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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Mine did too by making a job stats invisible until it was in our lap!!!

Posted By: Finally I'll make some $$ on 2005-09-23
In Reply to: Direct hit on cherrypickers! - MQGuy

Yeah!


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Your email address is invisible to anyone who emails you
through the MTStars website.  If you, however, reply, then the receiver would be able to see your email address.
So you think a dog getting hit by a car or poisened by a neighbor is better than an invisible fence?
I live in a rural area and even people I know what dozens of acres tie their dogs up during hunting season. Many dogs out chasing deer are shot and killed every year by some angry hunter.

In towns and cities there are leash laws. I'd sure rather see a dog inside the safety of an invisible fence than poisoned by people who don't want dogs crapping in their yard, getting into their garbage, etc. Do you not realize there are settings on the collars that can merely give a buzz to the dog just to remind them of their boundaries.

Training dogs is great, but it also depends on the breed. A dog outside will bark at birds, squirrels, etc., and I don't care how great of a trainer you are, I have yet to see a dog trained to stay in their yard.

About a year ago, our county had problems with teen boys just picking dogs up and "relocating them" far from home. My sister's dog was one of them. After weeks, she found her 15 miles from home, emaciated, and had been beaten. You cannot just let dogs wonder. There's not point in arguing the fact. IT'S THE LAW. Don't like it? Write your state rep.
More for Stats

But you know, the companies probably do charge more for stat turnaround of work so it makes sense if MTs are being hired for the purpose of doing stats that their line rate would be more.  There would probably be a 2 hour TAT required for the work. and the MT would have to be available regardless if there was work "just in case".  I asked the question because a friend of mine has been working for a company that pays 2 cents a line more for stat work (taking her cpl from a normal of 10.5 to 12.5 cents just for stats, and to 11.5 cpl for urgent reports that I think she has 5 hours to do) so I was wondering what the going rate was for MTs doing stat work only.   I asked around about the company advertising 14 cpl  for the stat work and couldn't find anything bad about them. 


are you the only one getting stats? Ask. nm
nm
stats
Why are all the stat reports I get difficult dictators? Do no normal-speaking docs need their reports back quickly? I don't mind now and then, but sometimes it is report after report, all stats, all difficult dictators.
Here are my stats
In 1976-77 I was making 6 cpl, plus we had a $75 CASH bonus (real money - didn't have to pay taxes on it) for whoever did the most lines each month.

Later moved to a co. that paid by the hour. I was getting about $12/hour in 1979 at that co.

Changed again in the 80's, and in the 90's, was making about $23/hour for a 40-hr week.

Back to per-line in the 21st century. Pay better? No way! Per-line it's about 9 cpl, but per hour worked, it comes out to about $6.50 to $7/hour for a 60-70 hr week - below min. wage. And that's for 35 years of experience.
Facts and stats
Facts and stats are always interesting but fail to include things like the absolute lack of respect for what we do.  When the medical records industry needed more MTs, the only innovative thing they have tried is sending the work offshore.  No one in the industry has figured out that in order to attract and retain good MTs, you need to respect them, pay them what their worth and stop telling them they are a profession when their pay is based on piecework. 
There's probably something terrible about them. Normally don't get more for stats. nm
s
If IC could continue to do p.r.n. stats, but I
x
I get 0.08 for everything, nothing extra for STATs. nm
@
sure i was. i'm making fun of the people who are making a case for background checks, etc
to do medical transcription at home as if they may do something AWFUL with the info they receive. So if you want an invasion of privacy let's REALLY invade it and make sure fat chicks don't transcribe because they are so busy eating they can't get the work done, they mess up the keyboard with food and if they are provided health insurance they will raise the rates for the company sky high because their health risks are higher than others. Then there are the psychological issues overweight people bring to the table. After we eliminate fat people, we can go on to eliminate diabetic people who may have low blood sugar while typing and go into a spell and type the wrong thing. I could go on and on through the process of elimination. How about prescribed medications that may cloud your thinking? So you take Ambien to sleep but you have an Ambien groggy hangover when you are transcribing? Should they transcribe. How about your teens are on your last nerves and you take a Xanax? Should you be allowed to transcribe?
does anybody get paid extra for doing STATs? sm
if so, how much of a difference to you get for STATs versus normal cues?  i am tired of getting hounded by STATs cuz they are "urgent" but yet no extra compensation for them.  these days it seems over half my work load is STATs and my TAT is 24 hours for my regular pay versus 4 hours for STATs with no extra money. 
I get stats all day long, no extra $$.

