Why do MTs who are paid by the hour cherrypick the normals off accounts.
Posted By: Wondering why on 2005-08-30
In Reply to:
Line counts shouldn't be that important to them.
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We DO get paid for expanders & normals
nm
Employee. 0.09 cpl, 100s of normals, and downtime paid.
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All accounts are VERBATIM, so there couldn't be any normals.
x
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.
Disagree with this. Every company I've worked for paid for normals.
x
Are there any QAs out there that are getting paid by the hour at 15+/hour? If so, where are you and
how are the work conditions/requirements/benefits,etc?
Can you say micromanage and cherrypick?
MT paid by the hour?????
Does anyone know of any Transcription companies that pay by the hour instead of by the line. Please let me know of any.
Are you paid by the hour? Why do you care
what is on your timesheet?
QA should be paid $30 an hour minimum
A good Transcriptionist should be easily able to make $20-30 an hour, and I know there are those who make more. Since QA supposedly requires more knowledge and expertise, how can any company offer only $14 an hour? And why would anybody take that? I really don't understand it at all - makes no sense.
In the real world any job that requires more expertise will pay more. Medical transcription seems to have it backwards - just my opinion.
They are paid by the line, not the hour. nm
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Getting paid by audio hour
I have not gotten paid by audio hour before and just wondered if anyone has an idea what good pay per audio hour is? It's straight typing for seminars/speakers. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Not that many QA people are paid by the hour sm
I am on furlough from a job that paid me hourly to QA. I was paid $16 and hour and I can do almost double that with VR or with typing. I QA for other reasons.
At my FT job that I still have, the QA is paid 3.5 cpl to edit reports and VR is 4.5 cpl. Given what QA has to deal with, which are traditional reports with the worst dictators and numerous blanks, that is almost not enough. Our VR platform is good, not outstanding, good. I have reports where I hardly change a thing and I feel overpaid. One of our accounts has MTs who are not doing their VR properly and the VR on THAT account is a pain in the backside. My primary is excellent, however, and I got to 400 lph in the first couple of days I used it. About 10 days in, I did more like 500 an hour today.
VR is not for every MT. Typing the old-fashioned way is not for everyone either. Personally, I am glad that no one has offered me hourly to do VR because they would not pay me what I am already making...and it is early days yet. Paying QA hourly has lead to some pretty shoddy work and QA people who bilk the system, I know because I have seen it.
Your points are valid. I am wondering what VR system you are using and who you work for. I tried it on WordClient Extext about a year ago...AWFUL. I am on ExEditor now and it is a breeze. I have a friend who has done Escription for a few years and loves that platform. Now, both Escription and ExEditor learn corrections as they go along. The problem is that so many MTs don't know their stuff, have a slightly different style or, sadly, don't care about their work and they are not actually editing the work. That adds up to a mess for those who care about their work, know their stuff and are making an honest effort. My main account has the best our company has to offer in the way of MTs because the account is very picky. End result? Excellent and constantly improving VR script.
There are just so many variables with this, more than with traditional MT, even with ESLs figured in.
Oh and by the way, we have some terrible ESLs they put through VR and I love it! Slow boring dictators are easy with VR. Even the slurring, sloppy talkers are good. Add in that my hands hurt a lot less and I am less tired at the end of a day...well I am ecstatic.
Or you're paid by the hour/not line
Or, you are paid by the hour/not line.
When I worked in-house I was paid by the hour....
only had to maintain 135 lph...but I never heard of anyone who was reprimanded for not maintaining that. The nice thing was the hourly pay (between $13 and $17 an hour) whether there was work or not, PTO, etc. Had work 98% of the time and if not we could go down to medical records and help out or go home early.
Must be paid MINIMUM WAGE for each hour -sm
worked under 40/wk if employee in the U.S., regardless of work type, job description. In addition, must be PAID FOR ALL WORK PERFORMED - I won't even go there.
Att: Flamers: You can look this up yourself in DOL regulations.
24 hour TAT? For all accounts? nm
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I was paid by the hour and turned in my hours and noticed then cut in half
Turned in 60 hours for 2 weeks and noticed only 28 hours. They went through my timesheet and changed number of hours each day. Never signed anything saying they do not pay for downtime so you sit 20 hours a day trying to get in your 1,000 lines a day with no work coming in so they do not want to pay because they did not have work, but I was online 20 hours babysitting each hour catching a job here and there.
I was paid by the hour to work from home for a large hospital. nm
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Looking for IC with 24-hour turnaround and good accounts....
