Should a transcription company compensate ICs for down time, stretching from hours to days, if work cannot be accessed due to technical problems, no work available, etc., on the service's end???

Nae

[ 11-07-2001: Message edited by: jackie ]

Just my opinion.

H

I understand your frustration from your post too. We have transcriptionists who work from home. It is part of the agreement that if they experience a power failure or any kind of technical problem it is uncompensted time. They can choose to come to the office and work if space is available or to take earned time. The reasoning behind this is that if they are on-site they can move to another station or find another task to help with. Thankfully this has not been much of a problem so far.

H

Come back, come back It was a good post and addressed a whole 'nother aspect of the this business that merits discussion!

Assigning work is probably one of the number one pains in the ....errrrr....rump....that MTSOs have. I am working on an account now with 24-hour- turn around. I normally work 6 a.m. to 2:30...and 3 days out of 5 the dictators do not start heavy-duty talking until almost time for me to be stopping, leaving the night person (who only covers this account part time) an insurrmountable mountain of work. Yet, if we staff 2 people at night or during the day the dictators inevitably do not talk and save it one for one huge gabfest at a time anyone least expects it! That is why most services cross train and have backup accounts for MTs, yet that creates a whole different set of problems with MTs who do not want to work multiple accounts because it is too difficult to get up speed when faced with different dictators on a routine basis...put your post back, please, please...start a new thread with it if you want

Nae

[ 11-07-2001: Message edited by: Nae ]

Personally, I would be astonished if a provider agreed to such a clause in the contract, and even more so if they paid on it.

That is why most services cross train and have backup accounts for MTs, yet that creates a whole different set of problems with MTs who do not want to work multiple accounts because it is too difficult to get up speed when faced with different dictators on a routine basis

I'd love to see what Jackie wrote. Jackie - you've been coming here too long - I can't believe anything you would write would be worthy of self-deletion. Now, get back here.

I wouldn't want to be the one sitting in some office trying to juggle accounts, putting MT-A on this account and MT-B on that account - who doesn't like this doctor, who won't do this type of report. It must be like trying to do a seating chart for a wedding every day of the week. Once in a lifetime was enough for me, thankyouverymuch.

Having said that, I try to keep my whining to a minimum and try to just suck it up and take whatever comes my way -- BUT -- the reality is -- we are paid on production. My experience is that most MT services understand this and try to accommodate the best they can -- but then you're faced with what you pointed out, Nae --- dry days with some accounts and heavy days with others. Personally, the most difficult part of working on multiple accounts is the darn formats. If account #1 wants headers bolded and capitalized, their diagnoses listed, physical exam paragraphed out for each system; but account #2 wants no bold, diagnoses in a paragraph, the PE in one paragraph, but capitalized headers for each system, a different signature line, blah, blah, blah...it's enough to drive ya nuts!! THAT's what gets me. Reality is -- once you're doing acute care work -- it really is all the same. Maybe that's just because I was trained on and worked for many years on a teaching hospital with new residents dictating every July -- and thousands of physicians on staff -- but that's my feeling. It's not always the different dictators (okay, some are more difficult than others and that only comes in time, but there aren't that many of them) - it's the different formats that make you stop, think about what you're doing, and take time getting used to.

Good grief - I rambled on quite a while here, didn't I? Hope it makes some sort of sense.

Annie

-----and be nice to those night p/t MTs, Nae.

TOPIC: INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR VERSUS EMPLOYEE

With medical transcription becoming more and more a home-based industry, it is important to understand the difference between working as an employee and working as an independent contractor. As part of creating our business, we went to great lengths to re-engineer certain parts of the medical transcription process to take advantage of new developments in computer technology. The research we did and the lessons we learned have contributed to our success. We share that knowledge willingly with our professional colleagues in the hope that it may save them a great deal of pain and unnecessary time spent trying to “reinvent the wheel.”

While we can give you the benefit of our knowledge and encourage you in certain directions, as an independent contractor you must act independently. The infamous 20 rules from the Internal Revenue Service are listed below, as summarized by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The Internal Revenue Service considers a “yes” answer to any one of these 20 questions to be evidence of an employer/employee relationship. However, because the technology used in our field -- with particular regard to digital dictation systems -- evolved after the 20 rules were formed, we are providing some insights into the relationship we plan to enter with independent contractors.

