I agree - hard to get decent line count with ExText...sm
Posted By: LuvMaroc on 2007-02-24
In Reply to: Extext - anMT
Good to know other people are having the same issue as I thought I was just getting slower in my old age! Seems like I can do almost twice as much with DocQScribe and escription.
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- Extext - anMT
- I agree - hard to get decent line count with ExText...sm - LuvMaroc
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I can get a somewhat decent line count, but could
do better if my account weren't in Meditech. That slows me down so much. Work was a little slow coming in early this morning but has been steady since then. I expect it will be slow over the weekend, too.
How can anybody make a decent line count there
I couldn't
Making a decent line count
I agree it is possible to make a decent living at Transcend. I seem to get a ratio of 70% VR and 30% straight typing. I'm not sure how this is determined, but that is how it always turns out at the end of each pay. Yes the key to making money on the VR is using the hot keys. If you are motivated, goal oriented and have a good work ethic you will be fine at Transcend. They are great with letting you flex your hours and also offer to give 1 on 1 training for VR if you ask for it.
if your platform is decent at OSI and you make line count....
nm
Do you find it hard to get your line count in daily? sm
And the recruiter told me that they did not mind you not working a strict daily shift as long as you got your line count in -do you find this to be true? Thanks for your information!
It's hard to explain. We got a certain line count reading
on the hospital system, which is what we thought we were paid for. Then, we were told not to use that number, but to go to the site in which TT counts the lines, and the money was considerably less. We never knew how they figured the lines or why it was lower. I tried to work harder to make up for it but the work kept disappearing during my shift, so I tried to work late at night but it became too difficult to make up for the lost line count, and also to make up for no work.
EXTEXT-LINE COUNT
Someone tell me how EX-Text word/line count calculates 10,000 lines and it results in 8,500 on company-end? Headers, demographics/footers count THAT much difference?
EXTEXT-line count
That is because you are not management, and that is who posted! 
Very nice but hard to get line count due to lack of work...nm
s
They really dont pay enough for having most ESL accounts. Hard to get a good line count
and then to only make 8 cpl. It really is not worth it. Chartscript is not productive in my opinion.
I'd sure like to know how to get a great line count on ExText.
nm
ExText line count for individual reports? Is there a way? nm
x
TS has very outdated platform, and it's very hard to get a good daily line count. NMout
x
What companies give an accurate EXText line count?
Either an accurate count or the option to check your own!
Ctrl i in EXText for us MT's with TT gives a higher line count, because we do not get paid
for everything that that function shows. I-chart is as close to the exact amount of lines we get paid for than anything that we have. Ctrl i was blocked from us, but lately opened up for us to use; however, it is not what we get paid for. Hope this helps you.
Just checked line count for another GREAT Extext company
nm
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.
In my Extext experience count was about 10% less than the Word count. nm
X
Then company should set line count per day with incentives for above that. If get line count done
:[
Yes to old reports! Their ExText has all the regular functions except line counts are done on line
s
Keystrokes has very few accts on line using ExText. Most use Cphones/2nd line. Lots of Rad
s
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.
Can an MT make a decent living earning 7 cents per line
Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth. It would be great to be paid 10-11-12-13 cents per line (as an employee not IC), but that is not a reality in this job market. Yes, MTs will take jobs that pay 7 cents per line, but that MTSO is not necessarily underpaying or demeaning the MTs that work for them.
Bottom line is that you have to do your homework because, yes, there are people who can make a living on 7 cents a line and will take those jobs. It really depends on your skills and how dedicated you are to making your maximum possible lines per hour. The MTSO that is offering only 7 cents a line but has easy dictators can actually pay you more per check if you type more lines per hour than an MTSO that is offering 10 cents a line but has horrible quality, ESL dictators, nasty QA, etc and you can barely type 100 lines an hour because of it.
MY TIP: When you interview, ask what the approximate minimum and maximum lines per hour that the other MTs that are doing EXACTLY the same accounts that you are going to be doing are achieving per hour/day/pay period. If the recruiter/MTSO will not tell you that information, you probably don’t want to work there anyway so just terminate the interview before wasting any more of your time. The slowest MTs are probably new and the ones achieving 200-250-300 lines per hour have been there a long time and know the account(s) forwards and backwards. If you plan to make that MTSO a long-term employer, you will have a pretty good idea of what you can potentially achieve if you stay there long enough. Don’t let them tell you the “average” of all the MTs that work for the company or what their perfect employee Suzie Q types. We all know every account is different, so Suzie Q who just started last week and is already doing 150 lines per hour may have easier accounts than the one you are going to be working on, so that is not very representative of what your account(s) is really going to be like. Ask specifically about the accounts you will be assigned to and don’t let them distract you. Again, if they don’t want to tell you, terminate the interview.
