more of that type of research. I do believe it is time those folks stand up for themselves and refuse to accept lower pay for VR/SR. I don't think we should be paid more, certainly, but we all know it does not increase our line counts as advertised so I don't think there's any danger of that happening. But, why accept the pay cuts? As long as people accept the pay cut to do VR/SR and continue to work for the companies that make those cuts, the companies are not going to stop doing it.

Orwellian - some characters are more equal than others - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
If I'm getting paid by production, for X number of characters per line (right, a line is defined as number of characters/spaces)...then if I am doing data entry as part of my job...that is, inputting characters...that in a day's work will add up to a line...I need the software to keep track of THOSE characters too, so I can get paid for them. I also want a "difficulty differential" for reports that require a great deal more editing - this isn't hard to do - the darn speech (mis)recognition has consistently screwed up reports by certain doctors FOR YEARS. It ain't getting any better, so I want my difficulty differential - let's say 50 cents per report. Even a dollar! A dollar for the difficulty differential.

Again, these are legal questions, as to how much leeway companies have, that claim to pay "production only," and yet require on a regular basis nonproduction work. Legal question. I love the law!

I should add - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I am enjoying the discussion! It is interesting to see things from other people's aspect & experience.

I'm glad you are enjoying it - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm enjoying it, because it's helping me to hone my arguments - meaning, I want it to be clear as a bell to the people at the Wage and Hours Division, as to what I'm asking, so they can give me the relevant law as to why, if I'm wrong (and I don't think from a legal standpoint I am), why what I'm claiming is irrelevant, or not covered by law, etc.

So thanks for posting, it's really helping to clarify my thought (besides you half agree with me, it seems, as far as what some employers are doing) - at least from what I see on these boards.

Wage & Hours Division - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I think it is great that you are talking to an official department about all of this -- it is a shady, difficult area and I don't think most people (including a lot of hospital admin and MTSOs!) understand all that we do. And yes, maybe a job reclassification is in order as well. I just think it is going to be hard for you to get anywhere simply because it has been done this way (paid on production) for so long and is so widespread -- very hard to change an entire industry's way of thinking, let alone their way of compensating people. Not saying it shouldn't be tried or shouldn't be done - just saying you've chosen a very difficult argument to have and change will not occur overnight.

Part of the confusion may be in the different types of research you are referring to -- be specific about what is what I would call basic job research/knowledge (spelling, grammar, drugs, terminology, equipment) and which comes with time/experience (and which I believe should not be consider "nonproduction time" and should not be paid as such -- but we may disagree on that) and then what is what I'll call "other" research -- demographics, account specifics, provider names/lists, addresses, cc lists, etc -- those are so varied from company to company and platform to platform as far as how much is required by the employer and how much time is needed to do it. (Again making it difficult for you to make your argument because it is so subjective to company & platform.) Again, my personal experience is that I don't spend a lot of time on that "other" research in a day -- I'm guessing maybe 5 minutes a day for one or 2 reports a day, and I consider that small amount a part of my job.

BUT, if I were being required to jump around between 50 accounts (been there, done that -- quit the job and told them exactly why!) and research account specifics between each job, required to research demographics for every job, required to fill in provider names, etc., YES, I would certainly expect that to factor into my pay one way or another, either with a higher cpl or an hourly rate for X amount of hours each day or a flat hourly rate, something.

Also, if I did work for a company that required me to account for every minute of my day and they counted every minute my keys were clicking -- Honestly, I'd quit. But, I realize not everyone can just quit -- it's easy for me to say it, but it isn't always possible. In that situation, yes, I would expect to be paid in some way for the other time I spent researching demographics.

But, overall, I think that minute detailing of every minute of every day is a dangerous path to go down for the MT and the MTSO both. If we go down that path, then the MTSOs are going to have to be willing to pay for every minute of time spent "on the job" regardless of whether keys are clicking or not - I agree with you that they can't have their cake and eat it too. If they are requiring that much "other" research and work to complete a report, they are not asking for just "production" any more. BUT, MTs also can't have their cake and eat it too -- if we are going to expect to be paid for every minute spent on the job, including every minute spent researching or downloading a job or reading an email, then we have to be willing to be "chained" to our desk and monitored for every minute of our day. It is a double-edged sword that is probably better left sheathed if you ask me.

forgot to add - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
When we throw in VR/SR, it's even more complicated for anyone to understand. I don't know how you go about explaining it to Wage & Hours Division because it is so confusing to all of us just how they are getting away with paying us less, so how to explain it to someone who doesn't understand what we do to begin with!

