Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Okay. I think you are not being very truthful. Are you saying you do 1,000 in 2 hours? You are a jok

Posted By: MQer on 2007-01-12
In Reply to: Normal interruptions? - Minnie

.


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

Truthful Advice?

As some of you might see I have already posted this on the WAHM board, just thought I'd get it out there as much as I can, so....looks like you guys get it too. lol


I just recently got married and I am working in-house at our local hospital.  I LOVE getting out of the house and going to work every day.  I love what I do and want to stick with it.  We will probably not be having children for at least a couple of years as my husband has a year left in college to get his business degree.  I want to be able to stay home and raise my children, but I have seen what it has done to my mom.  She sits at home all day in her PJs and type, type, types.  I am just wonderng if any of you have any regrets about deciding to do transcription full time from home in order to be there for your children?  This may sound a little selfish, but I don't want to have any regrets about my life and want to look at all options before I settle into a decision. I know I have some time to think about it, but it has been a topic that I have really been thinking about lately. What I would really like to do is stay at home with them until they are all in school and then try to get a job out of the house while they are at school.  Have any of you made this transition?  Any advice would be appreciated.  I would just like a heads up before making any decisions.  Thanks!


I don't think it matters. They're not always truthful.
I asked several questions that they answered in an unhonest way. For instance, I asked if they were flexible with the hours or rigid. They said flexible. Right from the start were threatening emails about WORKING YOUR SCHEDULED HOURS! I think you get much better information on these boards than you do from a recruiter.
there should be more positive/truthful comments

I am at the opposite end of the MT career ladder. I am a newbie working her first job at home with IC status, and I have no complaints. I was just thrilled to get a job. Fortunately, my program gave me no delusions about what it is really like as an MT. Plus I didn't do an online program-I went to school the old fashioned way for over a year.


I don't care at this point in time how much I make (7 cpl) because this is a career choice and you have to start somewhere. It took hard work to get through school and months to get my first job, but I am happy. I love the medical field and doing interesting and challenging work. That is why I chose this profession. I'm sure there are others out there like me, they are just probably busy doing what they love to do.


What a fantastic, cogent, and TRUTHFUL post.....sm
We at home have been reduced, in most part, to a pair of hands who are there to pound out high-quality work at all times, put out high-volume work to bring in the $$$ for the company/corporation, and because we are employed at home in order to save physicians, hospitals, and other health care systems $$$, we are where the buck stops, and it is a small buck at that. We are all a separate entity, working remotely, and as such it is easier for many MTSOs to offer the slimmest package they possibly can, and squeeze the most out of the workers. When will companies realize that a happy worker who feels valued and cared about is a more productive, loyal, and healthier asset to the company. I have worked in hospitals with unions, and to be honest, we would still be making half of what we now make were it not for union negotiations standing up for us, the dues are small compared to the guaranteed packages, and guaranteed raises built in to the contract for the next five years, as inflation eats up our paychecks. MTs study hard, must be experts at anatomy, epidemiology, grammar, semantics, translations for ESLs, understand clinical procedures during difficult procedures, edit, trouble-shoot when there is a problem with a file, be tech-savvy....I truly think, after almost 20 years, that MT as a profession has consistently been undervalued and undermined by offshoring. Sorry to rant, but all of these problems have hurt and affected most MTs for many, many years, and their families. Thanks!
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit

you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.


That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT.  Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day.  My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive.  If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.


Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs.  JMO, tho.


If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.

They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
That was PT at EACH. Isn't PT up to 32-35 hours?
She could be working 70 hours a week to make that kind of dough.  Ergh, not me, no how, no way, uh uh.  I'm happy with the 35 hours total that I've been putting in lately.
hours
Contracted to work 8 hrs M-F but I usually do more, may be 1.5 after baby is sleep. If I have to work on Friday nights I can make my personal quota in 5.5 hours.
12,000 AND 40 hours
No, 12,000 not enough. Must do 40 hours to be full time.
About 6.5 to 7.5 hours. (nm)
.
40 hours?
I got a letter from my office but it stated the 12,000 lines or 10 or 6 for staturatory. It stressed lines, not hours, Massachusetts office, great supervisor.
About 6 hours from me-- they are way out there! - thanks for the tip
x
Here, here! But it won't take us 8 hours

but 14 hours to get a decent line count.


Hours

If you are an employee and have a schedule to work, then you should work all of your hours. Generally services don't hire you to do so many lines per day (although you will always have a minimum goal), but to work 40 hours/week as a full time employee. One of the biggest problems is those who agree to a schedule and then just decide they don't have to work it. If you can get your "quota" in 6 hours, what will be expected is that you simply are able to do more work on that day.


And BTW, never any such thing as a dumb question! :)


PT here, do 25 hours over Fri, Sat and Sun.
nm
7-1/2 to 8 hours
I work 7 1/2 to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, make 5000 a month.
About 12 hours . . . (sm)

That broke down to 1881 lines in my usual overnight shift (I've done 1950 before but usually average more like 1200-1400/shift), then far less productive the rest of the day as I had both children home (daughter homeschools; son was sick).


Thank you all for being so very encouraging.    I didn't expect that . . . I've seen other posts about production where the OP got hammered for bragging.


My method is normals; I save a copy of practically every report I transcribe (no patient info, just the body).  Even if I only do the same dictator twice, I save a lot of lines on headings, especially since my primary account has highly formatted headings.  While I love Instant Text and have been using Expanders for 12 years, I believe the combination of normals and expanders produces far greater productivity.


Think the service will notice?  I love them dearly, but they've been in a sparse-communication mode of late.