According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2004 !!!, the MEDIAN hourly earnings for a Medical Transcriptionist (probably mostly hospital and office based) in May of 2004, was $13.64 an hour.
Just for reference, it seems like most MTSOs have a 6000 lines per week minimum production standard which is about 150 line per hour (40 hour week) on average for full-time MTs.
· If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.07) = $10.50 per hour.
· If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.08) = $12.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.09) = $13.50 per hour.
· If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.10) = $15.00 per hour.
If you are one of the highly trained experienced MT and type 200 lines per hour on average, you are even better off.
· If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.07) = $14.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.08) = $16.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.09) = $18.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.10) = $20.00 per hour.
The median hourly earnings in 2004 was $13.64 per hour. That was almost 4 years ago. With a minimal 2% per year cost of living/inflation increase, by 2008 the median hourly earning should be about $14.76 per hour.
2004 --------- $13.64
2005 x 2% = $13.91
2006 x 2% = $14.19
2007 x 2% = $14.47
2008 x 2% = $14.76
So, in my humble opinion, if you are an experienced MT with 5 or more years of experience, when you call that MTSO offering 7 cents per line the accounts you will be assigned to should be easy enough so that you can make an average of 210 lines per hour within a relatively short period of time. If they say their experienced MTs are only doing 175 to 200 lines per hour on average, that MTSO is drastically underpaying their experienced MTs and it is time for you to move on. If they say their MTs are averaging 250 to 300 lines per hour, then that MTSO may be worth looking into further, even if their starting wage is lower than what you originally thought you should be getting paid.
I think if WE ALL start doing this, the MTSOs will start to figure out that we are not going to work for companies that underpay our skills and experience. If enough experienced MTs hang up on these companies, eventually they will figure out that the recruiters/supervisors need to be more honest with us regarding their pay structure and the difficulty of their accounts.
Some food for thought !!
More information from the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook:
Medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $13.64 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $11.50 and $16.32. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.67, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $19.11. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of medical transcriptionists in May 2004 were:
General medical and surgical hospitals |
$13.83 |
Offices of physicians |
13.40 |
Business support services |
13.40 |
If you want more information, check out the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics web page for Medical Transcriptionist.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm
run as fast as you can. decent line counts are had by double dippng supervisors.
REAL JUNK!
NEVER believe the company line. Do line count for yourself.
p
Hard to do, when the per-line pay is so low. Give us
Would agree, hard to get everything owed ...
I worked for him a short time, in between other work and was difficult to get everything that he owed me.
Line Counts and EXText
I work for a company that uses Dictaphone EXText. They deduct 30% off our total line counts for headers and footers, saying they will not pay for it because we do not type it. Of course, we do type it and the template is very time consuming (looking up referrals, etc). Do you think the headers and footers are 30% of the documents? It does not sound right to me.
Why Extext line counts are usually less
Most companies set up the line count to deduct a flat percentage which is supposed to guesstimate how much the headers and footers would be. I know - I used to work very closely with a top person for a very popular/unpopular company that is mentioned on here quite a lot. One of the reasons I left that company was because they used Extext to basically rip off their MT's. I have made my rounds with quite a few nationals and I would have to say that Extext is used in this way by most companies. They deduct a flat percentage. And by the way - counting spaces etc? Don't count on that either. The flat percentage that is deducted for headers and footers also is padded even more. It is a sad state of affairs. You can be certain that they charge the MTSO's a pile of money and it does not reflect in the MT's paycheck. I have my own clients now. Too much hassle with these companies ESPECIALLY those that use Extext which is the perfect format to rip off the MT's.
ExText line counts
I have heard so much about the line discrepancy with ExText and how it is cheating MTs on their lines. Check your lines with Abacas or TextTally. Very accurate counting systems and are free downloads. Does anyone question this with the company or hospital? It is pretty sad to spend 30 minutes on a long note and then see that you are getting paid for about 20 lines. There are better companies out there who do not take away lines from MTs. Ask if they use ExText and then RUNNNNNNNN. Also, many companies will set up the system to give the minimum lines to the MTs but are charging their accounts the maximum. Ask questions and ask for verification of your lines. There are some good companies out there who are honest and fair.
As for line counts on ExText, sm....
that depends on the client and/or MTSO and how THEY configure it to count lines on THEIR END....My last job was on ExText with this client out of florida.....the MTSO had it to where that thing did NOT count spaces, headers, etc....it was SO HARD to get line counts on it, but of course, that was because of the dishonest, full of Indian filled, MTSO.
