MT2B, it's a good average sort of starting point. SM
Posted By: MissIndigo on 2008-02-17
In Reply to: Typing Speed - MT2B
Not at all bad, not fast.
More finger-speed will come with practice. Your next step is to buy the best word Expander you can find--recommend either ShortHand or InstantText, both avery well thought of by their users--and start with an initial goal of doubling that speed to 140, then improving from there.
An MT is paid by the line produced, and imagine how many more lines you will be able to churn out when you can type "hyd25mpb" and have "hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg p.o. b.i.d." type out for you. Plan on starting with abbreviations not for medical words, though, but for the common nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs used thousands of times a day in every document. Like "t" for "the" and "v" for "that," and so on. If an extremely common word's more than 1 letter long, consider if you shouldn't be shortening it. I shorten "he". Seriously--it's a tap of the D on my keyboard.
Strongly recommend a book like Saving Keystrokes by Diana Rolland and the website productivitytalk.com. Best wishes.
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The average starting nurse only makes something like 33K. I didn't have my own
accounts. Sure you can go on later and probably make 50K or more, but you can do that in the MT world, too, in management or whatever. Nursing just wasn't for me. It was a lot of passing medications. Just when you finished a shift of doing meds, it was time for the next round. Physically demanding, too. All in all, just wasn't worth it to me. I didn't enjoy it. Some do. I was glad to find out early that I wasn't one of them!
I won't be in the MT world forever, though. It's a nice thing to fall back on from time to time. What's funny was all the nurses I met who asked me about MT work. Several others wanted out, too. The annoying thing, though, is all the ones who think because they're nurses and know some medical terminology they're ready to do MT. That'll drive you nuts!
But, she said the sex is SOOO good. Isn't this a twisted sort of situation?
She's miserable, but yet the sex is just so darned good? How good could it possibly be from such a jerk? Sounds VERY codependent.
starting out that is really good , I started out at 5.5 c
You really cant go by the line count. Is this company going to give you a set amount of minutes to transcribe or are you able to pull what you want whenver you need it. That has a big part to play in how many lines you get.
Also is this clinic or acute. Clinic normally has shorter reports (but not always) and acute can be pages and pages or very short.
I think I was getting anywhere from 600 to 1000 a day first starting out, but it has been so long ago it is hard to tell.
Starting over you have a lot of good advice below on..sm
your situation. I must say I do feel for you and wish you all the best. Take care of yourself and those children first. That is most important and I will most certainly be thinking about you and saying a prayer or two. Take your time and do whatever you have to in order to make a safe and happy life for yourself and those children. Bless you and wishing you happiness.
Good post. I was starting to wonder if possibly - sm
the Grammar Police are, as you said, simply trying to divert the focus of this thread to grammar, spelling & punctuation on this board, when most of us agree it's not important in this type of venue. (hee... maybe we should go on a "punctuation strike", and eliminate it altogether?) Anyway, you are right about doing research, and coming up with a compelling letter and petition. I think much of what has been written here in this forum could be put into it, and the compilation would be pretty powerful.
On average, 1,500 good day, 1,100 bad day
x
The average is now $1.00-$1.25, so that is a good rate. sm
If it includes mammos and/or plain films, it will balance out the MRIs and CTs. Just make sure that they do not include IR reports in there at that rate. There are probably only 3 decent radiology transcription companies out there, so do you homework and not just the nay-sayers or cheerleaders. Look for the longer answers with details, not the "go for it" or "stay away" kind. I have found that those are either angry ex-employees of a company or new hires that are still in the honeymoon phase. Look for advice from those that have been at a company over a year; that is a good length of time for an impression to be accurate.
What company/companies are you looking at for that rate?
i would say a good experienced average is about 200 lph so students maybe 100 to 150 lph. nm
;
Starting pay is 6 cents a line, fairly good account stability.
I had lots of ESLs. Benefits are okay. They have a new, stricter QA policy in place with new compensation, hard to get a 98 or above as it is by the BOS. It was okay, but couldn't make any decent money. Need to be a super high producer.
A few years ago, Atlanta in-house average was about $12-$15/hour, plus good bennies. nm
By the way, as of about 5 years ago, Wellstar was with a service. They might not even have in-house MTs. Hope so for your sake :).
Good point!
nm
Good point.:)
nm
Good point!
.
Good point
m
Good point!