1600 lines/day is great!  The service I work for says their top MTs average 1300-1400/day.


12 hours
is a LONG day transcribing - more power to ya!  I keep mine about 6-7 hours and that works for me!
usually 24-48 hours but not....N/M
#
Already did - hours ago - did you get it? *l*..nm

in 3-1/2 hours: 500 first job/90 second =
.
If you have the hours they have to pay you for them, it is
the law.  You can call the Labor Board and they will gladly get your money for you.  Be sure and keep good documentation in case they protest. 
few hours?
The trainer was supposed to call at 8 a.m. to get me set up and started. I, of course, was all nervous while waiting. He finally called around 9 and announced he hadn't had his muffin yet and would call me back. I didn't bother to answer the phone after that.
28 hours???

Never takes me more than two to three but then I have everything gathered and ready to put in.  Even the first time I used TT it only took 3 hours or so.  And now shorter since it downloads last years info.   But give yourself 4-5 hours on a Sunday afternoon.   I usually do it, let it sit, and then recheck it before sending it in.


 


 


5 hours per day???
You are going to be driving 5 hours per day?  How many miles?    After a week you can afford to buy them digital hand helds and do it that way.  I go to three different spots for pick up and delivery - 5 accounts, and it takes me 45 minutes -- an hour if I stop and chat a lot and I think that is excessive sometimes.  How many hours of dictation will you get for that amount of driving?   When are you going to be typing or are you the one that asked about transcribing in a car?  I don't think that you can charge enough to make it worth your while.   At $20 to $30 per hour that is an extra $100 to $150 per day and if they want to pay that much extra per month, $2200 then they have a lot of money to spare.  If they have 6 to 8 hours of typing you will be putting in a 13 hour day and you will be tired after all that driving and it is just ridiculous -- have them go digital and you can show them you can save them literally thousands per month.   Good luck. 
IC and set hours
The one big problem with being an IC and having your hours dictated to you is that the IRS can come back on you and disallow your home office deductions - because if you are working set hours - in the eyes of the IRS you are an employee - this happened to me once, so I referred the IRS to my "employer." He did not appreciate this - but he was told that if he wanted to keep me then he would have to allow me to work my own schedule not his. So, thankfully, he changed his tune (I don't think he wanted a headache from the IRS) and it was a nice 10-year relationship. I have had to mention this in almost every interview I have had since, though, when hours were brought up - and even the nationals act like they didn't know this law - it's in the 20 laws of the IC put out by the IRS.
hours
Most of the time work many more hours than paid and very little given in return.
I do, but I put in a lot of hours. nm
nm
Hours later.
I tried to tape it back together after opening it 2-3 times. What a mess. I did get it to play somewhat and yes I lost at least one day and it still won't rewind properly. It won't take this doctor long to redictate since he speaks at least 300 words a minute. Thanks for your help as always.
About 6 hours.
I guess you could say an average is 250 lines per hour.  With your experience, you should near that in a 6 hour day.  Most companies want 1,000 a day, which means 8 hours, but you need time for googling, uploading depending on platform, etc.  I type in Word and have done 300 lines easy in an hour or hour an half depending if I have to look anything up.  I hope this helps. 
why 4 hours?
nm
How many hours

$3000 sounds like a lot but you don't say how many hours a day and how many days per month you work...if you work 12 hours a day/30 days a month that isn't very good ($8.33 hour) but if you work 8 hours a day/20 days a month that is much better ($18.75).  No one can know if that $3000 is good or not without this info.


 


how many hours

I work about 8 to 10 hours a day, five days a week.  Of course, sometimes I spread that time over the weekend too...but I work about 40 to 50 hours over a seven day time period.  I have been there, making little money and typing all day and not getting anywhere, but I stuck with it and I asked for a raise and got it, and now I feel like I'm finally making some money...but making 7 or 8 cents per line...you almost have to kill yourself to make a lot of money.  I would not start with a company, at this point, for less than 10 cents a line. 


I hope this helps give a better guidline!


hours?
How many hours a week do you have to do to get that kind of salary?  Would like a gauge to go by.  Thanks!
It take me about 2 hours
But this is basically a lot of repetitive typing as I just type up office notes and they tend to be the same.
2 hours, sometimes a little less
nm
I have from 12 p to 12 a to get in 8 hours

I am an employee, so I do have to schedule what days of the week I work, though I got to pick what days, and I did have to take the second shift, which works perfect for me personally anyway.


What about hours though?
I would like to know how many hours a week these transcriptionists work to make this money.  I seriously doubt it is just a 40 hour work week and would love to know that part of the equation.  Just a thought.....
At my co., hours is hours regardless of day. 6 hours = 6 hours. nm
x
What hours do you work?
I am having a hard time setting a schedule.  I would like to work early mornings, but it is hard ot get motivated.
About 3 hours on the WTs you named. nm
.
So how many hours a day do you work? nm
xx
Unnatural to sit for hours
Taking a 10-minute walk down the street does me wonders.  I would go crazy if I couldn't.
It is 1645 hours.
s
462 lines in 2.5 hours.

I did over 1000 in 3 hours, and do so
routinely. Lots of ESL docs, but the key is an expander and doing the same account for more than a year. You need to lay the groundwork, like making sure you have doctors lists, know the formats and account specifics, and have readily available list of resources or reference books to use. At first take the time to write down all the unusual words or terms, instruments, etc., and then it will all fall into place.

Don't just rely on a single word in an expander. Make phrases, sentences, paragraphs, whatever is necessary. My rule of thumb- if I typed the same thing in full 3 times, that was 3 times too many, time to make a shortcut.