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MT India Digest
Moderated Discussion List
"Effective MT Forum"
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Published by:
MT India www.MTIndia.org Moderated by:
Amit Chatterjee,SM
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Nov 17, 2000 Digest #052
.................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... =========MODERATOR COMMENT===== -= I do have something to say...=- ===========NEW===================== -= MT in India =-
~Lalitha Ravindranath
"What makes Indian Medical Transcriptionists (MTs) unfit for the
job?" ~Saagarika Haran
"Traditions do not mean only observing religious festivals,
performing ritualistic ceremonies but following in spirit,
the great values" ===========BILLBOARD============== -= Cyber Laws in Effect =-
~Amitabh Kumar =========MODERATOR COMMENT===== Dear Fellow MTIDers.... I'm doing some research on Strategic Management... so I thought
you guys might be interested in applying the 36 Strategies to your
entrepreneurial endeavors... here's the raw data... you have to
make them relevant to your own environment ;-) 36 Strategies: Strategy 1. Cross the Sea by Deceiving the Sky
Strategy 2. Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao
Strategy 3. Kill with a Borrowed Knife
Strategy 4. Relax and Wait for the Adversary to Tire Himself Out
Strategy 5. Loot a Burning House
Strategy 6. Make a Feint to the East While Attacking in the West
Strategy 7. Create Something Out of Nothing
Strategy 8. Pretend to Advance Down One Path While Taking Another
Hidden Path
Strategy 9. Watch the Fire Burning from Across the River
Strategy 10. Conceal a Dagger in a Smile
Strategy 11. Sacrifice the Plum for the Peach
Strategy 12. Take away a Goat in Passing
Strategy 13. Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake
Strategy 14. Raise a Corpse from the Dead
Strategy 15. Lure the Tiger out of the Mountain
Strategy 16. Let the Adversary off in order to Snare Him
Strategy 17. Cast a Brick to Attract a Jade
Strategy 18. To Catch Bandits, Nab Their Ringleader First
Strategy 19. Remove the Fire from under the Cauldron
Strategy 20. Catching Fishes from Troubled Waters
Strategy 21. The Cicada Sheds Its Shells
Strategy 22. Fasten the Door to Catch a Thief
Strategy 23. Befriend a Distant State While Attacking a
Neighboring State
Strategy 24. Borrow a Safe Passage to Conquer the Kingdom of Guo
Strategy 25. Steal the Beams and Pillars and Replace Them with
Rotten Timber
Strategy 26. Point at the Mulberry but Curse the Locust
Strategy 27. Play Dumb
Strategy 28. Remove the Ladder after Your Ascent
Strategy 29. Decorate the Tree with Fake Blossoms
Strategy 30. Turn Yourself into a Host from Being a Guest
Strategy 31. Use a Beauty to Ensnare a Man
Strategy 32. Open the Gate of an Undefended City
Strategy 33. Use Adversary's Spies to Sow Discord in Your
Adversary's Camp
Strategy 34. Inflict Pain on Oneself in order to Infiltrate
Adversary's Camp and Win the Confidence of the Enemy
Strategy 35. Lead Your Adversary to Chain Together Their Warships
Strategy 36. Retreat is the Best Option And do excuse me for my extended vacation.......there is a saying in
Hebrew (free translation): "the way to Hell is full with good intentions". The posts below are interesting; I am looking towards some interesting
times ahead :) Regards to all! Your Striving Moderator,
Amit
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Comment?
