4 registered
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and 7 anonymous users online.
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#75134 - 06/28/07 12:06 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: rainloveslife]
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MT_in_MT
Member
Registered: 08/25/04
Posts: 169
Loc: somewhere out there...
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I have started applying for work elsewhere. Up until now, with the slight increase in lines on ASR the initial 20% decrease did not make a difference in my overall pay, but this additional 10% will and that is why I am now leaving as soon as I have another job lined up. If I was not a single income, single parent household, I would just quit as of the 30th when the pay change takes effect.
What is ironic is that my snail mail is so slow, I have not received the letter yet telling me we are getting our pay cut. If it wasn't for the internet message boards, I would still be in the dark. I pick up mail on Wed and Sat from my PO Box in town so as it was not here yesterday when I checked, I won't get it now till at least Saturday at the earliest.
For those getting the emergency room instead of emergency department, I added an expander for that of roomd = department. All I have to do is add a "d" at the end of room and hit the space key to correct it. I have done that with a lot of the common errors to make it faster to correct them.
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#75136 - 06/28/07 12:24 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: gypsy55]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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Collective bargaining sounds interesting! Sounds like a possible alternative to jumping ship, possibly from the kettle to the frying pan. I can't help to think this is an industry problem and not just a Medquist-isolated problem. I have too many years and other benefits at MedQuist that I have earned over the years, and starting over at another company does not sound too inviting. I would like to be enjoying the fruits of my 8 years of labor with one company, such as maximum accummulation of PTO, rather than always being a "newbie" at other companies, quitting one and going to another when hard times hit. If there is a way to work with the company and bargain, this seems like a better solution. Also, changing companies is costly, training is costly. Yeah...I know....so is the 10% reduction!!! But maybe there can be other ways to recupe that loss in the bargaining process. I'm certainly going to give it a try. The whole thing is infuriating, but we must try and look at all options, and quitting for some of us just isn't an easy option. Any ideas on methods of "collective bargaining"?
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#75137 - 06/28/07 12:37 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: TinTin]
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gypsy55
New Member
Registered: 06/27/07
Posts: 5
Loc: Ohio
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I am with you. I have been with MQ almost 15 years. I hate to start over again. I also agree that this is not just an MQ problem. I think it is time for us to stand up for ourselves, not slink away and join another company that as soon as it gets big enough will treat us the same way. Stop and think about how many transcriptionists there are across the country. We need a way to contact everyone and find out if they are willing to band together so that we have some say about what the industry is doing to our profession. When I started transcribing 30 years ago, we were considered secretaries. We have fought long and hard to be accepted as professionals. Now it is time to stand up and make these companies treat us like professionals. We are the revenue generating part of the company. It is our skill and our knowledge that allows them to have jobs. I have a friend who was involved in collective bargaining for his company. I have contacted him and awaiting a reply as to how to go about setting up something like this.
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#75138 - 06/28/07 12:38 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: gypsy55]
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Gisele Dubson
Member
Registered: 05/28/99
Posts: 5608
Loc: Boulder, CO, USA
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The bargaining power that you as an individual have is to withold your labor from them and find yourself another job. If MQ can make this work by using ASR/overseas MTs and paying peanuts, then that's what they're going to do. If they can't make it work, they will have to make some adjustment at some point, but who knows, they might be right in going down this path. They are not the only MTSO on the planet.
_________________________
Gisele F. Dubson, RHIA, Mercury Medical Communications
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#75140 - 06/28/07 12:46 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: gypsy55]
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gypsy55
New Member
Registered: 06/27/07
Posts: 5
Loc: Ohio
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One further thing, with regards to ASR and transcription, I have told my supervisor that I do not believe we should be paid less for ASR. THEY ARE NOT PAYING US FOR OUR TYPING SKILLS; THEY ARE PAYING US FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE. I can transcribe the reports faster than go back and correct the garbage that ASR produces. Once again, this goes back to demanding that we be treated as the professionals we are. I can do a typist's job, but a typist cannot do my job, at least not the way it is supposed to be done.
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#75142 - 06/28/07 12:57 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: Gisele Dubson]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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[quote=Gisele Dubson]The bargaining power that you as an individual have is to withold your labor from them and find yourself another job.
Do you really think they would care if I, alone, quit? They would probably cheer and quickly replace me with a .07-cent per line warm body.
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#75144 - 06/28/07 01:07 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: TinTin]
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Gisele Dubson
Member
Registered: 05/28/99
Posts: 5608
Loc: Boulder, CO, USA
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So what is the alternative? You have no union, you have no way of organizing the MTs who work for MQ.
_________________________
Gisele F. Dubson, RHIA, Mercury Medical Communications
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#75146 - 06/28/07 01:15 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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"Business has the right to run their business however they want to."
You're right!! Business's certainly do have the right to run their business however they want to. That is the fruit of THEIR labor. However, unfortunately with the human element involved greed sets in, and this is why there are those organized labor groups called "unions."
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#75147 - 06/28/07 01:21 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: Gisele Dubson]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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So what is the alternative? You have no union, you have no way of organizing the MTs who work for MQ.
Yeah...I know....it will be very difficult. It is going to take lots of good minds, a lot of determination, and guts, but where there is a will, there is a way, and a little prayer couldn't hurt too.
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#75148 - 06/28/07 01:25 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: TinTin]
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gypsy55
New Member
Registered: 06/27/07
Posts: 5
Loc: Ohio
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That is exactly why unions formed; because of the greed of the companies. But it took a group of people who were willing to stand up and say enough. I have never been an advocate of unions. I always thought they were pretty greedy as well, but I am coming to understand why they were formed. With the greed of the companies in this country, i.e., CEOs who get millions of dollars in bonuses while their employees are struggling to feed their families, I think you are going to see a resurgence of unions. You would think that these companies would learn from history that people will only take so much before they fight back. I think you are wrong in believing that people cannot be organized.
