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Low wages? I make approx $60K a year at

Posted By: a national. ? LOL on 2007-06-21
In Reply to: What are they providing to the MT? - mtstudent

nm


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Yes, that's what we make, executive wages....finally...
somone gives it a label...10 cpl = executive wages. I'm going to go out right now and order my first boat on my 10 cpl and book a trip around the world....yep, cause I make EXECUTIVE WAGES. And with all that is left over I am going to feed the starving children around the world, then, with my executive wages, I am going to start a homeless shelter right here in my hometown, then, with what is left over from my executive wages, I'll have no problem paying for my son's college education, heck, I make EXECUTIVE WAGES....wooo-hoooooooooo, Saks Fifth Avenue here I come!!!!! HAHAHA...just kidding, couldn't resist...lighten up!
how does one make 50K/year?

I mean really, please let me know your secrets. 


There is no other job where I could make 60K per year sm

and do it in my pajamas.  I love my job.  Hope you found something good.


Unfortunately, MT does not work for everyone.  If it didn't work for me, I would try something else, too.  You have to have certain skills, a certain mindset, etc., or you just cannot make it. 


I make about $24,000/year, and that's -
:(
I make about $6K more per year with my CMT.
:)

I will make just over $40K this year sm
Actual, I am typing, hands on the keyboard time is about 8 to 9 hours a day. I work as an employee at 8.5 cpl and as an IC for 10 cpl and I do some QA for $16 an hour. The QA is a courtesy to my IC company and really cuts into my typing time there where I can do $30 an hour or better. QA is only about 5 hours a week, except when I am training an MT, and I am training 2 right now. It was 8 hours so far this week.

You ask about normals and expanders. I use an Expander with a lot of shortcuts, as in many thousands. Normals, I have some. The system at my employee job has some in it, I have made a few (less than 50). The IC job I have made a few too (less than 25). Most of my normals are shells of headers and the few things they always say. All I do it is acute care, primarily OP notes and yes, I don't have that many normals. When your pool has about 2000 doctors in it, normals are a challenge to find and make.

I have oh, reasonable work habits. I take frequent short breaks because I have to. I do work a split shift, which really helps me make it through the day, and the IC is catch as catch can, and about 6000 lines every 2 weeks. I usually spend about 2 or 3 partial hours a day typing at top speed, like an athlete. The rest of the time I do the best I can. I have stellar days and days when I feel I like I need to eat every hour! And I do it too.

Yup, I do the laundry and the dishes while I am working. I always have the TV or a DVD in, but music on Saturday mornings.
I also make many gifts throughout the year....
and spend alittle on the grandkids. This year I'm making a collage of pictures of my mom and dad (both deceased) for my sister, and my 3 sons. Friends get baked goodies and candies.

Grandkids will each get a toy (yes "A" toy), and a couple of small books (I'm the "Book Gran"). I'll make stocking for my 3 sons, my DIL and my 3 grandkids, just trinkets, etc that I find at the dollar store, and fruit and candies (like M&M's). And that's it.

Christmas isn't about GIFTS, its about love, hope, and faith.
How much do you make per year doing MT and do you work PT/FT and
for a company or have your own clients?  Just wondering how I compare.  I work for both and made just over $24,000 last year.
Shut the h*** up. I make $75K a year doing this with BIG nationals.
I get full benefits. I'm not gutless in any way and I'm NOT having my "rights" taken away from me.

They're not doing anything to me I don't want them to do.

If that's YOUR situation, then make that STUPID statement about your own idiot self.

I'm doing just fine financially, Granny. I doubt YOU make the money I do. Not many do, they're not willing to sit their butts down and actually WORK for more than a few minutes at a time without running here and complain to all the other 'children' about 'school'.

I don't take s*** off anyone, not individuals and certainly not places I work -- there are too many of them out there to work for and if I don't want to do that, I can work for myself.

I kinda like the fact that I bring home more than THREE times what it takes for me to live, AND have insurance, AND a TSA, AND choose my work schedule.
Now you know why a lot of chefs make $75,000-100k a year!

It will be interesting to see the final episode tonight. 


