Do you know how they define a line?
Posted By: Misha on 2006-06-13
In Reply to: Is 14 cents a line for radiology good? - lbmt
I have not worked as an IC, but it doesn't sound too far off if the details are right. Do they pay for spaces? Headers? What software? What report types? Have you heard the dictators yet?
I don't have all the answers, but those who will will probably need more info.
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Define IC, please
How do companies manage to constantly advertise they are looking for ICs for specific hours and days? When I was an IC, I told them when I would be working, what days of the week, etc. 
Please define
what an MT is/does.
You define yourself as being in business.
My 2 cents - strictly my thoughts: 1) License? Probably not needed - in my state of Indiana (or maybe just county) when I checked on this years ago they informed me a license was required for retail type business, selling a product, not a service. May need a DBA (doing business as) registered with your county recorder(?) if you take on a business name. Requirements vary from state and counties. That's all it takes. 2) When are you In Business??? As soon as you desire to be -- and believe you are! 3) How many accounts? One! That's enough sometimes to get started. I believe being in business or even freelance is a mindset. If you think you're in business, you are. But no one else might see you that way. Besides, most medical offices I've ever transcribed for (10+ years) I don't think really saw me as being in business. Early on in my so-called business career as an MT, while waiting to pick up a tape in his waiting room one morning, I overheard the doctor talking to the receptionist, asking her: is that the typing girl. That gave me a perspective real fast! After that, I realized that while I might see myself as in business, most accounts saw the transcription business I offered was simply a necessary evil they had to pay for, and that I charged too much anyway--no matter what I quoted. It's a strange way to make a living. They need you but don't really want you. At least I think that's how the docs see us. So, if you want to give it a try, simply Declare that you have a small business and go for it. You define it for yourself. Best of luck to you.
Define desperate
I think it depends on how desperate you are for the experience. I worked for a company out of North Carolina at an extraordinarily low line rate, but they were the only company who would hire me with no practical experience whatsoever. I knew I had to suck it up and deal with less than minimum wage for a while and just put my time in. Fortunately I had backup money so my mortgage did not go unpaid during this time frame. If you are just trying to get anyone to hire you, then you might want to take it at least for a while. Horrible is better than nothing, sometimes.
define strung along - guess I just don't get it
I personally was never treated badly by anyone there, the only surprise being how quickly office closed.
Can you define "some exceptions?"...
In your response you said it was for radiology in general although there are some exceptions. I've heard from 2 HIM transcriptionists who have been with the company for several years that they were notified that their line rates would be changed to the new hire rates & they were given less than a week's notice on this.
Define affordable? What may be affordable to one person may not be to another. nm
x
A line is a line is a line. Doesn't matter if we are talking about radiology or acute care.
1600 is not a fair minimum requirement. Sure you can achieve 1600, it shouldn't be the required minimum.
Means a line is a line is a line, even if it only has one word on the line
it is considered a line.
"a line is a line" means gross line.
Gross line is a line, no matter how long or short.
Yes to old reports! Their ExText has all the regular functions except line counts are done on line
s
Thanks for the info! Do you *feel* like you make more with a gross line v. character line? (nm)
Oh, they make money off us. Line rate is 17 cents a gross line.nm
z
Keystrokes has very few accts on line using ExText. Most use Cphones/2nd line. Lots of Rad
s
Could someone help me with the figuring out of gross line versus character line? sm
I have generally been paid by character line, 65-character line. Now, I have had job opportunities offering to pay gross line but it like 3 cents cheaper than what I am being paid now. A few places I have read that gross line is MUCH better, but is it much better if the pay is so much lower? Please explain how it works or equals out. This position has offered me 6 cents per gross line - what would that equal out to in character lines? Thanks...so confused...
Spaces are not taken into account with gross lines....a line is a line...sm
if there seven words on a line.
or two
one
or a full line of typing...all of the companies that I have worked for define a gross line as 1 inch margins, 12 pt courier font....does not matter what we type in margins or font.....we convert all reports to the 1 inch margins and courier 12 font and then count the lines. not the blank spaces between the lines.
Hope this helps.
I left MQ for TT. The base line rate was less at TT, but overall I make more per line with the
shift differential (I work second shift) and the incentive plan (I have never once failed to make at least an extra half cent per line on incentives - most of the time a penny). I was scared to death to make that move, as I had been with MQ since back in the Transcriptions Limited days. I have to say, though, that it was the best career move I have ever made and I have never, not once, regretted it.
I hope that was of some help.
15 years ago, I charged .22 per line to big accounts. Now I have been forced down to .13 per line.
This is in part due to offshore companies, in part due to newbies coming in and underbidding to get an account but not being able to service it and then the account expecting everyone else to meet that price. The market is being driven down by many forces, and it is not pretty. I used to pay .14 per line (gross line too) and now pay my subs 0.08. It is not something I wanted to do, but something that was necessary. With only 15 MTs, I feel the squeeze more than some of the big companies out there, but cannot grow and keep up the same standards.
Healthcare in general is not the money-maker it once was, and transcription has taken a hard hit over the years.
Line counts - the lower the line count requirements
the harder the account and problems with trying to get production off the platform the company uses.
