As a for instance, 225 lines/hr at 8 cpl would be $18/hr. Your mileage may vary. nm
Posted By: And are you looking to be an IC? nm on 2007-05-16
In Reply to: $18 an hour but I work inhouse in a hospital. - nm
a
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
YMMV (your mileage may vary)
>>>Who are making more money with VR than you did with straight transcribing?
Depends upon the day.
>>>If so, how many LPH did you average when doing straight transcribing?
About 250 lph.
>>>If not, how would you rate the difference, approximately in % of income lost
When VR is "kicking booty," I can get close to 400 lph with around 99% accuracy. And that's just straight dictation. If I knew how to do macros and templates, I could probably get close to 500 lph. --- But it didn't happen overnight. I started using the product again in November 2002 when I busted my finger. When it's a matter of spending the time training the product correctly or not working at all, you find a lot of patience.
gas mileage
I also make sure that I do all errands when doing deliveries and so that mileage is written off. My deduction for my mileage yearly is over $5000 and so that is $5000 I don't may taxes or SS on. And it is the same amount of miles I would be putting on my car if I had a job and worked over by where 90% of my accounts are located --by the hospital and that would not be deductible. So that is a savings -- again I make sure I do the majority of my errands while on my daily run and don't use the care much more than that per day.
Ours is right at $3, but I get FANTASTIC gas mileage.
I feel for those of with you SUV's and minivans. Filling those up has got to be expensive.
You can write off your mileage
to get into. As far as blocking your schedule, that's your fault, not the office's fault. Would you charge an online company a "sit and wait" for dictation charge because you blocked your morning? Hello? You have to be very flexible in this business. I have gone and there's only 1 tape to pick-up. I really don't care to know the doctor's daily schedule because I have enough to worry about, but high-paying jobs are hard to find. It sounds like you've made up your mind in that you don't like the driving, office, or the dictator himself, so what kind of advice are you looking for? If you just want to know whether to charge for a pick-up that brings you home empty-handed, then no do not charge. Why don't you talk to your overflow account and find out if this happens can you take work? I just don't get some of you gals... Really this allergist does not "owe you a tape" everytime you come in and I'm wondering if you are going to return reports. If you are returning reports, then your trip was not wasted. 
P/S: It could be worse; they could NOT PAY!!!!! LOL Good luck...
you will only get 55 cents for mileage SM
reimbursement so that does not help much with 3 miles round trip. I used to charge by the hour for such nonsense when I was IC. You are getting robbed otherwise. Make it clear to them in, possible in an addendum to your contract for additional copies it will cost $x per page due to travel expenses (gas, time, etc.) Your time is worth a lot and they are not taking care of their records. Good luck with this!
Yep, for instance,
I work on a particularly difficult account, and my supervisor asked me which physicians I would prefer to type and which I would not and she would allocate me only those MDs I chose to type. Although I refused her, saying this was not fair to my fellow MTs, I am sure there are those that took her up on her offer.
what is the rationale for going digital, your savings on mileage?
you need to sell the doc on the advantages HE will receive from digital, i.e. better quality = fewer blanks/errors, ability to STAT, perhaps even improve the TAT on his transcription?
15 cents a line AND charge mileage
nm
Don't most applications ask for instance if you have
been convicted of a felony in the last 5 years or 10 years? I do not remember but most of them have a time period on them. I do not think they say have you ever been convicted of a felony. If it is 5 years you are okay. If it is 10, you are just under that. Have you been told that you were turned down because of the felony because I know people who have gotten jobs without problems even though they are felons.
at least once instance ur wrong
My hsp brought back their work into the hsp 4 years ago because work was so bad. The dept is growing. We are taking on local accounts. Soon they are going to have to start hiring because of explosive growth of work. We work on production from home with full benefits. All is not lost, but I agree things look grim in the overall.
In this instance, I would charge per report.
Call me a cynic, but I trust no one! If you charge per report, it's cut and dried. You don't have to worry how they are figuring lines and they don't have to worry how you are figuring lines. And it will be easier for you to keep track of the number of reports you do in a day versus manually counting your lines at the end of every day.
JMO. 
This is ONE instance where I'd have to give MTSOs . sm
the benefit of doubt in their favor, although I am not defending them in any way, shape or form.
I would think just the contrary: Withholding or denying you work hurts them as well, since they lose payment for your work from their clients. More importantly, witholding work from the MT highly INCREASES the likelihood that the MT will file for UE to begin with - a no-win situation for them. First, they lose income you could be earning them from their clients if you did have more work, not to mention having to pay into part of your benefits.
