Will be variable depending on the normals and shortcuts you have and how

• I have not worked on production before, only - hourly. I need advice on
  • With your experience and speed..... - Tami
    • I'm making nowhere near that much - Lori
    • I appreciate all the responses. We don't - get any incentives of any type but
      • production pay - aln
    • Don't think most of us are blessed with the clear sound, repetition, and few ESLs that you must - be getting. Matters a LOT! nm
  • hourly - aln
    • $18 an hour but I work inhouse in a hospital. - nm
      • As a for instance, 225 lines/hr at 8 cpl would be $18/hr. Your mileage may vary. nm - And are you looking to be an IC? nm
        • Hmm. I hadn't thought about that. Thanks - for bringing that up.
      • You should try production pay job before quitting hospital. - You may not want to leave your current job. nm
  • Will be variable depending on the normals and shortcuts you have and how - extensively you use your expander. nm
    • What are normals? - Pam
      • The majority of normals are seen - in radiology accounts in my experience.

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If it takes 20 minutes to transcribe 10 minutes of dictation, that is very fast at 2:1.  It is possible for an experienced MT on an account with which they are very familiar, if normals and lots of expansions are used and if no time is spent looking up or verifying any terms.  Demographics would throw this out the window as well.

Unfortunately, or rather realistically, the ratio is usually much higher than 2:1.  We figure about 6 or even 8:1 on a new account, and as high as 10:1 or more for new MTs or for especially difficult accounts.

Our "average" MT does from 60-100 minutes in an 8-hour shift.

You are so right.  Maybe we need to stick together and ask for hourly wage that is fair to us and to the hospital/clinic/private office, benefits that mean something, and all work our shifts.  If some of us don't keep up then we will get fired!  However, the rest of us will all benefit immensely and be fairly treated.  It seems in the world of transcriptiion that we, the transcriptionists, always get ripped off.  Consider that my husband has a "regular job" and has had yearly cost of living increases, bonuses, etc. forever.  By my estimation, my pay translated into hourly has gone down considerably.  Twenty years ago the hourly offered for our services has never changed one iota and now that we are home not only did it go down (unless we skip lunch and work over) but we have lost all our benefits unless we work for cheap line counts for big nationals.  I am tired of them taking all of my money, are you?  It is just like the health insurance racket.  They have all kinds of "middle men" who get their piece of the action from the people who really do the work.  My husband's share we pay for our benefits has gone up, his company's share has gone up and the offerings have gone down.  Why?  There is no real need for middle men.  All they do is drive the cost of things and the real workers get it in the neck or other body parts I won't mention because I am a lady. Face it, doctor's don't even know we exist any more.  There is no personal factor.  I don't need constant affirmation, but it was nice when the doctors I transcribed for vaguely or not so vaguely knew who I was and respected me and my integrity and realized I made some contribution to their practice by my careful attention to detail.  They also remembered that I too worked there when everyone else got a raise.  I guess I am done now, but this gripes me so much and we all continue to sit here and type and nothing changes.  Somehow others have insinuated themselves into our transcription business and are pocketing all the profits and calling all the shots.  Some days I feel like a rat in a wheel. 

You don't believe me?  I really don't care...That's my line count.....and I do it without Expanders or normals. I love my job, I'm the best at what I do and I always strive to do better than the day before.  Maybe you could do the same if you weren't so negative....

I will be leaving my company at the end of the week without a job to take its place.  It's taken me several years to accumulate all my normals, and I hate to think I will have to start over creating them.  Does anyone know how to transfer/move all the normals from DocQScribe to Word or to save them on my hard drive.  I hate to think I'll have to start over creating all new normals.  Thanks for your help.

Experienced radiology MTs can be hard to find. I work for a local MTSO as a rad MT and my workload recently doubled so we have been looking for someone part-time to help with the extra work. It has been very difficult, and we are searching nationally, not just locally.

So I would say if you have someone lined up to do the work, go for it. Otherwise test the waters and see how many resumes or applications you get and how much experience those who are applying actually have before making a decision like this.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh, and I have been paid both by the report and by the line. I much prefer getting paid by the line.

you would probably finding yourself typing as much or more than in a MT role.  With the companies I've supervised with, there were not only the generalized e-mails to the MTs but also those answering questions from clients as well as employees.  I currently receive 150-200 e-mails a day alone to respond to, plus do a lot of other typing with the various aspects of the job.

I suggest you talk with the HR department at the company you work with to see if there is a position you can apply for that would be less typing. 

they will go by different names, or titles.  But its usually your supervisor assigning the work. Most are called Lead MTs and often are the direct supervisor for each shift -- thus assigning the work.  The QA has no part in assigning work... they are there for that specific function only, for the most part.  HINT: WHOEVER HAS RESPONSIBILITY OF ENSURING TAT -- that's you gal (maybe guy) -- that assigns the specific jobs.  The Lead MTs also have their own lines to make... and will usually keep the best for themselves.  If you work on more than 1 shift, you'll notice this. 

Don't believe for a moment, though, that jobs are assigned at random, first come, first served... just look at the time/date of the transcription.  I, myself, have been known to e-mail a Lead and ask why I was getting the sh---y work and cc'd the supervisor.  Often works bec. they're not supposed to be cherry picking for themselves.