The way I see it. Competing with national rates. If stable acct, good dictators. Bid low, get job
Posted By: You'll be hard to replace. on 2005-09-23
In Reply to: I haven't made that kind of rate for at least 20 years - not good here
dd
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I'll bet I work for the same national! While I have great dictators, seriously they never say the
same thinge twice, save one surgeon who always ends his op reports with the same paragraph, which, of course, I have in my expander. I mean it - there are probably 30 doctors, and I never ever get a repeat or any pattern at all! Again, I have a huge expander that I've set up on my own over the years, and rarely type more than a few words "longhand", but I still am not hitting over 200-250 lines an hour. Oh well! At least I have great dictators, right?
Acct fee is a tax deduction. Find a good one.
:P
Is the dictation quality good, are the dictators good, are you
a newbie and you still have to look up lots of words .... The very first day I typed, with absolutely no education way back when, when you didn't have to have a degree/certificate or previous experience, I typed 665 lines. This was without an expander and I was not a fast typist. I can do 1000 lines in about 4 hours now on average.
I'm going to type an acct at home for local group. What is a good word expander for
things to know on doing tapes from an office? Is it best just to give them a disk and let them print it out at the office like they want to?
Anybody doing an acct like this? Thanks.
IC rates yes I think 8 is good
My first job was IC and I started at about 5.5 and never made more than 6.5.
competing for recognition
Did not win, and of course there were at least 10 people who won more than once during the week. I appreciate my QAs also, & they should have had a chance at the prizes, as they have been in the trenches longer than I have.
for good MTs. If they would pay decent rates,
x
Are you competing for Miss America?
x
Good workload, bad dictators! nm
Good dictators only on that account . . .
I get plenty of the stinkers, just like we all do. The accounts I don't share, and sometimes dread, are often short reports filled with lots of dead air in the sound file. They are also 90% ESLs. So don't think I skim off the cream. I don't.
I'm just saying it is impossible to cherry pick an account of all good dictators.
I work my butt off to make it. I'm not sitting here taking only the "good stuff" and leaving the crud for other MTs.
Ever come to like a specialty you used to hate, just because the dictators are so good?
In my case, it's cardiology. Used to CRINGE when I saw a cardiology report come up. But on my account, almost ALL the cardiology docs are great to transcribe. Now I actually enjoy these reports and have learned a lot about a specialty I used to hate!
Now, physical therapy will always and forever be my most detested specialty. I get really bored with all the stupid exercises and the patient saying his/her back hurts. Whose back DOESN'T hurt? The fact that PT on this account has some of the worst dictators certainly doesn't help any.
I find myself willing to research more for good dictators...SM
if I get a lazy, mushmouth speedtalker, I don't bother much. I mean, I definitely strive for accuracy with what I *can* hear, but if there are unintelligible parts, I leave a blank rather than playing it over and over and over and trying to get it. If they obviously don't give a rip, why should I?
Maybe a bad attitude, but why should I gyp myself out of $$ because some a$$ can't be bothered to E-NUN-CI-ATE!!
Have all the good dictators left the building?
I am so ticked. I work on VR and everything is nothing but a bunch of words that fit nothing, dictators cannot speak properly and VR throws in whatever. I am sick, I tell you, of dictators who don’t care. I am on my soapbox because I am so angry with having to listen to all this ______ (put in your own words here).
All I ask is for clearly speaking dictators and good sound quality and I would be a
nm
Even with multiple GOOD dictators, I still find it hard - sm
to do '8 hours' worth of transcription in less than 11-12 hours, mainly due to the lack of ability to make templates, as each doc does his H&P entirely differently. Also they want extraordinary accuracy, grammar clean-up, and proofreading done on each report. So a longish H&P can sometimes take an hour.
I don't work for one of the larger nationals, but a good-sized national and
in 5 years the hospital system has been down twice and my company wasn't able to pull work and the company's system was down once for a hurricane and once the power was out for part of a day. I never went a full day without work.
I think maybe some of the nationals are poorly managed and they use "server down" as an excuse for no work. For a company that depends on their servers for their livelihood I don't believe they actually have the much down time. I don't think most companies pay for downtime.
I work for a national. Most of the time the voices are pretty good, but
I have been getting some of late that have background noices, door slamming, people talking, Sometimes the doc will stop talking but the noices sound so close to him that it is annoying. Do you think the sound card would interfere with my company's computer? It sounds nice to have even though it does not help the background stuff. I guess that is a good question for tech. Thanks again!
