65-character is the way it is now. The clients are smarter and cheaper than sm
Posted By: MT for 2 long on 2005-10-10
In Reply to: I agree with no rental fees, weekly pay (sm) - Jen
they used to be. Very few have weekly pay. I agree about QA rudeness.
9-10 cents per gross line! Where? Sign me up !!!
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What happens, is MTSOs coddle the clients and let the clients call all of the shots.
Then the MTs get stuck with account specs that are contradictory and confusing.
It should be simple. When an MTSO is wooing a client, the MTSO should present with a copy of the style guidelines they intend to follow or if it is the BOS, let the client know that. It should be made clear that with the exception of report format, the guidelines are not flexible. Either we use apostrophes or we don't. Don't do it one way for one client and the exact opposite for the other client and then hold the MT responsible when she gets confused as to what account she is typing that day!
Anyone who's not smarter than Flo is on SSI
That narrows the field down a bit.
You really think that you as an MT are smarter than doctors?..sm
When doctors will be put to the task to correct their own VR, you can bet they will be up to the task, some immediatley, some with some training or polishing up their grammar and spelling. Certainly regarding the medical terminology. After all, it is they who s-t-u-d-i-e-d it, 8 years, some even longer. Do you really think that MTs can not be replaced?
Work Smarter, Not Harder...
Exactly! Go to work for a company that pays for ALL of your work, not just what is reflected in your typed reports. What about time spent looking up physicians out of a data base of 50,000! Trying to figure out what in God's name the doc is saying when pronouncing some foreigner's name, and wasting 10 minutes doing so...with no pay! ALL of my expertise is worth compensation, not just what they see on the final report. How many times do you type an entire report, just to hear at the end, Erase this, I'll redictate! No credit! What a waste of time and I deserve to be paid for the work I did, even though the DOCTOR screwed up and screwed me out of earning my pay for those lines! What a bunch of BS!!!
You have it all wrong. I work SMARTER, not harder.
I will take on any acct. After months of getting used to it, I see what I am making an hour. If it is worth the work required to do that acct, great. If it isnt, I ask to be taken off acct and so far, have never been refused. Sometimes takes little while for them to get another MT for acct but have never been refused. Company is not working for the prestige, loyalty to an acct, or ME for that matter, or for the good of mankind. Why should I? I am in this for the money, just like the company. I am very much a pro, which is probably why companies would rather have me on another acct, than to quit giving me work all together. They know many companies are always looking for a good MT. Like other posters, I dont understand why someone would work below their worth. There are too many companies out there to try. I have tried several, staying with the ones where I could make good money.
Well said, fellow member of the smarter gender.
Very well said. The only male MTs I have come across in my many years, have been at 60% accuracy (I QA'd them, so I speak from experience), and then they are absolutely shocked, horrified and rude when they never make it out of their probationary period.
Burnout...wanted to work smarter, not harder.
It seemed like I was sitting at my desk for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, just trying to pull the bare minimum. I had to hop around from one hospitals operating system to another and to another constantly...and if you've ever had the pleasure of doing that, you know that lines don't come easy that way because you spend all your time waiting for things to load and what not. There just wasn't enough work to stay on one account all the time, the way I think it should be, so instead of becoming an angry and bitter employee, I left.
They really did try to make me happy, but all they could offer were more hours, or more accounts, and like I told them, I simply wanted to work my 8 hours and make a decent living. Had a really hard time doing that over the winter. I think they overhired but I never asked that question head on. It was a great company when they first started out, but then got really big really fast. Great benefits though, if you can make the lines.
If I needed to get my foot in the door, I'd work for them, get the experience, and move on. It's that kind of place. But during a moonlighting gig I tasted freedom, more money due to a more efficient way to work, and better overall work environment, surrounded by people who truly loved their jobs, and when I was happy to log on for THAT job, and got sick to my stomach when I had to log on at DVHP, well that's when I knew it was time to be on my way.
Because it's cheaper to pay an MT (sm)
nothing to research the demographics than to pay a clerk min. wage.
