A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Oh no ....... BIG TSM layoff ..... - notgood
Posted: Oct 21, 2014
Just got the call. My TSM of many years is gone as of the 2nd week in November.
Here is what I know from a very long conversation. Almost HALF of the western region's TSMs got the call this week ... if you are in the western region you may want to find out if your TSM is one of them. If you are in the eastern region, you may have already lost a few but there are more layoffs coming. When all the layoffs are done, there will only be about half a dozen managers per region (east and west). Each of them will have AT LEAST 200 employees under them. The ultimate goal is to wipe out many of the American employees and to keep boosting work going to India. The "end-plan" will be to have a small group of only the best of the best top performance American employees.
Things that she said us employees MUST know:
Your new manager's PRIMARY responsibility will NO LONGER be Teamwork, scheduling, work flow, etc but rather, performance management. If you are working your schedule, producing the line counts required, passing your audits, and meeting all of your performance and scheduling requirements, you will likely never hear from your new manager. However, if you are struggling in any of these areas, you will be performance managed. If you are having trouble keeping your schedule, you will be hearing from a scheduling coordinator and managed until you are meeting your hours. If you are not passing your audits, you will be mentored until you pass your audits, etc. However, if you continue to struggle in these areas, you will be let go. Period. She said there is going to be a HARD LINE drawn in the sand for these areas and anyone not performing up to par will be let go, no ifs, ands or buts. It will be swift, and very impersonal but she emphasized many times that every single element has to be TOP performance - work schedule, audits, metrics, blanks (yes there will be a new metric for blanks), and production.
She told me she can see a day when everything we do is "automated", including all of our work analysis sent to us by email reports and any of us who do not perform up to standard will be removed via email ... we won't even get a phone call.
This is where things are getting REAL, guys. When half the management team is laid off, that's BIG BIG BIG. Her parting words of advice to me were to stay on top of your game in every single area and with every single employment requirement because they're not playing around anymore - it's either perform at top/elite level, or be let go. Period.
How do they expect to keep the - best of the best
[ In Reply To ..]US MTs by offering them inflexible schedules, a myriad of primary accounts, high stress, inaccurate VR, mandatory weekends and holidays, constant audits, offshore QA, etc.? The only ones who will stay are those desperate for a job due to their financial circumstances, or the few that have a good schedule and lucrative accounts.
Oh that reminds me, she also said ... - notgood
[ In Reply To ..]That the number of accounts we're all working on now, is NOTHING compared to what we are about to see. The new organizational structure is designed for us to work any account, any time, for any reason, from any region. There are absolutely NO limits on the number of accounts we will be working. No more primaries - AT ALL. We get what comes up in our queue ... it could be Nebraska one minute or New York the next ... and we may not even see the same account twice all day.
They are ONLY concerned with keeping those employees who can work every account with proficiency.
Seriously? - How do they expect the Indians
[ In Reply To ..]to do that, once the US MTs are all but gone?
I don't think you realize how many Indian MTs it takes - sm
[ In Reply To ..]to do one of our MT's job. They produce anywhere from 1/4 to at most 1/2 the number of lines we do, usually closer to 1/4. The money they make is a lot of money over there, even doing 1/4 of our line count a day. They can have tons of MTs & assign accounts more strategically since they have that luxury -- as opposed to being in our situation, in a mad rush cranking out thousands of lines in a panic all day long just to try to make more than minimum wage. I wish our country would SEVERELY financially penalize all companies who send work overseas.
^And that's not even including the 3-4 levels of Indian QA before it makes - it to US QAs. NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
Maybe with all that work going over there... - Messed up. sm
[ In Reply To ..]...their MTs will have the luxury of a main primary and 1 or 2 backups. Just like we used to have in the good old days. Sooo glad I decided against going back to MM last year. Best wishes to all of you.
They probably already do. However, front- - end speech wreck and P&C* will -
[ In Reply To ..]eventually eliminate their MT jobs, as well. And we probably won't be able to take any solace from the fact that they'll eventually lose their jobs, because the U.S. will simply send them MORE jobs in the future. I just hope it's not whatever field I get into next.