I agree. It's an impossibility for me even with years of experience AND good dictators. nm
m
For this account, I charge 0.12 cpl. It is very easy clinic stuff with good dictators, but ...
I also do tapes which are horrible so I'm considering upping my line rate especially if all this aggravation keeps up. When I first took the work, I thought I was being fair because the work was so easy, but then they asked me to do tapes and then work specific hours, print and deliver work three times a week. I wish I would have addressed more than TAT and line rate in the original contract. I do charge them a $5 per delivery fee because of gas prices, but still I think I'm getting the shaft.
Oh well, live and learn. I am negotiating for a local doctor's office here in my hometown, small one doctor office, and I'm here to tell you I will be negotiated every little detail right down to paper and toner charges!
STable?
No one is really stable in this profession; they can outsource in a New York minute and never forget that! Many people work in public places. Go visit that hospital you work for and I bet you'll find loads of stuff sitting around with the patient names on there and also people flat out talking about the patient in this room or that room. It's not fault proof.
Do you mean like critical, stable, poor?
Not sure what your question...I'm just thinking of all the conditions someone can be in. If it were a family member, hearing "guarded" would make me very nervous.
Has anyone kept a list of line rates, report rates, benefits, etc for sm
the different companies out there? I feel lost and confused. It seems like everything is changing daily, and I am not being organized enough to keep up. I am about to actively look for full time employment again but if there was a list, I would be able to sort through a lot more quickly.
Can anyone help? I am going to start keeping a chart myself in case anyone needs this in the future.
Line rates in the Northeast - can anyone advise as to what the going rates are in the NE part of the
country? Specifically Connecticut. I want to make sure I am on target here. Thanks.
Opan a large stable and board
horses, or become a doctor.
Not always. Tongue stumblers. New dictators. Speedy and lazy dictators.
D
Not sure. I was told by the stable owner it was a fungus but my ferrier said it
was not. Probably time for a vet.
Per diem is on an as needed basis - not a stable job. May work 1 day a month. nm
x
A small national is a national company that is smaller
than a big national. There are a few "big" nationals, where they have hundreds, if not thousands of employees. I work for what I call a small national, only has about 30 employees. An MTSO could also be considered a small national.
My advice: Regroup. Find a small cave, cheap, take the kids, get a stable job (1), quit trying to
need to stabilize.
Medical transcription is not a "living" - it is a sideline anymore, unless you can find a doctors office or hospital where you can count on an income and count on medical insurance.
Leave the BF - they are dead weight. They wear you out and rarely help you find any solid footing. If your's did you wouldn't be here asking for advice.
I used to think I need to be married - then I began to ask myself: WHY AM I MORE BROKE AND MORE TIRED WITH A HUSBAND?
There were more hours in the day and more money in the bank when I was on my own with my children. We may not have had fancy things but we were happy because their mom was happy - ME.
Again, don't use 3 PT/transcription jobs or even 1 FT and some PTs to say you are making it. Either bring your budget down to living on the 1 FT and let the PT be the discretionary income (extra for savings, emergencies, etc), or leave transcription entirely. MTing is a losing proposition at this time. Unless of course, like I say, you are in a stable place like a hospital. And don't COUNT on the PT to carry you through - these nationals and side jobs are playing fast and loose with paying people or providing any security at all.
GOOD LUCK. 
I went from national to small back to national
My large national has all the resources and money to operate successfully and have decent platform, etc., to work on, the small company did not, and I went back to the national.
?? Bad dictators are bad dictators regardless of their mother language.
wonder when people will just get over it and do what they can and move on.
MOre than one acct
The above is a good recommendation. I have a binder with the account specifics and when I first started with them I would bring it out, review what their specifics were and so on to refresh my memory. Now after years of managing five accounts it is an automatic switch of font, margins, set-ups, etc. After a time you will be doing the same but until then, just make a binder, cards or folder and prior to starting the account bring it out and refresh your memory and keep it handy to refer to when needed. Good luck.
