0.775 (?? how they figure it) and 0.8 (65-char w/ sp)
Posted By: nm on 2005-12-16
In Reply to: Line rate survey - Terry
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- Line rate survey - Terry
- 0.775 (?? how they figure it) and 0.8 (65-char w/ sp) - nm
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What is a 55 char gross line compared to a 65-char line including spaces?
t
Own accounts; 12 cpl 65 char and 17 cpl 65 char.
Accounts are on the West Coast.
8 CPL, 65-char w/ sp.
RTI, Inc./California (but I am in AZ as IC. Think I could do better.
A 5-char word would be better....
I just counted an entire report that I had done earlier. It's typical of clinic reports that I type every day. No long medical terms, just the basics.
It probably isn't the most reliable way, but using MS Word Count, the report has 394 actual words, 2387 chars with spaces.
So, if you want to say a word is 5 chars:
Divide all the characters in the report (2387) by 5 (the number of chars per word).
Then divide by 8 (for the number of words per line).
This comes out to 59.67 5-char, 8-word lines.
Again, using MS Word Count:
To calculate a 65-char line:
There are 2387 actual chars in the report. Divide 65 into 2387.
*There are 36.72 65-char lines.
To calculate an 8-word line:
There are 394 actual words. Divide 394 by 8 (words per line).
*There are 49.25 8-word lines.
That's an easy way for her to do her line count for this company, as all she has to do is let MS count the actual words in her report, then divide by 8 to get her line count.
Pay for this report:
36.72 (65-char lines) at 0.08/line -- $2.88.
49.25 (8-word lines) at 0.08/line -- $3.94.
With the pay being 0.08/line, comparatively speaking, that still comes out to about one extra 8-word line (for every three 8-word lines she types) when comparing it line for line to the standard 65-char line.
At 0.08/line, a 5-char, 8-word line would be $4.77 for the same report. If the OP wants to go to the trouble of counting this way, she would do well.
She could probably also find a line counting program she could program to generate her bill and simplify everything.
10 cpl per 65 char line
I include all spaces, headers, footers, etc with a 24 hour TAT.
65 char line
while you are in a Word document, click on Tools from the bar at the top. Then click on word count. You will see characters (no spaces) and characters (with spaces). If you are paid by 65 characters with spaces, take that number and divide it by 65. Then take the result and multiply the result by .08 or .09 if you are paid 8 or 9 cents per line. That is the amount of money you made for that one letter.
1385 by 65 char line.
nm
To SandyGirl: MDI pays 10-11 cpl 65 char., sm
Spheris pays 10 cpl + incentive.
FC pays 10 cpl and 11 cpl on weekends - IC status.
QT pays 9 cpl - gross line, IC status.
JLG pays 10 to 12 cpl 65 char.
As you can see, there are companies out there who will pay 10 to 12 cpl, albeit IC status mostly, but they are out there.
I hope this helps you find the right company that pays the "big bucks"!
Merry Christmas!
65 char per line is not the same as gross?? sm
You said "Anyway go with gross line, I still quote it as 65 characters per line which it is but I count by gross and 12 font."
65 char per line is NOT the same as gross. How in the world do you come to the conclusion that it is? If it was the same, then the 65-char line would not even exist. Gross line count means that even a line containing only one word is counted as a whole line. 65-char. line means that a line must contain at least 65 characters (i.e., letters, numbers, or symbols) to be counted as a whole line.
Gross line does not equal 65-char. line and you are doing a huge disservice to your clients and to the other MTs asking for advice here by saying it is. Clients do sometimes check the line counts to see if they match (obviously yours don't so you have been lucky so far) and if you bill them at gross lines and they are counting at 65 chars per line, your line count will be quite a bit higher and it will look like you have been padding your line counts.
Please, do clarify how it is you feel a gorss line is the same as 65 char. per line. Also, font does make a difference when using gross lines but does not make a difference when using 65-char lines so again, your theory that you are switching fonts tells me you are, indeed, charging gross lines and yet are quoting clients at 65 chars a line.
