But I think MTSO's are charging less

• If all IC's understood what that IC means, maybe... - casey
  • As an IC I make the choice whether or not....(sm) - AzMT
  • you fail to understand basic economics - sm
    • no, I don't fail to understand.... - casey
      • Rising costs always causes the consumer to look for another solution - sm
        • I agree with you 100% and I... - casey
          • But I think MTSO's are charging less - sm
            • I know MTSO's that were TOLD by the client to charge less or - sm
      • I don't see any of that in the beginning. - In fact,
        • sorry, you misunderstood second post... - casey
          • this is not exactly correct - sm
        • th is is confusing. Can you clarify what you mean, - in fact?

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The equipment you have will last for a long time so there is not that much to get into business.  13 cents sounds okay, 1  to 1 1/2 cent higher than I charge but I am out in the NW area.  I do pick up of tapes, printing, delivering, use of "sticky paper" etc.  But I average $30 to $45 per hour depending on the clinic.  I haven't raised my prices in a while as I feel it is good money for me.  I buy transcribers off E-Bay, some last for a long time, some not so long.   I am planning on going digital in the next few months but I don't feel it is fair to pass that along to my clinents.  It is my decision.  Will still have to deliver back printed material.   But you have to get those accounts and keep those accounts so charge a fair price -- the docs have more overhead than we do -- make a decent living and provide an extra decent service and you will do okay.   I have said many times -- my accounts have been with me the oldest now 16 years -- psych account and my shortest is 5 years.  They pay on time, have never had to ASK for my check, never a bounced check, and always Christmas bonus and a Birthday present.  So that is why I keep my prices a little lower and spoil them a little but in the long run -- for five years now -- have not had to look for a new account/client and I know that they will not go overseas.   I have had my share of those accounts that stayed with me for a little while until they got something cheaper and those that were just not for me and so that is why I will do most anything to stay where I am right now until I retire in 7 more years.     I put in about 25 hours per week on these accounts as an IC and make $38 K per year.  So for me it fits just right. 

I was offered the opportunity to type for a doctor that is moving in wiht another group of doctors and need a transcriptionist. I have typed for other clinics in the area, but these physicians only paid by the hour.

I am wondering if it would be in my best interest to see if they wont pay by the line or character. I have never done this before. I work full time at a hospital and will be doing this at home in the evenings.

Any information on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

My charges for copies depend on who it is and how many copies.  I had one guy who wanted to use me and my little inkjet printer as a personal photocopy shop.  I was charging $.10 per copy to cover paper and ink, but he'd want 20 copies of each page I typed.  Finally, I told him to go to Staples to make copies because I wasn't going to do it any more.  I was driving there every few days for more ink and paper anyway, and he was just someone I didn't want to do business with.

I don't charge my other client for carbon copies because he usually only wants one or two copies.  Besides, he pays me really well and I've been typing for him for 8 years.  When he wants full color copies of digital pictures printed out, however, it's at least $1 per page because it chews up the color ink cartridges so much.

Right now McDonald's in our town starts employees at $8/hour and pays benefits and some school benefits.

I have worked 30 years in transcription and make less now than I did in 1985.  That's 20 years ago.  I know more and earn less.  In fact I am a fraction above poverty level.

If you don't think MQ is getting ready to take us all below poverty level right down there with Mexico City, just hide and watch.  Or rather, sit here and think you are with a "good" company.  I didn't, because they are making millions in profit off your hard work and not sharing a penny of it with you. 

In the old days an employer spread the wealth of the company with the employees who made it happen.  This group has never heard of the concept.

I can agree with you.  I used to run a small "word processing service" as it was called back in the 80s.  I was competing with others and I figured one high-paying job was worth more to me than a bunch of inexpensive jobs.  My fees were higher than anyone else's.  I charged $25 an hour for anything other than regular text, be it medical, legal, foreign language, technical, editing, compiling bibliographies, checking footnotes for correct site within the text as changes were made....  I had more work than I could handle and it was all by word of mouth.  I had to hire 2 others to help with the overflow and still turned down work.  Would have continued except for needing to care for terminally ill father.  I had graduate students trying to book me years in advance to do their dissertations. 

Cheap doesn't work.  Not in the long run.  You do indeed get what you pay for. 

Hey gang !   Today I went my family's podiatrist for  the first time for an ingrown toenail.  As soon as the doc sat down with me, and saw my chart, he commented on my occupation of "transcriptionist".   Within 30 minutes I left his office minus an ingrown toenail, and plus a new account doing his transcription ! 

And this is going to be a lucrative account - 20-25 office notes per day, x 6 days a week.  Yippee !

Question - how do you guys bill your private docs for office notes?  He said some notes are only 1 paragraph, while some can be 2 pages.  Doc said he'd prefer to pay by the page. So should I charge a 1/4 page price, 1/2 page, full page?  How would you guys handle office note charges ?   I will be emailing the files, btw. 

Thanks !

How do you handle an account with a doctor who is constantly changing things?  I'm talking about a guy who will give an entire 4-5 sentences then have you go back and delete and change it.    I'm getting really, really tired of typing it all out only to have to go back and delete and retype. 

Do you keep track of how much you deleted and charge for that also?  It is really cutting into production.  This isn't occasional either.  He does this at least once, if not several times, in EVERY single report.  It is like the man can't string together thought.  Not to mention it is frightening how much things change sometimes.  I wonder often if he is talking about two different patient.

