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

Feedback from QA "experts" - new to Q

Posted: May 13, 2010

I'm fairly new to working with MQ, but is it just me, or do the feedbacks from QA come back very frequently contradicting the information from the client profiles and samples in the respository?

I finally called up and asked what the hay was up. I cited and was able to back up many of my complaints (year-old, changed to year old, than on another year old, changed to year-old; commas in then commas out, surgeon name in, then surgeon's name out...) More often than not, the "corrections" they make to my reports are simply absurd! I KNOW I don't insert dashes (-) before a doctors name, yet this is showing up frequently! I even got a note that said "had I bothered to take the time to seach the client profile, I would have EASILY found the name of a physician, whose name I had left as a marker", yet when I did search, afterwards, I still did not find it!

On "verbatim" reports, they are changing it around too! I mean, isn't verbatim still verbatim, or is it a QA preference?!

I hope that I am an exception and not a rule, because if this is the case, I'm outta here! I thought I'd take an at home job for a change, but this company doesn't really seem to have it's stuff all together and as a transcriptionist, I can't seem to get any answers from the higher ups, nor any support, OR even a call back when I leave a message!

Any experienced MQ ppl want to give me the down-low? Thanks so much.

LOL! You MUST be new! - shipwrecked

[ In Reply To ..]
First thing you should realize, is that you can't win. We all have the same experiences. You get a feedback, so on the next report you comply, only to get dinged again. I've lately been getting dings for typing Arabic numbers, and now being corrected to spelling them out.

Just hang in there and do what you think is right.

shipwrecked - new to Q

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, I appreciate your candor and I will do what I think is right, even though it will be sent back corrected to their liking. Perhaps I should just give up reading the feedback, it is very depressing and makes me question myself and my experience. Thanks.

It's only the audits you have to worry about. - Tired

[ In Reply To ..]
I stopped looking at MME feedback a long time ago. It never makes sense and everyone just does what they want.

I just do my reports and move on.

Sound advice. I do the same thing: ignore QA, - do my work, and keep on movin. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
There's not much else you CAN do, when the QA's are so incompetent, they not only contradict the Holy Book (BOS), but the job descriptions, and even (laughably) THEMSELVES. I'll get not only QA #1 saying the exact opposite of QA #2, but QA #1 will even come back the next day saying the exact opposite of what she said the day before. There is absolutely no way in H__L anyone could keep up with all this so-called "quality assurance", so I for one don't even try anymore.

The whole QA system is a total SHAM.

My experience is the same as yours. - dnr

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been here about 3 years and the last 2 years have been especially bad and worsening.

Power trip. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I think a lot of the MMEs just let it go to their head. They just start changing every little thing they can to make it seem like their smarter than everyone else.

However, with that being said, not ALL MMEs are that way. I have gotten some pretty good feedback a time or two.

AND I remember a time before when we had some QAs on a power trip, changing things that shouldn't have been changed and leaving rude comments on feedback, and it wasn't long before they started disappearing.

So....if you're an MME on a power trip, better get off fast before it bites you.

Those "Awemighty" QA experts ! - TypoTrixi

[ In Reply To ..]
Near hysterics (L0L) I sit here, reading the ongoing threads of comments on the power yielded by those QAs on the path of power! They hold us hostage - with their nit picking, every-little-nuance bashing of what is totally incidental to patient safety and continuity of care. For example...an ESL physician who literally cuts sentences in half - he knows what he wants to say but we are not talking gramatically correct by any stretch of the imagination. BUT...the transcriptionist "knows" this physician and sees to it that the transcription is appropriate in content - not edited to be gramatically correct but definitely what the doctor dictated and would in no way be challenged in a legal/court setting. I have been in this business many years and I have NEVER until now been confronted with the "slaps" by QA for what is obviously inappropriate nit picking. We are not talking about error in medications, error in diagnosis but rather going over with a microscope a physicians clipped dictation(s) which is his style of speech. OMG - what is happening to our profession? We are professionals - and take time to research should there be questions about a "word" that is not clear - hunting it down and if not certain - we must leave a blank - never "guessing" and yet - here we seem to be, in an arena of pick-apart - pick-to-pieces editing that matters not - a hellacious waste of time and not warranted whatsoever.

Well -- You About Summed It Up Here - MT Idiot

[ In Reply To ..]
Hello. I quit my job with Medquist about 2 weeks ago.

