A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Just a thought. - burnedoutco
Posted: Mar 17, 2014
As my husband pointed out (he sees how stressed I get) our local grocery store employs people with mental and physical disabiltiies as grocery baggers and they get paid more than I do with less hassle, better benefits and more time off. Not saying everyone should work in a grocery store but it is something to think about when you are getting grief for maybe being 1 point off on a BP supposedly putting a patient's life at risk or getting a major error for not including "include" when you are working as hard as you can to get enough lines. It is something to think about if you decide to make this your "career.' Also I am not saying that people with disabilities should not get paid decently, I am saying what about all of us across the country struggling to make ends meet? Are we not worth something?
to just a thought, - burned out - k
[ In Reply To ..]So true. I am pinged for including "include".
To just a thought - Pollyanna
[ In Reply To ..]Pinged for "including INCLUDE"? I have the opposite!
just a thought - mtinmi
[ In Reply To ..]I agree we are worth something. After watching the news about OT last week and the cons of the Employer not wanting to pay employees for hours over 40 they worked "because that would decrease our profits" makes one really see the selfishness and greed. Guess the attitude which is heard so much, "be glad you have a job" runs rampant but unfortunately so many are so desperate to make ends meet we are glad to have a job.
I think FIESA has been the key to - the wage theft Nuance has perpetrated
[ In Reply To ..]We are considered piece workers. Imagine we were making hand bags (also piece workers) and they were allowed to search through the hand bags until they found a mistake, like the zipper was a little off or something. With finding that (after employing many man hours to search out the one error) they triumphantly reduced the amount you get per item, which, even though they have not done that EXPRESSLY by reducing per line rate, that is what they have in fact done by taking away the "bonus" that used to be included in our pay just by producing a certain amount.
Remember the old days? You were compensated a set amount per line and you got more if you did more, you might get QA bonus if you were excellent, but it was truly a BONUS, not what you were expected to do and they took $ away if you didn't.
I wonder if a legal challenge could be made on this basis. If they are going to find the one error and base everything on that, shouldn't they be forced to at least be made to review a certain percentage of our work rather than being allowed to pounce on the few errors and use that as a basis?
I am sure most of us have a much greater percentage of 100% work than errors so should that not be forced to be put into the equation? If they had to review ALL of our work and base the taking away of the bonus based on percentage of the totality, they might not be so keen on the QA travesty they have perpetrated via FIESA.
Client Feedback gives some perspective. . . - reality check
[ In Reply To ..]So, how many times has the client/hospital/doctor found errors on your reports? Have you had many, many complaints about your work from the client? Afterall, they see the MAJORITY of your reports.
Have you consistently been putting the patient at risk and making MAJOR or CRITICAL errors in your reports that go straight to the hospital? Is the client repeatedly complaining about your crappy work they get that hasn't been through a QA audit?
Think about it and then put Fiesa into perspective.
Uh, no, no and no. And still no bonus. - nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
ps: (OP of no, no and no) - sm
[ In Reply To ..]How do I know they don't take my 100% reports and not count them in my % of accuracy? How do I know they are not auditing only the most difficult speakers that no one can be expected to understand?
I will tell you how... - sm
[ In Reply To ..]The very first quarter they had the quarterly bonus, they audited ONE of my reports for the entire previous quarter, said it was 98.7 and that's all folks. Uh.... they weren't able to show me the one that was audited or explain why only one just "suck it up b*tch, no bonus for you!"
I always get audited on the most difficult reports. nm - crackerpot
[ In Reply To ..]nm
To my knowledge I have had absolutely - zero complaints from anyone
[ In Reply To ..]The only people pointing out my errors are the FIESA enforcers, and they are very minor errors, yet weighted ridiculously high.
For example, doctor dictated 41-year-old patient though the actual age was 47 years old. I usually catch these, yet missed this one. Despite doctor dictating this age, I was fined 3 points. Despite the fact it meant absolutely nothing to patient safety and obviously the correct age would be on the chart, I was penalized out of a bonus.
I thought to myself, even if I were the patient I would be quite pleased it said 41-year-old instead of 47-year-old. It made absolutely no difference to anyone but the QA person who rejoiced because she "got one" and Nuance who rejoiced because they got to again say "suck it, loser," because they made these ridiculous rules and we apparently have no say in them and will receive no justification for them and that's just tough on us.
Are you being facetious here? I have never heard of one complaint from the hospital, that's my point. These errors are NOT huge, I should NOT be losing my bonus over such, yet I am.
It is not about patient safety at all, it is about Nuance cutting our pay on the skimpiness of rules and reasons and we have basically no recourse.
I cannot challenge this because it IS an error by the FIESA rules. I can and do challenge WHY it is such a highly weighted error and why we are all getting deprived of bonuses for these ridiculous little nothings. I can see absolutely no justification for this as regards quality, but lots of justification for this if you want to cut someone's pay.
Actually incorrect patient age is a critical error - as it affects the integrity of
[ In Reply To ..]the report. It is also one of the simplest errors to avoid by verifying the ADT against what is dictated. Not criticizing, just a suggestion.
