* cents not good any shift for the expertise wanted
Posted By: . on 2009-09-21
In Reply to: I'm not so sure 8 cpl is worth - 2nd shift... what happened to shift diff?
say you do 1000 lines a day, that is 125 lines an hour x 8 hours (take longer make less an hour)
1000 X 8= 10 bucks an hour,$ 80 per day
pretty cheap for the skill, speed and accuracy they expect.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
With your expertise...
I need to say:
It's consistently producing (not consisting).
If you say THEIR Expander to THEIR benefit, then AN excellent MT should be excellent MTs.
It's need to be repirmanded or need repirmanding.
Your last sentence is a run-on sentence. How about a semi-colon after the word long?
Sorry, there is no perfect MT.
not likely do any good to apply, she is PT & wanted FT nm
.
Your expertise in medical terminology
Your expertise in medical terminology, English grammar, spelling, anatomy, medications, laboratory values, etc., is what you are being compensated for.
Well, if all editors do is fill in the blanks, then Ok for low rate. But if they actually have to listen, read the entire report, and make corrections, they are spending JUST AS MUCH TIME as if they had typed it! It is the amount of time spent doing the job that is being re-imbursed not the number of characters/lines. The character/lines is just the method to measure your time and what your time is worth based on your experience/knowlege/ability. An experienced MT should be making $30-40/hr and an IC and the same minus benefits if employee. If the services cannot get the contracts at this price, then they are failures and why work for them?
I just wanted to pass on my good news.
About six months ago, I quit the big national company that I worked for for 5 years and took a position as an IC. I am amazed that there is life after working for a national. I cannot stop smiling. I am happier, which makes my home life happier. My children are smiling again and we are enjoying each other.
Thanks for letting me share my good news and to all the unhappy MTs out there, I hope soon you will be happy once again.
javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',' ');
javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
Anyone hire on with MQ recently that feels it's a good fit? Getting the pay you wanted? nm
,
Good pay at 6 cents a line?
?
good for you! No 4 cents a line
.
It depends on your level of expertise--great for newbie, bad for expert. nm
x
Your timing is good. They just asked me if I wanted to pick up an ER account for weekends which inc
Thursdays and Fridays. It is an internet-based account and a good one but I have enough work on my primary.
Is 14 cents a line for radiology good?
I need some advice on this job offer as an IC for a hospital. They want to pay me 14 cents a line. I would like to know is that good?
Very good company. Incentive pay for production plus shift and weekend differentials. sm
Their platform is stable (proprietary, I've been on it for about a year and a half now). Pay is always on time. Good support staff. Their insurance changed this year. Plenty of work. They don't overhire on their accounts from what I can see. If anything, there is always plenty of work, which I like because I can hop on outside of my regular shift and get some more lines. Now that they pay extra for weekends, I like to pick up some extra hours then.
7 cents a line with no bennies and no taxes taken out is good!
What are we coming to!
7 Cents can be good - it all depends how the line is calculated - sm
I see posting all the time saying don't accept 7 cents a line that we are worth at least 9 cents or more. Well it all depends how the line is calculated. These national companies usually pay character with or without spaces and some of them have their own counting software where you just have to go with what they say and can't actually verify what is really being counted. With that said you can be paid 7 cents a line counting Keystrokes (bolding, underline, etc - example the word paid is four characters but if you bold it then it is 8 characters and if you underline too then it is 12 characters) which would usually equal around 9-10 cents or more a line depending on the format of the document. So it is very misleading when some transcriptionists say 7 cents is insulting when actually it is good if you are getting keystrokes with Abacus and you can actually verify it yourself to make sure the company is paying for all the headers, footers, template, shifts, tabs, spaces, returns, bolding, italic, underling, caps, etc. You really have to investigate how the line is calculated to be able to compare. So to all you people that keep saying don't accept it....I bet the ones that have are actually getting paid more than you in the long run!
Are you guys telling me that you think 7-8 cents per line is good?
x
Good post MissIndigo....I make 6.5 cents for VR sm
and I do agree it would be difficult to do it at 4 cents a line. We are fortunate, and yes it is possible to increase speed even after a year of doing VR, 4 cents still would seem completely unfair to me. I have in no way doubled my production lines. I may have increased by 50% or 75% of normal line rate, so I think 6.5 to 7 cents is more than fair. No matter what the rate, no one in this industry should think is easy and not have to pay extremely close attention. Good luck to you Ms. Indy. You have a great attitude, I watch your posts. You are a true professional.