Personally, I love the pressure...almost feel like I'm needed for a few minutes there ;-)  Sick, I know. 


I'm also an on-call person on nights and weekends every other week or so and I honestly really enjoy that...THAT I get paid extra for and that gig is SWEET!


Shorthand users - what are your stats?

Hi all.  I was just playing around with my ShortHand program and noticed the stats button and it has been keeping track of my percentage typed and how much time it saves. 


It was at 32% that Shorthand typed for me, and it saved me over a year of typing since 2005.  LOL. 


I reset it and it was at 42% with just 3 reports.  It will be interesting to see what it will be Monday evening!


DQS line count stats so far today for me
approximately 4 hours (not deducting bathroom breaks and moving around every hour or so because of a broken tailbone): 668 lines on transcription, 218 lines on ASR (just started ASR this week). I've been on DQS nearly a year though. Some days its better, some not. If I work consistently without distractions it's usually decent.
do not find the same stats in medical journals...sm

I try to stay with reputable sites that tend to be more objective, or search in the journals such as JAMA.


Here's what the National Institute of Mental Health's site said - put it at 2.9%.


"Stimulant use among U.S. children ages 18 and younger had increased sharply from 0.6 percent in 1987 to 2.7 percent in 1997. By 2002, however, the estimated use was only 2.9 percent, suggesting that the rate of use has leveled off. Use was highest among 6- to 12-year-olds (4.8 percent), and lowest among children under 6 years old (0.3 percent). The low rate among preschoolers was also the most stable, countering fears that preschoolers' use of ADHD medications is escalating"


The reason why older kids have a higher percentage of using medications is by then the parents have chased down all the "natural" remedies and supplements and tried taking out sugar-- and found they don't work in the vast majority of cases.


 


 


the properties stats still do not count headers.
Do a test to prove it. Type one word in the document and one word in the header and you will only see a count for the word in the body of the document.
Stats during normal working hours are one thing
but being paged at un-Godly hours ???     It's just not worth the aggravation,IMO. 
I had no idea how many minutes I type in a day, so I checked some stats today....
I did 72.53 minutes and it took me about 6.5 to 7 hours.
I'm expensive, .15 & .17 for my accounts, no extra for stats which are rare. Bay area CA. nm
nm
You realize by doing that they're making more money & you're making less? You should reconsid

Funny! Mine is almost as large, and I don't mind cleaning mine!
It's no problem at all.  Besides, I'll take lots of oodles of square footage any day of the week over living in a sardine can!
Labor Stats from Dept of Labor for MT inside

This is quite interesting...it is too long to post here but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the statistics.  Thanks!


 


tp://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:eGxrU1X5lOEJ:www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm+how+much+to+become+certified+Medical+Transcription&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us


Mine isn't like that. Mine is 2. All are programmed different.
xx
making up.....

I suggest you have your father read my post and explain it to you.  Apparently you have poor comprehension skills.  Talk about ignorance.


My point was NEW immigrants who come here not to become American.  Obviously, this is not apply to all NEW immigrants, because as we know, many of them bust their butts to become American in every way including service in the military.  My point was that so many of the NEW immigrants, meaning those from the last 25-30 years, come with different aspirations than previous groups.  This is documented by social scientists who have been studying this very point for a couple of decades.  Look up some articles in any journal of American sociology or political science and you will find research on this subject.  


 I am perfectly aware of New Spain and New France and even that Russia once owned parts what is now Washington state and Oregon.  Do the people in Northwest US demand to have legal papers printed in Russian because 400 years ago, Russia settled that land?   Are you aware of the language controversy in Quebec, Canada?  We don't need that in this country and having English as our accepted common language has helped prevent some of the fighting and death that results from people coming to blows over language.  Language is the root of "the Troubles" as the Irish call their 100 years of conflict with England.  England passed a law making English the official language and forbad Gaelic in public places, including schools.  Look how that has worked for them.   In the U.S., it has worked because it has been understood as a custom and new immigrants were proud to learn English, because it was a mark of American citizenship.


You need a history lesson - New Spain was SOLD to the U.S. government  and New France was sold to the U.S. government by their respective kings because France and Spain needed money to finance their wars with each other.   So, Spain left voluntarily.