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================CONTINUING======================= From: Lalitha Ravindranath <
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Subject: MT-The true picture Hi there MTIDers! Medical Transcription entered the list of career options in India
recently and shot up the charts because many saw it as a glamorous
option. Medical Transcription promised a hefty pay packet and
flexible work times as well. Housewives particularly were drawn to
Medical Transcription as they thought they could work from home,
balancing a career and caring for a family. A horde of other people
gave up their studies and jobs midway to join the "gold rush". All
they found was "fool's gold"; their dreams of riches turned into
ashes. Most entrants into the Medical Transcription field, tested the
waters by starting "training centers" which promised "100%
placement". After feathering their bank balances with money from
the tide of trainees, they claimed inability to place this hapless
lot. Jobs are so scarce and elusive that the dream of a job as a Medical
Transcription is like a mirage in a desert. The Medical
Transcription training centers refuse to be held accountable for
the unemployed state of the half-baked Medical Transcriptionists
they trained. What makes Indian Medical Transcriptionists (MTs) unfit for the
job? Firstly the "training" they receive is not world class. It
does not follow the standard of training set down by the AMMT,
which is the international standard. This makes them lack the
professional skills required in this competitive field. The accent
of the dictation is like a strange language for a majority of the
MTs. The accuracy that is stipulated by most of the clients is a
minimum of 98.5% and an impossible task for most MTs.This is
because they are not trained in all the specialties, operative
reports etc. Their vocabulary in medical terminology is not
adequate. The investment in setting up a Medical Transcription unit may not
be too much in view of the profits, but many factors prevent
entrepreneurs from investing in this field. The technology that is
needed in downloading and uploading files is expensive and not fool
proof. The turn around time in which the files have to be uploaded
is not negotiable and cannot be violated. The migrant nature of the
qualified MTs is also a source of worry. Large units that provide
quality training and have the money to invest in the top of the
line infrastructure, who can ensure quality control in every way
are the units who can hope to stay in the Medical Transcription
business for the long haul. The future looks bleak for Medical Transcription in India, taking
into view all the aspects that are present in the Medical
Transcription field today. It does not seem probable that much will
change in the future unless Medical Transcription training is given
at par with professional courses,(maybe even in professional
colleges), keeping in mind the international norms. If the
international insurance companies come to India, as their banks
did, there is hope yet, as they will insist on maintenance of
comprehensive and complete medical records. Most hospitals will
also begin to keep files of their patients and that will need the
service of trained MTs. Let us hope that this will indeed be true. Regards to all, Lalitha Ravindranath Comment?
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++++ new post - same topic ++++ From: Saagarika Haran <
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Subject: MT in India - A glorious opportunity being frittered away! Dear Fellow MTID'ers: As someone deeply entrenched in Medical Transcription,
I have been hooked on the net for some time now,
covering in depth, the MT scene in the USA, and here
in India. Chatting live with MTs abroad and
corresponding through their MT message boards, several
facts emerge clearly and I wish to share them with the
community here in our own country. The MT industry in the USA is extremely well organized
and superbly networked. Very clear standards are laid
out, not just in terms of syllabus to be covered for
medical terminology, English grammar, punctuation,
verb tense agreement, adequate exposure to sample
doctor dictation( covering myriad accents)constant
refresher courses, but also ensuring special emphasis
is placed on the provisions regarding patient record
confidentiality and health care etc. The credits for
each of the subjects are proportionately distributed
to ensure very high proficiency in overall terms with
the ultimate goal of excellence in medical
transcription. The average MT is paid anything between $13-$18 an
hour,doing an 8 hour shift in a five day week
(observing all mandatory holidays). MTs work in a
clean healthy environment, with the usual medical,
health insurance cover that is offered in the USA.
Ergonomics is an integral part of business especially
in a job that requires arduous hours on the computer. An MT is highly regarded and MT business is a thriving
industry growing steadily, by the year. Having said all that I might add that the incidence of
doctors/hospitals paying less than contracted for or
taking unsuspecting MTs for a ride is almost
negligible. Substandard MT companies, managers, QAs
are the exception rather than the rule. Now witness the Indian MT scene. Healthscribe India (A wholly owned subsidiary of
Healthscribe inc.USA) is possibly the only big player
who set up shop in 1994 in Bangalore, with a very well
structured training program, pay scales et al, and
function with about 350 MTs. Asoft India Pvt Ltd.,has
just entered the fray in Hyderabad, with maybe a few
others also. As for the numerous others - mostly small-time
players, they (barring exceptions) are uniformly
substandard, with little or no knowledge of the MT
industry in general and MT training in particular. It is a reflection of the times we now live in that
people with the "get-quick-rich" motive have launched
these "MT training institutes" and "Transcription
companies". Speaking from personal experience and
