Wow! Thanks for the info. I didn't know the nationals charged THAT much!! I'm going for it! n
Posted By: GAMT on 2006-11-23
In Reply to: My thoughts - again - Patti
nm
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Thanks.I didn't see that info at their site
x
$14.97 is what I was charged
They did not have these on the shelf (I wonder why). I had to ask for the model number. See my post above and they had to go get them in the back. You could call your local Radio Shack (what I did). They looked in the computer and saw them in inventory (they had only 3). I would ask them to pull a pair for you and hold them at the front register with your name on them until you can get there. Hope this helps. Happy holidays.
I think you should have charged them
the first time. Tell them if you have to spend time to listen, then that's at a rate of $20.00 an hour in addition to the transcribed lines minus the reports they think are already transcribed. This way, you are paid to listen.
How much more of this are you going to take Lisa? My dear, you are letting them walk on you.
Are you being paid for the "meeting" in the morning?
I can thank C-Bay for losing my job, too.
Look, you are going to need to draft a contract to bring along in the morning. Otherwise, you will be working for free, and this practice will drive you insane.
You need to figure out what works best for you and set the ground rules. You simply explain to the office manager that this is how you will be doing the work and what you will charge, etc.
At some point, you will have to hold this office accountable for the work they give you and stop working for free.
If you are picking up flash drives, then they should not expect you to report back on patients, etc., which is time consuming unless they would agree to a flat hourly rate for listening and sorting out dictations and then a lower line rate.
I know, I have a big mouth, but please, don't let them take advantage of you. As I said in your last posting, they will continue to abuse you if you allow it.
There are plenty of companies online hiring right now. www.mtjobs.com - have you checked there?
AND CHARGED ME AND KEPT MY MONEY
when I asked for return. Thanks you for the post above. I think the people on here are mostly English speaking, are they not? Maybe some speaking broken-English. They are not seeming to understand. I do not think most would like to be stolen from. I would put this in several languages as I am thinking the posts coming in are maybe not comprehending what we are saying but I only speak English.
I charged per line
I charged per line because then they had no question with regards to hours. It was gross line, top to bottom of page using Microsoft word. Did all the uh's, yea, okay as they wanted it verbatim. For a little over 2 hours dictation made $400 but it was very hard to do and I think that they got a deal. It was a land use county meeting and people would not identify themselves and talk over each other, interrupt, could not tell who was talking, etc. I think I averaged about $25 an hour but kept going over it and over it. Had someone else helping me and we kind of relistened to each other's parts of the tape. But again, they got a deal as between the two of us we put 10 hours typing and 5-6 hours reviewing. But I charged .125 cpl. Then told him that there would be review time and so we just settled on $400 and made sure that he paid me before I returned the tapes. He had to review them to see who was saying what and I did eventually get an apology saying he now could see why I had the trouble that I did. It was 7 men and 1 woman and all the men sounded alike. But good luck. I have done seminars, medical and building a computer chip and those were easier than this. But the only way I would bid on this type of job again is to say I need to listen to part of the tape before I can name my price. Good luck.
I used to do that and charged by the page. nm
x
They charged me almost $400 last year.
It goes up every year. I overhold on all my employee jobs so I'm not worried about that. I just can't stand paying someone that much for something I can do myself.
Forgot to say, doctor charged $79
for DH to come in and find out the results of the MRI, doctor never touched him. It could be worse, we could have not had insurance at all. DH and I weren't exactly thrilled with the doctor anyway (can you imagine an MT going to support their spouse and not being allowed to ask questions until the doctor gives you permission - LOL).
The doc charged $500 I don't see that as a rip off - the hospital bill though - sm
for $5K is a bit outragous and has nothing to do with the doctor actually. I hope she has insurance.
I got charged $75 for a copy of my old MRs, even though I transcribed it!!! n/m
:p
Cigna may be charged with manslaughter in
x
Guilty as charged! It is very difficult.
My biggest and best suggestions are to type a specialty that interests you and try to keep up with the report. In other words make it a challenge to diagnose and treat the patient before you're through with the report. I use an online timer set for 45 minutes. I'm not allowed to do anything but type during those 45 minutes. If I'm feeling a compulsion to research something that I found while checking on a word, I write it down and give myself 5-10 minutes between 45 minute sessions to do exactly that. I also take medication (adderall) without it I would be completely lost. I also have to make myself use the interest as little as possible.....too many shiny things to take my attention away. The good thing is that usually ADD people are exceptionally bright and innovative, so I can accurately produce in 4 distracted hours what most can produce in 6-8 diligently working. However, can you imagine what your line count would be like if you stuck to it the whole time??
So, to summarize:
1. Try to find an MT job that interests you.
2. Use a timer to limit your distractions.
3. Take medication.
4. Avoid the internet for reseach if at all possible.
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.