BTW, my brother wrote my parents in English during WWII and his letters were confiscated - is there a group that will protest such actions again Irish-German Americans? 


Wnat to see what ignorace looks like?  Got a mirror?


I am making......
17.00 per hour with a home-based hospital job (you have to be local to the hospita) PLUS a generous incentive with a "quite easy to attain" minimum line count and then 8 cents a line after the minimum is met.  Plus I have all the benefits of being an employee (which I am) including paid vacation and benefits.  I've been the national route and I didn't find any of them to be paying well, plus I was always running out of work.  We are swamped all the time and NEVER run out at the hospital.  If we do run out, which has never happened, we can go into the department and shred paper or something.  I wish more hospitals would go back to having a department.  That's where you'll find your dignity IMHO.
You were making LESS than THIS????

unless u r making $25/hr

not impressed one bit


you can make $12.50 an hour being a secretary and be dumb as


dirt.


you can make $12.50 an hour doing data entry and not know one


word of medicine or the other junk we have to know and be responsible


for and get grief from QA about.


you can make $12.50 an hour doing a lot of things and not have to


put up with the junk MTs are having to put up with now.


 


IT is making me
My eyes keep moving up, down, up, down. I'm getting a headache. How long does it take to adjust to this?
No, making way more. nm
x
Making more now
I worked for a hospital for 5 years and then we moved... tried another national who didn't pay much, and then started with OSi and am making more than I ever have (including 25 years of secretarial work)! I've read so many negative posts here about OSi, but I think those who have complaints tend to voice them more than those who don't. I'm very happy with them as far as money, schedule, and flexibility. I know from reading previous posts that many will assume I'm part of management just trying to give them a plug. No, I'm not part of OSi management. Just a very happy transcriptionist.
Men Making More LOL
That is because they choose wisely and don't accept just anything. I am female and quite often make more than most women. Having been in the MT business for only 3-4 yrs I am constantly amazed at the rates offered and accepted, and the lack of understanding at the complexity and enormity of education required to do this job. When someone offers me a low salary I tell them what I think of it and just go on to the next company. I have always known why there aren't a lot of men in MT work - the salary. In places where typing pays decent $$$ there are tons and tons of men.
making the big $$$
I was actually referring to the above posts that state they are making $50 to $60K per year.
Making $100,000/yr?
Is that really possible without having your own service?
ya know, when I'm making

70k a year, I can have the 850 square foot bedroom if I want. In fact, my home is a mere 2200 square foot, on 5 acres in the country, only worth $450,000 but I paid off the mortgage in full in 7 years, by- yep, you guessed it-- working my MTSO.  I have no debts. I own 4 cars. I have money stuffed in my 401k. The point was made in an earlier post by our beloved Patti, who chooses to live in 1000 square feet - and also put 15K in her retirement account and takes home 50K. When Patti mentioned her home was 1000 square feet, some ignorant troll said  (now say this in a high falsetto) "shocked! my bedroom is 850 square feet! How can you possibly live in only 1000 square feet."  Jealous, no. Anyone who wants to own, maintain, clean their 850 square foot bedroom can be my guest. Me - I go for a little smaller but still nice, with more freedom and lifestyle. That's why I put in my 5-10 hours a week running my service while you're working full time. LOL!


What we SHOULD be making, and what most of us ARE making (sm)
are two different things. We SHOULD be getting from 12-18 cents per line. In reality, most of us are somewhere between 7 and 9 cents a line.
I'm making nowhere near that much
I'm either working for the wrong companies or am really slow, my best is 200 lines an hour, which translates to at best 18 bucks an hour, Wish I was faster I guess
What I would like to know..... IF they are indeed making that much then.... sm
how are they doing it? VR? Would love to know the secret. Those of you claiming to make a ton of money, please do share how you do it. Have been doing this for 15+ years and I am seeing a quick decline in pay and seeing these companies getting away with making the lines harder to get with how they calculate them. This profession quickly going downhill.
More than what she is making, I'm sure.
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If you are making 9.5....

I would ask for at least 11.  If you have been there that long, why not?  I always ask for more than i really want cause you can negotiate.  If you end up with 10.5 that is still a good rate. 


For ESL's I want 11, but I don't get snippy if i have some here and there.  I do one now exclusively and he can be a big pain but i can understand him fine and ESLs are great for making normals because in my experience they repeat A LOT. 


