Medical Transcription India - MTIndia Digest #076 - "a strange juxtaposition between the Flintstones and the Jetsons."

Home

MTID

MTIndia Digest #076 - "a strange juxtaposition between the Flintstones and the Jetsons."

Friday, 15 March 2002

============================================
MT India Digest
Moderated Discussion List
"Effective MT Forum"
============================================
Published by:
MT India www.MTIndia.org

Moderated by:
Amit Chatterjee,SM This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

..................................................
Mar 16, 2002 Digest #076
..................................................

.....IN THIS DIGEST.....

=========FEATURED POST===========

-=The Blakes Go to India - Part 3=-

~Cheryl and Joe Blake
"a strange juxtaposition between the Flintstones and the Jetsons."

===========CONTINUING============

-=Frauds in MT=-

~Surg Lt Bhargava
"Those who have suffered like me should also come forward and ask
for a refund"

~Kiran P. Bakshi
"Iridium, HealthScribe & MTIndia"

=========FEATURED POST===========

From: Cheryl Blake < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Part 3 - A month since we left Wrightwood
---------------------------------------------------
Dear fellow MTIDer....

During the year 2000, Ms. Cheryl J. Blake spent a nine-month stint
in Bangalore, India. She and her family lived and worked directly
with Indian transcriptionists.

We are publishing a series on their experiences, as a regular
feature. Enjoy! I also invite Indian MTs to come up and share their
experiences of traveling and working in the US and with USMTs.

Your Striving Moderator,
Amit C.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
----------------------------------------------------
Continued from MTID #75...........

It has now been over a month since we left Wrightwood. One month
ago we were looking forward to the great unknown. In the past
month we have seen things that would have been commonplace in the
year One. We live in a strange juxtaposition between the
Flintstones and the Jetsons. As they would say on Star Trek, we
are in some kind of temporal anomaly...a hole in the time/space
continuum. Construction work is still in the stone-age, but
medical care here is space-age, state-of-the-art.

The day after we arrived in Bangalore, Johnny starting complaining
that he wasn't feeling well. It was clear that he had a problem
that needed a doctor's attention. We went to a friend's
pediatrician, Dr. Kumar, who diagnosed Johnny with a possible
bladder infection. After fearing the useof airplane toilets for
nearly 2 full days, and going only when he REALLY HAD TO, poor
Johnny 's bladder began to rebel painfully. Dr. Kumar felt that
Johnny needed to have a urinalysis. We paid Dr. Kumar 100 rupees
for his examination (about $2.25).

We were sent over to Wockhardt Hospital here in Bangalore. When we
walked into the front door of the hospital, we suddenly departed
the stone-age and were instantly transported to something like Loma
Linda! Armed only with a slip from Dr. Kumar saying Johnny was to
have some labwork; I gave the slip to a cashier, who charged me 180
rupees (about $4.00). Five minutes later we were at the lab and
Johnny had his test. After waiting about an hour, we had the
results. Johnny was started on antibiotics that did not need a
prescription, although we had a prescription anyway.

Dr. Kumar felt it was necessary for Johnny to have an abdominal
ultrasound, just to see what was going on. This time, he just told
me to go to Wockhardt and tell them we wanted Johnny to have an
abdominal ultrasound. No lab slip. No red tape. No copay. No
preauthorization. No B.S...just go there and get it done. I
called ahead and made sure that I could in fact "order" an
ultrasound just like that, and I was given a time to show up as
well as pre-test instructions. We were charged another 180 rupees
for the ultrasound.

We arrived on time and were ushered upstairs to the Cardiology
Department (where the ultrasound equipment lives). We waited in
the waiting room for our turn. As we stepped into the examining
room, we again were pleasantly surprised by the state-of-the-art
color flow Doppler equipment. The technician (who also did all
echocardiography) was pleased that I asked a lot of questions and
answered them fully and articulately. He gave me details about the
results of the ultrasound, which were basically normal. Johnny is
just fine now. We paid less than $15.00 for diagnostic testing and
treatment which would have cost $500 or more in the U.S., with much
less hassle and much less waiting. Our first Indian medical
experience was an eye-opener. The experience was a positive one
for all of us. We have confidence in the medical system here. Now
we know that if we need it, we will receive first-rate medical
care.