(* = "point & click") ;)
No wonder they did away with - the dep function
[ In Reply To ..]they don't want us to see what's coming
or going! nm - ssMI2
[ In Reply To ..].
already done that, we called it the cesspool! - sm
[ In Reply To ..]The new top brass were not with the company then, so they don't know, but it didn't work out well. In less than 6 months the clients were very unhappy and very loud about it too!
that is not what I was told. - SM
[ In Reply To ..]I was told, yes, the BOB will be bigger, however, they want us to primarily work in our primary accounts for the sake of speed and accuracy. There will be more back up accounts but only when we run out in our primary accounts. If they are smart and want accurate, fast work, that is how they will operate.
There is no longer anything called a Book of Business - it's now called a "pod" - Kim
[ In Reply To ..]Whoever told you that you will still have a group of primary accounts wasn't telling you the truth ... they were telling you what you wanted to hear. There will be 200+ employees in each "pod" and the work that is routed to you will be based on what is coming up in the system for Turn Around Time (TAT) and work volume for a given account. That work might come from one end of the US, or the other. Some whose TSMs have already made the changes have already begun to notice they are no longer working familiar accounts. This will become more apparent as the logistics for each pod is worked out, over the next few weeks.
That is not what I was told.... - sm
[ In Reply To ..]I was told about the pods, but was still told we would be working on our primary accounts just like we have been for the sake of accuracy and speed which makes a lot more sense than what some of you are trying to say is going to happen. Until I quit seeing my primary account, primarily, I will believe that they aren't so stupid as to do what some of you would like us to believe.
I have found that I so much more enjoy my work when I don't come here to read all the rumors and made up stuff that gets posted here trying to get everyone all worked up. I have had oodles of great work and lots of overtime and life has been good since I've been away from here. Staying away from this board is a much needed anxiety reducer.
I was told the same thing, however - mt2north
[ In Reply To ..]I now have all new primary accounts, all new dictators and client profiles to memorize all over again, slowing me down big time.
That is sickening - but not unexpected
[ In Reply To ..]People have been saying for months that there are big changes coming by the end of 2014. Thank God I have only 20 months til retirement...
She emphasized to always watch out for this time of year - notgood
[ In Reply To ..]Historically, every single year in October or near the last quarter there is a very big layoff and very big changes announced. Last year at this time, it was a layoff of employees ... this year it's a mass layoff of TSMs.
Isnt october the beginning of the fiscal year - sm
[ In Reply To ..]thats why all the changes come about now..so glad I dont absolutely need this job anymore. I made radical life changes to get here. Probably the best thing for me would be to be fired and force me to do something I like for a change.
I predicted a blanks metrics was coming. - dnr
[ In Reply To ..]Of course it will likely be unreasonable. A number mentioned in the contest end email was 10%. 99% of my blanks are due to CP instructions. Any doctor mentioned and not in the database or spelled out by the doctor gets the blank. And, of course, we have bad sound issues. Last week I had a 5 minute job that took me 45 minutes to do because of sound issues. That sunk my line count. Keeping the best of the best? I rarely get good ASR output too. It has not learned despite years of editing, and we are editing! - judging from the reports I see when looking at transcribed reports. Guess I should get my typing speed back up and just retype instead of edit. Editing has ruined my typing speed.
I knew something was coming when the blank - contest started...nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
They have been drinking their own - Kool-Aid
[ In Reply To ..]if they think the Indians are up to that challenge. The day they have me correcting the ILPs work is the day I will be gone.
No. Indians do not have the same quality metrics we do - NM
[ In Reply To ..]NM
That is what I mean - The Indians cant do it
[ In Reply To ..]It will be a big clusterMMuck.
That's why doc-operated, non-dictation - software is selling like hotcakes.
[ In Reply To ..]The Indians should be polishing up their resumés, as well.
Pick up the phone & dictate an - sm
[ In Reply To ..]entire report in 1 minute flat 90 miles an hour, knowing that an MT is going to decipher what you're mumbling and produce a perfect document, all for 1 minute of your time. Versus learning software, going into the software, finding the patient or entering the patient info & CCs, etc., then dictating, messing up, slowing down, going back and fixing the mistakes, manually having to fix punctuation and sentence structure because that will never be 100% right, wash rinse repeat, for big chunks of their precious time..... I think it's a novelty that will quickly get old. JMO.
