FLmt, it's extremely doable. Copy the positives! nm
Posted By: EditScripter on 2007-07-05
In Reply to: 2800 lines a day???? How in the heck - do you do it? Are you clones, or do you just work
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FLMT - You're making me dizzy! (nm)
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Forgive me, but WHAT do I have to do to ma00 - FLmt (Views: 6, 2007-07-04)
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yes, it is doable
I do it. I have accounts that I do all the time at the first place, so it is easy to get my lines in quick in 5 hours. Then, I have about a 4-hour break before I hop on to do my second job's work around 3 and I finish at 9. I only do it for 4 days and on have a half day on Friday, done by 11 a.m., off Saturday, and pretty much all day Sunday until 3 p.m.
It is doable, but...
it depends on how comfortable you are with the account itself, the format, the dictators themselves, the platform and how many templates/expanders you can utilize. If you get a bunch of 1-2 minute reports on a slow platform, forget it. If you get crappy dictators or have to switch to multiple different accounts with different formats, forget it. If you have to look up too much information, cc's or demographics, not doable either.
I used to get 3000 lines in an 8-hour shift with ER tapes. I had done the account for a couple of years and had lots of expansions/templates and was very comfortable with the docs. I didn't have to use any platform or fill out any bloody demographics. Just regular old WP5.1. I didn't have to wait for anything to upload or download or just plain not load. I think we were on a 65 cpl though and not a "line is a line," so it still would have been somewhat comparable to today's transcribing, except for today's platforms.
That is "web site" in post above. Also, Auto Copy add-on for Firefox will automatically copy
Auto Copy add-on for Firefox AUTOMATICALLY copies what you select (highlight) on a web site to the clipboard.
Then you can paste it in a document.
It just saves the step of right clicking and then clicking on "copy" to put something on the clipboard. Just select it, and it is on the clipboard.
It only works only on web sites-- only copies stuff you select on web sites, i.e. not in other documents.
Print a copy of the form on your printer, fill it out, copy and send it to your computer via fax may
Just a guess. Or print it, fill it out and fax it to her.
If this was doable, everyone with income limits
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How do you copy your SH file to text - do you copy each dictionary separately? nm
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Positives not negatives
I read these posts all the time and am saddened to hear that so many are unhappy. I have been blessed to be a Transcriptionist for the last 12-1/2 years. It started out on a fill-in basis, then went to part-time and now I do it full-time out of my house as an IC. My line rates are good and I have always had steady work. I do 3 local clinics and then I also have Internet work. I do feel that there are other benefits to working out of your house than just the pay. I am able to have flexibility in scheduling, see my children off to school, be here when they get home and not have the stress of having to be at a job for 9 hours a day. Not trying to sound holier than though, but perhaps just take some time to think about the positives and not always the negatives.
I agree there are some positives, but I am
one who wants to pursue something else. Mainly because I do not feel this is a good fit for ME. Also, I think you should never have all your eggs in one basket.
I agree with all the above positives
minus the income of lucky Patti! However, I don't have to buy a career wardrobe or pay for gas/parking every day or have the wear and tear on my car of a commute. I love making my own schedule and being my own boss. I started doing this when my kids were little. Now I couldn't go back to sitting in rush hour traffic every day and dealing with office politics and all that garbage. I am grateful every day for having such a good job. Life is what you make it. If this isn't for you, there are plenty of other things you can look into for work.
Yes, I love it and have no regrets. The positives
far outweigh the negatives, and my kids are now MTing as well and loving it. I can honestly say at approx 50 years old that I would not have changed a thing. I worked in-house til my kids were born, and have been home since. In-house was great experience, and then transitioning to home was wonderful! :-) Feel free to write if you are interested in any details. I obviously believe 100% that there is a future for MTing, or would not have trained my children. I love my job and my career.
I agree - interesting that only positives stay on here
The rest vanishes into thin air.
Read the comments. Even if they left positives, if item not exactly right, will state that. Also,
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Positives and Negatives of working at home versus inhouse.
When I first went home to work, I did think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I got so tired of being stuck to my desk all day long and being asked to work overtime with no overtime pay. No incentives anymore either. The money is the biggest issue here and benefits at a good price. .... So I decided to go back in house. and believe that I found a great place to work.
