A 5-char word would be better....
Posted By: sm on 2008-01-02
In Reply to: usually one "word" equals 5 characters, so it's still being paid by characters. nm - menow
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.
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Can someone please tell me what $5.00/1000 words converts to in cpl when 5.5 char=1 word? nm Thanks!
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.
0.775 (?? how they figure it) and 0.8 (65-char w/ sp)
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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.
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
Microsoft Word.. The oold Word used to do this and I'm new to 2003 Word..nm
/
What's the diff between a gross line and a 65-char line?
Mebbe just got my first OWN ACCOUNT YAY! He said to charge him the "going rate" since I pay him that. This could be the start, baby! (I hope)
7.5/gross line or 10/65 char line?
Anyone have any idea which would come out to more? TIA
If you picked the correct Word version at installation, if you pull up a blank Word page & do an inc
s
Sorry, but your schedule doesn't justify making up your own rules. Use the word board for word q
nm
I simply used the word as the point of reference. If I had referred to someone AS 'that word'
your read my post that said we are all just people no matter what color we are?
Info/help on open Word 2007 docx with Word 2003.
I have a friend who sent me a document with .docx extension, presumably Word 2007. I can open it in Word 2003; however, all I see are musical notes and highlighting, no text (this is a document with words and highlighting only, no pictures, music notes, etc.). I tried to open this with Notepad and only see the usual gibberish.
I know I opened another 2007 Word doc before and I remember seeing the converter load at that time but that was probably a year ago. Is there something that has changed that I'm not aware of?
Darn Microsoft.
Is any one running ExText with Word 2000 and EditScript with Word 2003 sm
I am interested to know if anyone is running two platforms with a different version of Word on one computer.
I am running eScription's ES with Word 2003 and want to run ExText but their version of Word is 2000. Has anyone done this or doing it now. If so, have you run into any problems.
I can't seem to get a straightforward answer from the Techs at either company. I can't just load ExText and jeopardize it interfering with eScription.
I am interested to hear any and all comments. Thank you so much in advance for any help!
it is attached to your version of Word. Open Word and it'll be on your tool bar. NM
.
I type the letter "l" in IT and the word cholelithiasis is my word selected?Why?
I want to get rid of this. Entered left again but it is still giving me cholelithiasis as the only word option to select from.
This is why I find this program crazy. Everytime I sit down for the day, there is a whole new experience with it!!! I have to stop and think before each word!!!
How do you make fields in Word Perfect like in Word? I'm drowning out here
in new keyboard commands, macros, etc. Thanks.
In the future, please post word questions on the Word board.
i
Can you use the Word autocorrects or only Smartype? What about the Word auto text? tia nm
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Word AutoText, AutoCorrect, and Spellchecker, and other Word features
I have just started working for a company that uses Word (my previous experience was HTML-based and had its own autotext and spellchecker).
I have never bought medical spellcheckers nor Instant Text, especially that I have learned a lot from posters here that one could use the autocorrect feature for long words/phrases/paragraphs/templates. I have heard of people saying autocorrect was not meant to be used for such.
I have been browsing some features of shortcuts in Word (using the Assistant), and have discovered that it has AutoText. I tried it by highlighting a whole document (canned procedured), then hit Alt+F3, assigned a code, and voila! I have a template that readily inserts into an open Word document by typing the code and hitting Enter.
Also, I have learned that I can insert empty fields (for variables in my templates like BP/HR/RR/Temp values by hitting Ctrl+F9, then when I have inserted the autotext for a template with such empty fields, I can readily jump from one field to the next (to fill them up with values) by hitting F11 (or Shift+F11 to go to previous empty field).
We do know that many dictators want us to type verbatim even for running sentences, so that I have found the Spelling and Grammar checker feature of Word quite cumbersome. I discovered tonight that I could use just the spellchecker feature by clicking on Tools > Customize, then under Categories, select Tools; under Commands, select Spelling. I dragged that onto my tool bars so I can do a quick spellcheck. Cool thing was, the previous documents I have made with new drug names, etc., which I have spellchecked using a non-Word program, were automatically included in its database (so I do not have to re-enter them as I begin to utilize this feature). Drawback: I could not make a shortcut key for this (have to use the mouse again!)
Then I made my OWN keyboard shortcut for autocorrect by going to Tools>Customize>Keyboard (click on button then another window appears), Under Categories, choose Tools; under Commands, choose AutoCorrect. Under Press new shortcut key, assign the shortcut you want (F key, Alt or Ctrl + desired key), then click on Assign button.
Well, that is all I can share for now. I have learned a lot from posters here, and I hope I have added some info, especially for Word users like me who can be categorized as average.javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',' ');
javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
Qa sent me 2 corrected report. One had hypenated word changed and other had same word
p
why on 1 computer for the same report would the word count be different in Word? (inside)
Like on 1 computer with word the document was 27000 character counts w/spaces
and the other computer (the one i type this account on says 13,000. How can there be such a difference with Word being the same? I am baffled.
Please post word questions on the Word board.
mm
Please post word questions on the Word board.
/
Post word questions on Word board.
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Please kindly ask word questions on the Word board. Thank you.
/
How do they define a word? Is it characters? Is it the MS Word definition
of a word? You can fit approximately 500 words on one page of typing. It's about $.055 per line, or $2.75 per page. It's up to you. It's not great, but you are a newbie. If you don't have any other offers out there, try it for a while to gain some experience.
Switching from Word 2000 to Word 2003...
Has anyone upgraded from W2000 to W2003? If so, did all your autocorrect entries and normals transfer easily? I would like to upgrade but don't want 2 lose my shortcuts and expanders! TIA 
Please post Word Help and s/l questions on Word Help Board.
//
Word/terminology assistance goes on Word board. (SM)
Please use boards appropriately.
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