Several times I have figured out a blank in the body of the report because they say it again in the impression.
good point
When I was a waitress during college and had to stay for a dead shift, I think I remember something about getting paid minimum wage if I had no sales/no tips. We normally made $2.13/hr as the base pay so without any sales we were below minimum.
GOOD POINT ....
I'm glad you brought that up. You are absolutely right. What a major slap in the face to the city. So here's what these brilliant show people did: not only did they NOT use local talent, they didn't even use AMERICAN talent, and they didn't even use YOUNG American talent . . . they used an OFFSHORE DECREPIT old name. (Can't even use the word "talent.") I should clarify about "young," because had they used Smokey or Aretha well they are not exactly teenyboppers but they are COOL AND AMERICAN AND WAAAAAAAAAAY TALENTED! They are giants and legends and Mickey could not hold a candle to anything Motown had to offer. YOU MADE AN EXCELLENT POINT!!!
LOL...good point! nm
nm
That's a very good point!
However, the doctor should be aware of what the dictations contain before they go onto a chart, right? This is so scary.
Another thing that's just wrong is the fact that these administrators are dictating to the docs how medical records should be managed and many of them are not competent.
Good point
That is very true. I didn't think of that as I have never done these types of reports before. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be. I do regular VR editing and even then it is impossible sometimes to hear what the doctor is saying and he is at least TRYING to talk clear (if he is a decent dictator). I can only imagine trying to listen to a bunch of mush-mouths talking all at once. :)
Good point
nm
Good point, D. ....sm
Personally, I have lost a few accounts to India. The funny thing is that I was typing for a large cardiology office who decided to go to India except for one doc, who is from India. He saw firsthand how many mistakes were on the reports, and decided to fight for me to continue doing his work. I try to explain to the offices that regardless of the "cheaper" rates, how cheap is it, really? I mean, by the time they have to go through and edit the report (thoroughly), present it back to the doc for his review, and then get it back to India to correct the numerous mistakes; what's it really worth?
Good point.....
Isn't that both amusing and interesting? In all my years in the MT field, I've only found a few physicians who actually care about their transcription and where it goes with many stating "we'll just have to like it." I guess when it comes to a hospital or clinic purchasing new MRI or CT scanners transcription just takes the last back seat in the yearly budget. It's always been about money and that will never change. With each year that passes, I only hope that someday we will all hear of a reverse trend and India will have to re-outsource our work back to its "country of origin!" 
Thank you so much, very good point. sm--
I found it difficult to try to include all types of transcription. Per project transcription is so much different than regular or medical transcription. I will change the 50% fee up front to state that it is for per project transcription (not for medical). I do not want to accept a transcription project from someone I am not familiar with without covering myself with getting at least 50% of it up front. For that type of transcription I do not think it is an unreasonable request.
I've also tweaked it using suggestions from the other MTs here. I added no job too big or too small, took out some of the petty charges to make that simpler, added a couple of pics (will tweak that more later), and included a paragraph about my rates as compared to other companies who may send work overseas. I lowered my rates 1 cpl and added that they were negotiable, but generally I think that what I am asking is fair and I do not want to lower my rate, as I want to stress quality and would rather have a few accounts paying that rate and be able to handle them well than be overwhelmed with cheap paying accounts. I feel like if more MTs stuck with charging what they are truly worth, it would help all MTs and the MT profession, so I will do this as best I can. I also did change it to a standard 24-hour TAT. For that I had been thinking of projects possibly taking longer, but I could put that on the estimate if need be.
Thanks again all who replied for your assistance!
I think you have a good point
I was there once. Where I lived at the time was a small town. Those commercials make it seem like it is so easy to get work as an MT. Not 15 years ago in a town with 1 small hospital and maybe 6 docs it wasn't.
I absolutely hate those commercials because they are not realistic.
good point.
Old dog . . . . . new tricks.
The Smartype Expander doesn't work in Bayscribe, so I type in Word and then cut and paste. Plus, if you have all your stuff, say in a Bayscribe expander, what happens when you leave that job and go onto another one. Do you lose your shortcuts? How does that part work?
Good point, ours have never gotten that bad as yet, hope they never do! - nm
x
Good point re: insurance, but also...sm
remember they collected $50 per month for computer rental from SE's, but not from FT employees.
That was on MedRite when I was there, but do they charge computer rental with their new platform (DQS?)? If they don't get that rental money anymore, they might be eliminating SE's. Just a thought.
