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

Sharing Thoughts - Texas MT

Posted: Jan 27, 2014

I check MT Stars frequently just to see what people are saying. I'm a QA person. I'm at the tail end of my career (38 years) and I must admit, I'm fairly happy with Nuance. I have a great boss and thankful that I can work from home, get fairly decent health insurance and have working hours that fit my lifestyle. I HAVE taken a drastic cut in pay which is a bit disheartening. The "Good Old Days" are long gone. I'm very thankful for my employment. Anyway, remember a while back about QA getting a bonus for finding more errors while doing QA on MT's reports. It never came to pass. You want to know why? I was told the reason was that QA people would take a cut in their hourly rate and make up the difference by finding errors. Needless to say, I'm very pleased it never happened. That was a lousy idea. I'd like share something else. We've been instructed to just fix the petty stuff in reports, instead of dinging for every little minor error. We can focus on the major stuff and help/encourage MTs. I know QA people are not very popular. I can't speak for everyone in QA but I just wanted to share my thoughts. I wish nothing for the best for everyone on this board. There are a lot of MTs struggling. If I was just starting in this business, I know I would not be very happy. I was happy many years ago though. I loved transcribing and I still do. It is the only job I've ever had. Hang in there my fellow MTs. (Forgive my grammar in this post. I'm off the clock and I tend to type my thoughts like I am speaking them)

Thanks for your input - new but old

[ In Reply To ..]
I know there are lots of "good" QA people out there and luckily I am able to get some of them. It is the other ones who give it a bad name unfortunately. I have no problem with someone showing me my errors and constructive criticism, it is the ones who leave the snide comments and make me feel like I am an idiot that upset me.

I've definitely noticed - a difference

[ In Reply To ..]
It was really frustrating there for a while to have blanks you'd submitted in good faith be ruled "valid" or, presumably, "invalid" (if the blank was able to be resolved), though sometimes their "guess" was no better than mine might have been. Definitely better now. Thanks!

Can I ask when that particular directive - came through?

[ In Reply To ..]
Because it sure seemed to me like QA was out for blood right before the new year, and I'm pretty sure I was not the only one.

I'm glad they told you to stop trying to get every little minor error now, but unfortunately I got the lovely Christmas present of no bonus for 3 months, so am I right to imagine this instruction happened in the new year?

I have to say I don't trust that in 3 months they won't go back to trying to take off and keep off the bonuses for MTs, just before the quarter ends again, but thanks for letting us know this. I'm glad they took that bonus idea off the table, at least for now.

I think if all the QAs were like you that would be the way it should be. I still say it is not really a bonus but a financial punishment, since our pay has been cut so much anyway.

Can I ask if QA people get financially penalized if they don't come up to scratch? Someone else had said there are some quotas and you guys get QA'd too. I hope, for your sake, you don't get money taken off you like we do if you make a few mistakes because it really is horrible.

Directive - Texas MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Our team just found out about the directive about 2 weeks ago. Yes, we are audited and have to meet a certain quota. I think it is only fair. We need to be held accountable for our work as well. I don't mind. I'm always learning and sometimes need refreshers. Yes, it is a blow to the old self-esteem when we miss something. Our boss put it like this, we get the worst of the worst. It's not easy sometimes. As far as the bonuses go? I would like to think that bonuses are not held from MTs on purpose. I don't know, maybe I'm incorrect on that one. Who knows? I have never been financially penalized for not coming up to scratch. I agree with you, it is horrible to have income taken away. I just think that is the norm these days. Gosh... I sound so "old school".... perhaps I am. I just try to roll with the punches and keep a positive outlook. If I didn't, I'd go crazy. No job is worth going crazy over!

My issue with the bonuses is - they are a negative not a positive

[ In Reply To ..]
There is a thread down a bit (linked) where a bunch of those who got the QA quarterly bonus (where you need to get over 99.5% or something like that) and they are commiserating about how financially bereft they are. So basically it is something they are relying on incredibly or they can't pay their rent kind of thing.

I can see if Nuance paid a fair living wage and THEN offered goodies in terms of perfection, but this is nothing of the sort. They pay so poorly that you live in fear of the "bonus" getting taken away because you can then NOT AFFORD to live!

So my objection is that the bonuses exist at all, since they are not truly bonuses - they would only be that if you could make enough working 40 hours a week normally without the bonus, which is really not the case for most of us. It is a truly demoralizing and nasty form of un-compensating someone, also something NONE of us agreed to when our companies were swallowed up by Nuance.

So if you do guys don't get any money taken off you when you make a mistake, consider how hard that would be (for anyone!) and while you seem the soul of kindness, I wish all QAs would have a heart sometimes and unless it truly is a huge mistake, maybe think about depriving someone of a good chunk of change for 3 months before you give them a 3 point error.

You may get audited, but you don't get docked, right? We are the only ones singled out for that.

Fair Living Wage - Texas MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I hear your frustration. I have my own frustration as well. My hourly wage today is less than what I was making in 1985. I do not want to sound insensitive to your concern but we ALL have been singled out, in one way or another, in the transcription field. Like I said, the "good old days" are long gone. I just try to think of the positives that come with my job. I'm thankful that my lifestyle doesn't require me to make as much as I did in 1985 but it sure would be nice if I did.

EXCEPT this has nothing to do with QA but - QC

[ In Reply To ..]
All this pertains to QC not QA. So has no impact on MT bonus. QA is still the same.

I find this QA/QC thing confusing - the post-audit FIESA

[ In Reply To ..]
Is the one that counts, right? So is that QC or QA?

I thought QC were the ones that don't count because they were the ones hired to get the bonuses and were overzealously marking every little thing off initially, and we were told it was "just for training" and to ignore it.

Yeah, right. Kind of hard to be picked apart no matter if it has no effect on bonuses. Even worse that if they are being "trained" we still need to fight the nasty corrections/comments they make and have the rise in stress and blood pressure that goes along with it.

So can you decipher for me? The post-audit FIESAs are done by QC or QA? They are the only ones that count and they are the ones that seem to go through all your work to find the 1-3 point errors whereby you missed one number in some obscure lab result and that gets your bonus off you.

I always thought QA were who did that, but it is QC?

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