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Meditech lines

Posted By: Karen on 2007-05-03
In Reply to: see inside - pdqtrans

What exactly is Meditech counting? Lines as we type, printed characters? I'm doing radiology, I guess it's Client version since it is Word-based although I know the hospital has modified somewhat.. What happens if someone goes into my report after me and changes the Transcriptionist name to themselves? Who gets credit for the lines in that report?


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Meditech lines
Furthermore, hospital will not give us instructions on counting our own lines. Can somebody tell me how to do that?
Our Meditech counts BLANK lines...
we get a sweet line count off our account that uses Meditech.
Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines.  One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself.  After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
That is a lot of work/lines for 2 people. I do 3000 lines per day sm
if you times that by 30 days that only comes to 90K lines a month, that is working 7 days a week including weekends. I don't think 2 people can handle that.
900 lines is below 1100 lines, where the bonus starts.
x
Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
The norm is 1 minute = 10 lines; 10 min = 100 lines - sm
granted this varies per dictator. More lines if a fast talker, less if a slow talker.
I went from 2400 lines to 1800 lines

a day when I switched from clinic (through an MTSO)  to hospital work. Not only was the clinic work easier with more macros (and less providers to learn, 12 vs 300+), but I was typing in straight Word (as opposed to Softmed/Chart Script).  So you see, it really varies depending upon the type of work as well as the platform used. That said, I am so much happier typing the 1800 lines per day (I make over $15 per hour plus an incentive for any lines in excess of 1200 per day) plus a great health package/benefits, AND approximately 5 weeks of paid time off per year.  In my opinion, hospitals really are the best employers WHEN they appreciate the work we do.


My advice for you is not to judge a job by any one criterion but rather the entire picture. The 'extra's can really add up.

Good luck in your job!


Which is the one where they are sc*&ing us the standard lines or the qualified lines? SM
Mine show up as STD when I pull up my transcription log.  But I see now there is STD/QT....  So which is the one where they are ripping us off, standard or qualified?  Need to know.  I am about to switch companies and I will not do if they are actually taking lines from me.  Thanks guys. 
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....

I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.


What is the advantage of this?  If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation? 


I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it.  I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired.  They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.


Thanks for explaining this.  I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.


Word count: 824 lines. DocuCount count: 897 lines.
I just counted the same file in Word and then in DocuCount, and DocuCount was higher than Word.

Just as an aside.
Meditech

Has anyone ever used a word Expander with Meditech? I understand that there are several different versions of this program and we use it for Radiology. We have V. 3.25.  I was specifically thinking about ShortKeys?  Any input would be appreciated.


Meditech
Has anyone ever used Meditech?  Is it user-friendly?  Fast?  Thanks for any info you can give me.
MediTech
No to all of the above questions.
Meditech

Hello ladies.  Can any of you give me referral for the name of a good medical transcription service company to work for?  I've been with Spheris for almost 3 years and am looking.  I've been requesting to change from an intimidating and threatening supervisor for months, and it hasn't happened.  MANY PEOPLE are leaving Spheris.  I'm just wondering -- can anyone give me the name of a NICE COMPANY to work for??


Thank you very much.  Have a nice day. 


Meditech
User-friendly? LOL. Shorthand helps.
Meditech?!))!!**
I hate it!  Been working through Meditech. A huge hospital account and it's constantly going slow, booting you offline. And, it's been like this for years. They are losing a load of MT's because of it. It's okay for the hospital users, labs, docs, etc. NOT for transcriptionists. You need a dedicated line, not a system that serves a metropolis!
Does anyone use Meditech here?

I work for a hospital and I am forced to use Meditech.  There is nothing to help a Transcriptionist except for autocorrect.  The F11 key is diabled as well as macros.  Any one else experience this problem, and how did you get around it. 


Going crazy without my tools.  I can't stand not being able to F11 to my next stop, let alone make templates, etc.  Autocorrect on this computer is terrible as well.  It will only take words in a line, not a paragraph, for example.  Sheesh..  Any advice???


Meditech
Yes - Have your supervisor get Smartype, which works well with Meditech in Word program or Abbreviate, which is cheaper. I have worked at a local hospital with same problem and they would not put Smartype on, would do nothing to help at all. Good luck, hope you get somewhere, it is like typing with one hand behind your back isn't it? Pain in the neck and takes so much of your time.
meditech
Meditech does not count lines.  It only counts black characters, no spaces. 
Meditech
I would charge by the line - at least 12-14 cents per line (if you are the owner of the account)or charge 3.00 per report - 4.00 for specials. I have found with Meditech that this is about the only way to make any money. I had an account like this and found that radiology by the line if there are a lot of specials is the way to go - longer reports - more lines, especially if they use a lot of normals or negatives as some call them. hope this helps - you are probably being way underpaid if you are working on Meditech.
Meditech - What's it like to use?

