Oh, and $10 an hour is considered a "good" wage here.
Posted By: plains state on 2005-12-01
In Reply to: Wow, that's steep! - plains state
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Opinions: Do You Think $12.00 An Hour Is A Lousy Hourly Wage For An Experienced Medical Transcripti
Opinions?
"Good" reality TV?
Sounds like an oxymoron to me. There are many things I'd rather do than watch boring TV.
"good" days is right sm
At least we had our fingers on the pulse, albeit full of carbon paper. At least we were face to face with our employers or clients. Today who knows where our work is going and who is "editing" it. I have responses from companies such as "received your test results and you will "here" from us. Felt like e-mailing it back to her supervisor, but she WAS the supervisor! Gimme hands-on, face-to-face, we were tired and poor but we knew who we were dealing with!
And once you have a "good" sample,
SAVE A COPY for yourself in your own samples file.
No such thing as "good" money sm
There is money for some - is there any such thing as "bad" money? I was told by a health information "director" with high-level degrees who outsourced 12 million lines per se that we are a "dying breed - dinosaurs" who are going to be obsolete. I wanted to bite her head off. But truthfully, that's how some think of us. So if you are making "good" money, then thank your lucky stars because it may not last. Then you will have to join the ranks of those who are struggling. My past experience is that those who make "good money" don't brag about it. I'm not flaming you, I'm just asking you to have a heart and realize that you have to walk in others' shoes. Sometimes they pinch and some day you may have to wear them. So please calm down and let others speak from their hearts, not their pocketbooks. I used to do a platform in MT on career day at a local college but stopped two years ago because I told the director that I in all honesty could not encourage people to spend two years tuition on a career that may be outsourced and/or obsolete. I really meant that. Nuff said!
Tired of SS, any "good" places to work
I know there are many messages on the subject, but am getting tired of putting up with SS bull and would like to know of for.
I will have 1 year of experience in March. I'm tired of my line counts never adding up and the differences in the way QA corrects things so I never know which way I'm supposed to do things. It never fails that I can be making 100% on most everything I do, but when it comes audit time they can find things that bring my audit score to 1 or 2 percentage points below the required 98%. 
If there is a company out there that does not require weekends I would love to know as I don't have anybody to watch my 4 and 5 year olds every other weekend.
I'm sorry, I know this is not a grammatically correct message as I am very upset and just want out. The only problem is that I have nowhere to go once I do get out so I need a new job first.
Thank you in advance for all of your help.
Tired of SS, any "good" places to work
SS = SoftScript - The main company anyone wants to "RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM" .... No kidding on this one - been there, done that!
As far as another position have you tried searching on Monster.com or going to any of the Transcription Services web sites? I believe most services now request you work one weekend day; however, it never hurts to explain your situation and one never knows they may make "special arrangements" with you. Never be afraid to ask!
Happy Hunting, 
I would just expect a "Good job and we appreciate all the hard work you did for us over the
:=
It depends on what you define as "good money". sm
I do acute care, part time, no more than 24 hours a week and made 56K for the year.
Everyone's definition of good money is different - I think.
What makes a company "good" to work for?
In reading some posts below, I came across one that peaked my curiosity. She stated that she has not seen anybody post the name of a high-paying or good company to work for, so this made me think. I am an IC and have a job but am afraid of losing it as I just lost one account. So my question is I am completely new to the "big company" scene. If people are unwilling to divulge who they like working for (for whatever reason), how does one go about researching on what will be worth it or not?
Just curious 
need help fast! Is 8 per 65 character line a "good' rate for an
MT with 10 years of exp? Was offered a position yesterday with a company and right now I make 9.25 - I know I will be losing, but right now I am on DQS and am so sloooowww.. What would you do? Not take it/ Tell them it's just too low? What?! 
Sense of humor, tells you "good job!" on the hard ones... nm
Oh, I totally agree, but go up to the "Good Morning" post. I'd rather have your input.
v
Don't forget the "good Mayor" who did not follow standard emergency procedures
But he sure is quick to throw blame on everyone else.
Quick question or poll - What does one consider "good money" for weekly bring home income? sm
Would you consider $1000 a week, IC status, working 5 hours a day, 5 days a week "great money"?
What do you make a week and how many hours do you work?
This is for informational purposes only and not to belittle or degrade anyone or boast and put anyone on a soapbox about their income.
Thanks for your help!
