Questions about QA/editing

Hi all... I have a few questions and hope someone can help me out.  :) 

I have 5 years' experience in acute care transcription and have recently been considering moving into QA.  The first immediate problem I have is that I adore my company and would hate to leave them, but they seldom have QA openings.  When they do, they'll hire in-house first, though. 

Before I even start seriously looking around, I would like to know a few things, if possible.  I realize that editors can get paid either by line or by hour, and hourly is the preferred method.  That would be my preferred method also, but I am curious about what the standard hourly rates are. 

Of course I know it's like any job, and the specific salary you quote wouldn't be the exact amount I can count on with anyone.  But I would like to get an idea of what it may be. 

I would also like to hear some of your experiences and opinions after switching to editing from MT, if you could take the time.  :) 

Thank you very much!  :) 

• Questions about QA/editing - Considering

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I have never done any editing, just transcription.  I have been doing transcription for about 19 years.  Can someone tell me about VR editing.  Is it time consuming, can you make any money?  How is it different from QA on transcribed reports, or is it different?  I may have to do this shortly and want to know what I am in for.   

Thank you so much.

I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 

Greetings,

How does VR editing prod. pay compare to hourly pay ($15) regular QA and constantly being threatened to start being payed production.  Are there any special tricks to know to make good money on a VR program?  Any companies that have VR and are better than other ones would be appreciated as well.  Any and all assistance much appreciated-have to make a change shortly, so looking for a great company that offers ins. benefits.  Thanks for your time.

If so can you provide some insight as compared to transcription?

Thanks

What is the average pay per line for editing (including VR editing)?

Thanks

I do VR editing and you really have to be fast, it only pays .02/65 char.  The VR puts in so many things that it's a hassle to correct.  If you are considering doing this for a company, don't.  If you are doing this for yourself, then maybe you can work with it so it becomes more reliable.

There are companies that pay $15/hr for editing.  You would have to edit 500 lines per hour to make that much money if you were paid 3 cents per line.  What is not factored into the by the line editing pay is the time spent researching.  I have been a QA/editor for some time and I don't know all the words, but I have lots of web sites bookmarked and I have a full library of reference books and software to use to help me find the term.  To me, this is such an important part of the editing process.  I hope you will continue looking for a job where you will get paid by the hour.  I know they are out there.  I have worked for 2 companies that paid by the hour.

Good luck with your job search!!  

I love being an MT, but it is a very physical job, one that I am not sure I can or want to be doing for 35 to 40 more years because of the wear and tear on the body. But I think I can handle it easily if I'm doing SR editing full time or straight transcription half of the time and editing part time.

My question is, is it possible to make a good income doing SR editing?

I have been an MT for over 20 year and have been considering starting an editing service. 

As you mentioned, MT's could expand into editing for publications, pharmaceutical companies, etc.

Given your choice, which position would you pick, assuming the cpl rate was the same?  Is QA a lot faster than VR editing?  If so, what is the approximate lph range for either?

TIA