It doesn't work that way. That's what WE have. - What THEY are getting is - sm
[ In Reply To ..]fairly simple. All they do is bring up a nearly-complete template for the exam or procedure, and put in pre-made macro fillers. And VR enables them to move the cursor and choose a fill-in without ever touching the keyboard. They're doing that already where I used to be employed, so I know for a fact it's not just a myth. It's real.
Yeah, they have that in the hospital where my dad - sm
[ In Reply To ..]was admitted from the ER to the ICU. That point and click garbage was so inaccurate, and of course it leaves off important small details. I spent about 30 minutes with the ICU nurse who was having to call around and verify what and what had not been done because the record was completely wrong, and since there was no easy click for all his stroke symptoms, they had no idea. It's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. Hopefully sooner rather than later to bring an end to this crap, all to try to save a buck at the expense of patient safety.
"pick up the phone" I agree with you. - ssMI2
[ In Reply To ..]It's clerical.
Wait! The MT is going to decipher it??? - Not from what I see here!
[ In Reply To ..]All you folks seem to do is complain about how you can't understand them because they talk too fast and mumble!
As for producing a perfect document, you say yourselves that you have to leave blanks.
I can assure you that your documents are not as perfect as you may imagine. I see them. Baloney amputations, stupid misspellings, random collections of words, and entire missing paragraphs, not to mention that it is late and if it isn't late they lose it.
If you're not an MM MT, why are you here stirring the pot? - That was uncalled for. nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
Yep, we're held to 99.7 or whatever. I think theirs is more like 92 if - I remember correctly. At least used to be. nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
The indians will eventually be done away - with, as well. All part of the plan.
[ In Reply To ..]This company is moving out of medical transcription altogether. They've been easing themselves out of it all year. I predict the field of MT will be a mere shadow of its former self in 2015-2016, if it even exists at all.
So that email from corporate about best sales quarter in 2 years was BS? - just saying
[ In Reply To ..]If you truly had the best sales quarter in 2 years you don't turn around and fire staff (TAA petition anyone?) unless you fudged the numbers and the growth is not sustainable. So which is it? Did they count the bankruptcy savings into the bottom line?
Oh and it is just my opinion but good luck keeping "best of the best" with no pay raise in 10 years with constant cesspool. No thank you. They won't have to worry about firing me. I will quit before that happens.
You do if you want to add millions more to your precious bonus. Screw - everybody else. Greedy jerks. nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
DISHONEST greedy jerks. - nm
[ In Reply To ..]
They'll probably only keep the "best of the best" - INDIANS. For now, anyway.
[ In Reply To ..]nm
Well, we've had about triple the number of - sm
[ In Reply To ..]supers, coaches, assistant supers, etc. than we've needed for years. Way too many chiefs. We have one right now whose only job is PTO and schedules. Surely they aren't paying someone $40,000+ per year for scheduling when the revenue producers are struggling for minimum wage... But, anyway, all that being said, this definitely isn't a good sign...
At least they are - mannwich
[ In Reply To ..]keeping a presence here in this country, however small.
In coding, maybe. For now anyway. But - prepare to wave bye-bye to MT.
[ In Reply To ..]
Yeah yeah, they've been saying that for 20+ years. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]But until the doctors are ready to spend half their day doing "clerical" work, there will be a need for us.
Agree - phattylou
[ In Reply To ..]It's strange that if so much of the report can be "point&click," why haven't standards been made available to us? In nearly 100% of the reports I do every day, there are no standards used.
Exactly! Can you imagine trying to point & click a psych report?! - nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
Can't really imagine most reports - stkr
[ In Reply To ..]being point and click.
Why create standards when you have MTs? The standards are to - replace us, not help us.
[ In Reply To ..]
standards - phattylou
[ In Reply To ..]My point was that most of the dictation is not able to be put into a standard. Therefore, how can a point & click system possibly work?
To the current generation, interacting with a computer is not clerical. They - have done keyboarding since 4th grade, at least.
[ In Reply To ..]As the older (slightly somewhat sexist and Luddite) male MDs retire, they are replaced by men and women just sitting or standing in front of a computer screen using a mouthpiece, telephone, and keyboard skills they have honed over years of use in school!