Depends on the pay and account. My lowest average is $15.52 an hour (roughly 182.6 lines an hour) w
;'
1850 lines per 8 hour shift. 15.00 hour - no real requirement
x
if it is feasable, split that 6-hour shift into two 3-hour shifts. sm
i work a split shift and find that i am much better able to stay focused and get more work done that way. also, being 3 months pregnant you have gone through the very tiring time of pregnancy and you should start seeing an energy perk before long.
I start an hour or 2 early and then take an hour or 2 for dinner -nm
x
At 200 lines a day for 6 cents, you are making $1.20 a day or 0.15 hour for an 8 hour day!!!--cm
Did you mean 2,000? Even then you would only be making $1.50 if you work 8 hours a day.
$32/hour? You said $36/hour on an earlier post. Either way would be great. n/m
xx
10 reports/hour or 25 markers/hour
NM
Low wage
that seems awfully low. For instance if you were making even 9 cpl you would be working for 11.25/hr. Who can exist on this? My current supervisor tells me it takes about 30 or more charts to equal 1000 lines. That would take an entire 8 hours and then some maybe. This is very discouraging. I don't like this platform so far.
WAGE
Of course it is lousy. Illegal aliens in my city make more than that flipping burgers. What an insult to us that someone would offer that amount.
Wage vs Need/Wants
At first glance, yes, $12.00 seems low. However, I live in the northeast and I know I cannot survive on that rate of pay. Maybe in other parts of the country $12.00/hr is very survivable. It all depends on your needs/wants.
At $12/hr you are grossing $480/week, $960 bimonthly. Around here, health insurance coverage for one ROUGHLY averages $50/week. Now you are netting $430/week before taxes. Dental plan? Deduct another $10 or so per week. Down to $420/week before taxes. Figure out your monthly expenses and don't forget that ever present anvil-over-your-head factor for unexpected bills. Also, don't forget you need to save some $$ too - after you buy food and pay the monthly bills! Hmmmm...I am getting this image of a rat on a treadmill.
The question you ask is not simple. You have to figure out if $12/hour is good for YOU. It is just not a survivable wage in this part of the country, especially if you have dependents that eat like horses, go to colleges far away, and you live in a state that taxes you up the wazoopie and only has two seasons: winter and 4th of July.
wage
Oh yeah and the wages being offered are even insulting for a newbie. Can I say how disgraceful this is for "trained professionals" to be offered this. The newbie wages run around 8 cpl...but why at 5, 10 or 15+ years is it fair to still be offered that?? Employers please show us some respect and pay us what we are worth. Remember everything in life is "you get what you pay for." These companies wonder why they have such a HIGH turnover rate, HELLO pay us decent wages!!!! Just think if you broke a typist wage, proofreader wage, English major wage, and everything else we are considered and added it all up it is WAY MORE than we get!
min. wage
Oh yeah it is possible to make minimum wage on some accounts especially when you are a newbie. Start out as a newbie and have one of those hard learning hospitals with a lot of ESLs who you hardly ever type the same one twice and add in many residents. Also add in more than just the basic 4 work types on that account such as psych. discharge summ., echo labs, holter monitor reports, treadmills, etc. that you only do every once in a while and aren't familiar with. With all those factors which I have on one of my accounts it is possible to make min. wage. But I have gotten better it seems. I know some people will say why do an account that is so difficult for you? If I can conquer this I can say I have done something I think. It is just a job and as a newbie I can't pick and choose without much exp. so I put on my big girl pants and do it. Just explaining how you could make min. wage with the right factors.
I seriously considered it myself because
my former coworker kept telling me how great it was. She planned on getting rich off of it and retiring by the time she was 35. She was too busy promoting her "home business" on company time and the company computer to even get her work done at her regular job. She's still not rich or retired.
Also, there are a lot of negatives out there regarding Ameriplan. There is one dentist in my entire state that accepts Ameripan cards. No other medical providers will even consider it. One good post by someone trying to sell Ameriplan doesn't negate lawsuits, BBB complaints, and thousands of people who weren't given refunds when they requested. I would never stand behind a company that wasn't ethical and honest with people.
Believe me, I understand what it's like to work hard and still live paycheck to paycheck. However, "Posting advertisements or solicitations of business" and "spamming" are against MTstars terms of service, which you agree to when using this site. Selling the discount cards (and/or recruiting people) is what you were trying to do, so be honest here.
Have you considered......
