Line counts: How do you do it?

Do you work really fast in short spurts.  Do you sit your butt down and stay planted there till you get all your lines done?  Do you set a goal for yourself each day and not stop till your get it?  Or do you just type for however long you are going to type and are happy with whatever you come out with for that day?  Do you have a goal each day/each pay period, what?  Do you use an expander?  Do you use Smartype or something similar where it finishes words for you?

I seem to have a hard time keeping my happy @ss in my chair! 

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Per discussion below about 16,000 per pay period, is that one week or two weeks?  I am a small MTSO, IC or whatever and have 4 accounts (6 docs)  plus I work in a clinic to "get out of the house" after an ugly divorce.  I work there 20 to 25 hours plus bring home tapes.  (hourly rate)    On my IC accounts,  though this is per month, I do 32,000 to 34,000 lines per month and put in about 22 hours per week with pick up and delivery, printing, cutting apart chart notes, etc.  So if that 16,000 per two weeks, that could be considered part time but if it is one week, she is a whiz if she does that part-time which I consider under 24 hours a week.

Just my 2 cents worth.

To all transcriptionists:

I am new to MTStars.  I am so glad to see a place where transcriptionists of every kind can blow off steam.   I am a well seasoned profession medical transcriptionist and like so many of you, take pride in my work and profession.  The rash of recent sweeping changes and concerns in our industry have me very concerne as with all of you.   We can no longer afford to sit back and say nothing.  For too long the personality profile of the medical transcriptionist was that of a meek, never-talk-back mouse in the corner who did what she was told.   After all, and I may be dating myself here,  many transcription departments began in the basement of hospitals - you gals remember that?  We were stuffed in corners where storage boxes made their homes!!!

For too long this industry has gone largely unregulated and for too long we did not unionize or gather forces to protect ourselves and our profession as other allied health fields have done.  Because we are a nonrevenue-producing department in the chain of  our healthcare system we are always the first to get cut in budgets.  Yet that medical record is most vital to reimbursements and to the patient.   We now find ourselves wondering if the powers that be care at all.  We are concerned about offshore outsourcing, the shady practices of national transcription companies, and an array of legitimate concerns.    

The medical transcription industry is a multi-billion dollar business.  You bet competition is stiff.  Is it any wonder there are so many scandals right now?

Here's mine concern, for now.  LINE COUNTS!!!!  WE MUST UNIFY OUR EFFORTS FOR ACCURATE LINE COUNTS THAT REFLECT WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST ACTUALLY PRODUCES AND WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY COUNTS.   For too long, way too long, I hear (and have experienced it myself) so many transcriptionists complain and voice their concerns and doubts on what their actual line count may be when they work for a national transcription company.   SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO CLEAR THIS ISSUE AND BRING IT INTO COMPLIANCE FOR ALL INVOLVED - TRANSCRIPTIONIST, TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY AND CLIENT.   We are the only industry I know of that puts blinders on its workers when it comes to piecemeal work.  The cable man, the UPS guy, the plumber,  salesman - all know up front what the client gets charged, what their cut is, and what the company charges - Hell, even the farmer workers know up front what they get per basket of strawberries they pick!!!  - CLEAR, UP FRONT.  WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE LINE COUNT UTILITY PROGRAM THAT CHARGES THE CLIENT?  

If we are losing our work to overseas sweat shops, let's address the sweat shops here in the UNITED STATES making  the money.   I believe a forum like this is valuable and long over due - we should list companies that are shady and treat their employees with unfair practices.   There must be a way to address the line count issue on a national level so that it changes, changes to the benefit of all - the transcriptionist, the transcription company and the client.   I say we start by dialogue among ourselves at this site and take it to all transcription companies in a format that engages the dialogue among all concerned.    I'm willing to  invest some time on this issue of importance to all. 

By the way, I don't currently work for a national company - I have been an independent contractor who has just lost 2 hospital accounts to, yeah, you guessed it - INDIA!!!  Hospitals CFO's got a boner when they heard this company can do the work for $2.00 an hour. 