1. Do you provide the worker with instructions as to when, where, and how work is performed?

Our contractors have full control over the location and design of their offices, how they choose to structure their work and when they choose to work. We try to accommodate their needs and preferences as much as possible.

2. Did you train the worker in order to have the job performed correctly?

No. We expect that our contractors have trained themselves in the skills necessary to perform medical transcription. We are available to them as a technical resource to answer questions and to help trouble-shoot problems. We do not, however, “train” our workers.

3. Are the worker's services a vital part of your company's operations?

No. Our business is designed so that any number of subcontractors can play an electronic version of musical chairs with regard to our digital dictation system. If one cannot perform, or chooses to break off relations with our company, others can step in and do the work.

4. Is the person prevented from delegating work to others?

No. As long as the turnaround time and standards of quality referred to in our contract are met, there is no such restriction on our subcontractors.

5. Is the worker prohibited from hiring, supervising, and paying assistants?

No. As long as the turnaround time and standards of quality referred to in our contract are met, there is no such restriction on our subcontractors.

6. Does the worker perform services for you on a regular and continuous basis?
No. The subcontractor informs us when work is desired and how much work is desired. We try as much as possible to meet the demands and preferences of the subcontractor.

7. Do you set the hours of service for the worker?

No. The hours worked are totally chosen by the subcontractor.

8. Does the person work full time for your company?

No. We encourage subcontractors to take work from other sources.

9. Does the worker perform duties on your company's premises?

No.

10. Do you control the order and sequence of the work performed?

No. We can assign certain types of work or jobs to the subcontractor but the subcontractor can perform those jobs in any order s/he desires.

11. Do you require workers to submit oral or written reports?

No. We require a written invoice on the last day of each month. An invoice is not a report.

12. Do you pay the worker by the hour, week or month?

No. We pay our subcontractors by the minute of recorded dictation time logged on our digital dictation system.

13. Do you pay for the worker's business and travel expenses?

No. Our subcontractors are responsible for all of their costs of doing business, including long-distance telephone calls.

14. Do you furnish tools or equipment for the worker?

No. Our subcontractors are responsible for purchasing and maintaining their own computer equipment. If we provide a subcontractor with any shareware, this is software that is readily available from on-line services. Because the telephone handset which can be used to access our digital dictation system is a piece of proprietary equipment, we will lease that equipment to the worker for a set fee per month.

15. Does the worker lack a “significant investment” in tools, equipment and facilities?

Hardly. A professional medical transcriptionist is expected to own the reference books, software, and computer hardware that comprise the basic “tools of the trade.”

16. Is the worker insulated from suffering a loss as a result of activities performed for your company?

No. The worker's ability to achieve a profit or loss is totally dependent on the worker's productivity.

17. Does the worker perform services solely for your company?

We certainly hope not. We encourage all of our subcontractors to develop their own accounts.

18. Does the worker not make services available to the general public?

We have no control over that. However, as mentioned above, we encourage all of our subcontractors to develop their own accounts.

19. Do you have the right to discharge the worker at will?

No. Our contract states specific terms for dissolving the working relationship between Alert & Oriented and a subcontractor.

20. Can the worker end the relationship without incurring any liability?

No.

[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: jackie ]

I work for a local company and have the choice to pick my own hours, work from home or work in the office. Now, if I work from the office, I DO get compensated somewhat for down time. However, if I work from home, I DON'T. I think it is only fair that if you are in an office environment that you be compensated somehow for down time (IC or employee) because you are in the office. Working from home is a whole other ball park and, honestly, you could be doing gosh knows what, so why would you get compensated.

I don't know, this may be confusing, but in short, I think it only fair that if you take the time to get up, travel, and spend a day in the office with no work to be done there should be some rule regarding this, especially for IC MTs. Sorry if this is confusing or gets severely on somebody's bad nerve, but this is only my opinion. I don't want to offend anyone and please let me know if I am out of line here, being new to the board and all.

Have a good one everyone!

Sunshinyday

Nae

I know in my state if you arrive at work and there is no work for you, the employer must pay you for a minimum of three hours. Of course if you stick around, and work comes down the pike, you should be compensated for the "whole" time you were there. There are Federal laws and state laws regarding these things. I think that state law supercedes the Federal Law. You could contact your state's department of labor and inquire about getting a copy of the state labor laws. I have a handbook from mine that outlines everything.

Patty