Accentus Reviews

Pros

1. Tax refunds because you're an independent contractor.
2. Work from home so no commute and no need for business clothes.
3. Flexible schedule, can work when you want.

Cons

In no particular order:

1. Very little training for medical transcriptionists by team leads.
2. Impersonality of the job. You don't meet your other MTs or team leads in person because everybody telecommutes.
3. Frequent computer problems on the Accentus end. If their system is down, you cannot work, you cannot make money.
4. Low pay, often at or below minimum wage because you are paid by production and team leads are so harsh with their feedback that often you are capped at transcribing 10 mins. of dictation per hour, which nets between $7.00-$11.50/hour for quality assurance. But...
5. Nitpicky team leads, often tell contradictory things, like to spell using Canadian spellings one day, then mark YOU down and cost you quality bonuses because they claim they never told you to use Canadian spellings and that the British spellings are preferred.
6. Unhelpful team leads, some of whom are very rude.
7. Despite team lead pickiness about the MTs' report quality, a total lack of standards when it comes to formats, spelling, etc.
8. Manuals provided are outdated.
9. Lack of work. My account had so many people on it that there wasn't enough work to go around. Some days, I sat at my computer for 10 hours waiting for jobs to be sent to me, then I'd make less than $20.00.
10. Long waits to get somebody from the helpdesk to resolve computer glitches.
11. Team leads don't always answer messages, calls, or emails.
12. No opportunity to network or socialize.
13. Low pay scale leads you to work more than 8 hours/day to make ends meet.
14. Many of the things you do on the job are UNPAID, like logging No Dictation files, reviewing old reports, troubleshooting the computer, reviewing manuals, and training sessions.
15. Expectation that you will understand all facets of the job within a short time, whereas in a hospital you are given a few months to get used to the dictation styles, formats and the like.
16. Old reports you upload for reference are often incorrect because of inconsistent quality assurance.
17. No benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Your MTs are the backbone of your company. Without us, you make no money. But we CANNOT survive on the wages you pay us. It is INCONCEIVABLE to have us do so many things for free. We cannot pay our bills and rent when there is no work. We do our best work but are frequently, frequently put down by our team leads. We have no direction from our team leads or account manager. We have put much effort into our education to do this job, from what a physician tells me, MTs need to know just about as much about anatomy, ailments, terminology, diseases and drugs as a first-year medical school student. We care for the patients and WANT to work the job we love, but we cannot if we make so little and are treated so poorly. Management would best take note that we are indeed a valuable resource and important part of the healthcare system and treat us with respect and give us the support we require and would like in order to constantly improve on our work.