Does anyone else think this is just a tad on the shady side ???
I'd count it too via 65-char just as you are doing the rest - sm
especially since you print it out, ink costs money, as does paper.
Gross lines vs. 65-char
A gross line is anything on a line IS a line - usually the standard is Courier 12, 1 inch margins - that way, if a doc wants Arial or Times New Roman or any other font, he will know that it will always be counted in Courier 12 regardless of the font he uses.
65-char means based on a 65-char per line basis, lines are counted, so it is not a "line" unless there are 65 characters on it - the counting programs that count this convert the document to one big long document without returns, etc., linking all the characters in one long line and counting them that way. Clearly you can see how many fewer lines you would get by this method. When this was brought into the business it was touted as a "fairer" way of counting - but the only one it is "fairer" to is the doctor - it cuts the lines vs gross lines an average of over 30% - for example, if you are making 7 cpl for a 65-char line, you are in reality making 4.8 cpl gross lines - quite a difference.
.11 cpl/60 char. line for hospital
account that I do from home and am also considered an employee. They pay my insurance and also offer family insurance for 110.00 a month. I also have another account for a brain and spine trauma center that pay me .13 cpl/65 char. line.
Here's the thing. We were paid on a 50-char line SM
because we were on new software and it was hard (before EDiX). Then we went to 60 char and you have never heard the screeching and griping (LOL. We just didn't know).
I have told this story before, but for five years I was the supervisor in the MT dept. All I did was evaluate MTs, line counts, average lines per hour, just endless figuring. I could tell you off the top of my head what any particular dictation should count out to.
In fact, after I decided to go back to transcribing, I knew the very day that my former employees started cheating - our line counts were posted by ssn on a computer-generated list. I knew that work like the back of my hand.
When EDiX did their spiel, I was eager to start with them because I knew how they supposedly counted their lines and I knew how many lines a day I could type. Man, I was gonna be RICH.
Not one line count EVER matched what it used to. Bad thing about that is, I just got blank silence on the telephone when I asked what was the deal. When I asked my immediate supervisors how they were counting these lines, I got "I don't know. I'll get back to you." Nobody ever answered my question. I gave them a year full time, and then I had to start working other jobs to make ends meet so I quit.
They asked me to come back, and I said I would, part time. They said they really needed me on that account. All told, I was employed there three times in three years. I never made enough money to even cover my basic expenses. I cannot live like that.
My biggest problem with nationals, and the reason I refuse to work for them, is that the money goes to the suits first, the MTs next. People who do what we do simply do not need that much supervision. If they hire newbies who do need extensive supervision (and they do, we all did), we all pay for it in that situation -- I'm not against hiring newbies, by the way, but the $ it takes to hold their hands the way the need their hands held should not come out of the pocket of the veteran MT who sits down and chugs out her work day in, day out.
So no more nationals for me. I make three times what I made at EDiX now, working for a company that could be considered a national because we're scattered out, but it's still run by the owner, and her aim in life is for us to make as much $$$ as possible because then SHE does. That's the way it should be.
National companies treat MT as a cost center and that is not right. That's for the facilities to do. The MTSO should treat us as an income-generating entity instead of a hole to divert money away from their executives. They've got it all wrong!
Gross versus 65 char line
Can someone tell me how a gross line is calculated. Thanks.
I charge by 65-char line with spaces...sm
The two accounts I've worked on wanted 0.5 inch margins on both sides. One of the accounts wants 10-point Times. The other wants 12-point Times. They want the margins so big because they are trying to save on their paper costs, because the sticky back paper (I think that's what they use) is apparently quite expensive. I send the documents via e-mail for them to print on their own. Anyway, charging for a 65-character line with spaces nets me more than a gross line because of the margins, font, and typeface. Try it with your line counter. I have one built into my Instant Text (which I don't use for invoices) and SylCount. Both of them show that the gross line is quite a bit less when the margins are this big.