Where I work, there are a people who actually work part time, at 30 to 35 hours per week so that they do not have to meet the high line count for full time. If benefits is not an issue for you and you are paid by the line maybe you should consider 30-35 hours a week instead of 40. I am sure you would not loose much money and making rate would not be a problem because you would have that big gap i.e part time rate is 5,100 and full time rate is 10,200 that would mean your only required to make 5,100 a pay period even if you are 30 to 35 hours a week......then you would'nt have to work so hard and you could have more time with you son. From what I have heard from other MTs...it was actually a relief for them to have to go part-time because they did not have all the pressure anymore.....it is something to think about. However, if insurance/benefits is an issue than I could see how this might be difficult.
You might also want to try getting on earlier, ie. 4 am to 7am and then once your son is off to school get back on and complete your shift. I wish you luck. I am sure something will work out.
Have you considered
asking your company if you could copy someone's? You wouldn't happen to be working on ExText and using the ESP would you?
It's not anything I considered, but I just...
Googled scoping and came up with quite a few hits that should be able to give you some info.
re: anybody ever considered
A lady I know is married to an HVAC man, and she got a general contractor's license. She makes money off it, but subcontracts all the work out on building jobs. Her husband does the HVAC part.
Anybody ever considered
becoming a plumber or some other type of construction? My husband and I are looking at things we could do together. Don't even know if a woman could do the job and I'm 54 so might be too old to cut the mustard and been doing MT for 9 years so out of shape.
Is 4 cpl considered too low?
Is 4cpl, 65 character line including spaces and hard returns, very low for a new graduate? I've been told that this is exceptionally low. BUT, with companies offering MTs with 5+ years of experience 7-9 cpl I thought it was a fair wage.
Am I wrong? Am I working for a MT 'sweatshop'? The accounts are not difficult, and no ESLs.
Now after hearing some people tell me I am working for peanuts I am wondering if I need to find a different job. I like these accounts, but I also want a fair wage. I was told we'd renagotiate pay when I got off full QA. Am I being taken advantage of?
I have considered that myself but have yet -sm
to find a product that I can get my hands on cheaply (i.e. wholesale) in order to re-sell at a good profit, not 1 or 2 dollars. I have 2 boxes of stuff right now that I plan to put on ebay, old kid toys basically, books, etc. Don't care much about making a bundle just want to de-clutter my house some, one man's junk is someone else's treasure and all that jazz. I have toyed with the wholesale designer clothing scene (returns/imperfects) but it requires connections and basically buying a tractor trailer worth of clothes for $5K or more, nothing to enter lightly. As with most risky ventures you have to have money in order to make money (i.e. stock market). But in regards of gettign out of MT I have just gotten my CDL for bus driving, have 10 more hours of training (paid too at $8/hr) then I can substitute drive for my county, yeah! Within a year I should have my own route (don't have to use my own gas either to get to work, nice, they have a shuttle pick you up at home), work 2-3 hours a day and get $60 a day for my trouble, a lot better than I make doing MT. Great thing is I get paid 12-months a year and make about $1K a month which is not much less than I make now and I work a lot more than 3 hours a day. I still plan to do MT but cut back some so I can reclaim my life a bit. I will still have freedom to do what I want during the day and have a well paying PT job (which they call FT and it has benefits too, health insurance and 401K). So it is an interesting alternative for me and will give me a steady income and I will have job security too unless I have a ton of accidents for some reason, but really don't expect that to happen as I am a good driver. In time may apply to the USPS for driving the smaller mail trucks (not tractor trailers, different CDL class), have to get 1 year experience before I can consider that. Just looking at my options for the future as my DH wants to retire in 8 years at 55 (who doesn't?)(I'm 7 years younger by the way) so I need a job with good health insurance IF we have to change insurance that is, something I do not want to do since we have phenomemal coverage. Doubt this helped you at all but maybe it will get you thinking of other avenues other than ebay. Good luck!
minimum wage is Fed
I know some cities/counties and I guess states have their minimum wage requirement to allow a business to operate. I know some cities in NJ (where I live now) won't allow a business to operate unless they pay minimum around $9/hour. But minimum wage is a Federal standard and is set at $6.XX an hour - that is for all 52 states.
And it is illegal for anyone to pay less. Actually, I found out that if you are working for someone on a production basis and it comes out to less than Fed. min. wage, you can actually file a complaint and recoup wages.
Minimum wage in NY now $6.75 hr - sm
Working at Burger King is looking better all the time!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/nyregion/01minimum.html
We do get hourly wage
during down-time and the only approved down-time is meetings and computer malfunction. Lack of work was not approved so if there is lots of work available we have no worries, if not then we will be scrounging around for work. I don't have time for that. 
I will have to ask my supe if that is how it is because that is how I understand it. If so, I maybe putting in my 2 weeks notice.
