It means characters that are printed in black and white - no spaces included. nm
Posted By: Bold. on 2005-12-28
In Reply to: Question, what does 65 character B/W line mean? I'm not sure what the B/W is??(nm) - quietmoods
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I would think that black and WHITE means they pay for both black characters and spaces.
There is no such thing as a white character. But I would definitely clarify this in your interview.
Black and white characters
I worked for a company that used the DQS software and I never could get my line counts, even though I typed like a fiend! In an 8-hour shift, I could get maybe 800 to 900 lines with that program. The way my company said, is Black and White characters, which means no spaces. I didn't get any credit for the ADT screens either.
Hope this helps.
Definitely is spaces include, black and white.
Indeed it is.
Keystrokes accounts all count the expanders as characters printed with spaces, not the abbreviation.
I have checked it, but we use Shorthand. What are you using?
black characters=without spaces.
nm
I emailed and asked. Said it was 65-character line with spaces or black and white.
clear as mud.
Cquence pay is 65-character with NO spaces, only black characters which equates to
approximately 1.5 to 2 cents per line less than 65-character with spaces.
Probity also. "Black on white" means no spaces
.
To my own knowledge, it is less, B&W character is just the actual printed out characters..sm
that appear on the page, NO SPACES, etc, so it could really add up, I have never taken a jot with those specs, perhaps someone out there doing this could say how they made out? But I have talked to recruiters about some of these jobs and it does seem to lower the line count.
Black and white. nm
black and white?
I understand what you are saying about transcription being black and white, but I have to disagree. While transcription itself is pretty straight forward, there are many different fields that require the same service.
To say that someone with no medical transcription experience does not need additional training does not make sense to me. I have dealt soley with psych. transcription and won't fool myself into thinking that once I've done one area, I've done it all.
If you go to websites of top online companies, they specifically say that any other transcription experience outside of MT does not apply towards years of experience required for employment and my conversations with them have confirmed that.
I appreciate all of you who have given me honest, useful and valid information. It will definitely influence my decision! thanks again!
Black AND white (sm)
Doesn't that mean white (or spaces) are paid for?
I don't think so. What you see on paper or on the screen in black and white.
If it were me, I certainly would ask specifically the HR person or MTSO. Pick up the phone, dial their number, and ask. Never take a job, unless you know how and what you are getting paid for.
I do believe it means without spaces, but I could be wrong. Things change so fast in this industry, what it means one day, does not necessarily have the same definition tomorrow.
mean black character on white paper
also called virtual black character or VBC. Spaces not paid for. Never do it. This is just horrible.
That doesn't explain black and white lines.
If not employed there we can't as a supervisor, but if the recruiter says black and white lines wouldn't that be just the black characters on a white page? No spaces.
black characters?
Sounds like no spaces counted to me.
Visible black characters help!?!?!?
So I'm trying and cannot figure out for the life of me how to compute what a proper rate would be once the switch goes over to visible black characters. I want to get this figured out, so that when the call or email comes about my adjusted line rate, I can either accept it or not.
Does anyone know, at a line rate of 8 cpl right now, what an equal VBC line rate would be? Is there any way to figure this out?
And does this mean we can stop the double spacing? I mean, if it won't affect the company's pay (because apparently they only bill on visible black characters), it's more in keeping with the new standard of only one space after periods and whatnot.
Spaces included
I have been with Fast Chart over 2 years. They DO pay for spaces and the paperwork confirms it. They also compensate for headers. The Radiology and Acute Care pays the most, 9 cents I think. Most importantly they have work.
Wouldn't the white mean spaces? nm
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Yes they do; 65-character line, spaces included NM
They told me their cpl included spaces at hire but when I got the first check
My paycheck was 10% less than I billed, and when I told them I didn't get paid what I invoiced, they said they never pay for spaces and never have and never SAID they did ..... Liars. I had to stick with them after that because it was my only job at the time (but I definitely started looking for another company after that). THEN another time, their payroll girl went on vacation & they said we wouldn't get paid until she got BACK, about 10 days AFTER scheduled pay date!!  Paychecks were occasionally late, also. I would NEVER recommend them to anyone. Ever.
PS - pay based on 65-char line, SPACES INCLUDED. SM
Also paid for weekend work, 2nd and 3rd shift differential. Bonus plan based on production.
'Nother poster also wondering if spaces are included in that line pay?? nm
s
55 characters with no spaces
Using the Apex platform, I found this calculation to be a major rip off. Not sure why.
Transcribing = 9 cpl 65 characters including spaces.
Good company, great people. Give them a try.
usually 55 does not count spaces and that's a lot of unpaid characters. NM
.
Visible black character spaces
I work for a company that only pays VBC and let me tell you it takes forever to get that line count. In my opinion that space bar does not move by itself. Getting cheated but I need the job.
Not paying for spaces can be okay if the characters per line is shorter.
55 characters without spaces is roughly equivalent to 65 with spaces.
About 5 years ago was offered 10 cpl including spaces, 65 characters. sm
Don't know about now. That was doing all acute care, mainly op reports with full benefit package.
I declined and have my own accounts, but it was a good offer.
