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

Is there hope for my pay? - RsMom

Posted: Jul 12, 2010

So... I've been at Medquist for about 6 months - I was a new grad so I only make 0.05 a line (I know, I know, save your comments about that people!). I actually have really good accounts so I never make less than $12 an hour so at least I'm not making minimum wage. But anyway I was wondering if anyone knew what people with a year experience start at and what my hopes are for raises in the future. Surely they can't pay me 0.05 forever, right?? right???

oh dear - old grad

[ In Reply To ..]
I make less than you right now and double your pay.

Also, I have only had 1 raise in 10 years and that was because they took away our monthly bonus and gave me measley 0.0006 cent increase in pay.

I hope you do better...

less pay/no raises - oldtimey

[ In Reply To ..]
Savor the moment, it only gets worse. After 12 years of MT/ME-ing I make less now than I ever did. With every change MQ makes, my pay mysteriously goes down ! What I could type in 2 hours now takes 3. What kind of BS is that. My pay has been cut in half.

WHATS A PAY RAISE - OLDER-THAN-TIME

[ In Reply To ..]
I have 16 years experience, 10 years experience with Medquist. I work for minimum wage. These machines are rigged to MQ's benefit and the more experienced MTs get the most impossible work ensuring that it is done right while the difficulty level slows the MT down and slashes his/her pay.

There is no formula. There is no fairness. Whomever they decide to pay well will be paid well and whomever they delegate poverty status to will be poorly paid. However, their unequal pay practices have made me a force to be reckoned with as an MT, which is the only reason I stayed for as long as I did. I CAN TRANSCRIBE ANYTHING. I could not believe the consistent barrage of horrible audio and indecipherable dictation that was filtered to me on a daily basis.

However, knowing that they pay the newbies well makes me feel better and I hope you are treated fairly. I think they may have finally tired of losing their transcriptionists due to the theivery of their pay practices. I hope all goes well for you and you receive timely raises.

My impression of MQ is they represent a youthful contemporary organization that has contempt for older and experienced MTs and resent that we do a far better job of transcribing reports than speech recognition software, and they make us pay through the nose for it.

Due to the extremely bad audio, since working for this company, - dnr

[ In Reply To ..]
I have lost some of my hearing.

Hope for pay - Nature

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been with MQ for 10 years and have never had a raise. If you are making $12 an hour, you are making more than most of us. Consider yourself at a good pay. Many MTs who have been here even longer than myself don't make more than minimum wage. Before I changed to part time, my pay had been decreased by half of what I was making over 3 years ago. I use to bring home $1,500 every 2 weeks. Before I went PT, I was lucky to bring home $750 every 2 weeks.

So why do you stay? - RsMom

[ In Reply To ..]
I was planning on trying to find something else if I found my pay starting to drop or failing to increase over time - so why doesn't everyone who is unhappy at MQ do that? It seems like there are a lot of companies that pay more if you have 1-2 years experience. What is stopping everyone from looking somewhere else?

WHY STAY - Nature

[ In Reply To ..]
The #1 reason for me is all equipment and computer provided. I do not have the means to buy all that and make sure it is compatible with MQ program. I have had companies contact me, because a past supervisor referred me, but when I asked if they provide everything, the answer is always no. Even when I worked inhouse, my ex-supervisor called me in a different state and asked if I would come work for her in the new hospital she was at, but provided no computer. That is a big thing.

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