Here we are given a new "tool" that is supposed to enhance our work & increase our production, but we are asked at the same time to take a pay cut in that production pay while learning a new skill set and adding (in most cases) to our "research" and editing time. So, in effect, even though it produces the lines for us & at a faster rate than us, the end product is so garbled and messed up that we spend more time and effort (and knowledge) "fixing" it than if we'd just typed it ourselves. So, we are in effect producing the same lines that we would have produced anyway, but it takes more effort and knowledge to do it and for less pay. I really don't know how you explain that to Wage & Hours or anyone else.

When I tried to explain it to someone outside of the medical field recently, they declared that it was all "insane" -- I had to agree. :-)

I guess my question to Wage & Hours is how can they (MTSO or hospital) tell us a computer program they purchase/implement is increasing our production and therefore they will cut our line rate, but we won't actually see a cut in pay -- how can they tell us that and go through with the pay rate change without some sort of guarantee that the MT won't see a cut in her paycheck?

Keep us updated on how it goes with Wage & Hours -- I'll be curious to hear what their views are.

"Insane" - LOL - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
I'll keep you posted...I'd love to be on the Rachel Maddow show trying to explain the "insanity" of it all... :)

let us remember the phrase though, "method in the madness" - just make it so "confusing" we won't realize we are vastly underpaid and/or we won't realize we can't do anything about it. Computer screen - smokescreen conundrum. Yeah, I like that. Rachel Maddow might like it too.

I'm disappointed in my state laws! - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
You got me thinking, so I asked the question on a website for labor law questions regarding the legality of an employer changing the rate of pay and whether an MT has any right/expectation of a guarantee to not take a cut in pay for performing the same job after implementation of VR software. This is the answer I got --

"Employment in *my state* is considered to be at will unless there is a written contract of employment to the contrary. The at will employer is free to change the pay of an employee for no reason at all or for any reason at all except based only on the age/race/sex/disability of the employee and the employee has no recourse other than to accept the pay or resign. The laws on at will employment heavily favor the employer and not the employee, so the employee is entirely at the mercy of the employer when it comes to changing pay."

I did explain the whole situation of VR and that MTs do the same job plus more time spent in research/editing of nonsense VR reports. I also explained that I work in my state for an employer in my same state, but many MTs may work for an employer in a state other than where they live. His answer appears to apply to my state specifically as an at will employer state, so some state laws may vary - but apparently for at will states - get it in writing if you want to maintain your pay rate after switching to VR!

Also, job misclassification is an issue - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
If this job is classified as "production," but it requires a certain amount of "nonproduction" work - then there either needs to be a new job category that combines production and nonproduction work - hmm..isn't that hourly? :)

They have "fact finding" when it comes to things like this - it's not necessarily obvious what the legal issues are. Have to be teased out.

But thanks for your perspective too. Something to grapple with.

BRAVO! Well stated. - no message

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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I've taken the tests and have been offered a job with Nuance but want to know if the wage offered was the standard wage for Nuance. I was offered 8 cpl for straight trasncription and 4 cpl for editing. This would be for clinics only. I've heard acute care paid more, but I've only ever had clinic experience. Do they ever offer raises? They mentioned a bonus program, and I've seen notes on here about people saying they have had problems getting th ...

Jun 04, 2015

How many are aware of the wage disparity between different accounts (they don't find it necessary to tell us such a silly detail as the hourly wage, you have to look it up online). With the new accounts, some pay quite low (as low as MB that no one wants to work on) and it may be a shock for those working on those accounts when they get their paychecks! Is it right of them to ask/require us to help out? My feeling is it is costing me to work on those accounts, as it lowers ...

Aug 27, 2010

From an article written 2 days ago regarding MQ's settlement of a lawsuit filed by Kaiser against Medquist (which MQ settled for 2 million, by the way): The company reported net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2010 as increasing $20.1 million or 25.9 percent to $97.5 million compared to $77.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2009. ...

Feb 18, 2011

I think a fair wage should be in relation to the economy, that which allows you to meet your baseline financial needs without having to work a second job or long hours. I worked for a service back in the early 80s for 6.5 cents per line. Today, nearly 30 years later, they're offering 7.5 cents per line, yet costs are sky-high. It's pathetic. It's sweatshop third world. It's true, we're stuck with the way things are, but ...

Feb 27, 2011

I have been an MT for over 10 years for a hosital. I am considering working for Medquist. I currently make 19 per hour but my job is going away. I know I can produce about 1700 lines per day mostly ISR work. Questions: How much does MQ pay per line for ISR (voice recognition) reports. Also what is the minimum work they require (lines per day). Do they pay PTO for part time? Do you get any incentives for weekend work? How often do you run out of work? How m ...

May 10, 2011

Is anyone else fed up with the fact that the wages for MTs never go up? It has been the same low rate for years! ...

