Tapes.....
Posted By: FYI on 2008-07-19
In Reply to: my tapes are mailed - Eileen
That sounds really HIPAA compliant.
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Tapes
Can you reuse the same tapes (standard size) over and over? I have been for a while and I was wondering if they eventually get bad.
Thanks!
Tapes
Tapes are great, they fly. Working for a national also, 50% of the time and tapes the other 50%. Enjoy the tapes much more, make much better money (gross line count, not 65 ch). Have always set my word expansions up in Word itself. That way, no matter who I work for I use my own version of Word and my expansions are always there. Enjoy the tapes. Hope this helps. PS. They print at the site for me.
This happens a lot with tapes too.
I have noticed that with digital there are more safeguards. When the office downloads the files to their computer they usually save it on their computer. Once they send it to you, you save it to your computer too. Sometimes the doctor erases the file before all this happens, but when the doctor erased a part of a tape there was no backup then either.
From below regarding tapes
Okay, I started typing today on tapes picked up yesterday. (I deliver between 10 and noon) So I could have done then yesterday but had graduation for nephew. So I started today at 5 o'clock and it is now close to 11. I have typed, printed, showered, made deliveries and pick-ups, went to bank, know what I have to do tomorrow and made $201. No sudden files sent, no sporadic files sent, have the complete day's dictation , and can schedule the rest of the day and tomorrow morning the way that I want. So this works for me and I appreciate the input from Tikki and all, but will keep doing this if they want to continue to use tapes. All my accounts are within a 4 mile radius from each other and the majority at one of the hospital medical buildings so it takes me 35 minutes to do the deliveries from walking out my front door and coming back through. I respect everyone's opinion and hopefuly you respect mine. I get exercise as it is half a mile from my car to home round trip. -- Live on the river in a floating home. Patti
I'm still doing tapes too!
Some docs don't like to change. If you have a good relationship with the office staff, then they shouldn't have a problem using digital. Most doctors do not want voice recognition because they want their reports edited. If the doctor is a taper user, he very well may adjust to digital and just have his secretaries upload the dictation to send to you. You may have to spend some time in the office instructing them on how to do it. You may want to Google "FTP sites", and see where that leads. Good luck!!!! 
sum tapes
Does anyone still use the Sum Tapes and Transcript keys for practice? If so, what is the copyright date on them? Mine are 1994. They seem to be a little out dated. Does anyone have any newer ones?
tapes
I agree, I do tape accounts, a small one, but they do treat me well. I also type straight from the doctors notes on a major account, nice people, too. We make a good living.
Tapes
I have had that happen a couple of times and I have a friend that just transfers the entire tape to a new casing and attachs that. Only rarely have we lost any dictation or have it become so distorted that we can't hear it. Perhaps a couple of sentences. Guess I have been lucky. But again, I would write to Maxwell and tell them that you got a bad batch or lot number. Good luck.
YES you can fix the tapes yourself
see entry above; OPERATE ON THE TAPES.
tapes to wav/mp3
there is a program online - inexpensive - that you hook you tape player up to your computer, play the tape and have ability to modify the tape sounds, editing etc - play it as a wav or mp3. Polderbit is the one I use - you can Google - tape to wav and many will come up
tapes
I have been with them for 10 years and they have only asked for me to reprint twice, that's not bad.
You have tapes -- how do you log in
Guess I am a little slow. You type from tapes, you deliver back on paper, how do they know when you log in???? You don't have to log in to retrieve the dictation nor send it so please explain to me. Guess my old age is catching up with me as I don't understand.
Tapes
This may be a sillyquestion, but I have always worked digital, so I don't know this. How are tapes played with a foot pedal? Thanks
Tapes
You're right, this isn't very common anymore. However, people do still do it. Myself included. I charge by page. I charge $5 a page. This is how it works: I type everything in Word, then get the line count from the Word statistics. I divide this by 55 (55 lines per page) and multiply by 5. This is how I bill. I just make up a bill in Word and sent it to the clinic twice a month. You will have to get a machine with a foot pedal that plays cassettes though, and those are not cheap, but you can make pretty good money if you charge this way.
GOOD LUCK!
