thoughts on nuance - ex-nuance

Posted: Jan 24, 2013

I had been with a GREAT hospital job for the last 20+ years. One day, completely without warning, we were all called in and told that we were being outsourced to Nuance. No worries, though, we will hire all of you, and all of your seniority will carry over. Recruiters present at the meeting talked up Nuance like it was some kind of step up from the hospital. We were then given folders with our names on them and inside was information for our new job with Nuance. We had 24-48 hours to let them know if we would take the new position. Every person, regardless of seniority, was given the exact same offer - 4 cpl/8 cpl and 5 whole days off a year, TOTAL, as in includes holidays, sick days, and vacation! So much for 20+ years! Several did not take the offer, but I figured why not try it. The account is familiar, so I figured it was worth sticking with it while I looked to see if there was anything else out there.    Nuance was okay as far as day to day work. Plenty of work, supervisor didn't seem too concerned about particulars of the day, like clocking in and out at exact times, etc., flexed my schedule as needed, and just made sure I got the minimum in. Really didn't hear too much from anyone unless there was something that we needed to be updated about. That part was not too bad, but after getting some paychecks, I realized what 4 cpl/8 cpl came out to be. It was completely insulting that someone with 20+ years of experience would get paid such a low wage in what used to be considered a professional career. My son works at a locally owned deli. Granted the owners are pretty generous, but he was making more with his tips than I was making! And to add insult to injury, the PTO.    In the meantime, I was looking and found a great in house position with a medical office group of several specialities. They pool their transcriptionists, and we provide service for multiple offices, so sort of created for themselves their own service. I don't know how long this will last, as so many places seem to outsource when the accountants get involved. They said they had outsourced in the past, but the quality was so poor they brought it all back in and will not even look at outsourcing again. Because all groups have ebbs and flows, we stay busy, our hospital expertise provides experience in all the specialties, and the benefits are really pretty good.    Since I left, I would say there are only a few of the old original hospital employees still at Nuance. They now have India and newbies providing a service for our hospital that mostly had 15-25 years of transcription experience. Honestly, I hope they are happy with their decision. My med recs in house friend says the doctors are in a total UPROAR over the quality of the records. Well, serves them right!    Anyway, long I know, but I wanted to let you guys know that there are jobs out there. My hospital outsourced about a year ago, and almost everyone of us has found something better. I did let my Nuance supervisor know that I was leaving over the pay, and she said she would love to have me stay, but her hands were tied. They absolutely would not even consider paying any more. My last friend still left at Nuance said this supervisor is pulling her hair out now over all the complaints from the hospital. Too bad, but I really don't feel too sorry. Would not be surprised if they ended up losing the account in the end!    Happy ending to a long story!