Good info. In late 1980's I typed for 4 cents a line (sm)
and made over 35,000 a year, which back then was pretty darned good. I had a couple of really hard accounts I did and when the really cheesecake ER accounts that had repetitive dictators came along, they always sent a tape or 2 of that my way as kind of a payback for doing the hard stuff.
That 4 cents a line is unbelievable now, but back then and the area I was in that was the going rate and I worked less than 40 hours a week to make that 35k.
What is average? 7 cents, 8 cents, 9 cents? 65-character?
x
This is true. Shift does matter. I work 2nd shift and really have not had any issues with not havi
x
3rd shift radiology can be like that. Feast or famine. Same with 3rd shift sm
ER work. Sometimes the doctors are too busy to dictate, so they do it at the end. Why don't you talk to them and ask about a different shift?
I also work for 8 cents a line. I left a job typing OPs for 10-11 cents sm
to take a clinic job. I made an average of $17-18 an hour with OPs, now make $16-17 an hour, but the work is easier on me. I do not call that poor pay. I type 200+ lines an hour. True, it isn't the $26-27 an hour I was making 10 years ago at a hospital, but that's gone for good. I have excellent skills, make better than 99% on QA at any company I have worked for, and some of those have been very demanding.
I'm afraid the people that are expecting to make $20-30 an hour in MT are going to be disappointed. A few can still make that amount, but for the average good transcriptionist, the pay is much more likely to run $15-20. Benefits are pretty much gone. However, I feel that what I'm making is considerably above what I could make in another field, unless I decide to teach, which I will not do. Still, I make more than I would at Walmart or Burger King, or even a secretarial job. It's my choice. Good luck to you.
Ya know, even if I spend time during my shift or after that shift
it is still MY time, expected by the company, and I am not getting paid for it regardless. I don't answer my phone while I am working, never did, never will. What other profession, while probably punching a clock, do folks work for free? If I worked in an office doing this, that time would be paid - say 15 minutes a day x 5 days a week at even $10/hour = $50 a month - and it is more time spent than that to deal with the email thing and the reminders and the changes in specifics and logging in and out of 3 different accounts when primary is out of work. GRRR.
I don't change jobs easily either, glad you are happy where you are - but producing 1400 lines of ACCURATE text will end my career soon (and probably yours also) and then what are we all to do? My goal is not to work more, work harder and longer hours to produce a salary I can live on.
The mentoring program does not pay 8-1/2 cents per line. Believe it is like 6 cents.
n/m
4 CENTS , SCHMORE CENTS. THAT'S WRONG!
Whether an MT is new or an editor, 4 cents a line is deeply insulting, and 9 cents per line isn't really too much better. You know, I understand that most of these MT companies want to save money, but most of them don't seem to want to pay what an MT's time and skills are really worth. Why not pay an MT who has been in the field for 7-10 years or more 15 or 20 cents per line? At least I might consider working for one of these companies at home if I were to be paid that much straight off the bat for having 12 years' experience, but I guess that would be too much like right...
Do they still pay you 5 cents a line and 2 cents if you send anything to QA?
xx
I have a problem with 7 cents and 8 cents a line because
...when I started 15 years ago, my very first MT job started me out at 8 cents a gross line, then went to 9 cents a gross line after only a year. I was SOOO happy and proud of myself for choosing a profession that paid so well - I imagined myself making a lot of $$ once I had 10 or 15 years experience behind me...
Well that never happened; in fact, it all went backwards, pay wise. The company I worked for back then sold out to a national, and of course the pay was cut, and 9 cents a gross line was never to be had again, at least not that I could find. I am considered living in poverty now. I started out great but have ended up very badly.
I think my own personal problem is that it's hard for me to let go the fact that I made good money just starting out and how everything I had ever learned about jobs, careers and pay was that the more experience and education you have in a particular field, the more your pay goes up as each year passes. Well my pay has been consistently taking a nosedive for at least a decade now. I actually have to work MORE to make at least as much as I did years ago, and it's killing me health-wise as far as my wrists, my legs, my neck, my back....
It also kills me that I'm going to have to accept 7 or 8 cents a 65-character line when I made so much more than that 15 years ago.
I suppose to someone who's just starting out, 7 or 8 cents would seem pretty good, though. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to land any jobs with my resume. They may not want me with my years of experience, probably want a newbie who will be more grateful about such low pay. I dunno.