Companies that have it always seem to want people who are already trained on it.  Is it hard to learn if you have learned many different softwares?


 


Meditech
I have used the oldest version of Meditech, without a spellchecker and the newest versions with Word and not in Word. Even when I used the older version, I made excellent money. You can use ShortHand and with the old version, I used abbreviate. Of course when I used the old version for 8 years, made 10 cents per line and even the newer versions made 10 cents a line in radiology for all. The Cerner will slow it down, but not all the time. It is an old system, but you can make good money using Meditech. I use RadNet now which I love. Meditech is fairly easy to learn and your line count you get out of your main menu for Transcription Statistics, but not until the next day, that is the only bad thing about it. Good luck. It is not the worse platform. I have used 3 different Meditech programs, two of them old and one the newer one.
New Meditech is not like it used to be
Yes, you do need broadband access and internet.  So, good thing u've got DSL.  The new version is a whole lot better than the dial-up version - very user friendly.  Congrats on the new job!
meditech
I have a manual here but no fax machine - is there something in particular I can look up for you?

Meditech
I've used Meditech and it is a very simple, user friendly program. Only problem I had with it was that there were no expansions.
Meditech lag
I also found Meditech to cause a huge problem with lag and it drove me crazy.  The Meditech in Word is better.  Have you updated your internet explorer to the new version 7?  If so, that may be the problem as I heard it does not work well with some of the medical software for companies, so I have not upgraded mine.  There is a web site www.worldstart.com, and they have a message board there, lots of people on the boards and maybe someone can answer your question about the lag time and what may cause it.  I stopped using Norton antivirus and have used AVG free as the Norton missed 200 viruses on my computer a couple of years ago.  What I used to do years ago is transcribe in Abbreviate and cut and paste into Meditech and that was faster.  Maybe you do need to uninstall your program and reinstall, that may help.  Good luck.  I know how frustrating this is.
meditech
Can you use ShortHand with Meditech? I know Meditech has canned text but it's kind of cumbersome and I really like Shorthand. Does anyone use Meditech + a word expander?
Meditech
Believe me it is slow and add hospital woes to the dragging and you have more problems.  I have been on more than one Meditech acct, some good, some not.  I have said this before.  The Meditech people that came up with this need to go back to the drawing board and...........fast.  It is getting to be pathetic!
Meditech...where to get it?sm

Does anyone know of a website that you can go to and download the Meditech program?  There was a site I went to before, but I cant find it now and need to download Meditech.  Thanx for any help.


 


T


I'm on Meditech.
I find it pretty slow and cumbersome, even on a broadband connection.

I've resorted to composing in Word on my local machine and then Cut and Pasting into Meditech.

I don't know what version of Meditech it is, or if there even IS more than one.
Meditech (sm)
I remember someone giving instructions on formatting in Meditech, something to do with the F8 key.  Could you please post that information again, I meant to print those instructions out.  Thanks.
MediTech
MediTech is a platform that is used by various hospitals for doing their dictation. It is one of the older platforms out there, but you cannot download it.
I'm currently using Meditech
And the previous poster (pastMeditecher) is right. I also work in Word and paste it in. I've lost too much work when the system glitches!

Another thing. Find an Expander that will work with Meditech (I use Instant Text). That way, if you have other work or change jobs, your expansions are with YOU, and not stuck with the system.
Meditech
anybody know details about Meditech's line counting?
Meditech

When I worked in Meditech, we were told that we were getting paid by the 65-character line even though the Meditech line was 75 characters long.  I used to paste my reports into Word and do a character count and divide by 65, it never worked out.  After many tests, I realized that we were getting paid by the gross line.  Try counting it that way and see if it matches when you get your line counts.  (On that job, the gross lines paid better as it turned out). 


Also, other "tests" I did revealed that the originator of the report was the only who got credit.  Any additions I ever made to someone else's report did not add to my line count.  That part stunk. 


Hope this helps!


