The owners of the companies I work for certainly could increase my cpl rate. nm
Posted By: Pay me what I am worth. on 2005-12-19
In Reply to: But you are the only one who can make that happen. It's not going to be handed SM - Becky
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Help with rate increase, please
Good morning, everyone. May I have a little advice on a rate increase I am thinking about, please? I have been transcribing for a clinic here in South Florida for 4 years. I started out at 0.06/line and have never raised my rate for this client. However, I would like to raise my line rate to 0.08. Is this unreasonable? I work from home and feel very isolated when it comes to knowing if I am way too low on my rate. Any advice you can give me would be most appreciated. Thanks!
IC Rate Increase
I would say work with them a little. I would say try and increase to $2.50 per page in the hopes you get an increase of $2.00. I had a physician do this where I wanted $2.50 from $1.50 (6 years ago), and he offered me $2.00. I took it.
I am now, same physician, looking for a way to increase as I get paid per page $2.00 (typing from handwritten forms/not dictation), but I think he may go for it. I, however, am looking at whether I am making more with him per page as opposed to per line and with him it seems I do better per page. I also make deliveries. If I were you, I would not go 4 times a week if they are not willing to compensate you a little more for that time. Production is production, but the time spent making the deliveries needs to be worked in.
Is this a client that could possibly go digital? You may want to stroll that avenue. Just a thought. E-mail me if you'd like and have more questions. I am having the same dilemma. No one wants to go digital, but they are flexible with pick-up/delivery.
I read an article on www.mtworld.com about transcriptionists not making what they should because they do not want to "rock the boat", well my boat is sinking somewhat as everything has gone up but my income!!! HAHAHAHAHA
Rate increase...
I just this done several months ago and what I did was put a little "blurb" at the bottom on the current invoice that said "Effective xx/xx/xx line rate will be $x.xx", with the effective date starting the next month. I never heard anything back so have been billing at increased rate ever since. I did make it large enough (same font size as rest of invoice) and put a couple of ******next to it. When you get a bill from your water, electric, gas or whatever company, they don't even tell you,they just raise it, although sometimes the cable company will tell you in advance that rates have changed. Anyway, that's what I did, didn't feel I needed to justify it, especially if your rates have been the same for a long time, like mine!! Good luck.
To the person asking whether to increase her rate sm
check this website out. These are the vendors and what they are charging for New Jersey Medical Center.
http://www.umdnj.edu/purchweb/employees/employ16_transcribing.htm
To all of those MQ MTs, check it out, they are charging up to $0.20 per 65 character line.
Hope this helps.
I just had to laugh - after 3+ years of no rate increase SM
I gave my MTSO 4 weeks notice of going up to 12.5 cents (IC) - they do no QA on my work (returned directly to clients) - only have to pay for call-in system. Accuracy rate is pretty near 100% according to my docs (and my own proofing) MTSO said my proposed rate was OUTRAGEOUSLY high and I was living in a dream world compared to area ICs (Chicago land area). Now I read I am not so far off after all. And MTSOs wonder why their ICs tend to believe what they are told with a big salt shaker! BTW, I got my line rate increase - my MTSO leaves me alone, my doctors love their accuracy, and I am happily typing while the kiddos are at school. Win-win for everyone! Just my thoughts FWIW. Nice to see I am still in the ballpark for ICs!
IC, do you write your own rate increase letters?
I'm working as IC with one physician, and I need to increase the rate. I'm working too much typing, printing,and driving 4 days a week at $1.50 per report (mostly one page). I average 25 reports per day. PE is a given, but the rest of the document has to be typed. He is ESL and a good one.
Can you share info on what and how to include in a rate increase letter? What would be my effective date, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days?
I thought I'd increase to $2 per report. What do you think?
I didn't increase my line rate for over 10 years!
I am an IC and have one office of three physicians as well as work for a smaller MTSO and have to totally agree with what MTSO said. You have to take into consideration so many things. Do we deserve a raise, you betcha - I think most of us do. However, if you are making good money, love the accounts, and things are working well for both sides, are you willing to jeopardize them shopping elsewhere? I haven't been, but due to the increase in gas prices which are now going to be reflected in many other ways in our cost of living, I find I really need to increase my rate and I did. I sent a memo and simply stated that in 30 days the billing would reflect a 1 cent/line rate increase. Yes, I held my breath waiting for the phone to ring or the OM asking to speak to me in her office but so far I have not heard anything. I am not sure if this is good or bad but I think they have had a great deal for 10 years and I deserve a raise and I need to increase my rate just due to cost of living.
Where do you work where you can increase
I wanted to work all hours this week and make a good check for the holidays. I am actually getting half, because there is no work at any time of day. I am working 12-15 hours sitting and waiting for work. If you can share any where that has an abundance of work to get incentives it would be very appreciated. Glad you can make up for your loss, but I am sorry you are going through this.
