Can someone please tell me what $5.00/1000 words converts to in cpl when 5.5 char=1 word? nm Thanks!
Posted By: Curious MT on 2005-08-21
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Offered $5.50/1000 words??
Thank you in advance to anyone. I'm not sure if this is good or not.
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.
Stedmans Med $ Surgical Equip words, Path and Lab words, and Tessiers Surgical Word book (3rd
edition). I never buy drug books anymore. Waist of money in my opinion. New drugs come out so often, it's best to use the web.
Cuz i've been a word geek reading 1000 wpm since age 8. This MT thing keeps
guess if I couldn't be a doctor, MT is the closest I could come without investing $100K.
One client uses word count.....total divide by 1000
nm
What is a 55 char gross line compared to a 65-char line including spaces?
t
Lots of 'em, but use a Lab Words, Sted's Ortho/Rehab Words, & Tessier's Surgical Words most
s
Own accounts; 12 cpl 65 char and 17 cpl 65 char.
Accounts are on the West Coast.
Tell that to the poster using the B word and !@#% words.
x
deleting words from word dictionary
Hi there. Does anyone know how to delete words from Word 2000 that I haven't added. They have words like wit in there and I would like to access their dictionary and get rid of some of them as I make common errors of some words. Thanks for any help.
Some single words, but mostly 2-3 word phrases.
I have a few full sentences, too, but with so many different doctors, I tend to stick to the more commonly used short phrases, and build sentences & paragraphs from those.
Many words are formed with a base word with a prefix or a sm
suffix or both and are not picked up in spell check. Arousable is a word formed by combining arouse with the suffix -able and in this case the E is dropped and the able is added. This has been going on for a long time and like the above poster says, many of these forms are not in spell check.
When is a word only 5 characters. I thought 7-10 was an average and 10 words a line? nm
s
Have you heard this word on CNN? NO! It is an obscenity, and there are plenty of awful words SM
You can search and find just about anything in print if you look hard enough. No newscaster on CNN would utter this filth. Obscenities are not allowed on MT Stars and this word is obscene. Your example is flawed. I have no problem hearing and typing words related to the human body when spoken by a physician to document a patient's care. That is a far cry from this nasty little "headline." NO ONE should defend this racial epithet and no one needs this little lesson in netiquette. Shame on you and OP if you are not the same one.
Not every company converts to Courier 12 to pay you. sm
Some companies pay you for whatever font you are working in and in this case it is Courier 10, which is the smaller font. Some companies have a definition of a line, meaning a line is no more than 65 or 72 characters, etc.
Hope this helps too!
Anyone know of system that converts files to wave...help please
I am a small company and would like to know if anyone knows of a system that takes the dictation and converts it to wave files and these can then be sent to any number of medical transcriptionists? I want a system that does nto require a lot of phone lines because of being a little remote, but would allow more than one doctor to dictate at a time and allow me to move files as need to each MT. I was hoping to find a dial in system like this rather than the hand helds because that is relying toooooooo much on them docking the thing, loading it etc.
any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Margo
My digital voice player converts files to be --sm
able to be played. it sounds like your voice player does not. Maybe either you or she needs to save the file as a wav file first, prior to playing. either that, or try downloading the express scribe player, which is free, and try to play it with that. If that plays, then it is your voice player which is not compatible with the files she is sending you. good luck.
Try Switch program. Converts sound files. Can get free demo.
p
12 cpl 65 characters up to 1000 anything over 1000 = 13 cpl. sm
Holidays and overtime = time and a half.
Plus shift differential.
Hope this helps.
Stedmans Med & Surgical Equip words and Tessiers Surgical Word Book (3rd Ed). I'd be lost
without them.
You'll need a lab words book and maybe the Derm and Immunology Words..nm
s
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)
/
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
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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.
The Sted's Ortho & Rehab Words is probably my most used book and then the Lab Words book. GL! nm
s
Two companies, both 65 char lines including spaces, one pays 0.10/l and the other 8.5/gross line. n
x
1000
Seem I do not have a minimum line count, I tend to drag my lines on all day. I have kids who I drop off and pick up at school, as well as volunteer at their school 1 or 2 mornings a week. Most mornings, if I start as soon as I drop them off, around 815 am, and work until I leave to pick them up at 2pm, and I only stop to use the restroom, I can get in 800-900. I usually will do another 100 before dinner while the kids are in the 'Disney Zone' Im not sure if I could handle having the pressure of a minimum count as well as a set schedule.
About $1000.
x
I did over 1000 in 3 hours, and do so
routinely. Lots of ESL docs, but the key is an expander and doing the same account for more than a year. You need to lay the groundwork, like making sure you have doctors lists, know the formats and account specifics, and have readily available list of resources or reference books to use. At first take the time to write down all the unusual words or terms, instruments, etc., and then it will all fall into place.
Don't just rely on a single word in an expander. Make phrases, sentences, paragraphs, whatever is necessary. My rule of thumb- if I typed the same thing in full 3 times, that was 3 times too many, time to make a shortcut.
Is 1000 lines a day 1000 lines a day for most
companies.
Where I work you have to have 1000 lines a day which is not a problem. But say you get 1000 lines a day, work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week that makes 5000 lines per week. This place has a formula where they take the 5000 divide it by 40, because you work 40 hours and that would give you 125 per hour. Then they multiply that by 7.5 because this is supposedly the number of hours we work a day because supposedly we take two 15 minute breaks and whether we do our not. They would say we only get 937.5 per day. Is this pretty much what all places do our just where I work?
1000 lines
CAn you elaborate on what you mean by "open a few things" in Word for lines, etc.. I'm not real great at computers-over and above what is called for to do my job.
Thanks!
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