Of course, there will be the usual bad side of working an inhouse job... dressing up.... which I honestly miss.. but maybe not every day, paying for gas to drive to work... but it's actually only 10 minutes away, the cafeteria--enough said :D... plus I bring my lunch and have always done so..., office politics--which I have found exist at home or inhouse...., dept meetings--which I have found exist with at home jobs also... of course they are "account" not department meetings and communication! which is a really important thing and was the straw that broke this camel's back--got sick of sending emails to a myriad of people from the top to the bottom and getting no response back... or responses days later...
Can anyone add any other positives/negatives?
The pay will be worth it all no matter what, but I was curious to see what other things there are to consider. 
Please no flames.
Thanks in advance.
I do not copy to text. I copy the spf sm
file to a disk and save the whole thing there, update it occasionally.
44 pounds in 1 month is doable when you start out at over 400 pounds.
It still counts, though, so Martha, you are doing a wonderful job. Keep it up the diet and exercise especially. Those pounds are going to melt away! You can do it!
Extremely helpful - thank you!!! nm
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It was extremely perverted.
Be grateful they took it off. I would repost whatever you had to say.
this is extremely sad. I started on with MQ
0.0775 cpl. You're only going to get desperate newbies with that pay. If you want an "experienced" MT as you say, pay them what their experience is worth.
They are extremely close.
From what I know of both companies, oddly enough it is MQ catching up to changing its operations to par with Spheris with the new Rewards Plan.
However, while Spheris has already had their compensation/benefits package settled for a while, they seem to be aggressively pursuing purchasing other companies and increasing their offshore entities.
MQ seems to be focusing on it's US clientele.
MQ has ASR and if Spheris has it, I haven't heard of it yet. I would imagine ASR came in with a recent purchase if Spheris has much in the way of it right now.
You are welcome.
ok now I see it - extremely annoying. NM
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I am extremely careful
Geesh, June. I am extremely careful, and my girls have been told not to open the door unless they know the person on the other side. You know children do not always listen. I had been down the hall using the bathroom, and my 13yo thought the 16yo had stepped outside and locked herself out. Since it was a soft knock and a familiar one, she thought she knew who was on the other side. When she realized it wasn't who she thought it was, she shut the door right away and came and told me there was a man in our garage. We've lived here for 10 years, and this is the first time anyone other than family has knocked on that door. There isn't a lot of crime in our area, and we leave our garage door most of the time. We never have any problems. I know...there's always a first time....never say never and all that...but I am careful.
A couple of weeks ago, religious solicitors walked up to our door. I was working, and my 16yo opened the door to them because they were women. Not anyone she knew, but she opened the door because she didn't find women to be intimidating. That's why I say children don't always listen to what you say.
After those Missouri boys were abducted in rural areas, I've talked to my girls again about being careful, beiing aware and watching out for each other.
My hubby thinks I'm paranoid. I'm the type to keep my doors locked at all times, day or night, and he thinks it's silly because we're in a rural area and probably fine. When I dispute the point with stories from the news, his rebuttal is that a locked door will not keep out someone who wants in. Maybe not...but they'll be a lot more noisy trying to get past that locked door than they would an unlocked door.
It works extremely well for me. sm
I am in a very, very rural area as stated; all woods. I was also told it works as good as your cell works. Our cells are "patchy" in this area, but are fine in our home and we have all metal roof too, which usually causes outages but not in our case. I was constantly frustrated with Wildblue and no signals on bright sunny days even. Like I said, in 3 months I have not had one problem with losing a signal and I am on the net 24/7 almost literally, lol. I know in my case, they gave a 30-day refund in case it didn't work out for you. So I would say give it a try first and if it doesn't pick up well for you, then look into HughesNet. The wireless was the BEST move I have made period and I am extremely happy. I did call tech suport on it when first setting up and the hold was very minimal and tech was very helpful. I was fixed and up and running within 5 mins with AT&T. Now I will say my first bill was also about $170 as they bill in advance so I had to pay first month and then 2nd month, but to get started all I paid was for the USB thing itself. Oh, if you do go with wireless, don't get the "cards", get a USB one that way you can change it from different computers and be mobile with it rather than just working in 1 computer. Say if you have laptop and desktop you would switch the USB between computers and if you got a "card" it would only work in one of the computers, the one which you bought it for. 
Anybody else notice extremely low IC pay?