Now I have been in the business for a good while and besides Trans"scam" I came across another company that charges for software.  Fast Chart.  They use both DocQScribe and EditScript and will charge the ICMT $7.50 per pay period if you do not meet a particular line count every pay period.  Now, although $7.50 is not that much, I have worked on both of the programs (in fact, still working on Editscript) and have NEVER been charged to used it.  What are these companies trying to do to all of us. ..geez louise. 

I was wondering what the general rule here is.  Lets say that you type an office note and then months later the doc wants you to add to it.  Do you charge them again for the text you already typed, or do you just pull it up out of your computer's memory and only charge the doctor for the new text added to the document?  This happens to me a lot, and I would like to know what the general rule is. 

Thanks,

Abby 

Would like to know what to charge a potential client that is using voice recog for their discharge summeries, but they want me to cut and paste it into the form on their system. 

Any suggests on how to charge for this since I will not be listening to the actual dictation and doing it.

thanx for any help

For you IC's out there, what is the average charge for transcribing a 60-minute microcassette?   I am estimating about $45.00-$60 at most with 60 minutes of transcripiton.  It takes me anywhere from 5-6 hours to transcribe. Is this about the norm?  I am thinking of raising my rates.  I also print the reports out and deliver too. 

TIA

I'm trying to get my own docs and want to set rates that are equivalent to everyone else so as not to undercut and lower our industry standards. But, I can't seem to find out what rates are locally, soooo, as much input as possible would be appreciated.  Anyway, I know that local family practices have been quoted by the hour, by the minute, by the line, by the page, and so on.

I don't really want to do by the minute -- it makes them feel like they have to dictate at sonic speed. Some of them balk at by the line because no matter what you tell them, they feel like they are penalized for having nice formats. They balk at by the page because they think you will extend it to 2 pages for more money. Then there are the ones who gripe about hourly rates because they feel like you will type slower to make more money. I actually typed a sample tape for a local practice a year ago and based on my rate the office manager figured it up PER PATIENT and said it was too much!! 

I know family practice docs and nurse practitioners don't make that much money but dangit I gotta feed my family too.

So help, please!!!!

This really sucks as the article said it would impact heavy users only.  My cable bill is already high but to be charged for actual using will skyrocket my bill.  I think I could spit nails right now.  I can post the article if anyone is interested.  They said it will be a trial period.  Anyone else use Time Warner?

I am a small MTSO and also IC'd for another company a couple of years ago and something similar happened to me.  However it was probably a little different as I did the pick-up and deliveries although I was an IC for the company.  When she did not bill the clinics so that I could not get paid, I knew the clinics and so I went to them and told them that after a certain date I would not be doing their sevice because I was not being paid -- a little different than your story but you can also let the clinics know how that service is being run.  Again, only after you write your calm, fact filled letter.  But if someone threatened my business with anything like that - going to my accounts -- they would be paid within 24 hours.   Reputation is what counts in this business.   But again, just write to them calmly and with the facts asking them to prove that you had signed a contract, then giving them 48 hours to produce such contract or send you a check for your services or you will see them in court.   Again, I would threaten to go to their accounts to let them know how they run their business but only as a last resort.  But just do it, write them you deserve your money.   Was there problems prior to quitting and that is why you just left suddenly -- I know this leaves them in a lurch but if they were a crummy company they probably deserved it.  Also if you did not sign a contract stating you would not go after any account you worked on for two years go for the accounts. 

my hospital's TAT is between 24 and 48 hours depending on type of report.  When I worked in-house, it was from 2 to 48 hours, with Op notes/HP having a 2 hour TAT.   I think it varies a bit between hospitals, but as a general rule most reports are no greater than 24 hours. Sometimes discharge summaries have a longer TAT, such as 48 hours.   I don't have any experience with VA hospitals, but they probably aren't much different.  

I am an IC for a small MTSO.  I have a deduction taken from my invoice every pay period for renting Transnet equipment.  My foot pedal broke and I asked urgently Monday morning for a replacement foot pedal to be Fed Exed to me - work was on the system and needed to get done.  Well, after many many phone calls and e-mails I got the replacement foot pedal via Fed Ex (they shipped on Friday) on Saturday morning.  So I worked all weekend to get caught up on a whole week's worth of work.  Got my invoice yesterday (late - the MTSO has rescheduled their payment schedule as they are not getting promptly paid by their clients - the ICs had to accept the new payment schedule or quit).  There was a deduction for $40.13 for delivery fee for the foot pedal.  The Accounts manager says that "many memos" have been sent out that ICs are responsible for delivery fees.  Huh?  I looked over the memo I received about Transnet rentals and it said our invoice deduction covers maintenance costs for faulty equipment, etc. (the MTSO had originally said I would be billed for a new foot pedal - then I brought up the memo on rentals that covers faulty equipment and that got dropped pretty quickly).  I told the Accts manager that postage is the MTSOs expense, just like it is my IC expense to return the faulty equipment to the MTSO.  I also mentioned that the MTSO pays for phone charges to fax stuff to ICs; likewise the ICs pay for their phone charges for faxing to the MTSO.

What would you do?  I am so fed up with this MTSO...I don't make that much money on Transnet anyway (most of my lines are from microtapes) that I am tempted to just tell her to take all of my doctors on Transnet and quit doing these willy nilly deductions without my approval or knowledge.  This is the third time the Accts manager has taken "deductions" from my invoice without telling me - the last time was for Chicago taxes on rental equipment (totally illegal according to Cook County govn't) - that took 2 weeks to get straightened out!  Arrggghhh!!!