Having said that, it benefits them if you did have more work as it might relate to getting UE - more income for THEM if they give you adequate work - but mainly, it would decrease the likelihood that you'd be filing for UE in the first place.
I prefer Dorland's and consider it the "bible" of medical terminology. Others' mileage
x
At our company, errors are weighted. For instance...
a simple "a" instead of "an" would only be a 0.5 error, whereas an incorrect medication or such that could directly impact patient care would be 2.0. No errors are more than 2.0, and we do not deduct for blanks etc.
I think it is some of the emoticons, but maybe only the first instance of them opening or posting.
s
Not in that instance, but I do get Microsoft errors in the file
f
The 1cpl amount was just a 'fer instance'.
if one gets anything AT ALL. MT is a dead-end job because if you're good at it, you get passed over for the few 'promotions' available because they need you on the front lines, making money for the suits.
Couldn't the QA just check the info and just get it done in one instance rather than foward to QC
Just seems a little crazy to me.....
yes it can vary
Some don't pay for underlining or bold and you really don't notice these things because they are out of sight and out of mind. We assume that a rate per line means everything in the entire line, but it doesn't. I recently used Abacus and counted by gross and two other ways and it sure can vary.
...may vary (was cut off) (nm)
x
Does it vary by state? usually something like 23.
x
It probably does vary between accounts.
Problem in MTSO's don't want MTs to know exactly what they are charging. So MTs get a flat rate. It's not fair.
opinions vary,
but i don't think so. but in this day and age, i think you are wise to have more than 1 skill up your sleeve. i think the pendulum will swing and we will realize that a thinking person is better than a machine, tho some adapting may be necessary and that shipping work overseas isn't the smartest solution either. i suspect you'll esp find ample work in the big city.
I have this & speed can vary sm
I also have the 727 with Sprint and also another card for my laptop so hubby can be on it while I'm working. I worked for a company where I had to log in to their VPN system, and there were times I would lose connection because my connection speed would dip down too low. However, I am about 1/3 of a mile outside the official coverage area and have to use an antenna to get a good signal, and this may or may not be the case with your connection. I have also used my USB card for the Bayscribe system and just started with Keystrokes using DocQScribe with absolutely no problems at all.
LOL! Accounts vary, I guess. SM
I have typed on one where they don't want them capped, and it bugs me every time. :)
It can vary widely so I'm not sure there is a baseline.
Some companies pay per line, some pay per hour. Hourly is the best way to go. The per line rate can go from 2 to 5 cpl, hourly $10 to $15. Figure out what your hourly rate is doing transcription and you'll know what to ask for. Generally QA people make less than MTs, but you wouldn't want to take a cut I don't think.
goes to show how much our experiences out here vary... Everyone comes from a different POV
What you can do per hour can vary WILDLY
I have some accounts I can crank out lines on and hit 1000 in 5 hours easily. I have another that can take me nearly 8 hours because of being 90% ESL (really bad ones to boot!) and really tedious account specifics. I have been on this platform for 6 years and have expanded to the max. It can just depend on the accounts you do! :-)
Yes it can vary, that is up to the MTSO how they want to pay/bill - sm
I used to work for one that billed out as a line being 60 characters; she also had another account that was 50 characters (which gives the Dr. the impression they are paying less as the rate is .10; which is actually .13/65 char). This was a smaller MTSO though, all the larger companies I have worked for have all been 65 char/line.
Seems to vary by company. Mine seem to
s
Reports vary so much it's hard to say
It really depends on what type of reports they are, as well as your platform. I just started doing radiology and man when I think I am really rocking, my report numbers are up and my line count is down. Like you, sometimes when I'm really strugling with those long complicated MR reports and feel like I'm stopping every five seconds, despite myself I'm typing more lines. I feel it's because the reports are so long.
Basically, I live by the axiom that anytime you have to take your hands off the keyboard, it costs you money. Period. That's why people talk about the "good old days" of WP51 and straight Word (not Word-based platforms) where you could keep your hands where they belonged and not fiddle with the mouse all the time or wait on the platform to catch up to you.
Sorry I don't have more answers; perhaps someone who keeps better records than me will be more help! :)
As you can see, experiences vary very widely SM
But--It's the future, so leap in! Figure out every way technology can do the work for you much, much faster. Start programming your corrections into your Expander from day 1. All of them. Not just a few main phrases, but virtually every word within them and every possible variable. Program in all your punctuation corrections. Like changing ". He " to ", he" and vice versa within at most 3 keystrokes. You'll do it all day long.