Ax IS Cheaper
I felt I had to chime in too. On my insurance, I have myself, son and husband and only pay 153.00 per pay period. They ARE the cheapest I have found and have worked at several MT companies. I absolutely love Axolotl. 
actually not cheaper to pay it
Say you receive a service that the regular charge is $50.
Submitted through insurance, doctor is contracted with insurance company to discount price to $20 - you pay $20.
Telling doc you don't have insurance, doc does not discount - you pay $50.
Depends on your insurance how much your doc/hospital will discount...but its better than paying full price.
I'm sure they pay us for NJA because it's cheaper to
pay us to sit around and do nothing.
keystrokes ?cheaper
I heard from a friend that her long-time client changed to Keystrokes because they were cheaper, so I wondered what cheaper meant...
You can find them much cheaper, but you need
to be sure it is compatible with the software you will be using. Some companies have proprietary software and only certain pedals will work with it. If you don't already have a job where you need a foot pedal I would wait. You can use ExpressScribe and use hot keys to do testing and then get a foot pedal when you know what you will need. If you want to go ahead and get a pedal anyway and can find one cheap get a USB pedal. There are some pedals that are serial port, some that are game port, and then USB. You can get adapters for the first 2 to make them USB, but again it depends on the software you will be using it with. You can get new pedals at numerous places for $70 or less. The ones you see must come with software too, not just the pedal. You can find used ones for as low at $10 sometimes on e-bay. Also look on the equipment board here.
Sure they are cheaper, but remember that when....
your health insurance premiums continue to rise and costs of living in general are more expensive. You may have saved dollars on the front end, but believe me you will end up paying more in general for that cheaper-costing pool. Enjoy that pool!
$80 for $500 deductible, cheaper w/
.
Get private insurance. It is probably cheaper
and better than what company offers.
Won't find cheaper for emp+spouse for BC nm
they do not care about that and will find someone cheaper.
nm
I like the insurance they have now. It is cheaper than the one that my husband's company has. s
They have been trying to get new insurance for over a year but do not have the participation requirement filled, as they have let everyone know. However, I spoke to a manager who told me that the one that they have been working on since December looks good, just taking longer than expected as they keep asking questions.
I really wonder how much cheaper it is to send work overseas. When you
think about it, IC here gets about 4 cpl for VR and about 8 or 9 for straight typing. Overseas they have to go through a middle man or whoever owns the services and you cant tell me they arent getting a decent cut of the cpl and paying 3 cpl or so to their people. Just my thoughts. I bet the cost is very close anymore to what we earn. I see Delta is bringing its reservation call service back here from India because of all the complaints from US customers. I would expect it is the benefits here for employees that causes a problem costwise for MTs.
Most hospitals will. Pay your dues (work cheaper to get experience.)
Give TT some time to see if they can find cheaper plans
I also am greatly upset by the insurance hike, but I have decided to give them some time to see if they can come up with something more affordable. Like many of you, I have to insure my whole family, so this increase is astronomical.
The grass is not always greener. Changing jobs means switching out problems, and yes, some problems are easier to deal with than others. My last job (Amphion), I was so stressed out, I lost a lot of quality of life. I have young children. I can't afford to be a stressed out freak just like I can't afford the expensive health insurance. When I moved to TT, I regained my quality of life. I'm not so tired anymore, and I'm able to be a better mom. That means the world to me. I'll hang in patiently to see if another option can be found for the health insurance.
FlashType is cheaper and works equally as well as Shorthand and has a free demo.
See FlashType link below...
Heartland will sell accounts, because when it is done overseas the cost for the client is cheaper
nm
The Above is for a 65-character line.
Sorry...I left that part out. Thanks.
8.5 for 70 character line
That is what I thought. The guy I talked to said this was the same as 9 cents per 65 character line or a little more.
It is not 65 character line. It probably would come out to 75-
zz
They also pay on a 55 character line rather than 65.
x
When they say 62 character line or sm
68 character line, or 55 or 65. What is better for the MT? I am dense. Thanks.
Has anyone done a character count/65? Just cause
x
55-character line
Is a program that measures on a 55-character line good or bad? Don't they generally do 65-character? I know this is dumb, but which is better?
