Depending on how many lines/reports a company
Posted By: COST OF QA IS HIGH on 2005-07-17
In Reply to: Why are we getting punished for sending things to QA? - its their job, they are paid by the hour!
requires a QA person to do, it can be as much as $3.00 or more per report just for the QA portion. That is money I feel should be paid to me if I do high quality work rather than paying me the same or less than other MTs who are careless, sloppy, lazy, or incompetent and send everything to QA to be done.
Sometimes there are things you can't figure out, but at least take the time to try. You might even learn something. This is especially true for new MTs.
60 reports in a QA cue just because someone is too lazy to call the office to get a normal for a doctor who says to "use my normal" is not acceptable and the MT who sent that report should NOT be paid for the report that I had to find and put in for him/her.
Keep this activity up and no one will ever get a raise.
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In theory approx. 750 lines, but depending - sm
on the speed of the dictator it could be more or less obviously. I have a dictator who will do a 13 minute report, I am lucky if it is 80 lines (same with her 18 min. reports), totally stinks.
Depending on the company....sm
you would probably finding yourself typing as much or more than in a MT role. With the companies I've supervised with, there were not only the generalized e-mails to the MTs but also those answering questions from clients as well as employees. I currently receive 150-200 e-mails a day alone to respond to, plus do a lot of other typing with the various aspects of the job.
I suggest you talk with the HR department at the company you work with to see if there is a position you can apply for that would be less typing.
Depending on your company...sm
they will go by different names, or titles. But its usually your supervisor assigning the work. Most are called Lead MTs and often are the direct supervisor for each shift -- thus assigning the work. The QA has no part in assigning work... they are there for that specific function only, for the most part. HINT: WHOEVER HAS RESPONSIBILITY OF ENSURING TAT -- that's you gal (maybe guy) -- that assigns the specific jobs. The Lead MTs also have their own lines to make... and will usually keep the best for themselves. If you work on more than 1 shift, you'll notice this.
Don't believe for a moment, though, that jobs are assigned at random, first come, first served... just look at the time/date of the transcription. I, myself, have been known to e-mail a Lead and ask why I was getting the sh---y work and cc'd the supervisor. Often works bec. they're not supposed to be cherry picking for themselves. 
FT range out here is 32-40 hrs. depending on company. nm
s
lines/reports
There are 54-65 character lines in one full page. 7 minutes of dictation is usually equal to 70 words. there are 13 five character words on a line. you can do the math
What type of reports do you get the most lines on?...
I was wondering if you had to choose, which type of reports would you want to do exclusively that would net you the most lines, of course other than a wonderful account with normals on every report  .
One has longer lines and shorter reports
Really comes out equal.
When discrepancy between # of reports (rad) and lines, they look deeper, one warning and
dd
We have the ability to see each others # of reports and # of lines. We are to report to super
visor when one person has done 150 exams a day but only has a minimum of lines typed. In radiology, it tends to average out. They are watching it for morale's sake as well as they figure if the MT who jumps jobs is probably cheating elsewhere in the job or her/his life. Too many ethical ones these days to settle for a cherrypickers.
Calling all ICs. Just curious. How many lines and reports do you average per day at
whatever company you are working at currently? I'm wondering because it seems like I work A LOT (I should actually start counting hours, but I don't) and at the end of the evening my line count is so low and it will say 8 or 9 reports, even though it feels like I have done about 20 or so (this is DQS, but you can answer with whatever co. you work for).
Thanks so much! 
Our department does 1200+ reports a day. They average 11 lines. nm
This is for 2-3 line normal chests to MRIs. They look longer, but if you take 65 characters with spaces, you will be surpised. Here's an example:
CHEST:
INDICATION: Chest pain.
FINDINGS: Heart size within normal limits. Lungs are clear.
IMPRESSION: Normal chest.
This is 116 characters with spaces, which is 3 lines (if you round up - actually 2.55 lines). If by the line, you would make $0.30.
Something to think about.
Do the same with an MRI of the knee. Copy and paste it into word and count it. A very long one I had was only 15 lines.
Your best bet is your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield company, depending on where you live
Here in Idaho, we have both companies but a lot of other states have BC/BS combined. Our family has a policy through Regence Blue Shield that is $196 for my husband and three kids. It has a $25 office copay and it is a limited policy, which is 12 office visits a year and lab up to $300. It works great for us because we never got to the doctor, yet we have it if we need it.
I have an individual policy for major medical, $35 office copay, with our local Blue Cross and it is $59 a month for me and it has prescription coverage too. Not a bad deal. I think they are your best bet for decent coverage at a good price.
Template lines usually refer to pretyped canned reports
These would include such templates like epidural steroid injections and such where you are just typing in patient demographics and the date of procedure, cataract surgeries, or whatever canned dictation the physicians have come up with so they can cut costs and not dictate. Make sure you are not always having to revise the templates constantly at no cost; otherwise, that is a good price.
I know of one company that does VA reports
and they use offshore MTs to type these. They even used to put the military peoples' SS# on them, but finally don't anymore. They aren't for actual VA hospitals, but for docs that do military disability exams and exams for vets and people separating from the military. So, maybe that's why they can use offshore MTs.