I have always worked as an IC acute care transcriptionist. My line rates have always exceeded what an MT can make as an employee, which is only logical because as an IC, you have to pay your own taxes, no benefits, etc. I always peruse job listings on this and other boards, just to see what's out there. Lately, I have noticed a disturbing trend. It seems like most MT companies/MTSOs are only offering .08/line for IC. Unless that is for a gross line (and goodness knows gross lines are a thing of the past), that is outrageous!! When you consider that an IC has to pay approximately 15% of his/her income in self-employment taxes alone, that means a net rate of about .068/line! While .08/line for employee status is still low (in my opinion), at least social security and medicaid taxes are paid, and there are usually benefits, PTO, etc.
If I were an MTSO, I would be embarrassed to offer .08/line to any quality IC MT. For a newbie, sure. But for any MT worth his/her salt, .08/line for IC is an insult.
I know that competition with overseas firms makes it seem necessary for American transcription companies to lower their MT pay in order to be competitive. However, American MTSOs will never be able to compete solely on price; overseas transcription companies will always be able to do it cheaper. It is a slippery slope that has already lead to the failure of many American transcribing firms. The question for American transcription companies should not be can we do it cheaper, but can we do it better??
In today's market, American MTSOs need to stand their ground and quit underselling themselves and undervaluing the value of their American transcription workforce. American MTSOs need to start marketing themselves differently, stressing quality, accuracy, dependability, security, and good old fashioned patriotism. I don't care how low the overseas companies can bid a job. There is no way they can compete with the quality and accuracy of American transcriptionists. I myself have worked for an MTSO who lost a contract to a firm in India, only to have them beg her to take them back a few months later because the quality of the overseas work was so horrible. I am quite sure this is not an isolated incident.
While there are always going to be hospitals that will try to get by on the cheap, there are also hospitals and doctor's offices who realize that they get what they pay for and will put quality first. If you compare transcription services to cars, overseas work is the Hyundai while American transcriptionists are the Cadillac. Cadillac would never slash its prices to compete with the cheaper imports. They know that they have to cater to their own market, people with more discriminating tastes.
I am fortunate enough to work for a company that realizes the value of its services and takes the stronger, wiser stance. They are not after contracts at any cost. They will pass up work if they have to bid ridiculously low just to get it. And guess what? Any bid that only allows you to offer your IC transcriptionists .08/line IS TOO LOW!! And any quality MT is not going to stick around at those rates.
I find it is extremely so! sm
THe other thing is, unless you are ultra fast or so wonderful you are in high demand, you won't make a living at it. I know some cake decorators and it is high pressure. I could make and decorate 3 cakes in a day, of the 2 or 3 layer variety, but they wanted 10 or 12 just the decorated part. I found that daunting myself.
I can only make one of my signature cakes a year (heart shaped cake covered with handmade, real buttercreme roses...think about 150 to 200 roses) about once a year and I need to have time off of work to recuperate anymore. My hands ache and ache!
I get extremely car sick
I posted on the gab board and while I was typing this message moved, so am copying my reply here too in case the other message gets lost -
I get extremely motion sick in a car. I cannot read at all. I can't even read maps to help husband in areas we don't know (can't tell you how many arguments we still have over this and it's been 25 years), and if there are a lot of road signs I can't read them, therefore I would imagine that if you can't read due to motion sickness typing would be hard, because as an MT I am always reading what I type to make sure there are no typo's or I don't hit a wrong key. A couple years ago we took a drive to the Mendocino coast in California. Lots and lots of curves. I thought maybe I had grown out of it (motion sickness), but my DH had to keep pulling over. I was so sick it was awful.
If you take a product like dramamine it will make you drowsy (I should know cos I'm the Queen of Dramamine) Taken enough of it at different times and I end up sleeping through the trip if I take it. I'm not sure if they have any non-drowsy. A lady did tell me once that I should eat a little carbohydrate before I travel and that might help. Again, a big "might" and I don't want to take that chance.
I think the biggest problem with typing while a vehicle is moving is the constant movement of the keyboard. If you go over a bump or hit a rock or swerve, your sure to hit a wrong key. I'm not sure I know of any employer who would allow this. I'd be more apt to be looking at the scenery rather than concentrate on what I'm typing.
You are EXTREMELY lucky...
I can't remember the last time I even took a day off, let alone a week or weeks. I've often put in way more hours in a week than you say you work regularly and still have never come close to the kind of money you're making.
You would need to be extremely fast on your
computer in order to straight type 3000 lines per day. I never did that many and said before, used to have people seek me out in the office as they would hear me typing fast and they wanted to watch me. Straight probably for me never got over 2500 if that. Having said that, had 2 bosses at different times and would be willing to say both probably consistently got that per day. Your speed, I would think, would have to be around 150 to 160 or higher. Can you do that?