I concur. Good point...
The entertainment value is what I question. Who is being entertained? I'm mildly amused by the ridiculous nature of the shows and the strange ideas they come up with, but I don't live for them. I will admit, I do like Survivor. Don't they lose their punch when the people come back and tell what "really" happened? I hate that.
Well, IF I still had an appetite (good point below)
then either than Mexican food and margarita that someone mentioned below, or some sort of seafood or seafood/pasta.
I concur. Good point. (nm)
x
Very good point here about memory - XP uses a lot - sm
you would probably be better off just buying a new computer. Many offer their credit card and 6 months no interest. That is how I bought my Dell 2 years ago, paid it off in 6 months, no interest. I love those deals, we buy all our major purchases that way, have never paid interest yet.
Ooooh, good point!
You make a good point
Keeping track was doable but you have to keep track. I still am not making that much hourly counting lines though. I'd better invest in some new tools.
Good point. I had another thought also...
I was wondering if maybe some of the work is actually being sent overseas for cheaper labor for a few days or so to help save the company money in this ailing economy. Have known this to happen with a couple other companies. But, as you said, if something major were to happen, there would be an MT influx into other companies and maybe back into the hospitals. I have mixed feelings on this...it's nice to work at home, but hospitals usually have decent/reasonably priced benefits that do not depend on line output.
Good point - I'd rather spend my
time than my money on clothes, gas, etc.
Very good point! I say go for more characters!
Good grief. The point is that it
isn't 'whining' to state that MTs have to have much experience & knowledge, and there are a lot of physical effects and mental strain, and considering all of that, the pay is really lacking in our profession. Those are the facts. An IC at 8 cpl is AWFUL pay, by the way. Just because you don't think you deserve any better than that doesn't mean the rest of us feel that way.
you brought up a good point. sm
Sometimes we would get compliments back then. I remember the first place I ever worked at. We had a neurosurgeon who was known to be horrible (and was). We kept samples in order to be able to do his dictation. I came in one day and there was a handwritten note on my typewriter from this doctor for a job well-done! I still have it all these years later. Today it seems like the "human factor" is gone from this profession and it has all become about production and money and the patients have been forgotten!
What is your point? These folks have a perfectly good right to use
VR if they want to. People have been telling us for years the technology was improving. I don't see anything new here.
yea, good point, I'm nonpublished, been 4ever..NM
x
Good point. If she left then she is taking the
younger child away from HER father and there is much less chance of finding a third man who is going to love and raise both children the way they should be raised.
I think it's best to try to work through it, maybe try some counseling and try to make DH realize that he has to fill the role of "dad" for both children. If he is basically a good man, then this is not the end of the world.
Also, OP states she's not making much money. She would be putting both her children in a situation of financial disaster, plus no father for them. Bad idea.
Good point! You're funny! :-) (sm)
She is a mess, however, my best girlfriend heard that she just signed a contract for 3, count 'em, THREE more years. How can this be?? Simon will make this his last year unless they offer him another mint to stay. I can't imagine.
Good point about their "new tools".
By the way, I'm emailing and don't have to print them. Thanks everyone!
Lisa, you make a very good point. sm
I guess I should have been a little more specific. If ALL MTs were to go on "strike" and not accept the low wages these MTSO's are offering, they eventually would HAVE to offer a decent wage we can live on. But, the other side of the coin is, if the MTS WOULD STRIKE, then the MTSO's would no doubt just hire those non-U.S. MTs anyway, because that is the reason in the first place they are paying so little. The U.S. MTs have no support, that's for sure. (and I apologize for the misspelling of a word in my previous post.)
Good point but I have made a decision, this is what I am talking about!!
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Good point... Let me change that to, "like to pretend they are something
nm
Good point but assume if she is leaving town
with her own equipment she must be an IC and as an IC is supposed to be free to do her work in her own way - which would include re-recording if she wishes.
Good point - Income Tax and Social Security
It would be nice to see someone do a study on this. Not only the income tax dollars there are not going to our federal government, your states, but also what it would do for our social security program. I am sure we would be shocked at this impact. No one seems to want to talk about it. They say that offshoring is good for our economy because it makes businesses more profitable - but at what cost to all of the American people regarding jobs and tax funded programs? I don't get it.
What average line count do you type per pay period. what is considered above average and how long
Good point. Canucks are our brothers and sisters next door.
dd
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