Mar 17, 2012

Does anyone else feel this way, work hard, trying to do a good job, need to pay the bills, need the insurance and end up with $80 for a full day's work and that is sometimes on a good day but $10.00 per hour seems to be on average what I get, after looking up docs, looking up meds, relistening to blanks, relistening to diagnosis, trying to understand lab values and yada, yada, yada. Everyday becomes a marathon just to make $10 bucks an hour - haven't earned so little for man ...

Nov 07, 2012

Learned from my son yesterday that babysitters in Boulder, CO get $15/hour. Do you think they have more training and experience than we do? ...

Nov 18, 2013

If you are a production employee, employee status, do youl qualify for unemployment benefits (Nuance, formerly Accentus, formerly Zylomed)? ...

Aug 07, 2014

I came into this field long after the precedent was set on pay. I knew coming into this that the average wage ran from 6 cpl to 10 cpl, with most jobs hovering around 7 to 8 cpl. What I didn't account for was that in more than 10 or 15 years, we'd still be at that rate. Not only has our wage not gone up in over a decade, even with cost of living increases, but that when they came out with speech recognition, someone thought, "Well, it's doing half the work, so y ...

Feb 19, 2015

It kinda looks like TTS can't get anyone to work for them with their ridiculous wages. You'd think they would have figured it out by now. ...

Nov 10, 2009

I just recently found out that my wages are being garnished. I knew it was coming and I decided maybe it wasn't a bad idea in order to pay back this debt. The problem is they are taking 20% of my disposable income which is a considerable amount! I am a single mom with two kids and 20% is simply too much and doesn't leave us much to live on. I did my research and found that in the state of Missouri if you are head of household and the only income, a creditor can ...

Feb 18, 2011

Serious question: Why do you stay? ...

Aug 13, 2011

This is just a warning message to hopefully prevent other MTs from going through my experience. ATSI still owes me three paychecks, which were repeatedly promised to be paid day after day, week after week, then we were informed they legally had to pay by August the 8th. Most of us have still not been paid. I just learned that David Shepherd and his wife, Terry, also control M T World. I am now employed elsewhere, but it will take months to undo the damage this company did ...

Jul 04, 2012

As a seasoned medical transcriptionist with over 30 years of experience, I can no longer contain my irritation with the low wages being offered by so many MTSOs. Therefore, rather than apply for the low-wage positions, I am e-mailing these companies and letting them know how insulting their wages are and what an asset I would be to their company, but refuse to accept these low wages. Some of you may not agree, but this is my form of protesting what has become of the medical transcription p ...

Aug 13, 2012

On the Company board, someone commented that Global Information Systems is deducting $5.00 per error. THIS IS WRONG and it DOES make your company irreputable. Another person commented their company was reputable and does the same thing. In what world is it sensible to say a company is reputable and then cite how they behave illegally? This link fills you in. Your company can't deduct your wages unless you signed an agreement saying they could. And if you did t ...

Aug 24, 2012

What would you think if you went to make a dental appt and were told you had no coverage due to non-payment by your employer and the insurance company cancelled you, but..... the premiums are still being taken out. Or if you did not get your paycheck last payday or were $$$ short? ...

Sep 10, 2012

Can we pinpoint the reasons we are working for slave wages and unfair treatment? I'm hearing EMR and TAT, but don't we have the ability to provide the same service directly to physicians with software we can download for free? Didn't most of us provide 24-hour turnaround? Has EMG made it to technical to keep up with? Why would a physician choose to pay an MTSO more than they were paying us as ICs when their primary concerns seems to be saving money? Has anyone surveyed wha ...

Oct 01, 2012

The recruiter is not the only serious problem they have. Any former MTs at SS who are interested in being paid their lost wages should get in touch with me. You should only contact me if you have documentation you are willing to share. ...

Mar 30, 2013

Guess I have sunk to a new low. With ASR and NJA, I have joined the working poor. Can't wait until I finish school and get out of here. My wage is less than when I started MT 25 years ago. Just trying to hold on until I finish school. ...

Aug 07, 2013

DOL says some of us are not on the list, what's up with that? ...

Aug 08, 2013

My employer, who has several VA contracts, was audited by the DOL last year. The findings of the audit were that the employer should have been paying us the prevailing hourly wage because the contracts were federal government contracts. Many people got back pay for the period of time for which the books were audited, but not everyone did because the DOL only audited one of our accounts. Even though all the rest of the MTs were paid exactly the same way (on a production basis), ...

May 27, 2014

My wages have been cut in half since going from transcribing to SR. Anybody else? ...

Jun 13, 2014

The Dragon and sending work to India and the Philippines has taken over the hospitals. Nuance is the Dragon and they now get their 2 cents. That is part of the reason our pay has gone down...eaten up by the year of the Dragon. Guess that would mean health care has gone to the Dragon, the CEOs and insurance companies. ...