Ugh - how extremely nauseating and immature -
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I don't think that's " a big IF." That is an extremely sturdy structure. sm
It has a drainage system in the lower levels so it's not like it's going to fill up like an aquarium. It also has an extensive generator system, so it's not going to turn into a giant greenhouse effect. They did not direct people there "to contain the bodies."
Either you started at an extremely low line
rate to begin with or you are blowing smoke. I personally don't believe a word you say.
If you are so extremely thin and beautiful,
then why are you on this site. Are you a transcriptionist. If you are as beautiful and thin as you say you are, I doubt very seriously that you'd be typing for a living.
That was extremely rude & uncalled for.
Noone deserves to be harrassed or "kicked' when they're down!!
I have tried one- extremely hard on my knees
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Thought this was extremely old news
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Yes...extremely low volume since just after Christmas! nm
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This is extremely dangerous reasoning. SM
It isn't what the "suits" are saying, it is what they are doing. These are two totally different and separate entities. My God, are you so complacent that you cannot even take a look around and see the face of the future? No one is telling anyone to not just "be happy." A little foresight and present thinking is imperative, not only in the MT world but in many other areas of business, especially IT. It's all going over to Asia and it's all same-same there.
Extremely well put Witch...regardless of personal..
religious beliefs..we could ALL learn to be better "people" from how the Amish treat their fellow humas.
Um, in this country!?!? lol Extremely common.
Poor grammar is everywhere, unfortunately, and ya can't fix what they don't know. ;)
not absurd, just extremely exceptional,
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That was an extremely eloquent post!
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Extremely welcome, Anon. Just passing it on like much came from others. nm
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extremely tired, oh yeah.
It took a while to finally get it into a routine. I also have two small kids 5 and 7 at home. Once you find your happy medium and get in a groove it really is not that bad. Also being an IC at home helps my scheduled stay flexible so I still get to attend ball games or school functions. If you have to take on a second job, start small and work your way up taking on a little more at a time that way you don't get too overwhelmed. Plus being an IC you get to set your pay, working for a national only gives you what they offer, which all to often is not even close to what a MT is worth. Hope this helps and good luck.
If you have only been on QA for no more than 1 day then you either have extremely easy accounts....s
Or you are one heck of a MT. If that is the case whoever you work for should hold on to you. I just don't think it is common unless it is a certain specialty you are just real familiar with.
I have an extremely good platform,
and like I said read extremely fast and just easy. My VR is apparently not like others on here because very few errors and we have to catch them, cannot just do half. One will not be able to do the basic amount for work on VR IF they do not have a good platform and are not fast. I always go fast forward on audio 8 hours a day. That is the way I work.
Their software is extremely slow, the slowest
I have ever worked on. And their server is down a great deal of the time. If you need to make money, pay your bills, and feed yourself, Axolotl is not the place to work.
Just an extremely simple Word macro SM
I'll try and explain it. I'm no Word genius, I PROMISE.
You get in a document you're typing.
Macros
Record new macro
I made mine a keyboard macro, you name it, assign it (mine happens to be alt. alt period)
Then you go:
Edit
Find
. (period space space is what that is supposed to be)
Replace . (period space)
Replace all.
In the parentheses is the keys I pushed. I don't know how else to explain it but it's the alt Key and the period Key.
There's bound to be a "real" way to do it, but I just bumbled through this way.
Not to mention extremely dangerous for your pets - sm
especially the flea collars, shampoos, etc. Totally agree. Awful products. Should be banned completely.
extremely annoying LOL I just did one today where the doc kept using the first name or the middle
None of which was spelled. Wish they would make up their minds sometimes. It would be funny (I was getting a little giggle out of it at the time I typed it) if it weren't so frustrasting at the same time. Have a good one! :)
No, because I've never lost anyone extremely close to
me, huh? You assume so much.
I do know how it feels to lose someone before their time, traumatically, lose my world...so don't come here telling me I don't know anything of what she is feeling! How can you sit here and tell me not to judge and then judge me?
Am I harsh? Probably so, but I have good reason to feel the way I do about her. I know we all make mistakes. I've made plenty myself. That doesn't make me change my mind on some of the things she did. Call it what you want. I don't really care.
I did however say that I feel bad for her. I don't think anyone should have to go through losing a child.
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