Erased tapes
They request that I erase the tapes and I have disabled my erase on my machine, I just accidentally somehow picked up two tapes that were not yet transcribed -- I have two bins -- two different colors --but was in a hurry and picked up the wrong ones and pushed them right through the eraser. Today when I went to transcribe I found two tapes that had already been done in the "To be transcribed" bin and had been delivered and the ones that I knew had to be done were nowhere found and so I am by process of elimination assuming that is what I did. I remember erasing two tapes and it was the wrong two tapes. I am so organized and have always had this fear and so after nearly 20 years it finally came true -- one I could accept but both of them -- that is the problem. But can't fix it now. Thanks for your input.
Erased tapes
Good for you!
Maxell Tapes
Just thought you would find this of interest. I know we don't use tapes too much, but all these years of trying to fix broken tapes - I contacted Maxell about a tape that blew off the spool on side B. They guarantee their tapes, just mail back to them at a N.J. address - link below - via regular mail from NV to N.J., and it was returned within 3 days - not only do they fix it for free - but send it back via Federal Express, at their expense + give you a free tape. Wow! Joyce
http://www.maxell-usa.com/Content/Pages/Page.asp?Section=maxellusa&department=aboutus&Line=maxellcorp&Product=contact
How about the docs that use the tapes sm
to dictate, then use the call in system, put the phone by the recorder and re-record the whole stinking tape via the call in. To me, that is the worst. It turns out to be 30-40 minutes of dictation and they sound like they are dictating from the grave. Yuk.
practice tapes sm
As usual, your answers are so much appreciated. I love this site, helping others is so important, I do it whenever I can as well. I believe in karma. Thanks again!
I was on my way to pick up tapes. nm
nm
Practice tapes from?
I have heard practice tapes some give out that are almost perfect dictation- definitely not what you run into when you transcribe. Are you doing the "goodie" tapes or are they the real McCoy? The practice ones I have heard put in their periods, paragraph. Ha, very seldom hear that in real. What kind of work will you do, speciality or the 4s? I have my equipment as fast as it can possibly go and my salary has gone down in the past 4 years 20,000$ from the constant outsourcing the companies are doing. My speed is between 130-140 wpm and I make good only because I have my nose to the grindstone most of the day. By the way, independent as well but my company asked me for certain hours and which days. I have seen numerous posts on here saying you do not have to do it -but I wanted to work for this particular place and I accept it.
practice tapes from...
Practice tapes are real; slurring run-on sentences, gurgling muffled words, you name it. But, she gave me the printed reports to go with them, so if I really get stuck, i can look at them and find the answer. If you don't mind my asking, how long have you been in this, and what's your cpl? You work for an agency? Yes, my speed is concerning me. Thanks for your reply.
Maxell tapes
Just FYI - if they break, Maxell will repair, send back via FedEx and give you a new tape - beats Dr. having to redictate, if you are still working with tapes. Joyce
I just had to comment on the tapes...sm
I've been MTing for 10+ years and just in the last 1-2 years the tapes the docs have used are coming off the spool at the end of the tape. My doc got so mad and asked me to fix if I could. I would take these things apart and Scotch tape the tape back onto the spool. I have fixed about 10 of these now. Some were Maxell and some Sony I think. I wonder if any of you have had this happen. That's all. Just thought I'd share.
CAN'T UNSCREW SOME TAPES
Unfortunately, some of the newer tapes don't "unscrew" anymore, or at least there are no screws there. Last time I paid someone to fix one it was $85.00. I used to fix these myself, but wonder if anyone knows how open the newer tapes without screws?
copying tapes
We did that for awhile because I was trying to help a friend to start out in the business and I also gave work to other people on the internet, but it is a lot of work. Thank God, my husband did most of the work, but thanks, but no thanks.
C-phone to tapes....
I know this has probably been discussed before, but can someone explain to me the process and equipment needed to record transcription for a C-phone to cassette tapes? I have a Dictaphone C-phone and Lanier microcassette player. Thanks for any help.
copying tapes
it is a lot of work and you lose the quality of the tape, if that is possible with some of the doctors.