Getting around in Bangalore our first week was made much easier by
the fact that we had a car and driver. Our driver's name is
Shanmugam. I'm not sure if it is his first name or his last
name...he is just Shanmugam. He is employed by a taxi company and
we were his "assignment". He really took care of us. He brought
us to the hospital when we needed it. He "escorted" me to the
bazaar when I had to buy Johnny's medicine. He pushed the cart in
the grocery store.

Shanmugam is very friendly, talkative and great with the kids. He
always wears a white cotton uniform. He would pick me up in the
morning and take me to work, then take Joe and the boys for
haircuts or to the park. Every morning Shanmugam would bless his
car and burn incense in it. He took good care of us. He made
sure to tell us to lock the door when he left us at night. He
would be sure to remind me to count my change and check the
register tape for any purchases we made. He opened every door for
me and never let me carry anything. He would suggest restaurants
to us, which were all good. He introduced us to life in India. He
really became like part of the family, playing with the boys and
telling stories to them. It really didn't matter what language the
stories were in - they were always full of laughs and smiles. In
fact, Shanmugam talked to us a lot...some of which we understood,
and some...well...not. He would keep repeating a phrase, as if by
repetition we'd finally understand. Most times, one of us would
catch on, usually by the process of elimination. We've been
without Shanmugam now for over a week. His 92-year-old father
passed away and he has been away in Madras for the funeral. We
miss him.

In Shanmugam's absence, I have been taking auto-rickshaws to and
from work every day. An auto-rickshaw is a motorcycle 3-wheeler
with a covered passenger compartment. They have meters in them,
just like taxis. Infokey is only about 5 minutes from our
apartment, so I could walk there - but there is a really BIG street
to cross. It may sound silly, but I'm afraid to cross the street.
When I look to the left I should be looking to the right and
vice-versa. Everything is reversed, traffic-wise. In the morning,
I walk to the end of the driveway and hail an "auto", which is what
the auto-rickshaws are called, just like hailing a taxi. The
problem is that the rickshaw drivers will rarely take me where I
want to go. They usually refuse me. It is too short a distance
for them, and they won't make any money. The trip is not worth the
drivers' time, effort and gasoline. One morning after 5 rickshaw
drivers turned me down, I changed my destination to another office,
which is much farther away than where I wanted to go...just so I
could get somewhere and perhaps get a ride from someone there. It
was the long way to get there, but the only way to get from here to
there on that particular day.

Okay, enough already! Everyone wants to know about the camera. I
didn't mean to write a cliffhanger...sorry folks! We found the
digital camera. Here's what happened. During the last week in
Annapolis, the modem connection for the laptop broke. It was
broken and could not be replaced or repaired. We were leaving too
soon. No one could find a Toshiba modem connection. We packed the
computer in its case and it stayed there unused. I had no need to
look in the laptop case for anything. We had been living in the
apartment for over a week when I was looking for some paperwork I
needed. I decided to check in the laptop case. While rooting
around in the case, I felt a bump. There it was! Just sitting
there in the case, waiting to be found. Apparently some concerned
airline security employee placed it in the case so we wouldn't lose
it. I felt so guilty for distrusting them.

On that happy note, I'll sign off for now - it's 11:30 p.m. and I
have to work in the morning. There is a huge wedding going on
outside our bedroom window at the Baldwin Girl's High School,
complete with generator-powered lights and loud engine noises. It
looks as if it will continue all night long. Bye for now.

Cheryl J. Blake

........to be continued.

Comment? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

================CONTINUING=======================

From: Dr Ravi < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Training fiasco at United Transcription

Dear Amit & MTIDers,

I would like to bring to the notice of your subscribers, the effect
of neglect of training in MT business. How it is more difficult for
Drs to train and then ultimately resort to unfair means to get out
of obligations.

We have read about lots of schools who were forced to refund money
when they did not provide quality training to students. The UNITED
TRANSCRIPTION is also the member of that elite club. In addition
they have not paid their staff who trained the students for more
that two years.

Regards,
Surg Lt Bhargava

-------------------------------------------------------------------

WOMAN FORCES MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION FIRM TO REFUND FEES

A medical transcription firm was forced to partial refund of fees
to one of the trainees when the firm sacked the trainee just two
months after her absorption into service.

