I guarantee you, you are not the norm. Why lead someone that needs to make a living into a
Posted By: MQTOO on 2005-08-25
In Reply to: dragging your feet - SL MQ
situation that is getting worse all the time with lost accounts and over hiring and not knowing yet what the pay scale will be.
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It seems to be the norm now. I am at $1.15 and make sm
over $50k a year, so it is not bad. If you are fast, know the terminology and have a good mix of types of radiology reports, it would be good.
How do they make a living if they don't get paid for their
services. I don't know that they get a percentage of the line rate, doesn't make sense that it would be like that, but I'm sure they get a flat fee. The MT doesn't pay, the company does. I didn't ask them about getting paid because that was none of my business. Maybe they don't get paid unless the MT accepts a position. A lot of companies offer referral bonuses, could be the same thing with TM.
We have to make a freakin' living
..
Terrible....can't make a living on that.
`
and when you can't make a living anymore--sm
due to schloping American jobs to third world countries..it will be too late for ANY solution.
Can you make a living at home?
I have been an on-site MT for 15 years and have clinic-only experience in several specialties. I am considering a change to working from home. I am wondering if it is possible to work from home and still make good money. Do you folks feel that you do just as well as you would working on-site?
Does anyone really make a good living doing VR??? sm
I currently work for one of the larger MT companies that is mostly VR, platform isn't bad, but just not able to get my line count up. I was curious if it just me or if there were MTs out there who were doing good on VR and glad they have made the switch. Thanks. 
Oh, but its OK that the MTs barely make living wages?
Shall we feel sorry for the poor MTSOs now? Please...buying meat past the expiration - most of this winter I had to hit the FOOD BANKS, and while working full time.
Sounds like you can make a good living, just can't
There's quite a difference.
Yes, but can we make a living with 3c/l doing the editing??? That's what I'm afraid of. nm
nm
i am not in this for competition, just to make a living and feed my family you
insensitive b*****
You are being hypothetical while we are trying to find a co. where we can make a decent living,,,,nm
:+
Move on, girl - gotta make a living
.
I have an easy account and make a decent living.
And while you are at it, TT Management,
BITE ME!!! You were fools to file this lawsuit. $294.50 to lose all credibility in the MT World. Sad, truly sad...
And many thought you were one of the good guys.
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
At my co, I would make $5 per hour LESS to be a lead vs. production pay. nm
pppp
Looking for more opinions on Voice SYstems in Georgia. Anyone know about ability to make a living
here etc. Have already been told disorganized but would like more info.
MTSO gift to their at-home MT's who make their living for them and all the office staffs' livi
Why is it so hard to share their profits with the at-home MT's? ? ? Give me MONEY for Christmas because so much has been taken throughout the year -- I won't it back -- or at least some of it ! I will buy my own gift or pay my light bill or buy my children/grandchildren a gift with it.
In general, the top echelon is getting so greedy at most MTSO's! They would have nothing w/o the MT's constantly tapping those keyboards . . . and I mean it gets more and more difficult for us MT's as with each passing year to make a decent living . . . I dare say a living of any sort. Only those MT's who have husbands to support them are happy with whatever few cents they are offered, because it is only play money for them anyway. Hubby pays all the bills. I guarantee you that if a poll were taken of the Happy MT's with their at-home job, it would either be hubby making living for them OR mommy not having to pay a babysitter to work outside the home. Those in HR/management, with a little research, can easily see how our paychecks are dwindling month by month due to lower wages because ASR/VR is taking away the decent dictators and leaving only the horrible dictators (who take lots of time to transcribe a quality report), lack of cost-of-living raises, rising electricity bills at home that the MT has to pay, high-speed internet/phone bills higher and higher and loaded with taxes, rent/mortages/taxes/insurance continuously rising.
The office staff don't have to think about those at-home costs, as theirs are paid by the MTSO during their working hours/shift, nor do they have to worry about the lack of raises, etc, because in-house employees get raises automatically with tenure or with a 6-month or annual review or at the discretion of management at any time.
Personally, my line count continues to decrease; I don't know what the reason is because in the past many years, I could transcribe 200-400 lines per hour, and I do good to transcribe 100 or 150 an hour with the horrible dictators sifted out by the VR machine Dictaphone ExText.
Please don't yell at me -- because I am thankful for a paycheck -- but why is the burden put on my fingers to WORK HARDER AND HARDER to earn that paycheck. Don't say try ASR/VR because it will double your income, because I have tried that and know better and have proven that theory to be wrong -- at least on Dictatphone ExSpeech you can't !
The other thief of a good line count/wage for the U.S. MT's is the majority of our work going offshore because it can get done CHEAPER ! Who is all that extra money saved by offshoring our work going to ?? Not the at-home MT. That is exactly why I request MONEY for my Christmas gift from my employer, rather than some promo gift that is handed out to any and everyone.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL US MT's in the good 'ole USA ! ! !
I guess it is now the norm but it did not used to be the norm.
As a shift lead I made $15 an hour, but did QA plus lead duties...
I also worked terrible hours with no differential for them. I think it just matters on the company.
Well - as an IC, they can not guarantee you any
certain amount of work or hours - that is protecting them from labor laws and is standard wording in most of the IC contracts I have read, had my attorney review, and signed.
Second, the indemnity clause is in the same category as far as liability. No big deal. If something major were to occur and it was their fault, legally, there are ways around that. Not to worry about it.
They are a good company, pay on time, and decent people.
Many companies have those clauses in their IC contrast nowadays!
You can always add your own addendum to any contract, attach it, make a copy for yourself, and have them sign it and mail it back to you.
Good luck!
I guarantee it is not 6 or 7 cpl
Axolotl pays very COMPETITIVE line rates. They would not insult an experienced MT like that.
