Line padding is also adding extra words. See inside.
Posted By: sm on 2005-08-03
In Reply to: there a note on the company board from QA regarding cherrypicking and they mention "line padding& - wondering MT
Doc says: "General. Alert and oriented, no distress. HEENT: Eyes clear. Lungs: Clear."
MT types: GENERAL EXAMINATION: In general, the patient is alert and oriented. The patient is in no distress. HEENT EXAMINATION: The patient's eyes are clear. LUNG EXAMINATION: The patient's lungs are clear.
I kid you not. And there are companies out there that will defend the MT's right to do so. But, would the client's approve of it? I seriously think not.
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Line padding is also adding little blank characters
like spaces throughout the report to get paid more. I saw reports at MQ and Sp that had lines of spaces shown on reveal codes between paragraphs where someone either didn't know how to work their expander, was cutting and pasting, or was deliberately padding their lines.
As for typing out abbreviations, I work on an account that doesn't use abbreviations at all. I use otcx for over-the-counter, etc.
Beg to differ with the adding of words
to report if not necessary. That is commonly known as "line padding," especially adding "the patient" when it is not said. I know MTs who have been let go for doings things like that.
line padding
Okay. I have doctors who dictate words like "toc" for tocolysis, "conj" for conjunctiva, and other shortened versions of words that are not proper. I call this sloppy dictating and I always spell out the word IF I know exactly what they mean. If I don't know what they mean, I flag it for QA. Would you call that line padding? My account doesn't give any specifics on this. I was also taught to NEVER use abbreviations in diagnoses even if dictated. Is that considered line padding? Just wondering.
I hardly think she was padding line counts.
There are a lot of doctors out there who are completely ignorant in regard to spelling, proper sentence construction, and grammar. And with their grandiose and overly inflated egos, they don't like to be corrected by a peon transcriptionist.
Line padding is not using standard abbreviations and
11
Adding up line counts
I am about to start as an IC with a company. Up to this point, I have not had to add up line counts at all. What do you use to figure this out to invoice the company? Any favorite softwares?
Determine your line rate by adding that 25%
get and don't forget to add in costs of marketing, setting up a HIPPA compliant system, printing, sending/receiving work, travel expenses, trying to mantain a client who wants to lower your line rate because someone else will do it for less and/or suddenly finding the need to get a different client because the own you got decided to use voice recognition and didn't tell you until they no longer need your services....
I think that is 0.03 per line extra. nm
x
So, at the 1 extra cent per line . . .
with making an extra $6000 per year, you are transcribing 50,000 lines per month? Wow. I'm impressed.
Love wav files. No extra phone line needed,
no LD charges, and love being able to sit on my porch on a nice day and work.
I could switch to DSL but the phone company charges 50 extra a month for being on line for more than
So either way I will have to pay more. I guess no one else here is affected or concerned by this but the article said that other companies would follow suit if Time Warner has success. The article said it would affect the teleworkers who are on line for long periods, not the people who just use cable for reading their email.
is this the person who makes 1 cent a line extra for $6000 a year?
how many lines a day and what do you normally make in a year because to reach an extra $6000 wouldn't you have to be typing way above average which is say 1200 a day for most of us, or 6000 lines a week.
encouraging someone to get their CMT based on $6000 a year extra, perhaps you could give more details because I have never worked for a company who would do that, not unless perhaps you were also a huge producer of lines.
Thank you...
it's 11 words to a line
Fivecharactersandakeystroke.
Oops ... forgot to include the space bar. 
Lots of 'em, but use a Lab Words, Sted's Ortho/Rehab Words, & Tessier's Surgical Words most
s
And if you average it out to 10 words a line, that's
s
Was typing fine and now my words are coming out red w/line through them. How do you get rid of that?
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re: How do I convert total words to line count?
Based on 65-character line with spaces, I think.
Oops! No, I wish, but I get .065 cpl for a line consisting of 11 words. Sorry for the confusion!
nm
When is a word only 5 characters. I thought 7-10 was an average and 10 words a line? nm
s
any encouraging words for a newbie with crappy line counts?
Today is my 3rd day of "real" work (not school) and I did 482 lines in 5.5 hours. That averages out to about 87 lines an hour.
How many lines per hour did you average at first? How long did it take to get faster?
I accepted an acute care position to get more experience, but now I'm wondering if I should have gone for a company offering clinic notes accounts ...
Please tell me it gets better!