The going rates around here seems to be 8 cpl with many companies...you are doing good at what you have but there is nothing wrong with levering your experience and services for more money.  You have proven yourself already to these people.  If they turn you down you can start looking elsewhere but only do so if you are taking a step up. 


 


I was making 16/hr when i was QA n/m
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Making changes

Alright folks let's move this off the word help board because it's become a different discussion.  First of all, I personally believe that we should type what doctors say, everything they say and not change a thing.  So if they say Synthroid 100 mg, leave it.  If they say There was changes.  Leave it.  However, our companies and many hospitals don't agree. 


If you were to try to get a job editing books at a publlishing house you would need a degree in English and you'd get paid a whole heck of a lot more than we do.  But we do the same job, fixing the English of doctors, having perfect punctuation, correcting verb tenses.  Not to mention the medical side, knowing all the drug dosages, correct lab values (yeah we get marked off for those too).  I love it when I have to leave something blank like I just did "H&H 13/4/38"  ???


IMHO we don't get paid enough to do all we have to do.  We are not just typists.  My friend is a nurse and when I told her everything we have to know she told me we could all be nurses!  This is because I carried on a conversation with her about cardiac cath, CABG and people who have IV dye allergies and the compliance issues with Mucomyst.  She was shocked.


We get no respect from many doctors.  I actually had a PCP that I went to when I was sick say that because I was an MT I knew too much about medicine in a really condescending voice.  Had another say then what do you suggest when he tried to tell me he'd done all the possible tests.  Corrected another to his face. 


So call me whatever you want but if I hear the doctor say something that is inappropriate in the same manner that Potassium 132 is inappropriate or Synthroid 100 mg is inappropriate, I'm going to leave a blank.  Maybe the doctor is mad or frustrated but the medical record is a legal document that the patient can get access to anytime they want.  So when the doctor calls a patient a land whale or says she's f-ing pregnant again or is a retard or is an SOB (and I don't mean short of breath), IMO I am covering their butt by giving them a chance to rethink what they say before they put it in a legal document.


VR and making only 10.00 a day!
No work this entire week at Sten-Tel.  What is up?  A job here and there but that is VR and I am making like 10.00 a day...this is total bullcrap.  So glad I am training for a new company starting tomorrow. 
Well you could have put down what you are making???? - sm
But with that said I do $375 to $450 a week.
I will say what I'm making

I make close to 3,000 dollars a month typing....I'm not sure if anyone thinks that's a lot, but I feel very fortunate to be making this kind of money.  I have been doing this for a little over 20 years.


I hope this helps!


It is entirely possible to be making that
much money. I make close to 50K, but also work FT and as an IC at another facility, and luckily I work for 2 companies that actually appreciate their employees and pay a decent cpl.
I am currently making
about 52K, but I work 50+ hours a week.
I am definitely not one of those making...sm
the high annual income. My income is rather pitiful to be honest. But I don't have enough work and that is why. And due to not enough exp yet I am going to have to tough it out until I can obtain a better paying job or preferably where I am has more work for me or higher line rate. I love where I am.

Some people may make up income or cpl or they may not. Who knows? Who cares? What do they have to gain by doing that? I understand your selfish longing to have that. Who wouldn't but remember you are doing your best and that is all you can do.
Nothing like making up history
There are in fact many Hispanics who died and continue to die for this country. I am the daughter of a WWII veteran whose mail was confiscated because he wrote letters to his mother in Spanish. While my dad was literate in both English and Spanish, his mother could only read in Spanish, as was the primary language of New Mexico, Colorado, etc. 50+ years before the Mayflower landed. Also, my brother is a Sgt.Major who retired after 25 years in the army and 3 of his sons are also currently in the army (including Iraq). But as I said before, you can ignore all that 'cause you make up your own history....and telling Native Americans to get over it only displays your ignorance.
Yep...had an old doc who would always say, when making a correction (sm)

"Ummm, STENOGRAPHER, please change..." etc.  Yeah, like I'm sitting here doing Gregg shorthand!!!  Drove me nuts! 


Also used to have one who loved to editorialize as he dictated...had a great sense of humor, tho', & I really enjoyed him.  He'd always start off with "Hello Transcription!!!" 


Sometimes I wish I had a tape of all the docs' bloopers to listen to on the days when I wonder why I do this for a living 


 


150 lph at .06 = $9.00....if you are new count on making less than that. - nm
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