KD, are you on crack - very few people make $50,000/year - sm
I make about $58,000, but I work my butt off doing it, have 18 years experience. You sound like a Sally Struthers ad when you make a comment like that! Next thing you know, you will be telling this woman that she can breastfeed her child while she is transcribing and have another one sitting on her lap!!

I do love this job, but I tell people to expect to make at least $25,000-$30,000/year.
are you the same Laura E who did not even make 12k last year? That doesn't
sound like plenty of work. It sounds like PT and that does not mean that there is enough for FT.
Right. You would have to be sicko to make $100K a year on 8 cpl.
x
Anybody make less than $12,000/year, part time - sm
I know at just part time (minimum 25 hrs a week) I won't be pulling in a ton of $, but I thought it would be a little more than that.  Am I alone?
that is only .06 a line approx. - nm
x
Who ARE these people who make this stuff up every year charge $ for it??
I could make one up every year myself.  Why do they think they are an authority.  I have never understood this, and will never buy another one.  I bought one in my life for $75.  What a waste of money to read someone's "made up rules for this year."
40-year-olds tend to make much better students
than 20-year-olds!

In four years you will be 42 years old either way. Do you want to be 42 with or without your Batchelor's degree? :oD


I LOVE freezer jam - make it every year with our berries!
NM
What about benefits? I make 50k a year working for a company
out of my home full time. No gas money, no traveling, no printing, faxing, and I get full benefits. How is making 50000 as an MTSO good money? I really just don't get it!
Basically, you make a projection of what you think you will clear for the year.
Then figure what the tax due on that amount would be and break it into four payments. There is a worksheet out there from the IRS the helps you to do this. Your state income and local taxes should also be paid quarterly and would be based on the same $$ amount.

The first year of IC is the hardest to guess because you will have deductions that you may not even be aware of but I would strongly encourage you to go IC!! I love it, despite the drawbacks as some posted below.

As a true IC, you decide when to work, how much you charge and don't let anyone else tell you that the clients you do work for have the right to dictate your work hours to you. Some have referred to working for a company or companies; if that's what you do and they dictate to you your hours, you're NOT an IC but an employee and therein lies the problem with scheduling.

There are way too many people out there who apparently think they are ICs when, in fact, they are employees. The companies that are telling them when to work, how much they will pay, are flat out wrong if they think they can call these people IC and then dictate the above parameters. Just make sure that the advice you are receiving regarding IC is actually from someone who really knows and understands what an IC is.
approx. 10,000 lines (not 1000 as indicated below) - sm
10 minutes generally equals 100 lines, so 100 minutes would be approx. 1000 lines, hence 1,000 minutes would be approx. 10,000 lines.
Well - I did approx 60 yesterday on a new account
and the doctor was horrible and the sound quality horrible and it took me close to 6 hours just for that.... :((
I make photo calendars featuring snapshots from last year
Birthday celebrants featured in each month; group photos for holidays. Made my files using the hp activity center, saved on my computer, then printed them using the recommended paper, which I ordered from the same site and was shipped overnight for free. Draw-back: time- and ink-consuming (good thing we refill our cartridges).
8 and 9 year olds do not have the maturity to make decisions like this. That's why they have pare
x
Well, ya can't make $50k a year unless you're willing to give up your life and be chained to S

you PC 12+ hours a day.  I can't recommend any particular school as I didn't go to one of the "online" schools.  I learned in an actual classroom which I recommend over any of these online schools.  Another thing I recommend is working in an office for at least six months, but more like a year, because there is a gigantic learning curve once you actually get a job.  There are just things that schools can't or don't teach, things that can only be learned on the job from other MTs who have been doing it longer than you.


Don't get me wrong.  It's great to be able to work from home.  Personally, I don't think newbies should be allowed to work at home right out of the gait.  There is some much they don't know.  They need help.  They need to be able to ask questions and one of the best things about working in the office as a newbie, is being able to ask the seasoned MT next to you to listen to something for you.