Hey fellow MQMT

Do you realize you're not being paid for spaces.

I just figured that out... Starting to work for the night.

Consideringtypingwithnospacesjusttoseehowtheylikeit.

I would guess as a newbie you would probably average about 100 lines per hour starting out (yes, that's only about $7 or $8 an hour).  This should increase within a few months, but this depends a lot on what kind of work you are doing.  Most company requirements are around 150 lines per hour.  I have 10+ years experience and average about 300 per hour.  

I will also mention that working part time may also hinder the process of speeding up just from the fact that you won't be working as much.   Keep with it though,  the speed will come.  l     

My company has their own line count software and you can check your line count as soon as you are finished with a document if you want.  They pay per 65 characters.  I have noticed that they are rounding down the lines.  Say it is 42.49 lines, they drop the .49.  Is this legal?  It seems that we should get paid for the partial lines as they add up over a course of time.  Is this something that is common? 

Thanks in advance for any  info.

There are certainly lousy American dictators also. In fact they are the ones that do not even try to speak clearly, they go 80 miles an hour, eat and drive while dictating, carry on conversations with other people, you name it.

With that being said, I can sympathize with MTs and how time consuming some reports can be. Ya never know what your going to get from one report to another. It's become a very difficult job. Probably a good one to have going into old age as it certainly keeps your mind busy. Some people do jig saw puzzles and some transcribe. I think I would rather transcribe.

I just started with a national a few weeks ago. I am struggling to get my line counts plus get used to the different dictators. It is a large account but I do find the dictation interesting. I also have a part-time job typing for a small company. There are a lot of ESL with the national, but not all are that bad.  I am not sure if I went with the right company or not. I had researched for quite a while and found this national to be very flexible, which is what I needed for now. I just would like to know if any others have had the same experience and how long it took to get better and get a decent line count. The people at the company so far are great to deal with, but I am just wondering if after a while it will really get any better as far as pay, etc. Any suggestions appreciated.

I work for a hospital that uses Meditech and I did work for a company that uses Meditech.  Both gave access to line counts but both were different.  The hospital has an employee in charge of the setting up Meditech program i.e. updates, forms and screen access.  I am cleared for medical records also so it is easy to look of drugs, tests or ther procedures the patient may have had or is taking if I have a problem with typing the report.  They can also set the the margins on the reports, ours have changed over the years.  Do you type regular reports or radiology in Meditech?  Radiology is different from regular.  I do not have access to line counts but the counter is on each report but counts every line and space, etc.   The only Expanders I use is the system Expander which is not really good except for normal reports or very long or time consuming phrases or words.   Meditech's line counter gives the line and character counts.

I also get paid on a per minute basis, not line counts.  I was told when I started (about 12 years ago) that 16 minutes of dictation an hour was to be done.  I not sure that is correct though because dictation varies so much.  I do anywhere from 15-25 minutes an hour with probably an average of 20 minutes.  This is with doctors that are fairly easy with the exception of a few.  I do not do that with other companies, as I am just starting to try to find my fit for a part time company.   Your line count could way down if you have very slow dictators (although aggravating but is good for me getting paid per minute) but I also have one that dictates super fast and I do not make much with him (A whole report with 10 lines might be 0.2 minutes of dictation).

I hope I answered some of your questions.  Meditech does have a line counter, just be sure to ask the length of the lines on each report (radiology and regular reports differ, so do psych).  Each department may request their set of differently.

Please feel free to e-mail me.

I have set hourly goals of where I want to be at a certain hour, i.e. 500 lines at 2 hours, 1000 lines at 4 hours, etc.  I check my line counts at least on the hour, so then I know where I am.  If I am behind, then I know I have to pick up the pace.  If I am ahead, then I can slow down or visit MT Stars LOL!.   I work pretty much a set shift of 8 hours at the same time every day, so this works well for me. 

Also, of course, use your expander. I am limited to Auto Correct, but still have nearly every word over 5 or 6 letters, plus many normals and phrases, saved.  Even if you work on different accounts or different doctors all the time, there are still a lot of words/phrases that can be abbreviated.