If you can increase your work load with current company
that would be better than getting a second job. It will take you a while to learn new dictators and/or new platform so you won't be making that much money initially for the time you are putting into a new job. If you are able to pay bills with the debt currently I would just go on a strict budget and cut out any extras. If you can get a home equity loan to consolidate bills. Debt will still be there, but instead of several bills to keep up with, you can focus on one and pay debt off sooner.
what is the companies line rate?
And how long is the internship?
not all companies post clearly .. how many put their line rate in the ads?
I really hate it when I answer a blind ad and afterwards I have to tell the person that they are not offering enough compensation for me to work on their account.
If they need weekend coverage, maybe that should be handled by a weekend-only IC. And if the MTSO has to hire 3 MTs to jump in the work pool (usually with a prn hanging in the eves) on Saturday and clean it up, then the work gets done. The M-F gals are happy, and the weekend MT looking for extra work (because some accounts don't have weekend work - especially clinic accounts) on the weekend is happy, too.
I work the weekend sometimes, both days. But I typically steer completely away from account ads that have the shifts delineated Tues-Sat 1st, 2nd, or 3rd shift.
This is a labor-management issue that needs to be worked out amicably. Too many times MTSOs are bad-mouthing ICs and ICs/SEs/Es are bad-mouthing MTSOs. We aren't at odds. The MT is benefitted by hitting TATs with hopefully job security, and surely we all understand that we are all together on contract performance. This is supposed to be a symbiotic relationship and if you do get an MT who flakes, then have an extra to cover it. Management shouldn't browbeat the MTs who are dependable.
Why in the world do companies not list their line rate in their ads?
Why waste my time applying for a position that pays 0.065 per line?
Why are they ashamed (other than the obvious). Let's be up front with this!!!
Call the credit card companies and ask them to lower your rate. sm
Tell them you are having trouble and you need a lower rate. I would try that first on your own. I have done it and went from 14.9% to 4.9% on my credit cards. I can now pay them more monthly than they ask for and I am on my way out of credit card debt.
Consolidation companies, some, charge a fee and it goes on your credit report as "write off or bad creditor". If you have no success with the cc companies yourself, than try a consumer company to help you.
Good luck to you!
Question. How many MTs sit and wait for work when companies overhire and there is not enough work
on your shift. Is this what these companies want for people to sit around and wait on work. As an IC, this probably doesnt amount to even close to minimum wage. What do you do in these cases of no work and sitting waiting for practically nothing to come in when obviously lots of others are doing the same thing. It actually almost seems as though you need to have 2 jobs to survive in this business really. I cant image how you can get the lines in they require. Crazy business this is.
Who do YOU work for for that rate!
I get 15-17 per hour depending on lines edited per hour.
Its the highest rate I have heard of for IC work
I have not heard of rates that high where I live (Tampa, FL.) The highest I have heard for IC work is 12/13 cpl and thats pretty rare!
If thats pretty common in your area then dont back down, but around here that would be considered very high.
Hope it all works out!
I would let her know she hired you for MT work at a certain line rate (sm)
and things have changed gradually and you need to discuss another rate for editing.... I would charge her either an hourly rate for editing - whatever you feel comfortable with - or a flat line rate - and I would not do anything else until you come to some kind of an agreement.... she definitely knows you know your stuff and is taking advantage of you.. good luck!!
It depends where you work and what your straight rate is.
I make 75% of my straight rate for VR. This is the highest I have seen. It seems like most seem to offer 50% of straight. DON'T accept that. It is way too low. I don't produce that much more with VR than I did with straight. I am on an account though that is newer to VR, so some adjustments are still being made. Unfortunately even with VR, I probably just give up and straight transcribe half of my VR work that I am getting. It is way faster than trying to fix every other word of an entire report.
What do you consider a fair per audio hour rate for MT work?
I am only accustomed to the per word rate in MT, but I know that the GT companies prefer the PAH rate.
I was wondering if any MT companies do use the PAH rate and what would be a fair price if there are indeed any companies using this method.
I think you would have to charge an hourly rate for this type of work.
I am one who will not work for those companies SM
If they outsource to offshore, I will not work for them.
If they treat me like dirt, I get out.
I see ads all the time for "experienced MTs only apply." Then they turn around and offer you 6 or 7 cpl. How insulting is that? I won't work for them either.
There are a couple of good companies out there - but not too many. You need to be able to pick and choose in this business. IMO only desperate people work for desperate pay and put up with the crappy services and what they dish out. I kind of feel sorry for all the new MTs out there that have to put up with this crap just so they can get a foot in the door and try to get some experience so they can move on.