Patti
RAD ACCT
I get 9 cpl on two accts using ADAC/MARS, 2.00 report for mammos and 1.50 report using Meditech
acct
I got my own account by actually being a patient there. They actually gave me a rate they were looking to pay and worked from there. Also, I do not print or pick up/drop off. I speak with the office manager if there are any problems. They also have a few other Transcriptionist so we try to send the files to each other if we get stuck but if not it just gets left blank for the doc to fill it in. I have a TAT of 2-4 days.
Need Help to set up an acct.
my aunt just asked me if i'd be interested in doing some work for the doc she works for. i currently work for somebody else, so all of that legwork is done for me. i simply download from her system, type and return.
how do i go about setting up something so a doc can dictate digitally and get it to me. i don't know the first thing about it or where to start! he currently does not do digital, but is considering looking into it, so i can't really turn to them for help on this one!
suggestions greatly appreciated!
No I do better job. On acct 1 yr. nn
X
How much do you want this acct?
You could stand up for yourself and say you want XX more per line or you arent interesting in doing acct. It would be a headache for MTSO to find another MT to do this acct as well as you, but it wouldnt be impossible. Also MTSO would have time tied up in training new MT. MTSO MIGHT decide giving you a raise is worth it to her or she might decide to invest in someone else. You may have some insight as to which route she would go, but beware, you could lose acct. Again, how much do you want this acct? If you dont want to take a chance on losing it, you can hardly gripe about what MTSO is making on it.
I used to have an acct like that...
I could do 1000-1200 lines in three to four hours. I mostly did one doctor who said the exact same thing over and over, so I had a template for his entire transcription and just had to plug in specifics. Sadly that job went to India :(
If acct is on ASR, what is left for MTs
is the worst of the dictators that have always and will always be a problem. The best speakers are put on ASR to the machine can under stand it. They've got you. It is no faster that using expansions. There is no production increase, so there should be no decrease in MT/ME pay. THAT WAS THE DEAL! I will go back to cut and paste an old post that says what happens.
Get a local acct (sm)
The middle man is making money on your work. Cut out the middle man and you'll make more than $15 an hour.
hospital acct
A little more info would be helful. Medical Records? Acute care? Full time? Benefits? Large hospital? Days/evenings? Where are you (what state)?
i am on verb acct,
and there are very very few reports that actually go out word-for-word verbatim. I do keep it as close as possible within reason and common sense.
I was removed off an acct. after one day -sm
as the client requested I be removed. I don't remember being given any samples (several years ago). It was an ESL, a new acct. etc. So I did have blanks here and there, the MTSO had told me not to worry, they'd QA all the work. For some reason or other they did not, hence the work went through as I had left it. Needless to say the client was not happy, so I was removed from the account. I did not lose my job though, but I was peeved for sure about the whole thing. We eventually parted ways and I have not had that problem since.
Tell MTSO you want off this acct. ;
MTSOs are always complaining about the shortage of good MTs. Your MTSO, I am sure, would rather have you working for her on all your other accrts than risk losing you because of one bad dictator. A good MT is worth more than the sum of lines of one bad dictator. She knows he is bad and to this point, she knows you will muddle through with him. Put a stop to it. She will not quit giving you work over one doctor. I have been in similar positions and have always been taken of acct/dictator that I requested because I could not make money. MTSO is it this for money, she shouldnt expect any different from you.
Unless this is your only acct, worth more for
x
If IC, you CAN choose to do or not do an acct.
x
losing acct
Hello Patty,
I lost an acct about two yrs ago and it hurt, but I wasn't backing down. The OM of one clinic knew the OM of another clinic I typed for and they mentioned to each other how much they were paying me per line. The OM from the higher paying clinic called me and asked why I was charging her clinic more. I told her first of all it wasn't really any of her business, but the other acct I had had for 10 yrs and I billed them 50,000 lines/mth, plus I picked up tapes every day. Her particular clinic I only had about 6 mth., billed about 3000 - 5000 lines/mth, and didn't get tapes every day. Needless to say, I never picked up another tape from that clinic, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
No. You said verbatim acct. Maybe that is why
x
Start looking for another acct and when has
x
On my acct are 2 drs. that all know are horrible.
to just do our best and email acct manager the job number so she can alert the facility. Facility knows the work of those 2 are going to have more than the allowed amount of blanks and we just have to let them know when those jobs are coming through.
Do acct coordinators have the power to....
knock you off the server so you lose whatever work is downloaded to you and, if so, is this pretty standard practice when they want the work to go to their favorites instead???
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