LIne count
I have had the same accounts for up to 15 years. On my surgeons with even charging 12 cents a line I can often make $50 to $60 an hour with their consults. I think it is fair. They pay within 48 hours, never a bounced check, got $500 Christmas bonus. I can do them in my sleep. They never question my line counts. It is 60 characters to a line and gross lines, not character count. On a consult for breast cancer, that is 3 to 4 pages, probably type 50 lines as the physical is so standard. If I charged more I would feel like I was ripping them off. I make a decent living and so pass it onto them. I gross over 11,000 lines per month with them and work 5 to 6 hours per week. They like the smaller amount per line. My other is a clinic that I have a lot of auto corrects set up and still make $35 an hour and so why charge them an arm and leg when I am making decent money. My sub's make close to $25 an hour as they aren't quite as fast as I am and don't use as many quick corrects but at 8 to 9 cents they average 250 to 350 (psych reports) per hour. So we are all happy. Half way through the year I myself have made $26,500. And that is with a slow June.
line count
I have always understood that gross line pay is better than character counted. This could be false, however, depending on font used and size of font, as well as the format of the report. Sorry, don't know info specific to Meditech's system, but have read "To convert Gross Lines to Net Lines multiply Gross Lines by .70." This obviously reduces gross lines by 30% to a net line count, but it does not make sense that this formula would be accurate all the time considering all the variables involved (those mentioned above as well as the fact that character counted net lines are not a standard 65, and could be whatever number the client has agreed to pay on).
line count
How can you get an exact count by Word? Even the different Word programs vary.
My line count
Some say that if you are not a high producer, you may actually do well with VR? How true is that? Due to the summer, my line count is only in the 6 or 7000 range per pay period. However, in the beginning of Sept, the kids will go back to school and I will start working full time. Given that there is full time work available to me, could I stand to actually make more money doing VR?
MQ line count
I've been on DQS for way over a year. My line count has never improved and I am one the same account every day. Join the class action and hopefully we will get our money eventually.
OSi line count - sm
When I started there it was 198 lph...they have lowered it since I left. And why are they allowed to post jobs here? They outsource overseas!!! What happened to MTSTARS policy of not posting jobs from outsourcing companies?
Line Count
Sharon, I've been with TT for over a year and have never had a line count problem (and know it is correct because I know what I can transcribe per hour/day, and have been doing it consistently for years before coming to TT and since being with TT). Are you new at TT? If you are having a problem you should email Debbie about it, as she will be able to answer any questions you may have.
Line Count
This may not be much help but I've worked for 2 years for TT and never had a problem. Guess before TT I'd worked on just about every platform there is and been paid every way anyone could think of to pay; hourly, by the line, by the minute, per word, per 1000 words, by the page and maybe some others I've forgotten. Thus, I know what I produce forward and backward, don't need to check it, I KNOW when it's right and I'd KNOW if it was wrong. Once before TT I was complaining to my husband that I absolutely was NOT making ANY money despite the fact that I was working 8 hours a day and that certainly my lines were not being recorded accurately. Being the helpful person that he is, he suggested that I keep a log for a week of every minute I spent typing and every minute I was out of the chair and then take my log to administration. To my horror, at the end of the first day, I found I had spent EXACTLY 2.5 hours of the 8 hours I was signed on actually working. No wonder I wasn't making any money. (Not implying at all that this is the problem with your line count but it certainly was MY problem). Thereafter I parked my butt in the chair and it was amazing how my line count got accurate.
Line Count
I currently work for an oncologist and I do not get paid by the line, but rather a straight salary every month. Can some one tell me about how much typing is involved if expected to type 1800 lines per day??
Thanks
Tammie
Line Count
Thank you very much for the information
LINE COUNT
NOPE, OSi
And how about the line count that you
see not really being the 1 that you get?
yes that is right line count
transtech only pays for lines typed excluding header, signature, and timestamps. I have compared the line count from MS word highlighting only what counts and it is equal to Dictaphone line counts.
dqs line count
My line count went way down, but if it is because of way lines or characters are counted then why do line counts seem to check out in word? I simply cannot figure out the problem, but hate DQS.
Line count for MDI-MD
You tell them how many lines you will do on a given day. They just expect you to do what you say you will.
line count
what is the average daily line count on a 65 and 72 character line? Thanks
Line count
No, not eMTS- this was ChartScript with another company. I do not know the count with eMTS but would like to know what some MTs think who work for them.
Then you need to get your line count up
Then you need to be doing more than 1000 to 1500 lines per day. So work on getting you line count up. If you want to make the big bucks, gotta put in the time and effort. Or like you say get your own accounts but it takes time, dedication and hard work to have your own accounts like the poster below says. Good and bad to both but bottom line is get your line count up -- if you can. If you can't you need to go somewhere else where you can.
Line count
Just wondering if any of you currently working there find it difficult to make the daily line count? I'm looking at applying. Thank you!
I use my own line count
I figure my own line count, I am an IC. I use gross line count now, so the 65-character line count is a new thing for me. I know they divide the characters by total lines and just wanted to make sure that was the correct procedure to figure -
thanks for the help too!!!
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