I see they pay on a VBC line. Isn't that a huge paycut from a 65-char. line with spaces? nm
x
Actually, SBC does allow it. I had my line changed to a business line and talked with a sm
supervisor who okayed it. As long as I am listening to voice files, and not one computer talking to another, faxing, etc., it is within their guidelines. :-)
Ask what is a line. I was offered 6 clp for a 42 black character line sm
that seemed to strange, but really it was not so bad. Came out pretty close to a 65 k/s line at 8.5 to 9.
Line By Line...... any info on this company?
Thanks!
Any info on Line By Line Transciprion?? nt
x
Any info on Line By Line Transcription please???nt
x
A gross line is any line that has a character on it, so even if
a line just has one character on it, it is considered a line. If you are getting 6 cpl per gross that is approximately equal to 8 cpl based on 65 characters. Sometimes the font on a gross line can make it be less than that though.
NEVER believe the company line. Do line count for yourself.
p
Line by Line Transcription....anyone have any info?
Thanks!!!
I don't have a second phone line ... cable modem for the internet, regular line for my C-phone.
If anyone wanst to get through to me while I'm working, they have my cell phone number.
And, as I said, some accounts are using wav files -- no doubt soon all of the accounts will convert. Hope so ... would make it easier (less expensive) to work when traveling. :-)
Lots of good companies out there -- hope you find one that fits :)
WMX - line count. Was working along and noted line count accumulation (sm)
signed off the report I was typing. Those lines didn't add immediately, but sometimes they do that. What concerns me is that when I signed that job off and the next one came up, not only were the other lines not added in but they were LESS than they were before I signed off previous job.
I thought I noticed this happening the other day, but figured I just wasn't paying attention. Today I definitely noticed it. For some reason it changed it's mind and took 8 lines off my line count. What the heck?
Am not really ecstatic with the way things are going anyway and then this confuses me.
Please, someone have a realistic explanation so I don't feel paranoid and cheated here.
Line by Line out of Texas. NM
Nm
QA pay is 0.015 per line; yes, 1-1/2 pennies per line. No thanks. nm
x
They pay per net line not per gross line..sm
I work on Escription and they pay net line, all characters counted on entire document and divided by 65 to get one line count.
Bottom line: What does it pay per line?
.
A gross line is not based on characters. A gross line is
anything on the line constitutes a line, so if you only have 1 word on a line it is still counted as a line. A gross line at 8 cpl roughly translates to 10 cpl/65 character.
Then company should set line count per day with incentives for above that. If get line count done
:[
is the VR line rate 60% of the regular typing line rate?
s
Is the ASR line rate 1/2 of transcription line rate? sm
Reason I ask is that I assume if they have ASR now that eventually all will be ASR except of course for the awful dictators as this seems to be the norm.
HOW MUCH A LINE?
Just curious.
LD line- sm
I use USADatanet - works well with my Lanier and C-phone. Not sure if available in your area, but worth a shot. $24.95/month.. USADATANET.COM. Hope this helps.
Pay not by the line
Hey all, are there any descend companies that pay by page or exam and not by the line. Much experience except by the line, you make no $$.
pay per line for IC - see below
Pay by the line as an IC or as an employee is only as good as the situation - I can make more at 8 cpl on an account that is based on a shorter line, has good macros or normals, and English-speaking physicians than I can on an account where I make 11 cpl and have only ESL to transcribe with no normals or macros - it is all in what is available for you to work with. I would not discourage someone from taking what seems to be a low-paying assignment not knowing all the particulars of the account. I have been transcribing since 1992 and have not seen much change in line pay in all these years - but I have seen a lot of difference in accounts and line length, macros, normals and formatting - all of this must be taken into consideration before accepting or turning down a job. And, don't take the company owner or supervisors word for it when they say a line is 65 or 60 characters long - it also depends on the font - bolding, etc. They are usually only interested in getting someone in to start as quickly as possible to replace the last person who figured out that the job was misrepresented in the first place.
by the LINE!
Sundays do not usually involve as many of the more extensive procedures. You do get a lot more of the more simple procedures on the weekend, which are usually shorter and quicker to transcribe.
rad pay per line
Several factors will make a big difference. If you are doing a lot of short reports, this will cut your line count. Will you get paid for headers and footers? Do you have to enter a lot of patient demographics that you are not paid for? What is the length of the line and are spaces included? I used to work for cpl, and now do it by report, and would much rather have per report - less stress for me than making a line count. It also would depend on what type of account it is - teaching hospital with long winded dictators and/or a clinic setting, or seasoned dictators in an acute care hospital that dictate fast and do a lot of short reports. Lots to consider. Good luck.
Pay per line
Whew! I just passed all their tests! Got a 98. Offer was 6 cents a line. Use my own equipment, internet, fax, phone, and printer. No thank you!!!!
No they don't. It is per line.
x
LINE
I was told 65 printable characters equals a line -- that means NO SPACES!!
2nd line fee?
I am curious as to what a 2nd line fee is.
I been doing this 10 yrs and have never gotten more than 7.5 a line until where I am now 10 cpl
x
Now if they could just get that line
count thing straightened out would be great wouldn't it?
Pay Per Line
What is an average pay per line for transcriptionists? I will appreciate any responses.
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