If more of us refused to work for those lousy companies, maybe they might reconsider their business practices. I doubt that offshore MTs are going to work for paltry wages for ever. They are now beginning to demand more money for their services. Let's see what happens with that.
any companies out there that never run out of work??
 It is too much to ask for work to be available and not have overhiring??? 
Companies NOT to work for
Do not work for the following companies if you expect to make decent wages or if you even expect to get a paycheck without having to beg for one. Hum lets see.
Medquist, KJM Trans., SoftScript, Superior Global, Zylomed, Medvoice, A to Z trans., D&L Typing, MedWord, Spheris, California Trans., Unlimited, ... there are more but I just can not think of them right now. Mostly, you will not find anyone paying what they use to pay before "Offshore" began. So if you find someone who you are averaging at least $18/20 dollars plus an hour, KEEP IT.
Work for 3 different companies. sm
.10/65 no headers/footers, .10/65 with headers/footers, spaces, etc., 1.70 per minute with 25% extra for stat or 8.5 gross with 25% extra stat.
I did actually work for 2 companies using DQS,
and I had two separate downloads, because I think the one company was using a slightly different version of DQS. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that any companies who purchase DQS from you-know-who have a slightly modified version from you-know-who....I had 2 icons on my desktop, for company #1 and company #2, and had no problems just using each one separately. Good luck!
Work for 1 or 2 companies?
I currently have 2 companies that I work for. One i have been with for a while and the other I just accepted not too long ago. The newest company I am not liking at all. They have the suckiest audio and platform and it takes me forever to get 1 report done. I know I have just started with them but I am already dreading work with them every day. The new company does pay 2 cents more per line for transcription and editing, but I can get a whole lot more work done with my first company because I can hear their dictations great and I also look forward to working for the first company every day. I am thinking of quitting the newest company. My first company has tons of work but I am afraid if I quit the newest company and go full-time with my first company that their workload will get low and then I will have nothing to fall back on. What would you guys do? Do any of you work for just one company and feel very secure about it?
Do you all work for companies?
Do those of you working split shifts work for a MTSO or are you ICs?
If you work for a company, is the split shift a common thing or did you have to ask for special consideration?
I am interesting in trying this as well because I get so worn out doing a full shift.
good companies to work for
Hi,
I am a recent M-TEC grad who is beginning the job search. Does anyone have any companies that they really like working for or have heard good things about? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Jen
Good companies to work for.
I have found Spheris to be an excellent company to work for. They provide you with the equipment and with on-line paid classes to teach you their system. The supervisors and help personnel are terrific. You set your hours and can have as much work as you want without ever running out. They have terrific benefits and fun things to do and an on line info system that teaches you whatever you need to know about medical transcription. I have been self-employed, and have worked in a clinic for 15+ years and find Spheris to be the best of all. Good luck in your search!
Dee
Good companies to work for
I disagree with Spheris being a good place to work. As a newbie, you should stick with a smaller company. Somewhere where you will get individual attention and not be lost in the shuffle of a huge company. If you are placed on the right team, you might be okay. If you are placed on one of the teams with incompetent managers or supervisors, you are destined for doom. Just my personal opinion.
Companies with psych work?
Hi there!
Does anyone know any companies out there that are hiring specifically for Psych/Behavioral Medicine (clinic or acute)? I have about 3 years of MT experience, but my college coursework is all (besides MT school) in Psych, and this is the field I want to gain as much experience as possible in. I know it's hard to find, because people tend to gravitate toward psych accounts, but I just thought I'd ask. I've done lots of it on a random basis as a secondary or alternate account at various places, but I'm looking for a primary account in that field.
I have worked for a few of the major nationals (MedQuist, MedWare, and Spheris) and I'm happy at Spheris, but having trouble finding any available Psych accounts, so I'm considering leaving, if I have the opportunity elsewhere. Just thought some of you may know where to check. Thanks!
I work for 2 companies and make
0.0825 cents per 65 character line with spaces at one and 0.10 cents per 65 character line with spaces at the other so it just goes to show it varies.
can you work for two different trans. companies?
JUST WONDERING IF THIS IS POSSIBLE AND/OR LEGAL?
It seems like a lot of companies are out of work. Could it just be a slump? Are there any with sm
a lot of work? I am afraid to leave little work at MQ for no work somewhere else.
Quite amusing, since you work for two companies, you are
a
Many companies pay 10 cpl or better. You just need to do the leg work and search.
You will find they do exist.
MDI Maryland pays 10 cpl as SE, Precyse offered me 10.5 cpl as employee, JLG pays 10 cpl if not higher, Get Back Jack Productions is 10 cpl and 11 cpl on the weekends, Even Transcend pays 10 cpl if you negotiate for it.
There are many more out there.
Good luck!
An excellent platform and a good line rate with plenty of work -
Then leave me alone and let me do my thing! :-)
Which MT companies seem to have enough work all the time for their MTs and pay decently. Thanks.
