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

I AM NOT NAME CALLING ... - goneandhappy

Posted: Jun 17, 2015

I'm trying to give you all a wake up! I've worked my whole life (50 years) and have never been paid for only half my work. What I'm doing doesn't matter. You have to decide what you're going to do. Voice recognition will get better and medical providers will buy their own. Why pay companies like Nuance to edit when they can do it themselves? Why do you think Nuance is selling Dragon? They know exactly what's coming and want to milk the industry for all they can. In a couple years when you're getting paid for only 1/4 of your work will you still be "hanging in there?" That's it for me. I wish you all luck.

I really do not think VR is getting any better - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been editing 6 or 7 years now and VR has not gotten better. Garbage in, garbage out. You cannot change how doctors speak. Some speak clear and coherent, others can't complete a sentence without making changes. I would wish some of them could see what VR spits out that we have to correct. Some human beings have articulation difficulties and that keeps us working. As for the pay cuts, I agree with you. I'm at the end of my rope and working on getting out, hopefully by the end of the year.

It is getting better and Nuance is using MTs to - improve their Dragon program.

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They've had a program going with MTs using Dragon for echo transcription, and not the Dragon you buy at the store but the version that they sell to doctors and clinics. The really good version of Dragon. MTs have been using it and communicating through liasons with the software engineers to better the product and it is definitely getting better. She's right. They are working very hard to do away with the transcriptionist and if you talk to the right person at Nuance, they will tell you exactly that without batting an eye. Their spoken goal is to do away with medical transcriptionists as we currently know them.

The program is only as good as the doctor speaking. - sm

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It is not voice wreak or overseas getting rid of us. As the older doctors phase out and the younger doctors take over transcription will not be needed. Doctors are getting trained in medical school with all the latest technology and are editing their own voice wreak. It is all in the evolution of documentation. So we will be phased out.

The problem is Nuance! - No more MT for me!

[ In Reply To ..]
Whether this all comes to pass in the near future or distant future, what Nuance is doing now is robbing each and every one you and to put up with that is a travesty. If you are going to continue being an MT, at least work for someone decent or just get the heck out. That is what I did. I couldn't take the abuse any longer and that was a year ago and now what I read, I cannot believe how anyone can put up with their tactics. Taking your money away, no way Jose, eat my dust!

I think from what I read on her, most people are doing their best to do just that. - sm

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Getting out or getting a better MLS job. I am working tirelessly to get the heck out of dodge. I have to support myself though I do not have anyone to lean on. I work a couple of odd jobs during the day, but nothing so far with benefits to leave this thankless place yet. Soon then very soon and I will be on here telling everyone I finally got out and if I can do it at 50+ anyone else can.

here not her - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
ss

You don't need to defend yourself! - Ignore that MT soapboxer

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I'm in the same position you are...you're smart and practical and waiting it out until you find something that's right for you. Not so easy to just say bye-bye and we don't need an already-gone MT bringing us down! Best of luck to you.

Stop the know-it-all/'you're such fools' posts - Please!!!

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See the post below--it's not so easy to just quit. Geez!

I knew VR was getting better when it started - doing better on ESLs than regular -

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dictators on my account. The normal English speakers had more corrections to make in their work, and the ESLs' dictation often came through almost perfect, maybe just lacking a comma or two. That's when I knew it was just a matter of time for MT, and I jumped ship.

That is correct, every word of it. - Informaticist

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The SR that YOU use is not what the doctors use. You don't see them speaking more clearly because you aren't there to see them use front-end SR, where they get immediate feedback. They very quickly learn to speak just like Dragon wants.

Half of you think we are lying and the other half are thinking lemons when we are saying oranges. You simply have no idea what we are talking about.

You have been working at home in the dark about this. We see it from the facility side.

I also happen to use the big facility version of this. It works, folks.

Yes, their goal is to get rid of every last one of you. That is why you are on PM programs, pay cuts, and getting terminated right and left. They are trimming off the low-hanging fruit. They absorb too many MTs with accounts that they pick up.

If you think they acquire those accounts to have MTs type them, you are blind, blind, blind, blind, blind! Those facilities are in line for front-end SR. If they take on 6 MTs with one, 6 have to go.

You need to find another job, folks.

You are all are missing an IMPORTANT POINT - Nuance, Mmodal..all of them

[ In Reply To ..]
are SOFTWARE COMPANIES!! They are not nor have they ever been transcription companies. They have had to "put up" with us typists until they can start selling their software DIRECTLY to practices, hospitals, etc. And then sell maintenance plans, software updates. THAT is what they want.