I could just kick myself for wasting money on MT school those years ago when I could've spent it on a career that would actually LAST and where I'd be making great money after being in the same field for 15 years. There's just no reward to this business. None at all, IMO.
I would NOT recommend this field to anyone just getting started. To me, it's a dead field.
I'd have more freedom working at McDonalds (for a number of reasons), and, believe me, I've been considering taking a local job around my home for minimum wage. At least I'd have a consistent paycheck and would know exactly what I'm getting every 2 weeks, then build from there as far as another job or two.
Well anyway that's all. I really need a job. I'm going down, going under, and it's a shame because I do very good work and have all this experience but no one seems to want me, even the low-paying companies. Oh well.
Thank you! Just wanted I wanted to hear!
nm.
They pay well 10 cpl days, 11 cpl 2nd shift, 12 for 3rd shift
1300 lines a day required, 65 character line. They have benefits. Don't know much else.
I have worked both 3rd shift and day shift (SM)
including what you call banker's hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). I ran out of work more often on 3rd than I do now on the day shift.
Few cents here, few cents there stolen from you by
x
I'll add my 5 cents to your 2 for 7 cents sm
I AGREE WITH YOU!
I know an MT who sits on her laurels and whines about no work and only getting 9 cpl after 5 whole years of experience. She can type 3 specialties, won't touch an ESL, goofs off when there is work and whines when there is not. I have tried to help, but it is quite plain to me she doesn't want that help.
I have about 3 times the experience of the above MT. The only specialty I have not done is pathology. I have literally done everything else. I know the BOS 2 like the back of my hand and I have outstanding accuracy scores (even if I can't type straight here). I work as an employee and make a base rate of 8.5 cpl, which I never get because I always have some of the different incentives offered. I regularly turn that 8.5 cpl into $25 an hour and at my PT job where I get 10 cpl and faster software, I can turn that into $32.50 an hour.
I have heard, more times than I can count from other MTs that they wish they could have my income. I can tell they why they don't. It is called hang out to complain on a message board like MTStars. It is doing everything, BUT your work on your shift. It is your lack of a willingness to learn new things, even if they slow you down some. This very year, recently in fact, I was put on straight cardiology procedure notes and I didn't worry for a second that I would suffer financially. I AM FLEXIBLE and that, in a nutshell, is why most MTs will not succeed.
A long time ago I realized that if I want more money, I was going to have to work SMART, not hard. In my 15 years, I now make 5 times what I did my first year and at the same exact line rate I had then! I spend less time working to achieve that these days. So no, I can't agree with your sky is falling routine.
Most of you...your attitudes suck. If I had to have you on site as my employees, you would not last 15 minutes. The first time I heard you at the water cooler whining about your pay, I'd fire your fanny so fast it would make your head SWIM. I have eyes in the back of my head too, so when you started making that stink face you are making right now, I'd have sacked you for that, on the spot, no warning and no day's pay. The ONLY reason you all get away with this is that you THINK no one who knows you is watching and that your respective contract holders can't figure out who you are.
By and large, I can't tolerate other MTs as friends. I find them lazy, self-absorbed whiners and complainers with some the worst negative attitudes I have EVER seen! If you hate MT so very much GO GET A JOB DOING SOMETHING ELSE. I can tell you, your bad attitude, your tendency to complain, whine, witch (with a capital B), moan and ALWAYS see the most negative side of everything...THAT crap will follow you to that new career and it won't be any better than this one. You have issues and I really think they are issues for a good therapist. They are called personality disorders and many of you have them in multiples and in spades!
I think you should be completely and utterly ashamed of yourselves. Too many people are out of work, homeless, and starving this Christmas to be so opinionated and selfish.
The best co. ever! Good work, good people, good pay, good bennies.
x
Thanks for saying what I wanted to say...
We are not the same as Transcend, although we both are good companies. We care about MTs... and I would love to know who the posters are that claim differently.
As Liz says below -- e-mail her or give her a call.
I just wanted to say that I don't believe the
Indian worker is trying to destroy the American dream, they are trying live it. Blame should go to the companies who are taking the work and sending it overseas, not the workers who are given an opportunity to better their life situation. This doesn't mean I agree with off-shoring, I just think blame for the dying of the American MT profession is sometimes misplaced.
I have been following this and I wanted SM
to say that it might not be that you were the only one this happened to---a lot of people just see the $ coming out of the paycheck and don't think they have to confirm that the plan holder got it (because the company should be more trustworthy).