NOT SHAPIN. I can guarantee you that. nm
.
Then can almost guarantee they are lying.
nm
A union cannot guarantee you a job.
x
I guarantee you I could type the sm
reports straight-out that you are doing VR on and I would make a heck of alot more money! VR is crap and is doing nothing but making slaves out of MTs and allowing MTs with little experience to do VR.
I have seen the results of VR on my own medical records and it is a joke! Lots of folks are ignoring VR mistakes just to get by and get lines and QA doesn't care. The bottom line is money, money money! Its not money for the MT or VR person either, its money for the company! You can bet your behind they are charging a whole lot more than you are making! They are charging regular line counts and you are getting paid VR line wages!
Anybody who thinks this is good for the patients, the hospitals, the doctors or the MT in general is a little off!
No CPL guarantee whatsoever
This question was asked very directly on the conference call I was in on today. The question went like this (to paraphrase) if I choose to remain as an IC or SE (we were told by CB that SE status is available), will I receive the same pay rate I do right now. We were told by CB that this - along with pretty much every other issue - will be discussed on an individual basis with HR. So, there was no answer, no guarantee in any way. How could D have done this? To not even at the very least negotiate this one hugely important issue FOR US, HER MTs???? to insist that we all get grandfathered in for our current rates. Period. I could care less about being grandfathered in for cruddy health insurance which I will take a pay cut for.
There's no guarantee it works, hence a crapshoot. nm
nm
need to get my glasses checked. The guarantee for the
rose-coloring must have expired and now everything looks gray and bleak at this company. Glad you are as lucky as you are.
KS doesn't overhire, so there is no guarantee
that all those leaving MQ and applying at KS will even get a position. They have at least 3 platforms that I know of and maybe more other than Meditech.
I never worked for MQ and never worked on Meditech so I can't compare. From what I have heard about MQ I don't know how any company could possibly be worse .
Do any companies guarantee lines?
Like in the case if you ran out of work during the day, would they compensate for missed lines and you would not have to make them up?
? for any lead at Keystrokes. What does a lead do?
Do they do QA, mentor, or ....?
You can e-mail me privately if you like.
Some of us choose neither to lead, nor be lead!
I guess I just don't have that 'pack mentality'.
how do you know i am not the norm?
Based upon just the posts on MTstars? did you do an independent survey? I gave her my experience, which is for several years with 2 different branches/mgmt of the company. p.s. MQ is the largest MT provider in the WORLD. Do you think the MAJORITY of these MTs are so unhappy? I don't. THAT is why is shared my experience. Sorry if you don't like it.
$1.35 seems the norm. nm
the norm if ..
you refuse better conditions. Since there are companies out there who do pay more for your time and effort I would not say that 1.35 is the norm, I'd say that it is the norm you will settle for. Keep that in mind when you do your collective thinking everyone. Frankly, being paid by the page to do heavy MRI and scan work is a total insult to the MT who is transcribing the work.
Yes, 8 cpl is the norm (nt)
x
This is not the norm.
It is less than honest to make people believe this is the norm only to find out once hired...it's not. There are VERY few accounts or platforms at ANY company that would allow MTs to get that kind of count daily....unless working lots of OT.
Did I ever say this was the norm? I think NOT
All I said was that is what I do on my particular ER account with lots of templates and easy docs. There are multiple different types of accounts at KS on multiple different platforms. Did I once come out and say that everyone should be able to get that kind of a line count? No. I did not. Someone asked what ER MTs at KS usually average for line counts, and I simply responded that I type between 2500-3000 a shift with no OT on my account. I did not speak for anyone other than myself. Good god. Get over it!
Actually, the norm for this was
explained to me this way: For every 1 minute of dictation it should take 2 minutes to type it. This is using the old fashion way of transcribing, meaning straight typing, no Expanders and so on. So, if you use expanders, of course, the typing time is cut down further. You also have to keep in mind whether or not the dictator is good or bad, whether it's an ESL dictator, if you are new to the account and so on. All of these things will increase the amount of time it takes to transcribe any report.
something else going on here then, not the norm.nm
nm
I do too - in the 7 - 8 hrs of norm. NM
!
Yes, it's the norm here...
There are a lot of nasty attitudes here. I admit, occasionally I have one, too. I think it has something to do with this industry and the abuse so many MTs receive these days. My suggestion would be, if you enjoy this site for the most part, just take a break and come back on a different day .
MQ not the norm...welllllllll
guess I'm not either? No complaints on my end w/over 11 years
LOL ... well, that is the exception, not the norm. sm
I wasn't trying to brag at all. I'm older and simply cannot do that on a daily basis (wish I could!). My only point was that if they were cheating me, it would not be possible. I agree with the poster above -- if people think they are being cheated, then they should just move on. This using several line counters and checking and double checking and so on and so forth seems a huge waste of time.
3 years is the norm. nm
nm
Well if this is becoming the NORM there's a problem s/m
There was a big news article today about skyrocketing late/no credit card payments due to the housing market burst and the upcoming recession. Maybe a little 1984 here, but could this credit check be being done by companies as another reason why they can't find qualified workers in the US, thus villifying further offshoring of jobs??
98% here and I thought that was the norm. nm
x
Two weeks is the norm
Good luck!
It is becoming more of the norm so I adjusted to, not resisted the
.
Yes, very serious; however, 700 lph is not the norm every day. It just depends on the dictator. Th
Sometimes the reports are 98% accurate and sometimes, depending on the dictator, they are 90% accurate. As you know in this field, it depends on the day and dictator. The daily average, after all is said and done, is about 600 lph, 700 is on the very high end and not a consistent average every day.
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