Any recommendations?
Are there any companies with accounts requiring just 24-hour turnarounds/no set schedules?nm
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If you are doing 2400 lines in an 8 hour day, working 5 accounts +, running out of work on all 5,
then pray tell us how you are doing it. I certainly would like to share this with MQ because I also have done this many years, know my work, and there is no way to do 2400 lines because most days all the accounts are out of work.
listening
Well only if you get your own accounts or are paid gross line.
There is no way a transcription company will pay you that much. I have one of my own accounts too and make 12 cents per gross line, and I make around $50 per hour on average.
Apparently, they have contracted with India to work some accounts as they are getting paid less on
these accounts. Obviously, labor is cheaper in India. So, they have to send the work where they can afford to. I know I'm done with them. Pretty soon, there will be no jobs left because these hospitals apparently want cheap labor. You get what you pay for is all I am saying.
Why do supervisors who insist they are not paid to transcribe cherry pick accounts to death?
They could really show some leadership ability if they took the bad dictators and left a few easy reports for those of us who would appreciate an easy report once in a while.
Normals
I have a lot of normals for my primary account but not as many for my secondary as it is a large teaching hospital with more dictators rotating in and out.
Normals
All accounts are verbatim. What I mean is I have many, many macros set up for PEs, operative reports, etc where the dictators basically say the same thing every time and then I will edit as needed. Both of my accounts do have a few normals set up in BayScribe by administration for some doctors. Those are usually operative reports.
There are normals? Never saw one. nm)
can you still use normals?
thanks for your honest feedback. i appreciate it. More positions open on your side according to email this morning. Guess you guys have a lot more work - I have gotten NSA 5 times already this morning!
Normals/templates
I let my IC's use them especially in my psych accounts. However there was a time that one of the gals forgot to change the name on the header and I was gone and it went to the doctor directly with the incorrect name on the Header and big, big HIPAA violation and the doctor almost pulled the account since he did not catch it either. So I understand where your MTSO is coming from but again, I would not keep the help that made these mistakes rather than make the other MT's pay for the incompetent ones and be unable to use their autorcorrect, ShortHand or whatever normals/expanders that they use. The account stayed with me but we do watch the names closely now. Why make all suffer for the mistakes of a few.
are they paying you for the normals?
Expanders/Normals sm
As the poster below states, the way this is possible is by working an account that uses many normals and that you can utilize your Expanders with.
Chances are whatever national MTSO you work for will begin to use VR technology sooner rather than later.
After all, if you can use your normals/expanders to make astronomical line counts due to the repetitous nature of the accounts, it will be much easier for those accounts to go to VR.
I wish Normals had what I needed.
Most the time, what I am looking for can't be found in Normals, Alt G, or even Echart. I have enough experience on my primary that I know the usual sayings, it is just that I struggle with the not normal sayings that a dictator rambles off so fast, while chewing, yawning, etc. These things can't be found in normals (trust me I look every time before I submit a blank) and so far consist of way more than just 7% of my monthly dictations.
Whatever. I should just quit complaining. I do really like it there other than this part. I know you are trying to help, but I just wanted to point out that I use ALL the resources I can and still send over 7% to QA.
One job I worked for did not pay for normals at all.
They had loads and loads of normals and the docs used them consistently. When I would check my line count it was not where I thought it should be. When I asked I was told they did not pay for normals. That was something they did not tell me before I was hired. It was a company in Florida.
think, people! If she does 250 lines/hour, same docs daily, will make $15/hour
nm
I bet they billed the client for normals
You can make alot of reports nothing but normals if the patient has a normal exam. I bet that company bills for those normals too. That is like asking a waitress to work for low wages, and she can't keep the tip!!!!! What will they think of next?
Yes, their normals, not yours. Not all places are like this apparently. nm
xxx
100,000/year - no way. I charge $35/hour and work 10 hour days - sm
AND I DO NOT CLEAR $100,000/YEAR.
what's not to believe - I said that I charge $35/hour and work 10 hour days AND DO NOT MAKE - sm
I DO NOT MAKE $100,000/YEAR
try READING the post.
Do you get enough repetition so that one could create/utilize normals? Nm
nm
My MTSO sends us normals for those few doctors
that you them. They are usually a fill in the blank type thing with the doctors only giving the blanks, so there isn't much to mess up. We do have a few normals that need to be modified and there are only a few MTs that get these dictators, because of the same issue your MTSO, that changes are not made, etc. I am allowed to create my own normals and do. If I have a doctor that needs to have the same normal, but occasionally does change things, I only have my normal including what is ALWAYS the same and then I have macros for statements that are frequently dictated that I can use to piece together the rest of the document.