It's like battered woman syndrome in a way... - not always so easy to leave

[ In Reply To ..]
Some of us are the only breadwinners, or we're near retirement, or we're just plain not brave enough to make the move to a new company, knowing we might be jumping from the frying pan to the fire! Bottom line is, you may mean well but your posts come across kind of preachy (even arrogant maybe?) when we all know the way things stand. Good for you that you got out, but for some of us, 'hanging in there' really is the only option at this point, so don't make us feel yucky for doing what's best to avoid risking what little financial livelihood we have. Now I'll shut up and maybe it's time for you to move on from this board as well--just sayin'!

Not easy to leave - I agree with you

[ In Reply To ..]
This hell hole has forced my decision to retire early next year just to get away from them! At least with my SS, I'll know exactly what my check will be AND I'll get some small raise each year! Until then, I will just carry on with the attitude I adopted when Nuance bought out Webmedx - I just don't care anymore about anything they do. Just do my job and anxiously await my retirement! Even if I do decide to keep working part time, it will definitely NOT be for this company!

It's like battered woman syndrome - in EVERY way

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I honestly think Nuance hired a consultant on this very phenomenon and asked them, "How do we keep this staff, cut their pay drastically, make them feel worthless, yet accept it's all their fault?"

Definition of Battered Person Syndrome per Wikipedia - substitute "violence" with "abuse by FIESA" or similar, and ding ding ding sound familiar?:

"The abused thinks that the violence was his or her fault.

The abused has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere.

The abused fears for her/his life, and/or, the lives of loved ones whom the abuser might or has threatened to harm (e.g., children-in-common, close relatives or friends).

The abused has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent and omniscient."

Okay, not fears for life, but definitely livelihood of ourselves and our loved ones. And you gotta admit that the belief that our abuser is omnipresent and omniscient is not really irrational when it comes to Nuance.

The sad thing is that I have tried to get away, and even though other companies have much better atmospheres and do not make you feel like garbage, Nuance still pays as much or better (the new irregularity of pay combined with prevalent OOW makes it even more frustrating, however), and I know personally it takes me at least a year to get a new account down to the point where my brain/fingers have the knowledge to get to the point where I can get a decent line count, so that's a problem since I just can't afford even more terrible paychecks, no matter how much nicer the other company may be.

We all know that no company now pays decently, how can they when they are competing with offshoring sharks and exploiters like Nuance and MModal?

Very profound post!-thanks for your thoughts nm - Sad but true

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I agree. It's how they choose to do business - because it decreases labor costs.

[ In Reply To ..]
Scared, browbeaten, low self-esteem workers don't ask for much. MTSOs tell them they're lucky to have a job, and that they should be grateful that all they're doing is 'changing the pay scale a little bit'. Or that they should be grateful all they're losing is their healthcare benefits, but not their jobs. After hearing that BS for years and years, MTs can't help but start to believe it.

If you are gone and happy, why the heck would you - even come back to this board?

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Makes absolutely no sense at all. You're preaching to the choir here, but everyone is in a different financial situation and must do what is right for their particular situation.

I agree, they do that on the MM board and I always wonder why - are they really happy and gloating or

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mad they left? We will never know

Maybe they just want to remind those who feel - stuck that there ARE ways to get out.

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I don't see any gloating here, just occasional questions as to why people allow themselves to be mistreated in this way. The above poster who talked about Battered Women Syndrome pretty much summed it all up.

Personal situations - get out or not - all smiles

[ In Reply To ..]
It seems that all those "get out you can do it" messages are not considering that each person has their own unique circumstance and cannot always just "get out."

Those of us over 60 have a hard time getting work anywhere - ageism. Yea, I know ageism is a fantasy, but truth is, employers don't want anybody over 60, too much liability. Hard to get work.

If you spend 8-9 hours daily trying to get in your 8 hours and work as fast and as hard as you possibly can to pay the bills so as to avoid bankruptcy, not much energy or time left to get another line of work.

Going to another company for what little time is left in this industry doesn't make much sense. In 1 more year, if I took early retirement, it would be equal to or more than my full 40 hours at Nuance.

All companies are having a hard way to go right now. Can you even imagine what it would be like to get a new job and get laid off in 3-6 months at age 62? You think you'd get a job anywhere? UE doesn't pay the bills.

So, as bad as it is, and I realize it is bad, some cannot afford to make that gamble.

Eventually I will get out too. I'm just spending 50 to 60 hours a week to get in my 40 hours due to OOW situations. That will change in a couple months. I'll stop flexing and shift over to my other job.

At 64 I got a new job, laid off in 4 months, - no job since, yet am getting by.

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It's not easy, but it's doable. I have just half a year before I'm old enough for social security, and can get by on savings, freebies, handouts, and credit cards until then. I miss the good job I was laid off from, but do NOT miss the MTSO I worked for before that, and would NEVER go back.

Laid off - ari

[ In Reply To ..]
I sure hope you went and got your unemployment insurance. You are definitely entitled to it and if the company admits they are outsourcing to other countries there is a good chance you can get even more. Good Luck

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