Having said all that, I think MT is slowly dying.  It's become difficult to make a decent living in this profession.  I'm one of the few lucky ones.  I work at-home for a hospital.  I get paid hourly, get incentive, and have all the benefits of being a FT employee.  Oh, and they can't take my benefits away if I don't make my quota.


You can't support a family on 7 or 8 cpl or even 9 cpl when the dictation is the crap they won't send to India.  I would suggest finding another profession.  The trend in medical coding is that all coders will be working from home soon what with everyone going to the Electronic Medical Record.  I would go into coding.  You may end up working in the office for a while, but I don't see coding being outsourced to India any time soon.  


Good Luck.


I live approx. 25 min. from a state capital (rather not say), but seems everywhere you go - sm
around my area whether it be a Subway chain restaurant, small corner convenient store, etc., these are all being run by foreigners (mainly Indian). I really do not want to come across discriminatory, but I know man U.S. born citizens who cannot get the financial backing to start a business. Why shouldn't we come first?
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.
I agree, fishy. If you're an IC you'll have to take out approx.
30% on top of the 25% they're going to keep, but will you have to claim earnings of it all, even their 25%. Hmmmm, I think I'd be asking a LOT of questions because why aren't they just saying you'll make 9.75 cents instead of 13 cents that you'll really NOT be making.
As stated below, I agree. Overall weekly average is approx. 600 lph sm
Now, granted there are days I can do over 1200 lines an hour, but overall within the week you have those dictations that take a little more time.

I have made more money on this platform than any other. Absolutely love it!

I *only* make $40K a year for full time work. Now I find that isn't decent is or fair?
nm
$25/hr. = Low Wages?
I think at $25 per hr. I'm making a bit more than the manager of the French Fry Department at Mickey D's...
QA wages
Anyone out there have an idea of what a QA person should be paid per hour if working at home?
wages
If you keep abreast with current events/news pertaining to the economy you will find that ours is not the only profession whose wages have not increased from levels in the 1990s. It is a lot of people as well who have to leave their homes to go to work for maybe the same that we make every day.
wages
I am not putting you down but if you have been in this business for 20 years and have been reading this board  --give me a break you should be able to project what you will be earning especially if you have had your own accounts.  Especially if you have seen your wages go up and down, cannot believe you are asking this if -- like I said -- you have been in this business 20 years. 
Wages
I don't know about anyone else but I make the same amount of money if not more doing VR than I used to doing transcription, at least when there's work.  Lately the middle to end of the week I have nothing to do!  I personally am only doing this while I finished my bachelor's that I needed to apply to grad school which I start this fall when I'll quit.  I don't think that VR will ever replace MTs entirely because it just is too important to have perfect medical records and VR just isn't perfect especially since doctors do dumb things like talk to other people, correct themselves, mumble, etc.
wages
Just know from my experiences in the last 25 years that doctors are notoriously CHEAP... Do the best you can and if you can't get as much or more money than you are making now, I'd stay where you are. Just my humble opinion. Been there, done that many times.
wages
Wages also depend on where you are located. In house jobs and small independents are going to pay less in rural and struggling areas because they can. In rural areas jobs also depend on who you know. They would rather pay a untrained local rather than a trained outsider. Speaking from the voice of experience.
the wages were no more than they sm
are now when I started, the books were just as expensive. you buy one at a time and build from there. A good reference library is a MUST in this business. If you can get by with the internet search I guess that's ok, but I see people who are not searching at all.

I think 90% of the questions would be answered if folks would invest at least in a Medical Phrase Index. Sorry but its part of the job.
wages
What no one says is that MT wages are considerably lower in rural areas and small cities. Do not be specific but it would help if geographic locations, were mentioned by posters if making more.
Mine are in year-round thank goodness! They've started their new year 2 months ago.
x
Biller wages
Can someone give me a ballpark figure of how much a biller would get that has no experience? I've been offered a possible job, and I got a feeling they are going to ask me how much I expect to make.
I don't think cutting wages is against the law.
Not paying overtime for employees, inappropriate classification of statutory employees, etc., those items fall under DOL.

If cutting wages was a crime, then the airlines, factories, hospitals, virtually all businesses would be under "investigation" and in grave trouble.