It's true people are making less in general these days, but any time I hear of people still being able to support themselves fairly acceptably I pretty much know they're still typing out most stuff out the looong way. Alllllllllll of it alllllll day looooong...... That's really sort of analogous to people who refused to learn word processing, insisting on staying with Selectrics and Liquid Paper. Back then, like now, we upgraded our skills or went broke.
And if you don't already, practice reading fast until you get that skill up there. There's a lot of reading to this.
Don't bother fussing about what a mess VR can make of some dictation. All that counts is what income you can make from cleaning it up. (Tho skimming through reports that just need a slight buffing IS a pleasure.)
My last thought is that this business is in flux, and it's true some companies are not paying equitably for this work. Yes, a greatly increased pool of skilled workers for each good job does mean pay has gone down for MT overall, but if you feel you're producing fairly well compared to others in your position and your income still has dropped signficantly over what you earned doing transcription, you need a better company. OTOH, if you've worked hard at developing these new skills and can't seem to do decently, it may no longer be the field for you. Either way, plan on being ready to move on if necessary. Don't wait many months to figure it out. Best wishes!
Line rates vary geographically.
I wouldn't work for less than 0.08/65-character line that included spaces. If you're traveling, printing, etc., charge more. Tax advice should come from professional tax preparers, not this site. Also check IRS website.
Plus, line rates vary by company
depending on the account. I told someone how much I made, she got a job with the same company on a different account making less $$.
Plus, line rates vary within the company
depending on the account. I told someone how much I made, she got a job with the same company on a different account making less $$.
This will vary depending on dictator style and speed, but the average to shoot for initially shoud b
around 3 times the length of the dictation. So, if the dictation is 5 minutes long, you should be able to complete the transcription in roughly 15 minutes. Again, that can vary, but it's a good rule of thumb to go by.
Absolutely. Such a time-saver, and in this instance, money saver. nm
x
Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines. One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself. After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
That is a lot of work/lines for 2 people. I do 3000 lines per day sm
if you times that by 30 days that only comes to 90K lines a month, that is working 7 days a week including weekends. I don't think 2 people can handle that.
900 lines is below 1100 lines, where the bonus starts.
x
Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
The norm is 1 minute = 10 lines; 10 min = 100 lines - sm
granted this varies per dictator. More lines if a fast talker, less if a slow talker.
I went from 2400 lines to 1800 lines
a day when I switched from clinic (through an MTSO) to hospital work. Not only was the clinic work easier with more macros (and less providers to learn, 12 vs 300+), but I was typing in straight Word (as opposed to Softmed/Chart Script). So you see, it really varies depending upon the type of work as well as the platform used. That said, I am so much happier typing the 1800 lines per day (I make over $15 per hour plus an incentive for any lines in excess of 1200 per day) plus a great health package/benefits, AND approximately 5 weeks of paid time off per year. In my opinion, hospitals really are the best employers WHEN they appreciate the work we do.
My advice for you is not to judge a job by any one criterion but rather the entire picture. The 'extra's can really add up.
Good luck in your job!
Which is the one where they are sc*&ing us the standard lines or the qualified lines? SM
Mine show up as STD when I pull up my transcription log. But I see now there is STD/QT.... So which is the one where they are ripping us off, standard or qualified? Need to know. I am about to switch companies and I will not do if they are actually taking lines from me. Thanks guys.
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....
I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.
What is the advantage of this? If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation?
I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it. I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired. They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.
Thanks for explaining this. I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.
Word count: 824 lines. DocuCount count: 897 lines.
I just counted the same file in Word and then in DocuCount, and DocuCount was higher than Word.
Just as an aside.
It can vary from company to company.
If a company is on one coast and you on the other it can affect shift time, meaning usually if you want to start work 9-10 instead of 11 you could for 3rd shift, etc.
i'm sure it will vary from person to person.
I recently did the same thing and am loving it! The freedom from time clocks, the better company, make losing the benefits well worth it to me. You need to set up a plan to have $ set aside for taxes though. I should have done this years ago!
lines
I always say a good average is around 250-300 lines an hour.
Lines
I have been flamed many times about my production, rate and how much I make. I think it is great for you. But there are those 10 hour days sometimes but I like the fact that I have my own business, and get paid for the hard work. One account that I have is surgeons and with their consults have hit close to 600 lines per hour but with my IM's, and their chart notes can only get up to 350 to 400 or so. It is hard when I switch to my clinic account where I sometimes go in and get paid hourly as I feel like I am not working fast enough on their electronic charts. Again, I have said it many times, it may take a while but if you want to work hard the money is there to be made in this field.
How many lines??
Everyone just wondering how many lines did you do a day when you first started MT? And, how many hours a day?
|
