US versus Indian MT - Part II

Going further from my collectibles of what an US MT thinks about Indian MT, here are a few interesting ones collected from Internet:

First one, of course, targeted at me only:

"This Kooldudz is an Indian MT? - Wow!


A few blogs down, he states it time to celebrate again the 61st Republic Day. He wishes his fellow Indians across the globe a Very Happy Republic Day.


TELL ME THIS, HOW MANY OF YOU UNITED STATES MT'S WOULD WISH THIS TO EACH OTHER! I personally never heard of this holiday.


What I am getting out of it is what they have done to the United States MT's and we are venting and anything negative we day, well to put frankly, any TRUE FACTS we say, Kooldudz uses it against us United States MT's. That is what I see is going on."

This one is so interesting to read, maybe very disgusting for the Indians, that clearly tells the mentality of an US MT towards the Indian MT and the high frustration level he has seeing his jobs going to India.

Another one: "Don't hate India, hate the greed in this country."

An interesting one: "I am on a Spheris shared 'global' account, and if it weren't bad enough that we get the harder stuff and they get the easier work types, I am noticing that my manager is manually routing out all the work sometimes, and routing me REALLY hard dictators. Also most of what goes through speech rec is a joke, and it is faster for me to delete what was fabricated by the software and type it myself... but at considerably reduced pay than if it had not gone through speech rec. I think it is getting worse by the day here at Spheris."

A thoughtful one: "Merging of two service areas resulting in more of us scrambling for jobs. I was NJA for a while last night. I have very little PTO left and my paycheck was $200 less again because of more ASR."

And lastly a positive one (finally!!!): " I initially MTed for two sisters from India, whose English spoken and written, was very good, well above average for people raised here, sad to say. They learned it at school in India and learned it properly. (They were also charming, fun, and very nice to work for.)"

Hope every reader reads between the line and able to find out the degree of frustration level brewing in US against India, this might be true for all the work being outsourced, not only medical transcription, I think a volcano is preparing to erupt...



© 2010 Ranjan Kumar

Cbay versus Spheris

The continuing decline of Spheris in MT industry makes one perplexed as to why the MT giant lost the battle to its Indian counterpart Cbay Systems which is continuing to grow at a pace that is now compared to even Infosys and Wipro. Just a couple years ago, you asked anyone in India, which is the biggest medical transcription company in India and pat came the reply, Healthscribe (Now Spheris or Cbay don't know for sure!!!), but things are different now. The continuing losses at Spheris have been accumulating for years. The Spheris management has blamed a combination of factors, from delays in implementing technology to lost business as customers defect in an industry splintering under pricing pressures. According to Spheris Inc. CEO Dan Kohl, not a happy man these days, “I am not satisfied with where we are at this point. I want to see a clear sign that customers are happy with us and that we’ve begun to really turn the corner in a positive way, which will mean signing some new business, feeling good about that and stopping the losses.”

The eternal question everyone has on their mind is can Spheris right the ship and retain its No. 2 market position in US and now in India is a question that is perhaps most worrisome to its strong workforce both in US as well as India as well as about 500 health systems, hospitals, and group practices throughout the United States that have for so long depended on the excellent services rendered to them by Spheris.

But the financial status is really very sad. The net revenue, which reached $52.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, has fallen every consecutive quarter since, to $40 million in the second quarter of 2009. After that the company terminated its voluntary registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and after three weeks the CEO Kohl resigned after just 13 months into the job, and Spheris announced that they have hired a new high-powered turnaround consulting firm to sail the company through the troubled water by debt restructuring.

Thus started speculations and the rumor mills about Spheris's future. By closing the curtains on its finances, Spheris has opened the door to speculation regarding its future. The Nashville Business Journals apparently referring to my earlier blog post "Cbay, Spheris, Medquist or they are alll one now" said, "Whispers range from a sale to a bankruptcy, with the former gaining steam in the past week after a blogger in India reported competitor Cbay Systems Ltd. had struck a deal to buy Spheris’ operations in that country."