C-phone to tapes
I have a Dictaphone C-phone Model 0421 with connected standard cassette transcriber that you can re-record your work to. It is all one unit if interested. I am selling for $275.00. I have a picture of the unit also. It is in brand new condition.
tapes breaking sm
I would like to know how to repair a tape without sending it to someone to do it professionally. I have had this happen in the past and the owner of the dictation had it fixed. However, should I need to do it myself one day, I would not know how. Can you really splice a tape with scotch tape? I would really like to know. I know tapes are gone the way of the dinosaur but you never know! Thanks!
Maxell tapes
I did a quick Google search yesterday and came up with a review on Amazon for this particular brand of tapes, where someone wrote that the tapes becamed detached from the spool and wound up inside the casing and were unusable. It must be the brand. I guess we will try another brand for now, and hopefully this will be a push in the digital direction.
I should say that my doc fixes his own tapes!!! sm
He takes them apart, rewinds, and then tapes back up. Of course, he tells me to throw away when I am done transcribing.
OPERATE ON THE TAPES!
May sound silly but I did this a couple of times - to which was greatly appreciated by the doctor who would have had to redictate!
I just chipped hole in cassette where the tape passes through to the spool, put a tiny piece of scotch tape on the end of the tape, tapped it down onto the spool and carefully rewound the tape onto the spool. And of course threw out the tape when done transcribing it...
Since this is happening to you a lot though, a better solution would be to tell the docs NOT to dictate to the end of the spool, but of course that would REQUIRE COOPERATION on the part of the dictator, so probably nevermind. :)
My account uses tapes.
Good luck.
60 minute tapes
Are they 60 minutes from the same doctor, 20 minutes from 6 docs or what? If you are doing these doctors on a daily basis, you should have a lot of Expanders or auto corrects so that you are typing about 2/3 of what they say. Are they chart notes, long reports or what. What I do is I set up a goal of doing an hour or typing and then take a 15 to 20 minute break. If an hour is too long, then start out at 30 minutes and take a 10 minute break and slowly over the week increase it to 60 minutes. Of typing not dictation. Also check over your work and be sure you are using your expanders/auto corrects to do the work for you part of the time. Between my 6 docs, I do approximately 120 to 150 minutes of dictation a day and it takes me between 4 to 5 hours typing, then an hour to print and deliver. And it is 1800 to 2000 lines I have done. But again,I break mine up in smaller incriments, and set the goals and it is much easier to sit down knowing you are only going to type for an hour with a break or reward and that hour goes by fast. As an IC you can do this. Again, I make my computer work for me -- if it can type it for me that is money in my pocket. Again, you said that you had the same doctors each day so you should be able to do inserts, auto corrects, or use of an Expander if that is your way of doing things. Good luck. Patti
60 minute tapes
You need to see how many lines you get and x by 0.12 per line to see if you are even close to the average. On 30 minutes of chart notes I get approximately 600 lines and that is $72 per 30 minutes that takes me about 1 to 1.5 hours to do. Also depends on what you are transcribing. When I do meetings or seminars it is usually over $125 per hour of dictation. Again, depens on margins, etc. But I always coung my lines with 1" on sides, Courier 12. There is no way I would do a 60 minute tape for $60, again check to see how may lines you get and an average for an IC is 0.12 per line.
Digital vs tapes
If they are used to getting their printed notes/letters back it might be somewhat of a battle to get them to change to print them off, etc. Also decent digital records run in the $175 range and if you are buying them for 15 PT's that is a lot of money. The best ones run $400. But they will also need a designated person that will upload their files to your FTP site. A call in system to handle all of them, depends on how many will dictate at once and how many phone lines you will need can run for 4 lines between $5K and 10K. So you have to balance the cost vs your time of picking tapes and delivering back printed material. Also if they come on board, you put out all the money and then they decide to go elsewhere you will have a lot of equuipment left. I am trying to get my docs (5) of them to switch over to digital but it is like pulling teeth. So decided if they want to continue with tapes there is not much I can do as they are a well paying accoung. If they did go digital I still would deliver the finished product as I like the mileage write off and getting out of the house. I was mainly doing it for better clarity and "no broken tapes." Patti
Converting tapes to FTP - help please
Can someone help me. I'm starting to get a lot of tapes in, and I want to start getting some help and outsource some of this, but I haven't the first clue on how to convert tapes to an FTP site. I've tried talking to computer whizzes, but they lose me after a couple of seconds. So I thought I would try this avenue ... have any MTs out there been able to take mini tapes or standard cassette tapes and convert them to an FTP site to be downloaded anywhere in the country for someone else to transcribe?? I do not know the first thing about it, and I would really appreciate any input.