:
May I ask which 2 companies you work for? Those are great rates! - nm
May I ask which 2 companies you work for? Those are great rates! - nm
has anyone ever charged insurance companies for doing their work - SM
I have a lot of medical issues with my family and so see a lot of doctors and pay a lot of copays. Each and every time I see a doctor or facility I have to pay a copay, which I always ALWAYS charge on my credit card. No exception. Do not pay, do not see the doctor or have the test. Yet time and time again I get letters from the doctor's billing or facility saying I owe a copay to them. When I call them up, explain that I paid my copay at the time of services rendered and do not owe anything further, I am told they don't have a record of it. I must find the receipt and send them a copy for proof of payment. In short, I must do their job because they are either too lazy or inefficient to do it. Earlier this month I got a statement from the x-ray facility saying that I owed a copay. The customer (dis)service person was very unhelpful when I explained that I always made my copay first and it showed up on my credit card statement. Finally I told him I would call the facility myself and get things straightened out, which I did (they had put my copay into a different account by mistake). But I ended up doing his job and got treated rudely to boot. Then yesterday, I got yet another doctor's billing statement saying I owed my copay. I called and left a message saying that it had already gone through on my credit card bill and would not be paying. They want proof. Am I out of line saying, fine, I will photocopy the receipt (and this is an NCR receipt so the office has a copy of it) and my credit card bill (with everything else blanked out) and send it to you as proof of my payment, but it will require my invoicing you a $10 processing fee. If you are not willing to reimburse me for my time to straighten out your mistake, then I will not provide proof of payment. This takes time out of my day to hunt through my receipts, make a photocopy, document it in writing (LOL I learned that VERY early on), then postage, etc. Why must I do this without being reimbursed for it. IS ANYONE ELSE FED UP WITH PEOPLE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS????? Arrrrghhh. I feel every so much better.
Most companies won't have the patience for your lack of doing your own work. nm
x
There are companies out there who do not require weekend work...sm
I have two right now that don't, but I can if I want to which means more work for me on Monday. So, sometimes I work and sometimes I don't. It is nice. I'm an IC.
Plenty of rad work out there - try the companies that specialize in it. sm
I have been with Keystrokes for 4 years and love it. I have radiology-only accounts, plenty of work and get paid well. The hospital I worked for outsourced to them and they hired me right away. Best move I ever made.
My sister is also an MT and works for another company doing rad but runs out, so be careful that the company you go with has a lot of rad-only accounts.
all clinic work companies pay 6.5-8/line.
NM
Best school for becoming an MT and best (honest) companies to work for as an MT
Can anyone give me insight on the best MT school to enroll in and then after completing the course the best companies (most honest companies) to work for? Thanks!
OTOH, if companies can't get employees here to work SM
their schedules consistently enough to meet contract committments (so those very important medical reports will be in the charts quickly), they know where to find workers who will be glad to do the job. Maybe they are trying to make it possible to keep the work here. Let's face it, the standard of what is required, especially in terms of work attendance, is rising, even if wages aren't.
Any companies out there that allow you to work 5-10 hours a week?
I posted this on the company board, but didn't get any responses, so I'm hoping there will be some help here. work full time outside the home and I am looking for something for just 5-8 hours a week to supplement my income. I worked for MQ for 6 years, but certain things led me to quit. Is there a good company out there where I can work 5-8 hours? Back at the Q I think now you have to commit to 24 hours and I just can't swing that. Is there such an option out there anywhere? Any input would be very much appreciated.
How much room do you need on your hard drive if you work for 2 companies at once. I know this is a
stupid question but I am ready to buy a computer and I am thinking of going part time with 2 companies and each one has their own platform but I dont want to pay for some hugh unnecessary computer. Can someone tell me what has worked for them if you work for 2 separate companies.
Which companies allow you to work under 40 hours and still qualify for benefits?
Thanks for any and all help. 
Um, I am doing research by posting here and asking for opinions of MTs who work for these companies.
x
Well, some companies want to categorize you as an IC, but dictate what hours you work. sm
That is illegal. If you are an IC, companies can not tell you what hours to work; however, they can tell you we need these hours covered on such and such day. You can either agree or disagree.
Personally, I will not commit to any set hours. I am an IC solely for that reason. I will give you 2000 lines a day in a 12 or 14 hour period or whatever period you need it in, but I will not tell them I will sit at my keyboard from 9-5.
Companies want you as an IC but they want employee schedules. Most companies are trying to do that nowadays. It is up to you, the individual MT, to accept or decline. Everyone's needs, including companies and MTs, are different.
Quite frankly, you really do need to ask the company what they expect from you, the IC MT, to really make informed decisions and choices.
I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck!
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