Good luck.
visible black character (VBC) spaces not counted SM
I just ran across this as bit long article but it is worth saving to your PC and reading a bit at a time. I recall posting that Probity used this, I posted this meant NO SPACES and somebody came back and said they do pay for them. Boy they are really really making extensive calculation, guess always have and we did not know it.
Last year, KLAS reported that the industry appeared to be moving towards a standard
pricing model based on visual black characters (VBC), especially given the joint announcement from AHIMA and MTIA endorsing the adoption of VBC. The vision was for the VBC to be used to develop service level agreements, benchmark internal
transcription performance, foster better business relationships with the MTSOs, and improve the tools for evaluating and selecting MTSO partners. However, based on this body of research, adoption of this standard has been slow and billing per line is still the predominant approach.
http://www.californiahia.org/Content/ul/8694//Kivi_Dale_Transcriptions_New_Standards.pdf
VBC - visible black character - no spaces, returns,
It reduces your pay by about 30%, because you still have to hit the spacebar and return even though you are not paid for it.
Prior post said it's so-so to use, but only counts the black chars., no spaces. nm
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So that means WITH spaces? (nm)
I did that, wasn't printed. It seems like we are the only ones who care.
nm
Again I say, was that from dictation or the printed word? nm
.
I have the above in printed info that the recruiter sent me before testing, which I did NOT take. nm
m
DRC did. Printed out a copy of the test and took it over the phone w/the
s
Mine wasn't worth the plastic it was printed on.
It says it's activated and there's a balance available but it's been declined every time I try to use it.
This post will be printed and put on my bulletin board!! Brava!!....nm
nm
I probably should have included the hospital...
...in the addressees. My point was that this penny-wise-pound-foolish approach to cost cutting is creating a monster, whether it's the client hospital or the MTSO making the decision to go VR. (I've never gotten through my skull how it's more cost-effective to send work offshore, that needs to be completely reconstructed by QA here.) I guess that once you have developed the software and installed the system VR works for free and cheaper editing labor would cost much less than having it transcribed by an MT in the first place. But at what additional cost? These reports end up in court as part of law suits. You would think a hospital would prefer to get it right rather than cheap, wouldn't you? But aren't these the same hospitals that cut nursing staff, then work the remaining nurses into the ground because overtime is cheaper than paying benefits for more employees? Maybe we just have to face that, like the buggy whip makers a century ago, our skills are no longer required.
A friend's printed offer said 6-8.5 cpl with CMTs making more. Don't know about shift diff. or
s
I think the template info should be included
My reasoning is that I believe part of the reason line counts are dropping is, due to automation with computers, expanders, etc., MTs are able to produce greater lines in less time than they were able to produce on typewriters. JMO (but I really don't think it's JMO, I think it's a fact).
Shorthand is included in their software, and yes you can sm
use the internet -- you have to be connected in order to do the work.
Hope this helps.
I once had a group practice client, which included ...sm
6 physicians. The most irritating one was the doc from India who had been in the U.S. for at least 15 years (I know this because I went to school with his children), and refused to even work on losing at least a small part of his accent. He was so ridiculous, and each time I typed his work, I said to myself I swear this guy purposely works at keeping his thick accent just to irritate me! Interestingly, 2 of his partners in the practice were ESL (had only been in the U.S. for 1-2 years), and their accent was much less severe. These were younger docs, who in my opinion, made an effort to get with the program if they want to practice medicine here! I do believe that people can actually make themselves hold onto their accents. I have a friend who is from the south (She has lived near me in the SE part of the country for 20 years) and she continues to have a strong southern accent. She has not lived in the south since she was a small child. I tease her about it.
I don't have a life insurance deduction .. $10,000 is included sm
in my health insurance premium, and since I am single, that is enough for me. 
It would be nice if when looking for a new job that the line rate be included
I know I personally have applied to jobs only to find out in the interview that the line rate is ridiculous.
ANY federal money - included Medicare and almost
I could be wrong, but I read it to mean ANY federal money which includes Medicare/Medicaid, and there are probably not too many hospitals, clinics, or private doctor's offices that do not have at least 1 Medicare/Medicaid patient. Seems to me they would not be too worried about all the listed countries for off-shoring if it was only VA, since there was already a big stink about off-shoring VA records. But then, as I said, I could be reading it wrong. I guess only time will tell.
Word-based, expander included, easy to use...NM
NM
Anyone with any info on Proscribe Transcription out of White, GA?
They have an ad on job seeker's board.
"making some young white hotshot"
Wow....and I thought I had issues! 
I worked for a guy who owned a landscape nursery who was just like that though...He was younger than most everyone there and couldn't have weighed 90 pounds soakin' wet AND he had to look up at all of us (barely made 5 feet!)...it was so hard to keep a straight face when he got all upset and pissy over something. You'd never see him walking around his domain to keep an eye on things...uh oh. He'd be tooling around in his Bobcat shouting orders from over a bullhorn. Oh my god it was a riot!
To be fair to the above poster, $11/hour gross is kinda low though, so I can see how someone would be tweeked at that.
When I worked in-house, we were part of the SEIU, but that included even nurses. SM
After I had quit, I heard they decided to go with the UAW.
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