Please email me. Thanks!
Used to tapes - WavPedal - help!
Hello everybody!
I was a medical Transcriptionist in the late 1990's. I had my own service for about four years. All tapes at that time, of course.
Now that my kids are older, I want to get back into transcription. I don't know anything about the new digital process and I want to learn more about how it all works.
I've never worked (or played) with any type of audio files at all, so I'm completely new to the whole thing. I don't even download music.
I was able to get a WavPedal 5, with software. I just don't know what to do with it.
I was hoping that someone could point me to a site where I could download a basic audio file of some sort so I could play around with the system, and/or something that explains how all of this works.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Nancy
help with dinosaur tapes
I just got an account who is in the process of switching from the old dinosaur tapes to digital. They want me to help them get caught up - 100+ tape backlog. Trouble is, they are poor quality, scratchy/crackly sounding tapes and I am having mucho trouble with them. I tried playing them into my phone system thinking I would have more control through my c-phone, but that actually made it worse. I wonder if there is any way to somehow transfer them to digital so I can put them in my FTP software??????? Any suggestions out there anywhere?
Thanks so much.......
I do nothing but tapes -- see message
My Sony's kept doing that and so I went to Olymus Pearlcorder that I got off of E-Bay for less than $100 and am still using 4 years later. I also have a Sanyo that one of my docs gave to me but the Olympus is clearer. Stay away from Panasonic also as they do not last. Olympus and Sanyo are more expensive but worth it. But try E-Bay, I have not had a bad experience buying any of my transcribers there and plan on getting another back-up after the first of the year.
charging for tapes
Hi. Could anybody give me the going rates for tapes (per line of course) that are not printed out and just e-mailed back to the clinic when completed. I have been charging .11 per line including spaces. I have charged this for approximately 1-1/2 years. Could I charge more? Thanks in advance.
doctor with tapes
I also type for doctors who use tapes and I print on the sticky labels, which they deliver right to my door at their expense. It is continual feed labels. For each doctor it is one continuous file for each date of visit. I deliever and pickup twice a wk and the second pickup produces a check up to date. They are very nice people. No, the office manager is not the doctor's wife. They are sweet people. At the end of the year I always get a Christmas bonus. Like I said, very sweet people. If a tape breaks or is unclear, no problem, they say toss it.
doctor with tapes
The girl who trained me on this account used to have to cut them up by each patient, but they have not asked me to do that. I just put in the envelope, they provide with the patient list and the tape and identified by the date and someone in the office cuts them and files them. Much easier, right?
Stick with your tapes for now
With your years of experience you should get plenty of work. Most small private practices use tapes. Once your business starts to grow and you have more operating capital, then you can invest in some digital equipment if you want.
Good luck to you and don't be afraid to go for it. I did and never looked back. Let us know how it goes!
I have a question about tapes
I'm really really hoping that someone out there has done this before. I am getting a bunch of tapes in, and I need to play them in a cassette transcriber, but I want to be able to upload them to my computer and have people help me transcribe them.
I have a wire thingamajig from Radio Shack, but I do not know what to do at this point.
Or do you know of any places or types of businesses that will convert the tapes into CDs
Please email me and let me know. Thank you so much!!
picks up tapes
Yes, I do. I pick them up twice a week and the second pickup I receive a check every Friday, no matter what. I am blessed and have been with them for 12 years. I thank God all the time for this blessing.
picking up tapes
I also have another doctor who mails me the tapes and faxes me her doctor's notes. I do that, too.
My tapes are mailed
and I E-mail the reports back. Works great plus cuts down on gas.
my tapes are mailed
I have the same deal. They mail me the tapes and I email the work back.
I hope those tapes are
either by courier or Fex-Ex in a locked pouch that only you and the client have a key to and the emailed reports are encrypted.
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