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#75149 - 06/28/07 01:28 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: rainloveslife]
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Topaz1
New Member
Registered: 06/25/07
Posts: 24
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Rainloveslife: I understand the reason for ml rather than cc and have no problem with it. My complaint is that this is an example of something that should have been fixed within the ASR engine long, long ago, rather than be kept as yet another thing to slow the ME down. I have a hard time believing MQ really wants us to be as productive as possible when they keep such roadblocks (no matter how small) in our way and refuse to fix them. I thought this was supposed to be such a technologically-advanced company!?!
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#75150 - 06/28/07 01:34 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: gypsy55]
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Gisele Dubson
Member
Registered: 05/28/99
Posts: 5608
Loc: Boulder, CO, USA
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That is exactly why unions formed; because of the greed of the companies. But it took a group of people who were willing to stand up and say enough. I have never been an advocate of unions. I always thought they were pretty greedy as well, but I am coming to understand why they were formed. With the greed of the companies in this country, i.e., CEOs who get millions of dollars in bonuses while their employees are struggling to feed their families, I think you are going to see a resurgence of unions. You would think that these companies would learn from history that people will only take so much before they fight back. I think you are wrong in believing that people cannot be organized.
I would be happy to be proved wrong. The problem is, everybody sits back and waits for someone else to do to the work.
_________________________
Gisele F. Dubson, RHIA, Mercury Medical Communications
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#75152 - 06/28/07 01:46 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
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TJP
New Member
Registered: 06/27/07
Posts: 11
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I think you are being condescending and a little naive here tropsicle. I am a highly trained and skilled analyst, manager, and investor who is quite familiar with business practices and their right to run things their way. Right now, I happen to be overseas with the US military, and this is why I am currently still with MQ. They are the only company who would even talk to me in this scenario (industry does not understand this status at all and is misinterpreting it). If there are other companies out there who would take me on, I would most likely be starting all over again after 9+ years. Once again, these types of issues along with changes that decrease pay and require further commitments to make the same amount of money ARE the problem and how we are being marketed within the overall business process, essentially fodder and typing pool employees who have to prove themselves all over again with a new company even though we are being touted as skilled and experienced "professionals." As to the whining, I have already contacted MQ with an initial letter and will be following this up with another letter containing in-depth analysis on the numbers and how this is sending the wrong message to everyone. I will be making AAMT aware of this as well.
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#75153 - 06/28/07 01:49 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: gypsy55]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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gypsy55
You are a Buckeye!! So I'm I!!
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#75154 - 06/28/07 01:53 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: TJP]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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Like I said in an earlier post, "lots of good minds, a lot of determination, and guts." Thanks much!!!
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#75163 - 06/28/07 02:49 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: Topaz1]
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RaeMorrill
Member
Registered: 07/26/06
Posts: 672
Loc: Maine
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To me that is just beyond ridiculous. They want it one way, their templates have it wrong, so it not only does not save you time, it costs you extra time to fix all the mistakes.
Rainloveslife: I understand the reason for ml rather than cc and have no problem with it. My complaint is that this is an example of something that should have been fixed within the ASR engine long, long ago, rather than be kept as yet another thing to slow the ME down. I have a hard time believing MQ really wants us to be as productive as possible when they keep such roadblocks (no matter how small) in our way and refuse to fix them. I thought this was supposed to be such a technologically-advanced company!?!
_________________________
Rae Morrill in Maine
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#75164 - 06/28/07 02:58 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: RaeMorrill]
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Gisele Dubson
Member
Registered: 05/28/99
Posts: 5608
Loc: Boulder, CO, USA
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It sounds to me as though their templates simply can't keep pace with what various clients are asking for in terms of format. This stuff can only be automated to a certain degree. Every time a human has to stop the process, go in and fix an error multiple times in a document, it's going to be expensive.
_________________________
Gisele F. Dubson, RHIA, Mercury Medical Communications
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#75168 - 06/28/07 03:24 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: RaeMorrill]
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Topaz1
New Member
Registered: 06/25/07
Posts: 24
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My point exactly! I am glad to hear someone agreeing with me on this. MQ supervisors don't seem to think it's a problem, after all they get salaries, not pennies per line and nothing else.
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#75169 - 06/28/07 03:26 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: Gisele Dubson]
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Topaz1
New Member
Registered: 06/25/07
Posts: 24
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Except that it does not seem to be expensive if the ME is the one doing the fixing, and as of July 1 it will be even less expensive
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#75171 - 06/28/07 03:36 PM
Re: Medquist email - Pay changes
[Re: Topaz1]
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TinTin
Junior Member
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 98
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I've been trying to get insight on this problem for over a year to no avail. Other nuisances are b.i.d. comes up as twice a day, h.s. comes up at bedtime, IV comes up intravenous, p.o. comes up orally, and most annoying are the systems, as in ROS and PE. All of the systems come up in CAPS. So you can imagine how much time that takes to delete all of the systems and retype them in mixed cap. I do like the idea posted earlier though of creating a short-cut by adding a letter to the end of that system. It's just the idea though that they are reducing our pay by 10% at the first of July, however, these needed changes have not been made yet, and we don't know if they will ever be made, and yet they brag about all of the improvements and enhancements they are making to the system, trying hard to justify their actions. Well, my letter will be going out to them this week, and I encourage all other employees to do the same. This is the first step to change. There is power in numbers.
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