What Could Medical Transcriptionists do to Get Paychecks in Time?

You might have read what all excuses an employer can make in delaying a medical transcriptionist’s paycheck. You have put extreme effort to churn out 100% accurate reports. It is your hard earned money. It is your sweat. You have to be paid before the sweat vaporizes. Will a doctor work without being paid for two consecutive months? You are as equally responsible as a doctor in churning out accurate reports, but why third-rate treatment only for you?

There were even instances at offshore when MTs were forced to approach the police and department of labor to claim their salaries, and I remember at one instance a Pakistani transcriber threatened to do serious HIPAA violations to extract her salary from a medical transcription subcontractor!

So what precautionary measures should an MT take at her/his end to avoid delayed paychecks and embarrassing situations?

Here are a few preventive measures that you could adopt: (I presume the medical transcriptionist here is an independent contractor working from home.)

First of all, prevention is better than cure; it is best to avoid landing into trouble.

• Never be a creditor to your employer. If possible, be a debtor.
• Never allow the paychecks to accumulate, ask for the pay if it doesn’t reach you on the stipulated date. Don’t remain without being paid for two consecutive months.
• Never let your employer have the notion that you are contempt with your paycheck. Wherever possible, speak about your personal financial distress and about the insufficient medical transcription income.
• Work for an MTSO/hospital/clinic/doctor in your town. For any delay in payments, you could at least physically visit their office rather than bugging over phone, email, or instant messenger.
• Before taking up a contract, inquire the credibility of an employer in your network, MT friends circle.
• Before you start working for a medical transcription company, check out what their transcription pay package is and further the payment terms and conditions. Insist on executing a contract with the relevant clauses about the pay interval.
• Online medical transcription forums are great places where you could gather valuable information about an employer. Try getting testimonials from those who are already working at the place where you are going to join.

Despite all the precautionary measures you might have taken, if by any chance your paychecks are delayed, reduce exposure to the defaulter immediately. Try finding some other prompt payer to maintain your income flow.

Meanwhile, try the following to extort the delayed paycheck the soonest.

• Visit the defaulter’s office and register your protest regarding the delayed pay.
• Try reaching him/her over phone and express your concerns.
• Remind the pay over email/snail mail. Request read receipt for all your mails.
• Pass offline message on his/her IM window citing the paychecks due to you.
• Send SMS reminding the pay. Even if his/her cell phone is switched off, it will get delivered as soon as the cell phone is switched on.
• Keep all the records handy of the communication with him/her regarding the faltered pay.
• Tell him/her that he/she may have to spoil his/her name because of the erratic payments.
• As suggested by one of our readers, take it to his notice that you may have to complain BBB of the company’s business practices.
• If possible, spread the message to other MTs in your locality about the payment defaults by the office that you worked for. You are helping other MTs by alerting them to not get trapped with a defaulter.
• If still not resolved, as a last resort, speak to your attorney of initiating legal action to make the defaulter pay you.

Unless you worked for a hard core crook, you should have got all your backlog paychecks cleared by now. Wish you good luck for not landing into trouble hereafter. Wish me too!