I can't imagine my company forbiding us to use normals. My company wants the MTs to be productive, because if they are producing they are making money and if they are making good money they are happy and the MTSO will have good retention of MTs, which they have had. It also benefits the MTSO to have high producing MTs, so that they can have fewer MTs and less costs/hassle.
I used to be a supervisor and we allowed all MTs to make their own normals, BUT...
it was the responsibility of the MT to listen to the dictation and make sure that the normal reflected exactly what the physician dictated. And any QA issues specifically attributed to an MT's personal normal resulted in a three-phase disciplinary action, i.e. written up for the first offense, written up and forced to come in-house to work for a determined period of time for the second, and finally termination for the third. Also any incentive money the MT may have earned for the day of the infraction was forfeited. It seems extreme, but we had such a problem with QA issues and many complaints from physicians especially with radiology normals that we really had no choice. We needed to make it clear how vital quality was over quantity.
Now that I work as an IC MT, I create and use my own normals, but I listen to every single dictation and if there is even one tiny, seemingly insignificant change such as the physician says the instead of a, I change it in the report.
I think a company forbidding their MTs from using personal normals will end up costing themselves money in the end. The solution is to institute very strict policies regarding the use of personal normals and enforce them. Let the client know that these policies are now being enforced and if they see any mistakes whatsoever, to please let the MTSO know. It's hard being an MTSO, I'm sure. Assuring the client that their concerns are your concerns and making the MT's feel respected and appreciated for their hard work is like walking a tightrope sometimes. The sad fact is that you can't make everyone happy all of the time and in the business world, you have to schmooze the one who writes your paycheck - that goes for MTSO's and MT's alike.
Keystrokes makes you count out for normals.
nm
Co I work for, large national, allows normals. Of course, you must listen
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I have normals, lots and a huge expander glossary sm
I also have 20 years in this business, which helps. I am not a fast typist really and I can't type at all without the expander, not anymore. I have a photographic memory for terms and how they are spelled...see it once, know it forever.
There are exceptional MTs and there are very good MTs, there are good ones and ones who can just about pass muster. Don't beat yourself up trying to be exceptional. I think exceptional MTs are born, but very good ones can be built from scratch. There are MANY MANY facets to success as an MT. You have to have quite an ear for voices and even the very best of us can't do every accent. You have to either be a great typist and/or Expander user, and you have to know it well (I have used my same one most of my career). You have to know your terminology inside and out. You need to know how to properly organize your normals so that they are consistent and easy to use. You have to have an excellent platform to work on, preferrably a Word client. You also have to have a company who stands behind you and makes sure you have enough work with QA people who can and will take the time to teach you what you don't know. My favorite QA gal is a font of knowledge, a BOS2 expert and she even corrects my emails for grammar. I have learned a lot from her. It helps to have someone on an IM who can answer questions on the fly for you. I have had those in the past and now I am one of those who does the answering.
Most importantly, do your very best at whatever mode of work you are doing. Show up every day, give it your all. Don't worry about what the rest of us are doing, be the best you, you can be. Things fall into place when you do that, I know because this is how I had to approach the early stages of my career. Persistance pays off.
$35/hour x five 10-hour days = $1,750 gross/week.
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$20 an hour is not even average for radiology. You should not make less than $25-30 per hour. sm
I work for Keystrokes and have for 3 years. I average 25 reports an hour, which is $31.25 an hour. I have 401, health insurance, direct deposit, life insurance. My lead tells me I'm wonderful when I talk to her, but I do not need a daily pat on the back.
I also have a good friend who works for them on a clinic. She only makes 0.08 per line but does 300 lines an hour, which is $24 an hour, again higher than your $20.
I don't think we're selling ourselves short. There are companies out there that are good to work for, 6 or 8 of them that I know of personally. Don't settle for $20 an hour.
Sorry to hear that because that was a good account with great normals. Hope
you find a new home where you will be appreciated and with good line counts!
Well if I could do 500 lines per hour, I would be making 35.00 an hour. sm
nothing to sneeze at. More than fair for having a 2-year degree. Come on people, we are all acting like we expect 6-digit incomes! Whatev!
Training on the system, not paid, but if you are physically typing reports then you are getting paid
nm
Oh, yea -- PAID, too. Grandmother PAID LEAVE would be a great drawing card to TT !!
Just love that PAID TIME OFF !!
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