Can they do surgery extra fast? What do they do with the extra glove in the pack?
;+
I like drug books even though you can access sites on line. A lab book, the Sted's Ortho Words, a
s
See inside for how to access Word's line counter...
Open your Word program and select Tools and then Word Count.
I wish short answers were in the subject line instead of put inside. nmreally
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Extra shift or extra work
Has anyone taken on an extra job or shift with a new company for a just a few months to get out of debt or to be able to pay for something that is needed or wanted? I am thinking about taking on another job to get out of a stressful debt situation. I am just afraid I would be going into another stressful situation working more hours with the very busy family schedule I have.
Besides padding counts
I worked with someone who got into the Lanier system and moved jobs typed from other transcriptionists onto her number. We were all "judged" by how many minutes we could type per day besides lines and also judged for raises by difficulty of the dictators we typed. Everyone could not figure out how she did so "well" until we started logging by hand the job #s that we did each day and then checked on it later. Lots of them magically moved over to her number. Somehow she got the Admin password and was putting it to "good use." It was mind-boggling and eye-opening.
Yes, like why do MTSOs allow padding to
x
You'll need a lab words book and maybe the Derm and Immunology Words..nm
s
Most of the Logitech ones seem to be less clacky. Put some padding under it, too, if
s
Is that called padding lines, LOL?
x
Could this be the reason padding allowed to
x
I agree, and it's also how they get more money out of their customers, too, by padding
s
MTSO usually also repeats benefit of padding
x
Discussion re padding counts. Anyone remember where it was?
nm
Excuse me -- that is called "line padding" and
one can be fired over that.
Employee padding time-card = "unethical".
Employees get fired for padding their paychecks, but employers don't mind how much overtime you work, as long as they don't have to pay you for anything but the lines you typed.
Be glad they didn't ding you for padding your lines.
sm
there a note on the company board from QA regarding cherrypicking and they mention "line padding&
This is a new one on me. I've heard of cherrypicking but what constitutes line padding? Isn't everybody typing what the doctor dictates? How can you possibly add extra????
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.
EXACTLY! Thank you for adding.
x
And that is without adding in the
Ouch, ooch, eech, (walking out to grab the paper off the step this morning).
And adding to that. ..
What happens when the company runs low on work, which is known to happen. There is nothing in the contract about the "penalty/incentive" does not apply.
Nothing about MQ is adding up anymore.
x
adding my 2 cents
It can be done, as I have been in your shoes as well. It will be tough without family close by, but thank goodness you have a job that can keep you close to your children. When I did it my job was 12 hours a day. Just wanted you to know that you have support here, and by the looks of it you have alot of it. You and your children are in my thoughts.
lol.. thank you for adding humor to my otherwise
nm
Keep adding to that expander SM
Just backing you guys up. I'll never have those quick fingers either (nv hv tos qk fgs eir), just not in me, but by continually creating and memorizing abbreviations, I transcribe fairly challenging acute care hospital work somewhere between 330-340 lph--including short breaks for coffee refills and so on. It wouldn't add up to 3000 over 8 hours (most of my work is actually editing these days), but could be if I were doing work I could make more templates for, clinic for instance. Zero stress, BTW.
Adding Expansions
I was wondering how you build your expansion list, meaning, about how many words do you put in day? A few, 20, 50? And do you review them daily so you know what you have? I tend to create them and then forget I have them and then do not use them. What are you tips? Thanks in advance!
Did you try leaving the .09 and adding .09.vox? nm
nm
Are you getting paid for adding the
demographics, such as the patient's name, the medical record number, the dictator's name, two spaces instead of one at the end of a senstence. Is the space included in your line count? Some companies are now paying by the character only. Unfortunately, a lot of these things we used to get paid for have been taken away, thus you need to work a lot harder for the same amount of money. Try to master the more difficult dictators, and once you do, then ask for a higher rate.
just adding my 2 cents; not sure where you have
worked with 'Indians' to have such a negative viewpoint, but my experience was pleasant and the people I knew from India were polite, quiet, respectful but probably mistrusting of Americans I supposed. Most everyone is India gets a college education, not like here. Even on the phone from call answering centers, the 'Indians' I have spoken with for the most part are very soft-spoken and polite.
They were given an opportunity and are taking it and making the most of it and for that I don't blame them. It is our American companies that sought them out and went over there and started these transcription companies, yes?
I had 6346 and adding each day. :) nm
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