those of others with whom I am constantly interacting,
only one sordid tale emerges - one of fraud,
incompetence, and a total lack of anything even
remotely resembling ethics. It is indeed a matter of
shame that here we are, presented with a golden
business/job opportunity which we should have grabbed
with sheer joy, built upon it, proved to the Americans
that we are the best and also enriched ourselves in
the process, whereas we have just chosen to
practically throw it away by completely thwarting the
whole growth process for temporary personal gains. Take a hold of the "statistics" of fraud : 1)"Transcription companies" and "Training institutes"
charging anything between Rs 20,000/- Rs. 60,000/ for,
what in my opinion are, at best, ill-conceived, badly
planned, poorly executed training programs, that
wouldn't pass muster in the USA. One transcription
company had not even begun listening comprehension
until after a whole month of the training program had
elapsed. A "consultant company" with a "we are the
best in the country" claim, keeps knowledge to itself,
like it is it's birthright, refusing to part with as
little as a scrap of paper, after collecting a cool
hefty six-figure "fee". In the USA, for half that fee,
transcription companies, wishing to set themselves up
in business are offered all know-how, including books,
CDs, even transcribing machines! 2) The promise of "100% placement". This one is a
favorite of many Indian companies/"entrepreneurs" in
other fields too. Most gullible (of which there are
enough in this poor country of ours)aspirants find out
the truth only much after they have parted with their
hard-earned money. 3) A new breed of bogus "consultants", who have taken
full advantage of the lack of knowledge of their own
unsuspecting brethren, wishing to enter into Medical
Transcription, and charge colossal sums for "technical
know-how". Again, by the time the genuine businessman/
company wakes up to the fact that he has been
defrauded, his "consultant" has collected his booty
and disappeared, with false promises of giving him
work! One defrauded company never got onto production
and another closed down. 4) Fly-by-night operators are having a field day! I
have any number of people writing to me, in further
corroboration of whatever I have written here.
Several, in sheer disgust have just given up on
Medical transcription. I read an interesting post on
the MT message board in MT India entitled
"The bubble bursts", where Ms Lalitha Ravindranath,
writes much the same about the terrible "training
programs" and she, like me laments the fate of MT in
India. With everybody in the country screaming about the
greatness of Indian culture, our hoary past, our
wonderful traditions, I am sorry to see none of it in
evidence in the business world and at least not in the
field of MT. Traditions do not mean only observing
religious festivals, performing ritualistic ceremonies
but following in spirit, the great values and ethical
practices that form an integral part of our rich
5000-year-old culture. If you are going to hit your
employee below the belt and perpetrate fraud, while
you yourself travel in an Opel Astra or Ford Ikon with
a mobile phone stuck in your ear and observe every
'diktat' in the rule book only in the breach, then I
must state that is not Indian culture, whatever
interpretation you may wish to give it! Sometimes,I find disillusionment setting in me, but
with a "never say die" spirit I wish to continue
exposing these fraudulent elements and drive them out
of business, while helping to educate the hundreds of
aspiring MTs to at least recognize a bad training
program when they see one, a bogus company, when they
join one and in doing so they can as a group demand
quality training and refuse to pay exorbitant fees
(any fee exceeding Rs.15,000/- is sheer extortion) or
turn away and seek jobs elsewhere.This is easier said
than done, but I think someone has to begin somewhere
and I wish to do it here and now. Wake up, aspiring MTs, honest entrepreneurs, and
together build an endearing work environment( after
weeding out the scum) where employers and employees can
flourish alike and do our country proud! Saagarika Haran Comment?
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================= BILLBOARD =================== From: VSNL Helpdesk <
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Sub: Security of your Internet services Dear MTIDers, We are thankful to you for being a part of the VSNL Internet family
of users. VSNL is committed to provide Internet services of the highest
quality as well as provide a secure and reliable environment
or corporates and individuals to transact business on the Internet. As you might be aware the cyber laws have now been enacted in India
w.e.f. 18th October 2000. The provisions of the cyber laws and cyber
crime thus have a legal backing. VSNL's security team has been coming across certain attempts by some
of the VSNL subscribers to carry out security violations such as
hacking attempts, port scans and other illegal intrusions into
Internet networks in India and other countries. We would like to
advice that VSNL has been constantly able to recognize the identity
of such intruders, which is well documented. VSNL has been requested by some of the foreign networks who have
detected intruders from VSNL subscribers to initiate actions,
consequently we would like to advice in the interest of the security
and reliability of business transactions on the Internet, VSNL
intends to strictly abide by the cyber laws. Individuals and
companies which are involved in cyber laws violation, hacking
intrusion and scanning of other systems will be reported to the
appropriate authorities for necessary action. We trust that such
measures will improve the reliability and security of our existing
customers who would like to transact business via the net. We look
forward to your cooperation in abiding the cyber laws in the country
in the use of the net. Sincerely, Amitabh Kumar
Director (Operations) Comment?
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