I came across this open letter today to a Health Information Management publication called "For The Record" written by an older MT, lamenting the transition and eventual loss of the medical transcriptionist jobs.
I could've written this letter myself, it's so accurate - and very difficult to explain to prospective employers and must sound hard to believe, but it's all true. And try explaining it and still sounding positive lol.
She's also lamenting the lack of contractor-protection legislation or unionization and lack of pushback from the only official transcription association that exists, the AAMT association (who did nothing for MTs anyway, but give guidelines.)
I had to screenshot piecemeal style due to its length ...
She covers the loss of benefits and pay cuts (to pay-by-line typed) starting with offshore outsourcing in 2006, the transition to voice recognition in 2007 turning us into editors at half the pay, the feast-or-famine workload - and even since this article was written in 2016, you're now lucky if you make even $15K per year, such that you have to piece 2 or 3 contracts together (or do temp jobs and/or wait tables as second and third jobs, which at most, you'll make 30K).
The only things she didn't mention are the advent of AI making us almost obsolete without even editing (despite the fact that it is not ready), the predatory/scam nature of some companies and fake job ads, knowing some are desperate.
And though most reputable schools stopped teaching medical transcription, there are still some unethical ones taking people's money knowing full well there are no jobs!
One of the biggest challenges I personally have faced in the last 5 years was the difficulty in obtaining prior references prior to my current job for the last 6 years, despite leaving on good terms and being a top producer/quality.
Many companies have gone under or have transitioned to other business interests (like legal-only transcription with prior experience) and have all new staff.
And as far as coworkers, we were subcontractors - so we were lucky if we even knew who are coworkers were - we usually just QA, trainers, and management!
And sometimes, with those who became sweatshops, they don't care enough to respond to reference requests, even from official written requests from prospective employers, despite you being a top producer and top quality!
This ends up looking shady on you, and you can't prove you were, because they won't even respond because they do not give a shit.
Also not mentioned are the unprofessional emails in all caps that began to appear around 2009, demanding us to hop on outside our shifts and do mandatory OT, though you don't get paid extra for OT as contractors.
I always did this, btw, but after all the pay cuts, you'd still only make a whopping total of about $350 a week maximum even with OT, at such low pay.
But my favorite were the constant broadcast email threats, also in all-caps and exclamation points, that the account could be lost for errors. They never seemed to get it that we don't need our job threatened to take them seriously, nor that this idle threat only works for so long, not to mention that level of perfection for pennies is just absurd.
As Theresa mentions, only about 25% of doctors even read their own reports back (good luck with that with AI, docs), so if they actually them and complain, I can assure you, it's never because you put an extra period at the end of a sentence!
But the absolute worst was when a few of the companies began policies of actually docking your pay for even minor errors, so that they MADE money off of you!
Lastly, likely not mentioned because this letter was written in 2016 - any jobs left in the last 10 years became so scarce that people became so cutthroat and bullying, even willing to sabotage others' work - particularly new people, especially if they were good.
Even with the few hospital jobs left that paid hourly, people had become so accustomed to this overly competitive behavior that they can't stop behaving like that, even when it's completely unnecessary!
It wasn't like that for my first 10 years in this field - it became that way as jobs and work grew scarce.
In other words, most of the jobs left - BUT NOT ALL - have people who lack any discernible integrity or maturity whatsoever.
Good people - meaning not just productivity and quality wise, but maturity and integrity wise as well - are usually bullied out or never make it into QA or the "Clique of Mean Girl Management" - and don't want to.
(Again - NOT ALL - I love my boss for the last 6 years, but we were finally replaced completely by AI last fall. They'd apparently been testing it for a year or so, then took over. Every few months we'll get spillover, but that's just one or two jobs)
Aside: For the record, when I did make it into QA, I saw/heard my fellow QA people admittedly bullying newbies for even asking a question, especially if they questioned a score (though they were often correct). They would expressly call them "stupid new people."
One of those times, it was racially motivated.
This, of course, turned my stomach and I didn't participate - and 2 times, I actually stood up for those people whom they bullied on the company forum.
You can imagine what happened - I found myself their new target, so lesson learned (finally) - approach the victim, don't take on the bullies!
A couple of times, I was directly bullied myself - not because I stood up for new people or those of a different race, but just because they didn't like me or my politics (which I never spoke about it at work, only written here) - OR - because I was actually good at my job and well-liked, and they were overly competitive.
BTW, if the aforementioned is still reading here, as I know you did at one time - I was never, ever "trying to make you look bad" or after your job NOR was I trying to get in management - I felt lucky to still have a job in this field and was just trying to do my best to show gratitude.
Also, my budding friendship with our manager was genuine, not a ploy - THAT bothered you more than how well I was doing, didn't it?
For the record, I never told her OR said a bad word about you to her until the day I left. (YOU, on the other hand ran your mouth the entire time - dishonestly.)
Because I learned in my 20s that you can't control what people believe and it's selfish to try and put people in the middle. (And usually, the one loudest mouth/with the most power/been there longer wins despite truth anyway.)
But believe it or not, even though you literally scared the shit out of me that day, I actually really liked you up until that point!
But let me also say this - even though you weren't honest?
As long as you never did it again to anybody else as a result my leaving, then I'm happy 😂.
Back to the letter, I am hoping the person who wrote this letter - and the hundreds of others in this situation - was able to transition to something else, despite her age, particularly since she had an associate HIM degree.
I have transitioned to become a cancer registrar, currently in school at UC and have a 4.0 GPA!
In 6 months, I have not seen or heard even a single rude, overly competitive, or bullying word from anyone towards anyone else, online or otherwise - everyone is genuinely encouraging and supportive of one another.
I almost fell out of my chair, their eagerness to support my new entry into the field, it's been so long - so long that I had begun to think I must deserve being treated like I was in transcription, in the end.
I'm sure not everyone in this field is this kind, but most of them really are - they're a team, not sitting in silos trying to pull others down to lift themselves up, like crabs in a bucket.
I wish I had done this years ago!
Also, there are associations both regionally and nationally, as well as national funding sources for the cancer registries themselves, covered by both by federal and state cancer law.
They advocate for us and have even done studies about the work done and staffing needs - and they will push back if anyone tries to implement to a total AI takeover, because though AI can honestly be a great tool, it should never replace human review (at least not yet, it's not near ready).
The only catch is - I will be 59 when I graduate.
I have already had THIS said to me 2 times on prior interviews for other jobs: "You don't fit the culture."
Since I openly embrace diversity and inclusion, I finally figured out what this means - it's the new codespeak for 'you're older than everybody else."
Maybe - but I get along with the younger students very well, considering my sense of humor, plus keeping up with pop culture.
I still have a very sharp, fast mind, evident by my 4.0 GPA, being Dean's List and in Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and I am at the top of my class compared to many of those younger students.
And I'm thin and healthy - though you can clearly tell I'm in my 50s, I don't look 57.
And I don't go out as much or party, so no missed work due to hangovers etc. - in fact, no missed work at all.
And I figure because there is a shortage of Cancer Registrars currently, particularly certified ones, certifications make that age discrimination argument a little bit harder for prospective employers, right?
I wish Theresa and the others well - and cross your fingers for me! 😃
Stay positive, stay sharp, and never lose hope at whatever age, right?
(Feel free to remind me, on days like today when I forget lol).