What are you trying to accomplish with your post? Just put information out there about a company you won't name? Wanting advice? Truly, I don't understand what you are wanting in reply.

radiology wages
If you are thinking of working for a large teaching hospital where they have 10 page Neurointerventional reports, large MRIs and CTs , etc, you will surely find yourself regreting working for per page.  I currently make $200+ per day doing radiology.  Today I did 112 reports and tho I won't see my exact lines until tomorrow I know I am over the $200 mark. You do the math.   Last month I pulled in $4000.
here's an even better link to see ALL about wages in USA
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm
Slave Wages
I dont know who you work for but I make about $25-30 per hour. I work two jobs and 10-12 hours a day and on weekends and I make between $6000 and $7000 per month. I know that is excessive for hours but I am trying to pay off my house, car, etc and I am spoiling my 3 kids rotten!!

I type radiology, which I believe is the easiest and fastest to learn and type.
yearly wages

Last year had small MTSO two part-time IC's working for me, worked as employee parttime in clinic.  Worked 50 hours per week.  Made -- myself not counting what my IC's brought in -- $62 K.  Starting June 1st, quit the employee position -- divorce attorney fees paid off, no IC's and keeping my 4 accounts,  will work 25 to 28 hours per week and make approximately 40K from these four accounts per year.  If I get stuck and need more will do overflow for another MTSO.   But too many headaches and time to take some time for myself.  Looking forward to it.


Patti


Cannot bellieve wages.

Many companies now only want to pay 6.5 to 8 CPL.  This is even for seasoned MTs.  Even ICs are not offered much more compensation.  I have friends working at WalMart making more than some MTs.  If you type 200 LPH at 7 cpl that is $14.00 an hour, but the health insurance is very expensive at these companies.  You must have over 98% on QA scores, but they don't want to pay more for quality and experience.  Plus many jobs are IC and you have higher taxes.  I feel that wages have been falling steadily in the past years and continue to fall.  No wonder there is a shortage of experienced MTs (so I hear).  More likely it is a shortage of experienced MTs that want to work for such low wages and no raises in the future.


falling wages...
Unfortuntely, it is true, falling wages for MTs and experience plays not part in it.  But, there is a reason for it....as we all are aware, hospitals have chosen to cut their debt by outsourcing medical transcription to India for 1/4 the cost it would be to pay us here in the states.  Let's face it...MT jobs here in the states will soon be absolete, and thinking about the wages ever getting better, forget.  My advise is for all MTs to seek another source of income before it is too late....i.e. perhaps going back to school or seeking one of the higher paying jobs or at least equal to medical transcription such as Walmarts, Meijers, restaurants, etc...and eh...even get medical benefits, vacation time, etc....I currently receive none of that from my employer and was also told to take a pay decrease as of this 12/02...along with everyone else, so was paying us 10 cents per line, but little trick to that, lines are 70 characters per line with spaces included....everyone does 65 characters with spaces...now from 10 cents to 9 cents and 70 characters per line...hmmmm, I figure I am making 8 cents a line now.  Yes indeed, I am out of transcription after 25 years coming this income tax refund check.  Transcription has become a degrading job!
quality vs wages

While I do agree that there is a vast majority of MTs who are of extremely poor quality, there also are very high-quality, well-seasoned MTs like myself who are tired of making the same wages we made 10-15 years ago.  If there is such a discrepancy in our work quality and ethics, these corporations (who, by the way, are not slacking at all in their 6-figure income pockets!!!!) should pay MTs based on quality and experience, not just experience alone. 


IS ANYONE OUT THERE BESIDES ME INTERESTED IN FORMING A NATIONAL MT UNION SO WE CAN GET BACK THE DIGNITY WE HAVE LOST?


I remain,


tired


quality vs wages
YOU'VE JUST VALIDATED MY INITIAL COMMENT....

THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE NEED A UNION!!!!!
I keep hearing about low wages
Even 8 cpl at 200 LPH is 16 dollars an hour, which is not a bad wage, and that is what many of the large services pay, plus you get benefits and get to stay home. No high gas prices (3 dollars a gallon or more in places).