Meditech & VPN
Depending on what hospital.  I don't think it matters what version of Meditech.  Most hospitals are hooking up Meditech through their VPN site.  I did work for one company where they had some MTs going through both at the same time.  I have been going through a VPN site since the first of the  year and love it.  I obtain dictation through the same server.  I just recently was able to go on vacation and check on how things were going while I was away (personal account).  I feel if my rural hospital is going to this system, it will not be long before most all hospital will.
The only Meditech I ever used (sm)

could only be accessed via a dial-up modem...and I have high-speed so I was kinda tweeked about paying for high-speed connection yet still having to use that archaic system.  Maybe it's different now, I dunno.  Thankfully I was able to drop that work like a hot potato due to my connection constantly dumping and losing all my work and I don't have to think about it any more.  God I hated that Meditech.  I've read about people having access to different versions of it though and having much better luck than I did.


Good luck with it though. 


Meditech

When I worked on Meditech, you could not change the original transcriptionist.  If I added or corrected something in a report, I physically typed my initials and date at bottom of report.  There is an option to "delete report" to just start over if that option has been given to you.


 


Anyone use MediTech (sm)

for radiology transcription?  Am considering applying for a position using it but do not know a thing about it.  I am currently using Word-based programs and before that have used WP5.1. 


Does it have a built in spellchecker?  Can I use my ShortCut for Windows word Expander program?


Is it cumbersome, hard to learn, take a long time to get *up to speed*???


Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance!


MediTech

Have used Meditech for 8 years.  I tried IT with Workstation 4 (NUE) and it worked. 


Spellchecker is not accurate for more than 1 letter off and it does not know if word should be capped or not.  It will not pick up 2 letter word errors such as NO, fo, si, etc.  There is no grammer check.


Headers are put in automatically (if facility has it set that way), put in Rad's name, pt. name, chose x-ray from list, type date and body.  F7 to beginning of report, Shift+F1 for Spellcheck, proof, F12 to file.  F10 deletes your line from cursor location on.  Need to be at beginning of line and use F3 to join lines or it will move the text to whereever the cursor is located throughout the rest of the document, major PITA!


There are other screens for mammo codes, report codes (normal, negative, see report, unremarkable, etc.) but may vary in setup from facility to facility.


Good luck!


RE: Meditech
Is there anyone that is using Meditech on Windows Vista? I got into it, but it minimizes everytime I get in. It won't open up when I maximize it.
MediTech

 


It very nearly made me quit transcription.  Terrible, terrible, awful piece of you-know-what.


Meditech

I agree 100% - hate Meditech and going broke using it!


Meditech ???
Can anyone help?  Am on Meditech account and I know I should not have to cut and paste report from Word, but that is how they have been doing it.  I want to be able to type the report without cutting and pasting.  How to be able to use the spellcheck in Meditech, etc?  How to use ShortHand?  I have tried to use ShortHand and will not work.  Of course no help on the other end because they have just been cutting and pasting from Word, which is just another step should not have to do.  I know I have been able to do all on other accounts.  It has been some time since on Meditech account though and cannot remember.  Any tricks of the trade???:)
Meditech

I don't exactly understand your question.  You can type the report right where you would put the cursor to paste it.  Can you be more specific about what you need?  ShortHand does work with Meditech, by the way.


Meditech...

Not sure if we use the same version, but when I go into Meditech I enter 13 to take me to Process Reports. Do you see anything like that? Spellcheck is shift F9 I believe. Just a caveat, however, the spellcheck in Meditech is vitually worthless!


I have the opposite dilemna, I am much more comfortable with the Word-based platform  and miss my Stedman's spellchecker, but there is no way to copy and paste from Word to Meditech


I use Instantext with Meditech. I do know it needs to be "linked" in order to work. Not sure if ShortHand works the same way?


Good luck!


Meditech
I never understand why anyone does that. I find it more work. I think they do it more if the system goes down in Meditech (some accounts) you cannot recover what you just lost whereas in Word, it's right there as your not typing on a high speed connection. I type in Meditech and my ShortHand works with it. Spell check on Meditech is Shift F9 and select spell check.

If you need help don't hesitate to contact me

Help with Meditech

can anyone tell me what are the function keys for Meditech.  I hit F6 and lost a report.  My lead Transcriptionist only "knows" the F keys we use, not any of the others. Shift F6 moves up a line, but what if just plain F6?  Thanks


 


meditech

I do work this platform, have been for years and I do love it.  Once you get used to it, it is very easy to work with.  But, you cannot use outside spell check and unfortunately, the spell check with it is not that great.   But, I use the stedman with my MS Word keeping it flat lined while I work..


The up side is that you are only paid per mean line, not per character... believe me - big plus. 


If you need help, email me ..


email is  marceiaa@yahoo.com


 


Meditech
I use Meditech from home, but have never experienced a delay like you described. I do have high speed internet access through my cable company and perhaps that is the difference? If you already have that, not sure what the problem could be, but sounds extremely annoying!