Um -- you unfortunately are right on the "bulls-eye" here with your observations.

My frank opinion is that there are so many directives and changes issued so often from the company "management" (or MIS-management) that EVERYONE (including all levels of workers between the absolute top echelon and the MTs/MEs) gets absolutely confused. But it's worse than being confused, because there are contradictory directions given to the MTs/MEs; and ya'know --- you can only do it one way at a time. Maybe someone should tell the company management THAT!

Well, I'm out'a there, and I never did a better thing for myself in my whole life.

It has been this way with this company since 1988. - Darn if you, darn if you do not!

[ In Reply To ..]
I have applied to one company in my life and that company merged with that company who bought out that company and here I am today.

It has been this way with this company FOREVER. One person says this and the other says that. You will never win with them.

I have had it. I am done. I am back at school and have decided to become a medical assistant. I did a lot of research and found out that being medical assistant and working at Providence you get health care for you and your family and guess what? It does not cost you a red penny unlike MQ. You make around 14.50 an hour starting and guess what? You know EXACTLY what your paycheck will be every 2 weeks. After a year, the company will pay 50% of your tuition, after 3 years, 75% and after 5 years, 100% tuition as long as you stay in the medical field. Then after 5 years of employment, you may transfer to a specialty clinic and make way more money.

What is new and exciting that is now coming out in the medical field is the need for employees who can read patient emails and understand the symptoms and what the patient is describing. Then you decided if it is an urgent email or not and send it to the doctor. Do not know more details yet or the name of the position, but it sounds very interesting and guess what? You get paid starting around 26.00 an hour. This position is an interest to me.

So, basically becoming an MA, you can move up and get awesome benefits unlike staying in this field or this company where they decrease your pay with no raises. My last raise was in 2000 and the company says I am high on the totem pole for making anymore money, yet the same people who gave me that raise back in 2000 are the same people who are board members with this company who gave me that raise. How much do ya wanta bet that these board members all get their raises and bonuses and then some each year with this company. MAKES ME SICK!!!!

A lot of large companies have QA just like that - jm0405

[ In Reply To ..]
Every person is different so your feedback will be different as well.

To make life easier for you and less aggravating, here are a few pointers:
1. If you hear a pause in a normal sentence, not because he's a reading a page, just a natural pause, then a comma is needed.

2. If you get a chain of meds and you are not to put them in a numbered list, separate the drugs w/a semicolon:
Example: Aspirin 81 mg daily; Albuterol 1 spray per nostril, etc.

Now, if they say drug name only, then you do this: Aspirin, atorvastatin, vitamin D, calcium.

3. 81 years old.....81-year-old.

4. White blood cell count 5200; hemoglobin 34; hematocrit 36; platelets 210,000. Reason: When you have to put a comma in 210,00 - you separate the others with a semi to avoid confusion.

5. Date = April 12, 2010. In a sentence: The pt underwent surgery, on April 10, 2010, for pleural effusion. Why? Because commas are used to divide things up when the sentence would still work without it. The pt underwent surgery for pleural effusion. You see, it works without the date. So...those "extra" phrases that are stated, you have to put them in, but they aren't "necessary" throw in commas. Keep in mind after 2010, you always need a comma if it's in the middle of a sentence.

6. Doc's names...to get past this headache with QA, if you have a way in the system to look up a doc by his first name, that helps tremendously. If not, then go to your hospital web site, save it to your desktop and use the "physician look up" - those are handy cause you can look up by name and/or specialty.

7. Hospital names = hospitalsoup.com. That will give you names of SNF, rehab and hospitals...another little gem. :)

Hope this helps a little.

depends - nat

[ In Reply To ..]
These would be helpful if all QA people did it the same. I have put semicolons in after drugs with dosages and had them changed to commas. Also, labs have had semicolons removed and commas placed by QA. I have had the comma removed from before the dates. It just depends on the QA person doing your reports.

Also, 81 years old would not be 81-year-old, it should be 81 years old. If the patient is 81 years old, that is how it should be typed. If it is an 81-year-old patient, that is how it should be typed.

On the comma issue, you are going under the assumption that all QA people follow the same rules and they don't. They do what suits them.

Maybe you have had consistent QA, but I haven't.

Consistent QA? Nope... - jm0405

[ In Reply To ..]
I simply found a way to get the least amount of grief no matter who "grades" my work. Afraid of semicolons? Fine...maybe 2-3 others aren't...and they only take off about 0.25 of a point, if that. Don't sweat the small stuff.

