Messing with the margins is cheating. Use macros.
Posted By: MSMT on 2007-05-19
In Reply to: Can someone tell me how to get more lines? - Betsy
nm
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Yes, can you imagine messing up here?
The poster reminds me of myself 20 years ago - which just goes to say people do change :0
(now where did I put that prozac?)
It's all in the margins and format
when comparing a gross line count to a character count, but my goodness, .23 a line sounds like it cannot possibly be true. My gross lines accounts don't convert that way at all. One doc has a 1-inch margin and her gross line count is just slightly above the 65-character count because she doesn't do lists and keeps her PX in paragraph format. If you are being told it converts to .23 a line, I would wonder if most of the whole report is indented half-way across the page. Maybe you hit upon a gold mine! Ask about the format...
not unless margins are 2.5+ inches
I have been paid by gross line at no less than 8 and still found that to be pretty low. I think on average you will find you make about 6-6.5 cents based on the 65-character count. Maybe a little more but I would say no more than 7.
Its law not low. Sorry. My computer is messing up
and I cannot see.
As I don't have time to continue messing
with you, this will be my last post. I have 5 accounts, so you have one more than I do, wow! That doesn't make you a better MLS. I didn't post on here to get referral bonuses and my attitude about the company is what makes me a better MLS. Good day!
Depends on the margins and fonts
When working in DOS and using macros and templates to the max, I was getting $2.60/page (1 inch margins and Times font). This wasn't so many years ago. At the same time I also worked for Signal (pre-MDI) at 11 cpl. I had a better per hour average with ppp. More recently with the same company when we moved to Windows and used Word, some of the clients began asking to get more on the page in order to keep down chart bulk. It is amazing how much more can be placed on a page with these changes. The MTSO had to renegotiate payment with the offices because it was effectively taking a pay cut, and the MT pay was changed to 65 per line. It still worked out to a minimum of $2.60/page.
I would say that $3.50 per page is going to be competitive with your MDI pay, but most likely not a better deal, especially if the platform is not as user friendly.
About the cheating QAs
cherry picked, pretended to have internet outages, took off work while still on the clock, etc. both of them have been fired because they continued to do this stuff after I told the supervisor. Heavy workload until she finds replacements but it was worth it. 
That's pretty crummy about messing with the postage meter. sm
You have to think upper management knew about that, regardless of who takes care of their payroll now versus then. That makes me permanently scratch them off my list.
Sounds like someone is cheating!!
Like claiming time worked for no production????? That way, their "40" hours are in and they can get overtime on their next production load???
CLaim you work 8 hours but only work 6 of them perhaps? Then by the end of the week while you show 40 hours worked and get into overtime, you've only worked 30 hours???
If you make an average of $20 an hour, and you are coming up with $36K this year, you are working about 38 hours a week. Oh, wait, but you're stealing overtime, aren't you? Sorry - didn't take that into consideration.
You said yourself in your post: "...never work 8 hours in a day ... never work 40 hours a week ... work some overtime also ..." So you're cheating. That is the only way you can do that.
It's called theft. It's a crime. If you're caught, you'll do the time!
It's just one more way of cheating workers.
Still cheating lines, if that's they way - sm
a line is calculated, i.e., assigning a character a different value than what a characters intended value is: 1 character. If you were quoted a rate of $ 0.__ per 45, 55, 65, 75 or 85-character line - whatever - changing the value of that character is dishonest and cheating. It constitutes Theft of Service and is illegal. I won't even mince words here, such as manipulation of lines, creative line counting. It's downright fraud, end of story.
I much prefer Bayscribe. No messing around with multiple screens, doc lookup right there, etc.
It's very convenient to use. ExText seemed much bulkier and much slower to me.
Font size matters for gross line, so do margins
less lines because more fits on a line. First person asked how a gross line compares to 65 chars. If it's 12 font with 1 margins, it's about 1-1/2 to 2x 65 char line count, i.e., 7 cents per gross line would be around 8.5 to 9 cents per 65 char.
If I could count lines, I would know if they were cheating
:+
No lying, stealing, cheating at all.
And I am entitled to my opinion. I didn't say all MTSOs are ethical in their business operations but most are.
Seriously, if you read over the board, it looks like a few oldies who are bitter or newbies who cannot get their foot in the door. It doesn't sound like professionals with realistic complaints. It sounds like very withdrawn, angry individuals who do not come out of their shell except on anonymous boards. :)
For the MTSOs who are unethical ... I think they should absolutely be shut down.