They truly do not want to wait an hour or two, let alone overnight, for something they can point, click, and create.
There's no escaping the fact that it wastes their time & will never be - as fast as calling in a dictation. NM
[ In Reply To ..]x
I think the opposite. My doctor uses point and click and he does - it while he is in the office with me
[ In Reply To ..]If he dictated he would have to go to his office, shut the door, dial in or turn on the recorder, get out the chart and talk for a couple of minutes. As it stands he does everything while he is in the room with me and he is done when I walk out. No more paperwork. I honestly don't understand why doctors still dictate. And no I'm not a new MT, i'm 37
My doctor does point and click - and absolutely hates it
[ In Reply To ..]She tells me every time I'm in there that she hates it but is "forced" to do it.
The problem is, nowadays for every doc like her, - there are 10 that dont mind it at all.
[ In Reply To ..]My own doc jumped the fence. First she told me she hated it. That was back when they had to do quite a bit of typing to bring up fields, see records, etc. Now she doesn't even type. She just touches the screen, like they do at fast-food restaurants, and everything she needs is entered with a touch.
They're being held to being able to see more and more patients crammed into their day, and currently this is how they're achieving that goal. It's not good for patient care, but let's face it. Healthcare is all about profits and stockholders. It's not about the patient anymore.
That's time and attention taken away from the patient. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]Yet still on the patient's dime. Taking care of clerical work instead of listening to and treating the patient. It's not a good thing any way you slice it. Not really sure why this "MT" on this thread is so rabidly anti-MT...
Yes, - suzistkr
[ In Reply To ..]That's the vibe I get.
Maybe its - shiftlessbum
[ In Reply To ..]some type of personal vendetta against a particular MT.
It's sad but true. It's an "I want it now" society - we live in today. Speed trumps quality.
[ In Reply To ..]
tsm - anon
[ In Reply To ..]So glad I am gone from Medq. I knew something was going to happen. I left in June after 20 years and never looked back
Me, too - SM
[ In Reply To ..]I was a transcriptionist for the majority of my working life, and it is sad to see this happen to this field. I am glad that most of my working years in a hospital and many years with this company before all the changes were decent, save for the last 5 years. I was convinced then, and am even more convinced now, that they were pushing me to quit by making everything as miserable as possible. I was getting a high line rate, and I am sure they wanted nothing more than to get rid of me. I was given garbage to transcribe every day, and I finally quit. This comes as no surprise to me. I saw it coming with each passing day.
Me, three - same here
[ In Reply To ..]Agree with every word you said. I resigned last June and haven't regretted it for one second. Got tired of being given garbage to transcribe and being treated like garbage.
Layoffs - Wondering
[ In Reply To ..]When I worked for MM, I worked in the western region and my TSM's initials were MP. I kept in touch with a friend of mine who continued to work for MM and she said she was still there. Now I can't really remember if she was promoted to some sort of sales/customer service position or what. I really liked her and was curious if she is still with MM. Anyone know? TIA.
Yes, she's still here - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I worked with MP forevvver. She was one of my favorite TSMs ever, in all my 16 years with MM. She did get moved up to a better position where she meets directly with the clients so yes she is still working with MM and is doing quite well. :)
Still there - To anon
[ In Reply To ..]Thanks for the update. That is what I heard from my friend, but with this place, who knows! Sometimes a promotion, means an exit out the door!
TSM Lay-off - Rusty
[ In Reply To ..]That explains why my TSM is taking days off this week, maybe to look for another job? This just stinks to the highest stinky crap.
Yes. It is very sad. nm - solomagnet
[ In Reply To ..].
It will probably be our turn next nm - susan5
[ In Reply To ..],
The way 2014's gone so far, it's almost a given - that mass MT layoffs loom ahead.
[ In Reply To ..]
Just got my phone call...my TSM gone too...:( - Debs
[ In Reply To ..]So sad. I could tell she was upset too. What is a scheduler going to do anyway...I chose my schedule...Hope they won't make us change shifts.
No recipes or daily motivators in a week. I - wonder if mine is out the door also.
[ In Reply To ..]xx
layoff - Vic
[ In Reply To ..]What company?
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