At least minimum wage
I worked inhouse for a company. We did not have to be there at any certain time, but we did clock in and out to show how many hours we were there. This was, as the other poster said, to make sure we made at least minimum wage. Also, they figured this by the pay period, not by the day.
Not around here you can't. Minimum wage. sm
I live in the midwest in a rural community. Wages are lower.
IC and minimum wage
I have read on the forum where an IC should make minimum wage. Is this no matter what her line count pay equals? I am new to being an IC and have just accepted a position with a service. Is this true with every service? Do they have to pay you minimum wage? Also, if the service is not in the state where you live does this make a difference? I just figured you were paid for what you produced.
minimum wage
7.00 an hour would only require you to type about 90 lines an hour. Let's say minimum wage is $10 an hour, that would only be 130 lines an hour - I do that in 15 minutes even with my ESL doctors... I say if you are only making minimum wage, this is probably not the field for you to be in.
Less than minimum wage
AND a bad platform, and you are staying? There are jobs out there for way better pay, but you have to start looking! With your four years experience, definitely do not settle for 7 cpl!
I have months when I clear $1500 and I have months when I clear $2000....the difference is ME. Over the past 8 years I have learned to work smarter, more efficiently, and that it is a necessity to have the tools to work with. What good is it if I become an expert swimmer but I'm stuck in a bathtub? If my company's platform would not let me do better, then I'd be testing for other jobs. You are the only one who can do a thing about your income situation.
minimum wage
Walmart pays minimum wage with infinitesimal increases over time. Work schedules are constantly changed to keep the employees off balance. The work is extremely exhausting and at least in our local area, they have a very hard time attracting employees, so there are some real tough scary characters working there. Across the street at Target, it's a different story. Employees are well-groomed, happy, and eager to help the customers. The stores are always immaculate, and you never have to negotiate around towering stacks of boxed unshelved merchandise like at Walmart, which has turned into a filthy mess most of the time. Considering that Target's pay scale is not much more than minimum wage, we can assume that there are cultural differences in that company that provide a better quality of life for their employees. If you have a choice in your local area, go for Target.
lucky you have not been at min wage
Yes MT, you have been lucky, and I would say you probably are not working for Medquist. Lately, those of us who have been working there for many, many years have found our line rates being cut several times while we are being routed only the worst ESR jobs out there as well as always with a different account where we have to study the client profile (CP) before we can even begin to transcribe. Next job, yet another client, yet another profile with different rules to study. I regularly made $30 an hour before, but with the changes, I have now been relegated to min wage. I'm looking for something else, believe me, but after more than 12 years, it is hard to make a change, especially when you have been so demeaned by your company that has put you in this position in the first place.
Have you considered therapy?
zz
We were considered a valuable
not just a sweatshop drone. 
Have you considered asking your instructor
for help? After all, you are presumably paying for your education. Shouldn't the school be helping you when you have difficulty? Why should you expect working MTs to drop everything and help you? Maybe you just need to put more time into your studies. If you're going to be a successful MT, you're going to have to learn to figure things out for yourself.
I considered a lease once (sm)
but when I found out my payment would be only $1 different I decided to buy instead. My loan was for the same length of time as the lease, had no "fees" attached, and didn't require a down payment. Make sure you read all the fine print on a lease. They can determine who services the vehicle. They determine "wear and tear" when you turn it in, early termination fees (you never know), and on and on. Any little dent that might be on the vehicle will need to be repaired, either by your insurance or out of your pocket, or they will charge you for it at turn-in. Beward of leasing salesmen that call you after you have already leased the vehicle and try to squeeze cash out of you. I've heard of that scam more than once.
The only way to end up upside down on a loan is to pay more than it's worth to begin with. As soon as you drive a new vehicle off the lot you are upside down on the loan and will be for at least 6-12 months. You'd be better off buying a vehicle from someone else who made that mistake. Not a lease buy-back, but from a private individual who needs to get out of their loan and hasn't driven the vehicle into the ground in a year's time. With a year-old vehicle you can easily determine whether there are major problems with them too, unlike new vehicles where you just hope it's going to be okay. Check epinions.com and read reviews from owners who are already driving that vehicle. Good luck!
Are you serious? Is 1400 really considered low???
nm
Have you considered the Kinesis?
I have the Kinesis Classic and I have tried several types of keyboards and find this one has the lightest touch that I have personally tried and it also stopped all my finger, hand and wrist pain I had prior to that. They are pricey and take some time getting use to but, to me, it is well worth it. I can't even type on a regular keyboard now. I use one even with my laptop.
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