I started with 310 minutes of work on Friday night- sm

• Has anyone else seen a pickup...sm - curious girl
  • Oh yeah, I did 2800 lines last Thurs and I had 10,500 for week to my usual 8K sheesh I'm a - TIRED MT
    • work - outofhere
  • Mine never slowed down - LinK
  • Not yet, but mgmt swears it will. I don't believe them! nm - Confetti
  • I started with 310 minutes of work on Friday night- sm - XXX
  • work - lm

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and e-mails throughout the day when we're both taking breaks from our jobs.

We have 400 miles between our homes so we can't see each other as often as we'd like, but when we do get to visit we enjoy every minute of it.  

the office manager (who does not normally transcribe) dishes out the work, so some days are easy, others are a mix.  So no cherrypicking is possible.  You type up what is given to you, period.  She will alternate the tough one's out so no one person gets him/her all the time unless they want him/her and are used to that doc, or everyone gets a little piece, etc. There are days when I ask for easy work (tired, chemo day, Jen sick, or a lot going on, etc.) but not often, generally I get a mix but they all get easier the more you do them.  I am not working as much as I should be of course, every week is different here so I adjust my limited work schedule accordingly, so sometimes it hard to get better at certain docs.  I used to have a lot of blanks with the Trauma ER unit, but I have been doing that a lot lately and now and very good at it, still a time consuming account but at least I am improving. -----------------------  But I believe the OP was stating she did it to clear out the log, not to make more lines, and only when she was asked to do so.  At an old job I had #s meant everything, everyday we would get report (2=4 x a day) of the backlog, and emails pleading us to work, work, work.  The QA rules sucked  (MQ probably is basing their new plan loosly on this one), however we did not get penalized, just chewed out if you sent in too much work to QA (over 5%, and was 80% ESL), I would imagine eventually fired if you continued to do it. They were a great place to work for until they re-organized....it all went downhill from there.  This is why I prefer smaller MTSOs, it's not all about the #s, yes, they want production too but at least it's not so cut-throat. 

in an 8.5 hour day or 7.5 productive hours (minus 30 minutes for lunch and two 15 min. breaks).  Don't know if that helps.  Also I've heard that it will take the average productive MT twice as long to type as to dictate, i.e. a 5 minute job will take an MT 10 minutes to type without interruptions.  So figure 90 minutes of dictation is going to take at least three hours to type and probably a little longer if you figure in interruptions like phone calls, kids, etc. 

For me, I would probably say 120-130 minutes would equal an 8 hour day.

Don't know if I've helped, but I hope so. 

outside my home. I was working another small business from home too and had been home for 13 years total. My MT skills got me a job as a secretary for the Army. My first position didn't pay a lot, but it was still about $3.50 more an hour than I could find anywhere else locally. In August 2006, with promotions etc., I will have had total increases in salary of 45% in two years. My next move is to start taking some college courses (which my employer will pay for) and applying for positions with a more defined career field. Having a hard time figuring out which field, as I have a lot of options/opportunity.

Working from home served a huge purpose, but since DH is also self-employed, my current job adds a lot of security to our family in terms of health/life insurance, retirement, paid vacations, etc. I added up the cost of all my paid benefits vs. paying out of pocket as an independent contractor, and they were worth another 35 - 40% of my salary, which will increase once I start taking college classes.

If you are not looking in the medical field, gear your resume towards your other skills. MTs have a myriad of skills (research, computer, organizational, listening, following instructions, bookkeeping). If you are an independent contractor, you are more than an MT, you are a small business owner, which puts a host of additional skills on your plate. Get creative and look at some on-line resumes in different fields, you will probably be surprised how many skills you have. 

When I decided to look for a job, I researched all the highest paying companies/opportunities within the distance I was willing to travel and only applied to those companies. It took about a year and a few interviews, but I eventually got exactly what I was looking for. I still get calls from some of the places I interviewed/applied offering jobs.  

Do you do this every night or just on Fridays? If it's just on Fridays, probably not (nor would I probably even be aware of it).

Thursdays as well, since the work that comes in after 5 isn't due until Monday morning.

Hospitals have a rhythm. Does your way of ensuring turnaround mean that almost every job you have is over 10 minutes, leaving all the 1 and 2 minute 'nuisance' reports in the queue? Do all the ops remain in the queue (I'm a fan of the work type, but not everybody is)? I'm reaching annoyance stage.

I get both long and shorter jobs.

Again with the rhythms- Are there particularly egregious dictators that you get to essentially ignore because they're morning birds while Dr. Chatty Easylines and Dr. Joe Makinbigbucks routinely dictate 1500 lines, which for them entails a total of 4 hours of typing combined) at about 7:00 each evening. Yeh, now I'm PO'd.

All the dictators on this particular account have their jobs come in at various times.  I get the good, the bad and the ugly . . . just like everybody else.

Are you then one of those people that wil come on here and gloat about how on average you type 400-500 lines/hour and make roughly $25/hour, can't understand why all transcriptionists can't do it, and suggest we tinker and modify our expansion program so we can be as good as you? Be thankful the internet is anonymous because otherwise I'd know if you worked for my company and I would be kicking up a fuss like you wouldn't believe.

I make good money, but I don't come on here and "gloat."  I've been with my company for many years.  They are happy with the work I do.  Also, I work every weekend day to do those jobs I take.  The other MTs at my company do not want to work weekends.  I also work nights AND during the day.  I have a flexible schedule, but I work a lot because I want to make a lot. 

and told him about my symptoms (that I think I have tennis elbow...left lateral epicondylitis...lol...I'm sure he thinks I'm a big 'ole hypochondriac using the correct terminology), and he said if it gets too bothersome to come in and he will give me a cortisone shot (so, no need for a referral, etc...just one $15 copay).  That's good to know that he can do it in his office.

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions.  I actually have one of those aircast braces.  I liked the idea of the keyboard/forearm rest.  It's a bit spendy though, so I'll have to see if we can afford it after Christmas.  Castor oil, huh?  Well it's worth a try.  Hahaha...it reminds me of when I used to do daycare.  One of the parents told me if their baby got the hiccups, I was to tear off a piece of brown paper bag, hold it against her forehead, and feed her a bottle.  I thought they were absolutely nuts.  Well, she got the hiccups...although I felt totally silly, I tried what they suggested...and it WORKED!  I couldn't believe it!  I tried it on my next two babies and it worked on them too!  So now I know better than to laugh at "weird" suggestions. :)

Chickadee