No, I never said QA is consistent. Everybody does something different. Some thrive on putting commas after "and" - I do not. I am not a semicolon-phobic person - some QA break out in hives for using that "foreign" object on the keyboard.

It's up to you to understand that NOBODY died because you did or did not put a comma afer the word "and". Some QA people take the title to the extremes - they get on a power kick - inflated ego - they must control you. It's a pain, but it's the nature of the beast. You let them go off on their little tangent and just know it will end in due time when you are taken off "babysit" duty. I honestly have never met anyone that fell under 98% accuracy over suffering from comma-syndrome.

It's up to you to keep things into perspective, keep it real, understand this is a phase that will pass when in due course of time. Meanwhile, don't stress about it and if you do, go have a straight shot of Cuervo, throw darts in a bar or shoot pool, hit the dance floor and don't worry about it.

understand - nat

[ In Reply To ..]
I totally understand what you are saying about not fretting over the little stuff. Frankly, I have never fell under 99% even with them picking at the commas. I am not on babysitting duty. I understand some QA people are on power kicks.

It is hard not to get frustrated with QA picking your reports apart all the time for no reason and no amount of Cuervo (personally, I do not drink, maybe I should start LOL) or dart throwing is going to take that away. I know that nobody is going to die due to a comma being there or not. It is not me that needs to know this, it is the QA people that pick the reports apart. I am not even necessarily blaming it all on QA. Frankly, I had a discussion with my QA supervisor and was told that if she does not pick, she gets marked down by the people higher above her that audit her work. I believe this to be true. The whole problem is that there are the money-hungry people at the top who have probably never done transcription before changing the rules all the time for all of us down here doing all the work.

What really yanks my chain is when I read that all the work is going to India because there are not enough qualified people in this country to do the work, when in all actuality, it is because they can pay them less over there to do poor quality work and get away with it. Believe me, it is not just the transcription industry, it is in all occupations. What really needs to be done is everybody needs to start writing their senators, representatives and the president and let them know how we feel. I have done this many times already. Has it helped? No. But if everyone that is on this site complaining about what is happening in our industry and other industries would write their senators, representatives and the president, maybe it will change. Companies need to stop getting tax breaks for sending the work overseas. You are correct as far as not letting the little stuff bother us, but we need to do something about it! Many people believe their voice is not heard, but if enough people do something about it, things can change. I urge all of you to write today!

Please, there are no QA people anymore - MMEs fill in blanks sent for qa and...

[ In Reply To ..]
each BOB has a Quality Coach who is the BOSS of grammar/punctuation/style for that BOB. They do the scored audits, send out emails, etc. MMEs get reports with blanks sent for qa and are paid 3 cpl to try to fill them in. If it is a new MT or full qa dictator/facility, they do full review on it and that's when the individual style creates the differences in feedback, but these are not scored audits. A big problem was created when MQ demoted the QA people to MMEs, and a lot of them quit due to not getting hourly wage anymore. So MQ tiered-up many MTs to MMEs and they started correcting reports. We have a lot of MMEs who don't have qa experience creating a lot of the problems mentioned here, IMO. For 3 cpl an MME would be foolish to nitpick through a report that wasn't full QA and take time to send feedback. If a critical error is noticed while filling in a blank, then MQ wants full qa on that report done. Most of my MME friends do their best "not to notice" anything but the blanks. Again, IMO it is the newly tiered-up MMEs who are most of this problem. Like someone said, just don't take it personally, and go on and do the work. Unless it comes from your QC, it virtually does not count for jack.

That's because they used to have - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
experienced QAs but decided they wanted to go the cheap route & start pay 3 cpl for QA work, so many of the experienced QAs apparently quit & they had to put MTs in those positions who have never QAd before. You get what you pay for.

Exactly! A lot of good QA people left this board. - How many QA are still here?

[ In Reply To ..]
How many MQ QA's are still currently working for this company for the last 2 years or more?

Wow! That many? None! and 62 read this post. - Just what I thought. They all left. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I'm still here - MQ qa since 2000 or so - NM

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Welcome to the crazy club!!! - So Tired!!

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been in your boat too many times to count!!! I have complained to QA super about many reports I've gotten back contradicating client profiles, guidlines etc. and the worst thing is that the "corrected" report is the one going to the client WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!!! It took me 9 years to learn and I just started a new job 2 days ago.

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