The way these companies are now, it's probably a better thing if you take the check they gave you and found an IRA to invest in yourself. You can also arrange to contribute to it throughout the year (although it will be after-tax money, but you will be able to claim the contribution at the end of the year and get that tax back) out of your own bank account. The situation that happened to you is unacceptable. You are being far more gracious than I would under the same circumstances.
We do not allow job-wanted ads. (SM)
Please feel free to post your resume on the resume bank or search the Job Seeker's board.
In the future, if you have a question about your post, please e-mail the Administator or myself.
Goldbird
I just wanted to know if - sm
it was liked or not. Wondered if it slowed you down at all. I am used to Word and I hate to change if it is a problem software.
Thanks.
Just wanted to say hello...
I start with MDI this week, was just trained yesterday. It's nice to hear there's usually plent of work. :)
No job wanted ads, please. NM
Goldbird
No job-wanted ads, please. SM
Please use are free resume bank or see the ads on Job Seekers board.
Ask about specific companies or specific issues (i.e., the poster below asking which companies have an HMO plan).
If you need help, e-mail me.
Goldbird
just wanted to add...
it sounded very familiar to a presentation presented by a former employer YEARS ago. It was a very small local MTSO, and he was reworking the pay scale in order to cover other expenses. He showed us a pie chart of what a huge chunk MT wages took out of the total revenue (DUH -- would you HAVE revenue without us) and mentioned how we could increase our wages by becoming more productive (the latter, I believe, was mentioned more than once in the DRC/Acusis presentation -- read: don't count on making your current wage -- but you'll be able to offset that by increasing your productivity -- HA). We didn't get the pie chart in this presentation, but it was clear they want a good portion of their revenue to go to research and development.
I'm cautiously optimistic -- I would LOVE to switch careers but at my age it's impossible -- I know because I have tried. Once you have worked at home doing this for X number of years, you basically don't qualify for anything else unless you wish to flip burgers. A friend asked: Can they really cut your wages? And i explained how the lovely world of MT CAN and DOES do that: I predict in this case, it will be: We are switching to a different way of counting lines, and we will adjust your pay per keystroke appropriately. And LO AND BEHOLD, when you crunch the numbers, you will notice that your pay has been appropriately adjusted DOWNward.
Did you tell them you wanted to do OPs and they said OK, or just
not check it out at all???
I just wanted to say ....
I have worked for Liz, and she is really great. She was always very understanding and went out of her way to be kind to me. I did not see the ad you guys are referring to, and I understand no one wanting to feel like they are being insulted, but for her to have written something like what I imagine the ad said from what I can gather from your posts, she had to be frustrated. I would totally work for her again.
I think it is 5 cpl, but I wanted
I wanted straight transcription to get a better rate, so don't quote me on it.
Ok, that's what I have already. Wanted to see if could do away with the
nm
BECAUSE I WANTED TOO,
x
That's what I wanted to know. Thanks for
your honesty. Anybody else have a different/similar experience?
By the way I wanted to add
I hope that by my initial excitement I did not encourage anyone to make any kind of choice they would regret. If so, I apologize. If you are happy good for you. I was just so excited initially, that maybe I should not have put the post in to influence anyone. Seems like there is an argument going on here and I do not want to say either way. I say interview if you want, ask all of the appropriate questions and then you may check references on a company before you take the job just as easily as they can check yours. If you are a good match, good luck. If not, then good luck in your job search. Not backsliding here, just trying to make amends because obviously you guys wanted a follow up so my comments a few weeks ago must have made an impression. No matter what there is a company out there for everyone, so good luck to all, and I wish only the best.
just wanted to know...
Thanks, but someone posted that if you wanted to see where they worked to check their other posts and you could find out. I don't want to know the identity of people, just if you can find posts of individual people! Does that sound clear as mud to you?! 
Also wanted to add (sm)
It is too bad that they do over-hire. Because they are losing a lot of great people who would probably stay the duration of their career if they were able to get their line counts and make money with them. JMO.
Just wanted to add
you also need to contact the Labor Board. Take any paperwork you have with you--i.e., copy of your contract, etc. If I were in your shoes I would send a letter (cerfified mail, return receipt requested) to them telling them I expected payment in full within five days or I would do all of the above, including the Labor Board. Then DO it.
How do you know what she wanted?
You don't even know her, have not worked with her or walked in her shoes? What kind of a payoff do you get from being so nasty?
|