Considering a company with lots of ER reports...
have never done these. Are they harder than acute care hospital? 
how about looking for a company that pays radiology reports by report and not line? nm
x
You need to know how your company counts lines. It probably is not
counting the same as your line counter.
my company 127 lines/hour is minimum
nm
Depends on each company, but usually incentive pay is only on the additional lines. Ask to be sure.
s
Read between the lines. When a company starts saying work more to make more
and you have to work in assembly-line fashion like an automaton, they are having a cash crunch. They held out one salary to you to get you to do the job, then they turn around and cut your pay because you make too much. They don't sound financially stable. If you've only been on the job 2 months, start looking elsewhere for a more financially stable company. Send out your resume and see what other companies have to offer and check out references for those companies. I and a friend in the past have gone part-time with a new company before resigning from the old one in order to make sure the new company is going to be compatible with us. It's hard to do, but it's short-term for only 1 or 2 weeks.
As an IC you invoice the company, count your own lines, and receive a paycheck.
First Choice, JLG, QT Medical, Metro in Atlanta, just to name a few.
Most use SylCount or something similar. I used Abacus - free line counting software.
the least minimum requined lines/hour I found for a company
nm
Bunch of us replied to similar ? on Company board under DSG lines post..nm
s
The MR reports were being filed. Referring physicians/medical care providers reports were not.
This is a hospital radiology department with in-house MTs and a clerk who is in charge of the report distribution.
The two sentence normal reports will balance out the 3 page reports.
I am Wendy too
I do too, sometimes $50-60, depending on the day! nm
x
Depending on where you are sm
Experienced radiology MTs can be hard to find. I work for a local MTSO as a rad MT and my workload recently doubled so we have been looking for someone part-time to help with the extra work. It has been very difficult, and we are searching nationally, not just locally.
So I would say if you have someone lined up to do the work, go for it. Otherwise test the waters and see how many resumes or applications you get and how much experience those who are applying actually have before making a decision like this.
Just my 2 cents.
Oh, and I have been paid both by the report and by the line. I much prefer getting paid by the line.
Does the same to me depending...
on what kind of sound file I'm opening. Other times it doesn't do it, but sometimes it does because it's going through some conversion process. I think it might have something to do with a codec but would like to know how to avoid it as well.
I do anywhere from 20 to 30, depending on
the dictator and type of report.
Actually, you can get one for about $500+ depending on the purse.
nm
Depending on where you live in the US, sm
I think its a good deal. The great thing about working for a hospital is that once you add all their benefits (health, dental, vision, 401 K, etc.) you are much making much more per hour. My wage is very similar to yours, but if I add all my benefits with it, I making more like 25.00 an hour. They cover my spouse and children for insurance as well.
Yup - 3 to 4K, depending on the day and the dictator. NM.....
Yes it is possible, depending on how good....
incentives are. It was very possible with MQ pre 1/1/2006. Now it's hard to make $20 an hour, let alone $100,000/year.
I average anywhere from 350-400 lph depending on the day! nm
x
DOE = depending on experience
nm
depending when you filed,
I used to Efile with them every year, and it was always the 2nd Friday from when I filed that I got my refund, but if it was towards the end of the week, thurs/fri, it may be the 3rd, which would be about 2 full weeks. Good luck!
I avg. anywhere from 3-5 minutes depending on the dictator-nm
x
i dunno, maybe 20? it varies depending
on hot topics, mental duldrums, needing breaks from bad dictators, etc. Its usually very momentary.
it does matter depending on what part of LA
Shreveport pays much less than New Orleans. There are some backwoods towns they still use tapes in the hospitals, so I do not need to tell you how much they pay - I'm sure you can guess. Outside of New Orleans can pay better than certain hospitals in New Orleans. Oschner is not, in my opinion, very good pay - $12/hour to start
Try FT for a service as an employee. Depending on your
area of expertise, many are flexible as to hours and offer insurance. Not cheap, but with kids you need it no matter what.
No to tax relief agencies. Depending sm
on your situation, you can do this yourself through an offer in compromise. Most are a scam or a ruse to flush out people who do not pay taxes. I answered an ad on TV for NADN for help with taxes, and ended up with someone from the Treasury Department at my front door. That was just the beginning of my nightmare.
Probably 8 to 10 an hour, of depending on what part of the
Depending on you in terms of experience - sm
and knowledge, 5 minutes can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes. I can do anywhere from 12-20 minutes of dictation in an hour, but it depends on the Dr. dictating, ESL, difficulty of specialty, how much I have to look up (addresses generally), etc. When I first started it I would take me an hour to do 10 minutes of dictation. Hope this helps.
Depending on the quality of the dictation...
you could figure on 2-3 mins transcription/1 min dictation. I would say $50/hour is low.
$1.10 - $2.20/report depending on modality (sm)
?'s to ask:
- # of CTs/MRIs of account you'll be working on. Lots of CTs/MRIs = lots of lines, usually not worth $1.25/report. If there is a good mix of x-rays, normals and CTs/MRIs, then you're good; it balances out
- Pay for links, e.g., right ankle and foot = two reports
Depending on size, $100 per article is
xx
Another Hoosier... I've seen depending on ofc 11-14. nm
x
You need a different form for HIPAA depending on if an employee
STATE LAW may take precedence. Some state laws are stricter than the federal law. I'd consult an attorney to have one drawn up.
Will be variable depending on the normals and shortcuts you have and how
s
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.
Depending on what is wanted by the office, I have an Excel spreadsheet-sm
that has the date of service, pts name, line count. At end of pay period, I total lines.
Then in a Word document that looks like this, I fill in info and send in for payment---
DATE OF SERVICE: ---- TO ----
TOTAL LINE COUNT:
AMOUNT DUE:
DATE OF INVOICE:
I then print and keep both sets.
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