Why not charge for spaces? You type 'em like you type a letter or number! 
Gross lines versus 65-char, etc.
I think the above poster misunderstood me. I was trying to simplify the difference between counting a gross line and counting a line via character - which IS basically blowing out the document to full 65 character lines (with or without spaces)and counting them, versus counting anything on the line as a line.
That is true, though - the best way to compare documents is to look at the gross line count (after changing margins and font to 1" and Courier 12 respectively), then taking the character count and dividing by 65. Many who have never been paid by gross lines or have not really compared the difference would be amazed to see how many less lines you get on a 65-char count.
10 cents/line 65 char. w/spaces,
Small company (about 7 of us, I'm the only part-timer) Acute care, mix of dictators, 1 year part-time experience.
Can someone please tell me what $5.00/1000 words converts to in cpl when 5.5 char=1 word? nm Thanks!
Only if that is coupled with a line definition of greater than 55 char.
.
65-char line to client and charge for gross? sm
That's a bit underhanded. If they ever get suspicious, your line counts are going to exceed what they count at 65 char. a line. You said yourself that 65-char/line and gross line are two different things, so why do you contract with the client saying you bill for one and actually bill for another ?? That's shady, IMO, and I would never quote my client a 65-char line and then charge them for gross line.
At 40 hours a week? Is that gross line or 65 char?
You'll never get an accurate comparison unless you have every single detail lining up, i.e., same rate per line, same amount of hours, same type of work, same doctors dictating, same amount of Expander entries, same typing speed, same method of payment, etc., etc.
It just doesn't matter what anyone here posts -- it's going to be different for each individual. There is no real true way to predict what you will make at this profession!
then they'll offer you 8 cents/ 65 char line. very sad nm
dfd
127 if based on 65-char line (8243 divided by 65 is the formula) nm
c
Industry standard used to be 65 char and font didn't matter...
but that's all up in the air now - sometimes lines are gross lines, sometimes it's character count divided by 65. If you are on a line count that just takes characters and divided by 65, then font doesn't matter. It might SEEM it takes you longer to make your line count but not really relevant.
I quote a price per gross 65 char line, say 12 cpl, but then convert
I have one client who doesn't want bulk and is Franklin condensed 10; another is on Garamond 12 with a 1 inch margin R and L. I take a large block of type, put in a format that gives me 65 char per line and do a line count that way and get a price for the whole block, for example, 58 gross lines at 12 cpl = $6.96. Then I take the same type and format it as the client wishes, get a line count and divide the dollar amount by the lines. If their formatted version came to 28 lines, then 6.96 divided by 28, would come to 24 cpl for their format. I always include a line on the invoice to indicate their 65 char line rate. Something like
2586 extended lines at 0.24 cpl = $620.64
(your line rate converts to 0.12 cpl for standard 65 char line)
I always educate the client as to the industry standard of the 65 char line which allows clients to compare apples to apples...
I just re-read his email and he said he paid 9 cpl per 55-char line! Must be offshore. sm
I'm going to bring up the offshore issue with him and HIPPA issue as well. My OB/GYN just switched over to that practice to do just GYN and specialize in urological gyn, so they have my records too and I sure don't want them overseas. Even if they don't want to hire me, that's fine and I'm not going to sales pitch him at all, but I don't want my records outsourced.
Two companies, both 65 char lines including spaces, one pays 0.10/l and the other 8.5/gross line. n
x
this is how I figure it
I took the work I did from Sept 1-15.
With spaces ... 16,492 lines x 0.095 = $1,566.74
Without spaces ... 13,967 lines x 0.095 = $1,326.87
Divide the high lines into the low dollar:
$1,326.87 / 16,492 = $0.084553
To answer your question ... just over 8 cpl. 