Both Spheris and Cbay have declined to address the potential sale, though no one has denied the deal. Though Spheris is trying to its best to sound most optimistic and in fact according to Spheris spokeswoman Lisa DeMoss, “Customers are a central focus in this process, and we are confident that we are taking the right steps to meet the needs of Spheris’ customers and position the company for a successful future. We are pleased with our progress to date and will continue to focus on both our operational and financial initiatives.” The fact is that there is suspicion over Spheris's ownership as well.  According to reports, private equity firms Warburg Pincus and TowerBrook Capital Partners as the majority shareholders in the company sharing about 83 percent stakes between them, 55 percent of Warburg Pincus and 28 percent TowerBrook Capital Partners. However, the interesting fact is that Warburg Pincus does not include Spheris its list of portfolio companies on its Web site, though TowerBrook’s portfolio list does include Spheris.

The new consulting firm Spheris is now under the direction of is Capstone Advisory Group, which hopefully will be able to sail Spheris through these difficult financial times. Bob Butler from Capstone is the new CEO of Spheris who has to carve out a debt restructuring plan to come out of the financial mess, which is like the company owed $75.2 million under its senior secured credit facility and another $125 million in senior subordinated notes as of June 2009.

With stiff competition from Medquist and Cbay (or are they both one) as well as other major players and independent contractors working from home for an estimated $15 billion industry, the uncertain future is looming large on Spheris and so the worries keep growing for their strong workforce both in US and India. While things are looking very grim for Spheris, Cbay continues to grow at an amazing pace, so if they both became one (or are they already are in India???), it will bring a lot of respite to at least Spheris' strong workforce in India.  Lets keep our fingers crossed...



© 2010 Ranjan Kumar

Michael Jackson 911 Emergency Call complete transcript

The King is no more, but the legend continues. The mystery continues even after the death of the biggest pop star the world will perhaps ever see. The cause of MJ's death is still not clear, though doctors have confirmed coronary arrest, but what led to that massive arrest is not clear and perhaps will not be clear until and unless the full postmortem and toxicology report is out. Authorities have released 911 emergency call from Michael's home to seek help which also clears the point that MJ's primary care doctor was present with him, though now a fugitive.

Here is the complete transcript of the 911 emergency call:

Operator: Paramedic 33, what is the address of your emergency?

Caller from MJ's home: Yes sir, I need an ambulance as soon as possible, sir

Operator: Ok sir, what's your address?

Caller from MJ's home: Los Angeles California, 90077

Operator: Carolwood?

Caller from MJ's home: Carolwood Drive, yes

Operator: Ok sir, what's the phone number you are calling from?

Caller from MJ's home: Sir, we have a gentleman here that needs help. He's stopped breathing, he's not breathing and we are trying to pump him, but he's not, he's not...

Operator: Ok... ok, how old is he?

Caller from MJ's home: He's 50 years old, sir

Operator: Ok. He's not conscious, he's not breathing?

Caller from MJ's home: Yes, he's not breathing sir

Operator: And he's not conscious either?

Caller from MJ's home: No, he's not conscious sir

Operator: Ok (pause). Alright, is he on the floor, where's he at right now?

Caller from MJ's home: He's on the bed sir, he's on the bed

Operator: Ok let's get him on the floor

Caller from MJ's home: Ok

Operator: Ok let's get him down to the floor. I'm gonna help you with CPR right now, Ok

Caller from MJ's home: We need him... we need a...

Operator: Yes, we're already on our way there. We're on our way. I'm gonna do as far as I can to help you over the phone. We're already on our way. Did anybody see him?

Caller from MJ's home: Yes we have a personal doctor here with him, sir

Operator: Oh you have a doctor there?

Caller from MJ's home: Yes. But he's not responding to anything to no... no... he's not responding to the CPR or anything

Operator: Oh, OK. Well we're on our way there. If your guy is doing CPR and you're instructed by a doctor he has a higher authority than me. And he's there on the scene

Caller from MJ's home: Ok

Operator: Did anybody witness what happened?

Caller from MJ's home: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here

Operator: Ok so did the doctor see what happened?

Doctor: did you see what happened sir? (inaudible voice) Sir, just, if you can please...

We are on our way. We are on our way. I'm just passing these questions on to my paramedics who are on their way there, sir.

Caller from MJ's home: Thank you sir. He's pumping, he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything sir. Please

Operator: Ok, OK, we are on our way. We are less than a mile away and we will be there shortly.

Caller from MJ's home: Thank you sir, thank you

Operator: Ok sir. Call us back if you need any help. Thank you

© 2009 Ranjan Kumar

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