According to a complaint filed with the Mira Road police, one Ms.
Chandra Fernandes joined the medical transcription course on July
15, 2000 at United Transcription (India) Pvt. Ltd. near Vijay Park
in Mira Road. Chandra, who paid a total of Rs. 12,000 as fees for
the course was assured absorption in the Company if the she passed
the course with 50% marks.

However,after the students paid their fees, the doctors who taught
the course were not punctual in the lectures. "We were told that
the lecture timings would be from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. However,
Dr. Dilip Kulkarni and Dr. Manoj Mazumdar would come at 6.00 p.m.
and take lectures till 8.00 p.m. This continued for three months
after which examination was held and only 8 students out of 25 from
the batch managed to get through the exam. Chandra got 65% and was
absorbed alongwith other successful students. However the travails
and her batchmates began from hereonwards. "Dr. Mazumdar and Dr.
Shailesh Matkar would keep taunting us that we were doing a bad job
and were not fit to work with them." Chandra alleged adding that "
they humiliated us in front of clerks and peons in the hope that we
would feel disgusted and leave". On April 7, 2001 Chandra was told
by one of the junior staff that her services were terminated.
Aggrieved, Chandra confronted Dr. Matkar who allegedly abused her
and told her to speak to Dr. Mazumdar who for some reason, avoided
meeting her for the next few days. Finally, she asked Dr. Kulkarni
to refund her fees or face legal action, to which Dr. Kulkarni
reportedly countered by saying " How will you prove anything, we
have not given you anything in writing.

Chandra then approached social worker and Thane Dist. Congress
President (women's cell) Ms. Helen D'souza who took her to the
Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress President Muzaffar Hussain, who
directed them to meet the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kiran
Gosavi at the Mira Road Police Station. Accordingly , Chandra
(alongwith with Helen D'Souza) met Gosavi, who asked her to lodge a
complaint against the doctors at the Mira Road police station.

Acting on the complaint, Gosavi summoned the doctors and directed
them to refund her fees. As a compromise the doctors agreed to a
partial refund of Rs. 5000/- which was paid to Chandra by a
post-dated cheque on January 22. "Those who have suffered like me
should also come forward and ask for a refund," said a beaming
Chandra.

(Excerpt taken from the Mira Road Bulletin issue dated January 30 -
February 12)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

++++ new post - same topic ++++

From: Kiran P. Bakshi < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Iridium, HealthScribe & MTIndia

Dear Amit,

In furtherance to Shekhar's post in MTID #75, I am quoting from
your newsletter of 08th Dec., 1999:

Thereafter MTIndia, along with HealthScribe sponsored an MT seminar
at Calcutta on 9th Jan, 2000. Organized by City Infosys; RamDas
Khalsa, Pradeep.V.S, George Ollapally etc. were the speakers.

Following the Seminar, we found proposals for setting up an MT
unit, from Pradeep.V.S, George Ollapally and K.P. Shetty, on a
consultancy basis. It was only RamDas Khalsa who tried to stress on
the pitfalls and appeared to be looking for experienced partners.

Considering George was primarily interested in booing CBay (at that
time Innovex) and trying to sell his DTS "Fleet Footer" foot-pedals,
and also Shetty who was basically organizing the seminar, in other
words an "event manager", we homed onto Pradeep for genuine
consultancy to set up business at Calcutta.

We opted for a turnaround consultancy to go into production,
visited Trivandrum to inspect the setup, closed down existing
profit making businesses to fund this venture! The end result was
that after we finished the training phase, Iridium turned around
and said they had no work to outsource!

My query is why was MTIndia or for that matter HealthScribe,
sharing the platform with such unscrupulous parties. We associated
names, and fell into a classic trap!!

Regards,

Kiran P. Bakshi
Director
MCC Software Pvt. Ltd.
www.msplindia.com

Comment? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

----------------------------------------------------
The contents of the digest do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of MT India and affiliates or of the moderator.
MT India or MediWeb InfoTech Pvt. Ltd. make no
warranties, either expressed or implied, about the
truth or accuracy of the contents of the MT India Digest.

Please send suggestions and comments to:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

FAQ, Information & Archives at our website:
www.mtindia.info

Send your posts to:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

---------- End of MT India Digest -----------

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]