Me and my view of MedQuist

Okay, I had a nasty response to one of my posts this morning that I had posted a while back about the MedQuist lawsuit and I'm going to give my opinions here rather than responding to any and all nasty things I may get in the future. I'm sorry for anyone who has worked in the past (or currently) for MedQuist, the things I say are never meant to offend anyone, but this is my blog and so, therefore, my point of view and my opinions and if you don't like them then don't read them.

So anyway, first of all, I work for MedQuist, if you feel that makes me an idiot then feel free to feel that way, it's your choice, but please don't email me and tell me I'm an idiot or the devil's advocate or whatever, it ruins that whole minute of my life that it takes me to read the email. I've worked for them for nine years and feel an odd sense of loyalty, I can't help it, maybe it's a flaw in my DNA. Maybe in another couple of months or years I'll end up bitter also, but for now I don't mind them at all and don't plan on going anywhere.

I know many people out there feel that MQ is the devil itself. I'm sorry you feel that way, but I don't. I do feel they have their flaws but I also feel most of the other companies out there have their flaws too and if you ask enough people you're going to come up with a lot of people who hate those companies, it's just the nature of ex-employees. I'm sorry if that pisses anyone off, but my blog, my opinion.

I feel honestly that MedQuist f*cked up by overcharging hospitals and underpaying its employees, I'm sorry for anyone who got caught up in the mess, I really am, but I also feel that there is a point where you just gotta sort of get over it. They've been sued, they're making restitution, if it's not enough in your eyes then please don't email me and gripe at me, I didn't make the monetary decisions. I just work for the company, I'm a grunt like the rest of the world.

If MedQuist screwed you over in the past I'm sorry but I'm very strongly of the mind that this is a free country and there are literally thousands of companies that have at-home MTs and many hospitals and clinics who hire transcriptionists, if you don't like your job quit whining and find something else. I mean seriously. I think if any of this post will irritate people it will be this part of it, but I really don't care because I really strongly feel this way. One of the reasons I don't visit many of the MT forums anymore is because of all the negativity, it's so dang rampant that it can really make a person depressed. Doom and gloom abounds and it sucks. I get down enough on my own without having people attack me for working for MQ or for my views or whatever so I don't generally visit the forums unless I'm really, really bored or feel I can ignore all the negativity.

I must say I've been screwed over in the past by companies and it's not fun but I've learned to move on and not dwell. I worked for a lumber mill here in my hometown called Woodgrain. I was a good employee but I had worked for them for only about two months when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had been hired full time and had full insurance benefits and everything and told my boss right off that I was pregnant. Everything was cool. Like two months before I was due I went into human resources and told them when I would need the time off and they right away approved my 8 weeks of maternity leave. I worked up until two days before I gave birth. I had my daughter on a Thursday and I went in on Monday to pick up my paycheck only to be told that they had made a mistake and had just recently realized I hadn't been there for a year yet and, therefore, wasn't entitled to take a maternity leave. Well duh, you would have thought this would have been something they would have checked before approving me. They said I had something like three days to make it back to work or I would be fired. Well I talked to my doctor and he said he wouldn't give me a medical release to go back to work after less than a week after having a baby.

So there I was getting screwed over because human resources didn't do their job and check my employee file. I was pissed that I got fired because I couldn't by law (because I had no doctor's release) come back to work. Was I bitter? Hell yeah. Did I get over it? Uhmm....yeah. I still tell people the story because it's one of those "you've got to be kidding moments" in my life, but I don't belittle people who still work for them, I had a shitty experience but it doesn't make the company the devil in my eyes. I mean I'm pretty positive I'm not the only person to have gotten screwed over and I'm sure if we all got together we could really have a good bitchfest, but that's life, we all have our bad stories.

I just wish people would take responsibility and if you don't like something, change it. If you don't like any of the MT companies than by all means get into another line of work or start your own company. This is the US, I mean one of the best things about it is the fact that we have free will and can do what we please, including changing companies and changing careers. No it wouldn't be easy to do that, but it seems better than being completely unhappy about where you work.

Anyway, I think I've probably written enough here. I must say that this blog isn't meant to be a pro-MQ blog or really about them at all, it's supposed to be about my experiences in MT and about all the interesting things I find on the web and helpful stuff. I don't mean to offend anyone or irritate anyone if I mention MQ, but they are the company I work for and of course I'm going to mention them occasionally, but I don't want anyone thinking that the company I work for is the main focus of this blog, because they're not. The only reason I brought up the lawsuit in the past was because I had found an article about it. If I find articles about Spheris or MedScribe or Heartland or any of the thousands of other companies then I will blog about those, I'm an equal opportunity blogger I think.

So there's my view. Love it, hate it, whatever.