Still yet, no one forces you to work for any company. It is entirely your choice. So, make a different one, please.
Be happy.
True. If they're cheating us on pay when we do
But not impossible.
If you are paid cpl based on 65 char.line, margins dont matter.
s
macros, macros, macros.
put diseases, fractures, syndromes, etc. in macros, name them syndrome1, syndrome2, disease1, disease2, when you hear something unfamiliar put it in a macro, if the name is something you may not remember, something odd, then name it; for example, I have macro syndrome1, which expands to Guillain-Barr, then I also have it under gui macro; then syndrome2 (which is Turner's syndrome), etc., do the same with disease or fracture, such as fracture1, Salter-Harris II, fracture 2 is Bucket-handle fracture, etc.
Lots of macros
Don't forget to macro your English phrases - wtp=with the patient, adtth=admitted to the hospital, etc. I have thousands of these.
Make up a system of that works for you - and don't be afraid to put a word or phrase in 2 or 3 different ways in your Expander - i.e., give it 3 different names.
I have found that some terms that I can't remember I just type phonetically and left the macro do the spelling for me. This is especially helpful with the syndromes and diseases that are rather rare. I use tooey for Tuohy needle.
Also, use the expander for all your drugs; that way you will never to worry about whether they are generic (not capitalized0 or brand (capitalized). Just type them in lower case and your expander will take of the capitalization.
Terms and drugs that are hyphenated or have capital letters in their names should be in macros as well. Any time you have to reach to use the Shift key, it disrupts your rhythm and costs you money.
Concentrate on one thing at a time and soon you will have a huge macro file to work from. First week, do your drugs, next week, syndromes/disease, etc.
create macros...
i created macros in Word that i used in the beginning to enlarge it to 150 and at the end to reduce it back 100... of course you still have to remember, but with the macros, at least you can use Keystrokes and it becomes part of the routine. hope this helps!
If it is macros that you yourself made, then
I would just straight type instead of using them, if you can retrain yourself.
macros, shorthand, IT
I used macros on TWS, but I thought we were told we couldn't keep using TWS macros on CUE. I was a late convert to SH and I hated it. I didn't even know we could use IT (I don't have any experience with it).
You can't. TWS macros converted to
nm
Cheating/verbal tests and cost per line.
I am sorry to hear this wonderful recruiter being called a cheater. I have been in this business for about 25 years, and I will take whatever help/advice I can get. Yes, I am in the transcription business to help people but I am also in it to help support my family. I'll take short cuts, macros, whatever it will take to increase my lines and if getting into a company that is willing to give a helping hand, a cue, a hint, whatever - I say thank you. In the end, if you do take pride in your work, the terminology will come to you in the actual report, and I bet the next time you hear those particular terms you have trouble with on the test, you will remember them. You will remember affect and effect. You will learn intra and inter because somebody's health may depend on it. Too bad for you.....
using your own macros expander file
I am looking for a part-time job and have a huge ShortHand file which I do not want to rebuild. Which companies will allow you to use your own macro expander? Thanks!
Are those macros that YOU make and use? I never heard of it and
nm
Definitely keyboard + expander macros. SM
Mouse absolutely as little as possible. Maximal creation of macros (or more realistically, aiming for) to perform those corrections that come up all the time. BTW, those macros I create on my Expander belong to me. Most MTs so far don't have this skill to offer, making me faster and better than most. That'll change someday, in big part due to posts like this, but until then, or until tech changes make this skill obsolete, it definitely works to my monetary advantage. Try it.
Forbidden to use expanders, macros, etc! SM
We were told informed today that we are absolutely forbidden to use any type of word expanders, shortcuts, normals, macros, templates, etc. The client complained about the quality of the work. I would think QA is the one who needs to pay more attention to what is getting through. I've been doing this for 23 years with no complaints....not recently anyway. How is a person supposed to make enough to survive being when paid by production and not allowed to make use of their productivity tools? There's no way! 
I get paid per gross line. I utilize normals and macros
as much as possible, though I could do more than I do. I also type 100+ wpm. I don' t have demographics to fill in, just patient's name and I type in straight WP5.1, so no cumbersome formats. I download via FTP and I batch my work insteading of having save each individual report. I make 8 cpl per gross line.
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