Oh thanks so much! - I never thought of that
[ In Reply To ..]Gee, you are right. It is so simple to avoid. I must be a big fat dummy.
Like I said, I usually catch them, missed this one.
What can I say, I am human. I still think this is not an error which deserved 3 points off and me to lose my bonus, critical or not.
In fact, my shocking opinion is, if it is so terrible to make such an error, why not place me on probation and 100% QA for awhile, but I do NOT think it is fair to dock my pay, which is what they do.
Despite proofing and double proofing and checking everything you do make errors, and if they really cared about quality and this is such an egregious error, why did I just get one little triumphant email and boom, my bonus is gone.
My shocking opinion is, if it's so important to have the quality, stop linking errors to the ability to dock our pay. It doesn't make us try any harder, because we are already trying the hardest. You think anyone wants to make a stupid error and lose their bonus? No.
If you are going to link it to our pay, how about you have to give us credit for all the reports we get right too? It's far too easy to lose the bonus. They have 3 months to pick and pick and find these. It's a sham.
My suggestion - sm
[ In Reply To ..]Why don't they take the 200 people who are currently between the speaker and me away (God know what they all do anyway) and simply double check all the reports. That would ensure 100% accuracy. We are human. We do make mistakes. I catch more mistakes in the report and correct them than I make mistakes.
especially unfair when the physician dictates wrong age - newbutold
[ In Reply To ..]I am Not going to verify the exact age. I look at the birthdate and as long as it does not scream out that it is wrong, I take the physician at his word and that he knows how old HIS patient is. Of course when it turns out that this doctor who went through all the schooling and gets paid all the big bucks was wrong, who gets penalized??? ME. Whatever. No matter that the other 40 reports that I typed that day were all correct and no mistake made in anybody's age!!! Oh well
FIESAd errors - anoni
[ In Reply To ..]I have worked at a number of large companies and have had very little criticism or corrections until Nuance. Before Nuance I was always the MT who could do any report and I hardly ever got any feedback. They just left me alone.
Nuance trashes their MTs and does not appreciate all the expertise that we bring to the table. It is crazy to let your most experienced people quit on a regular basis.
I was not sure about FIESA at first but having been a victim of the third quarter swoop again and again there is no doubt about it in my mind. I do not mind criticism, but I have had my pay cut too many times and I have 1 foot out the door. It is a shame because I like the platform, my doctors and my TSM.
Do you really believe FIESA is just an enforcer - against really bad MTs?
[ In Reply To ..]Because I don't know where you got that idea. I know for a fact because my TSM once let it slip (which I'm sure they are told not to) that the doctors like my work and ask for me.
However, I now have lost both the bonuses and it seems it is very easy for them to keep taking it off me, despite not one complaint to my knowledge from the hospital at all and errors that, despite being classed as "major" or "critical" are hardly that.
Where did you get the idea FIESA was this knight in shining armor protecting the poor hospitals from us crappy and shoddy MTs?
Or are you someone behind FIESA? I find your comment puzzling and would appreciate substantiation of your position.
Most of us here are very experienced and qualified MTs and we recognize FIESA for the sham it is - something designed not to regulate quality but for one purpose and one purpose only, to reduce our pay.
That's the perspective I see. We none of us have had to do really bad work to be subjected to FIESA - that would actually make sense! Oh, wouldn't it be lovely if you only got audited if you were proven to be repeatedly bad, lazy, making heaps of true errors, instead of the nitpicking garbage they actually get you on.
FIESA just exists to pick our work apart for the express purpose of taking money off us. Please prove otherwise or stop insulting us.
...Labor Department ?? - MT=mostly tired
[ In Reply To ..]I was wondering about the "legality" of this...Has anyone contacted the Labor Department; with all this MUP talk, I'm wondering when/if it would be worthwhile asking them or employment office for advice on the matter...??
QA/QC - 99.9er
[ In Reply To ..]It is a way to glorify a few whom they feel worthy. This is America where competition and one-up-manship is the name of the game. It's jumping through hoops to "belong." It's always amusing when they glorify those who can do 300+ lph on a consistent basis with little or no errors and always get their bonus as well. LOL One needs a sense of humor.
And don't forget the - part-timers
[ In Reply To ..]The amount of lines you have to consistently make each week to qualify for the bonus that could help you earn back that paycut is based on what is expected of a 40-hour employee. There is no proration for folks who work 25 hours, 30 hours. Just one of the many inequities (or is it iniquities) of this awful company.
Good point. Never thought of that. - nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
line count - pennylane
[ In Reply To ..]I am having a very hard time making the line count if at all. Struggling to make min wage at a job that I used to make so much more at just kills me. I am so frustrated. People off the street cannot do this job, it is a learned skill. I have done this for more years than I care to say,I went from the top of a company to the bottom. I have an absolutely wonderful TSM, but at the end of the day, it all comes back to the line count. I have never been an employee before so this is hard for me. I think the only people that can really work like this are new people that have never experienced transcription the way it used to be. I wish all you good luck. I am throwing in the towel and finding a company that I am not expected to make a certain line count a day. I need to go back to IC status and get the stress out of my life.
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