A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Bankrupt Spheris wants to pay workers in cash - TO STAY WITH COMPANY until sell to MQ
Posted: Mar 13, 2010
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100313/BUSINESS01/3130330/1003/NEWS01
So many workers are taking time off that Spheris Inc., currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy
and waiting to be sold to a rival, is concerned that it won't be able to finish all its medical transcription chores for clients in a timely manner.
The Franklin-based company wants U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to pay its employees in cash for up to 40 hours of accrued and unused leave time so they'll stay on the job and transcribe doctors' notes into computerized files.
In a bankruptcy filing, the company said it has experienced a 34 percent spike in days off because some workers are afraid they could lose their paid leave time once Spheris is sold.
Without some relief, Spheris said having fewer typists on hand could result in longer turnaround times and damage customer service.
Under a pending sale agreement, publicly traded MedQuist Inc., of Mt. Laurel, N.J., would acquire Spheris' domestic operations.
Nuance Communications Inc., a creditor and a competitor of Spheris, opposes the sale.
ANOTHER GOOD ARTICLE ABOUT SPHERIS AND MQ - Oh dear!
[ In Reply To ..]http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2010/03/08/daily48.html
Spheris being hamstrung as employees rush to use vacation or quit altogether
Spheris Inc. employees worried about losing their benefits in the companyâs upcoming bankruptcy sale are taking vacation days or quitting altogether.
The amount of paid time off being taken by medical transcriptionists at Spheris has shot up 34 percent since the Franklin-based company filed for Chapter 11 protection in early February.
As Spheris points out in court filings this week, thatâs a problem.
âDecreased availability of production employees, if not stopped, could cause longer turnaround times for transcription jobs, jeopardizing one of the most important aspects of the debtorsâ customer service efforts,â the company said its filing.
Spheris plans to sell its U.S. operations to major competitor MedQuist Inc. and its India subsidiary to CBay Inc. through a court-sanctioned auction. The agreements state that neither of the so-called âstalking horseâ bidders will assume Spherisâ paid time off liability. A sale hearing is set for April 15.
To keep transcriptionists coming to work over the next month, Spheris is asking for the courtâs permission to pay up to 40 hoursâ worth of accrued and unused PTO per employee â up to about $440,000 â once the sale is complete. If another bidder steps forward and takes on the PTO liabilities, Spheris wonât have to pay.
Spheris, the nationâs second-largest provider of clinical documentation technology and services, employs about 4,200 medical transcriptionists. About 2,300 of those are in the United States.
SEE WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO MQ - IF WE ALL GOT TOGETHER
[ In Reply To ..]and did not work for 2 days?
Do you remember when MQ systems went down about 4-5 years ago and there was no work for 2 days and then they were so behind that they offered big time bonuses?
You would think that would let them know how important we were, but I guess they forget to easily.
YES! And that is what MQ is TERRIFIED of until CBay hires - more workers. That is why the
[ In Reply To ..]discrepancy of some service areas having plenty work and some not! That is why the merging of all the different service areas into just a couple larger ones -- as they hire in India and move clients over, service areas are shrinking.
I would be worried too, if I was a Spheris employee, seeing just what I personally have been though with MQ in the past.
MQ is run by a bunch of thugs. And CBay is just GREEDY and UNDERHANDED and the CEO stays up at night thinking of ways to cut our salaries even more!
thugs - wooly bully
[ In Reply To ..]did ya ever consider the location of the corporate office == New Jersey == I'll leave the rest to your imagination, but what I'm thinking about starts with a "M".....
New Jersey "M" - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I had noticed all the names of the major players (new and old) sound like they have relatives in the "Old Country" and "connections." But I thought maybe it was just because it was New Jersey ~~
Spheris has 4,200 MTs total and only 2,300 - are in the good ole USA. NM
[ In Reply To ..]All this sounds like a setup to me. So the other MT's are in India? What a perfect setup for MQ and CBAY to purchase. I smell a rat.
smell a rat - wooly bully
[ In Reply To ..]I'm sure there were some "cheesy" meetings held in dark places, don't ya think!!
I applaud the US MTs for taking - care of S/M
[ In Reply To ..]themselves first and foremost.
CB is the biggest winner in all of this - - dnr
[ In Reply To ..]They get the Indian half of Spheris, and then "MQ" (AKA CB in disguise) gets the US half but then has to send 80% to CB. Such a double win for CB.
What do you mean 80% - Spheris MT
[ In Reply To ..]They will offshore that much more? Where did you hear that?!
SEC filings. It was part of the deal when CBay bought MQ. - MQ MUST send 80% of the work to
[ In Reply To ..]CBay. Since CBay actually owns MQ now (over 75 percent of the company). If you do a google search you could probably find the SEC documentation. MQ then has 20% of the work to divy out to whatever USA employees they have.
That is why different service areas have different work loads. They are slowly weeding out MTs as work/clients get sent to India, and CBay is building brand new transcription centers and hiring faster than you can say yikes.
Here it - is . .
[ In Reply To ..]Excerpt:
Each order form shall include MedQuist TL�s proposal to CBay Systems & Services of the projected volume in hours of dictation that MedQuist TL desires to provide to CBay Systems & Services for transcription and editing. Upon agreement and execution of an order form by MedQuist TL and CBay Systems & Services, MedQuist TL must offer CBay Systems & Services not less than 80% of all volume projections set forth in an executed order form.
http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/091210/MEDQUIST-INC_8-K.A/
Here ya go. - MQ SEC filings
[ In Reply To ..]CBay Systems & Services is an affiliate of the Companyâs majority shareholder, CBay, Inc. ("CBay, Inc."), which owns approximately 70% of the Companyâs outstanding common stock.
Upon agreement and execution of an order form by MedQuist TL and CBay Systems & Services, MedQuist TL must offer CBay Systems & Services not less than 80% of all volume projections set forth in an executed order form.
Read more: http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/091210/MEDQUIST-INC_8-K.A/#ixzz0i88JFbhZ
OMG, there will be nothing left - Spheris MT
[ In Reply To ..]You are right, if CBay takes what's already "global," then gets 80% of the rest, what will be left for 2000 MTs to do? They keep telling us we will still have our work. Can they really not know this? Or just lying. Duh.
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