I figure it this way
My word processor is Works, which only counts characters. I then manually counted the spaces and found that apx 22% of the report was spaces. Take your 9.5 cpl and subtract 22% and you come up with the equivalent of 7.4 CPL. I work for MQ and, as far as I can tell, DO get paid for spaces because their line count is always about 22% more than my 'Works' count.
you and me both! I figure by then sm
there will be some kind of "robot" like thing I can program to do all that massaging, IV fluids and Foley for me. That along with putting on my support hose, hearing aid, denture cream, getting my pills, etc!
One way to figure this out is to
"switch places". Pretend he's working at home, and you come home at the end of the day. The important thing is - he's there and you're there. You share a home and probably lots of other wonderful stuff. It's hard, but sometimes you have to give a little even if you don't think it's fair. I don't mean - be a doormat- just act out of love. It seems like when you do that, it comes back to you.
Anyway, good luck and Happy Holidays to you and hubby. 
me again... duh... trying to figure out SM
why after each of my exapansions the curser immediately goes to the line below after I expand. (instead of stopping like autocorrect would) so I could insert the next word.
I just noticed the little yelllow box that comes up that will prompt you to see the word you are about to expand. I kinda like this!!!
How do you figure
How do you figure you can do this from home when testimony is taking place in the court room; depositions are taking place in a lawyer's office across town; and 8:45s take place each morning at the speed of lightening in a court room.
Please!
When you figure out .....
what you are going to do - let me know. I have even considered going back to school for a year to learn coding. They are the ones making the money that we used to make.
Go figure. nm
s
Figure it out
MT = 8-9 cpl QA = 3-4 cpl Overhead = 2-3 cpl Benefits = 1-2 cpl Mgmt = 3-5 cpl sp probably 20 cpl minimum
It took me a while to figure that out too.
:-) I love the easy fix problems.
When you figure it out..
Let me know how.
I've been doing this for years and it is very hard to keep focused. The phone is always ringing, my brain is thinking about the pile of dishes in the sink...
Even now I should be working and I'm posting here.
Maybe we can help each other figure it out? (sm)
We could both do research and tell each other what we find out?
Maybe they figure...
An interesting experiment might be to submit a resume & say you have 2 years' experience.
Still trying to figure out...
what "documentation by exception" means.
She needs to figure out what her
account, factoring in all expenses, and then add in her profit margin, factoring in her wage, benefit costs, etc. If she does not, and just tries to charge what the "going rate" is, she may well end up losing money on the account.
thanks. I will try and figure that out!
x
when I can't figure out the patient name (sm)
I just leave it blank because, like the other post said, I cannot get any feedback on what is protocol, so I make up my own. I aint gettin' paid enough to fool around trying to figure out what the dumb doc is saying!
Wow, I think I have PMS or something..I don't usually gripe this much!
You can figure approximately a 4:1
transcription to dictation ratio on average. There are many factors, as you know, typing speed, terminology, number of speakers, quality of dictation, etc. I read somewhere that 10 minutes of dictation averages approximately 100 lines. Again, it depends on the above factors.
I can't figure out what is causing this, but since DQS
my line count has never been the same -- some of which is due to being switched from account to account, which will slow ANY/ALL MT's down, but it is MORE THAN THAT ! DQS is hungry for MQ MT's lines somehow. We will never know, as we do not configure it ourselves, but it is done by others who will not reveal any such information. I just know from MedRite to DQS has not been a good experience for me as far as lines go. The software itself is okay -- not that at all, but where my lines are going is my struggle with DQS !!!
NOPE, can't figure it out.
x
Yes. I haven't been able to figure out
who The Carver is. I'm interested to find out. Enjoy the show!
Ah, a figure of speech. (sm)
Like a burden or baggage from a person that will not take the time to learn or understand? One who doesn't want to fix it or get off his/her duff to understand? One who generally doesn't care? Anyway, I thought my original post was perfectly understandable and if they didn't understand it that is not my problem!
That was not my figure - they offered it and I took it. nm
x
Yep, I can hear it, too. I had tried to figure
out if it was associated with a certain emoticon. I'm really glad to know somebody else is hearing it, too.
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