How can they sue for "defamation of character", when
.
If it is a 65 character line and being
counted by VBC, then soneone on another post said you cpl should go up 2 cents to equal out the difference in pay.
65 character lines with spaces
I don't think so. You're going to do a lot of typing to get all those lines. They don't pay spaces, no way!
what is a 65 character-defined line?
what is a 65 character defined line?
Question, what does 65 character B/W line mean? I'm not sure what the B/W is??(nm)
Hmm, exactly what is a 65-character gross line?
x
0.09 per 65-character IC status with schedule.....nm
;
Gross or character lines
In word, under properties they do not count headers that occur on every page. You have to add that in by the numer of pages, i.e. if you are doing a long psych report that is 9 to 15 pages and have a headed on every page. I could be wrong and if so let me know. I just did a count with a header and those lines were not counted. But if you are doing a cpl you can count characters with and without spaces. But again in word they do not count extra characters for capitalization, bold, underline, etc where as in line counting program, Sylcount, they do. So will you be using your program or theirs to count lines? Gross or per 65 cpl.
But if they are saying per character are they including spaces?
I'd ask if a space = a character. ;)
starting at .001575 per character???
What does that mean? So what's that translated into lines and isn't this strange to pay per character?
TIA.
37-character line without spaces much better...SM
Hi! I just checked an OP note I did yesterday. Characters with spaces was 5935. I get paid on a 65-character line with spaces, so that came out to 91.3 lines.
Characters without spaces was 4999. So, if you divide that by 37, you get 135.1 lines.
In the first scenario, I would get paid $8.22.
In the second scenario, I would get paid $12.16. (If both pay the same per line...9 cents in this example).
So, you would definitely do better to accept the 37-character line withOUT spaces! :)
Chickadee
Visual black character perhaps
You might want to check to see if they have switched to no spaces and are paying the VBC method. That could account for such a drastic cut. It would not be surprising to me at all. I am always more than appalled when companies do this on their own without notification or at client request without feeling the need to inform the MTs. Do they think that we do not notice that we are working harder than previously for less?
*readable character lines*
Hey, y'all. Is this subterfuge-speak for we don't pay for spaces? (Because one does not *read* spaces?)
If so, should I opt out?
*readable character lines*
Hey, y'all. Is this subterfuge-speak for we don't pay for spaces? (Because one does not *read* spaces?)
If so, should I opt out?
SoftScript's Character Line
I am interested in SoftScript's pay rate.
I heard they pay by a 65 character line? What do they use as their words per line rate?
I am working for a company who uses 8 words per line and am curious as to how this would compare to SoftScript? Any information would be helpful!
Thanks!
Is it lines = character count/65 maybe?
me
Name of character from Rockford Files.
xx
Agree 100%, Fatcat - It's out of character
You're right about that, Fatcat. As I said, the silence on their part is deafening and that, in my experience, is totally out of character for the management at MDI-MD.
To me, the thing that really piques my concern is the fact that it's not just one account that has apparently dried up. You and I are on totally different accounts, and both of ours are without work. At first, I thought perhaps they had lost one of the accounts, but I doubt they would have lost two major accounts at the same time; that puts me back to square 1 in trying to figure out what's really going on and holding out hope for things to improve.
I also notice our posts are starting to read very similarly to the initial posts of our fellow MTs at the Q when their work started to inexplicably disappear, the confusion and uncertainty and hoping for the best.
At this point, I don't think I'll feel secure even if given a backup account. IMO, with things drying up, shuffling us to another account would just be taking work away from the MTs already on that account and would soon place that account into famine territory, too. If there's not enough work, there's just not enough work. I don't mind having one backup account, but I really don't care to have to juggle 3-4 accounts every shift with fingers crossed hoping to make my line count.
At this point, to coin an old expression, I am hoping for the best but proactively preparing for the worst.
Would you ever work for 7 cpl - 65 character count
with 17+ years of experience? Maybe as a second job? Or no way, not worth it? Easy work and easy dictator :)
Your character core is right on target.
Of course, we all know to worry when a company we work for starts employing people to spout this meaningless BS. Bast#rds.
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