An MTSO that I worked for charged $6 a page. NM
d
Some of my accounts are charged for blank lines..nm
x
Agree, but geezzo, my acct only charged 150 to
x
line rates charged to clients
I know that 10 years ago, Medquist charged one of their big hospitals in St. Louis 24 cents per line!!! Yet of course they pay their employees peanuts, since they pay by the WORD. (MQ is more concerned with paying Wall Street.) But there's your upper ceiling of what you might dare think of charging!
Very impressive. Reading this really charged me up, and I hope it does him also. nm
nm
Yep, my son's doc charged 111.00 for a 3 minute visit to tell him he had a kidney stone.
And to think the insurance paid it. Hmmm.
figure an average at 1.20 and 1.50 and charge double..we charged 2.50 and 3.95
I've never heard of sales tax being charged for a service, only
for a tangible product.
I charged by the gross line and made more money that way.
I had to have a bowel resection for a Meckels diverticulum and the surgeon charged 2500 and got 1500
and the hospital bill was 27,000. Until that surgeon gets done paying malpractice, his office costs, taxes, etc. I bet he doesnt get one third of that money plus all the visits I had while in the hospital for 9 days and fu visits. I did have insurance thank God.
You need to charge for this extra service. Stat reports should be charged at a higher rate or per r
Never lose money. I have unlimited long distance and when my docs what things faxed, etc, I charge them per report to fax the document as well as charging them to transcribe it.
What nationals?
What nationals or hospitals have this policy of showing doctors how to dictate better? I have worked at 11 hospitals, clinics and trans services in my career, managed a few, was lead transcriptionist at a few hospitals, supervisor at another and also just an MT at times. Never have I ever heard of a policy like this.
There were no nationals
Nobody had ever HEARD of outsourcing. We were all in-house, regular employees, got a REAL SALARY with benefits including LOTS of PTO time, etc. We were treated with respect and appreciated for our hard work and MT was an actual profession to be proud of. Then after computers came along and the "want it on the chart 5 minutes before the doctor dictates it" mentality, somebody got the brainstorm that they could make tons of money off of us by getting rid of the in-house departments, "allowing" us to work at home, and only paying us peanuts on a "production only" basis. The bottom line of "the cheaper the better" took hold, the nationals took over, started outsourcing overseas, and you have the mess we have today. I guess that about covers it----
Do any other nationals have 10,000 MTs?
Maybe that's why it is talked about so much. There are 10,000 MTs affected by what they do.
Nationals are no better
Disagree, no matter whether you are an I/C with own accounts or with a national or even small MTSO, we are all at the beck of the doctors. If they are off or do not dictate, there is no work. I do not think that the majority of you realize how hard is to balance out having enough staff to do the work to keep the accounts and also keep them busy when the work does not come in, especially when the help does not think twice about someone in the family being acutely ill when they are not, taking off for children field trips on a whim, children being sick or whatever the excuse is not to work. It takes quite a juggline act to accommodate both employees and acounts themselves. That said -- flame me as I have already been burnt many times by people who do not have a work ethic or want to work when they want to and not when the work is available.
Nationals are no better....sm
Every group has people who don't come through when they should, doesn't matter what job, etc. but most of us are professional enough that we don't leave our employers in the lurch, certainly not nearly as often as most of them do us, no work, computer down, etc., etc. but, if someone refers to me as "the help" I wouldn't feel too kindly toward them. I would do the job, but don't ask "the help" for any favors.
Sorry...that's a sore spot. Makes me feel like we should be kept in a corner somewhere until we are needed to "help"
If that happens, no more nationals for me!
nm
Big nationals and MTs
I have been in this business over 20 years. I started when we used IBM Selectrics and tapes. I have seen this business changing over the years, some good, some bad. One thing in particular is the very large national companies getting more and more of a monopoly in the transcription business. This has had an impact on the MT. I am making less per line than 15 to 20 years ago, and I seen that is widespread in this industry. I see it is getting more and more impersonal.
20 years ago many MTs were getting 7 to 7.5 CPL. I see that still happening. Adjust that for cost of living increases and inflation, and I feel wages have gone down.
Now we must compete with overseas work and if an MT wants to do VR, they must take a pay cut, at some companies of up to 50% of your line rate. I remember many years ago when they were talking about implementing VR, we were told we would not have pay cuts, just be able to type more. I knew then that they were lying, of course they would cut our wages. They will squeeze and squeeze to get the most money for themselves. Many of these CEOs make millions, but what about all the unethical business practices. Remember Enron.
I feel most of these changes are because of the a few very large nationals changing the nature of the business. Of course, they want to make as much money as possible. Everybody does, I cetainly do. But it seems to me they are doing it at the expense of the individual MT.
Did you know many transcription companies actually train the MTs in India and then give them a job. If you are in the good old USA, you pay for your own schooling and are lucky to get your foot in the door because of no experiernce.
I think if there were fewer nationals and more smaller companies, maybe the MT would benefit.
Nationals can pay much better
than hospital jobs. If you are capable of 1500 lines in a hospital setting, you can easily do the same at home. With experienc (which you seem to have) you can make at least .95 or .10 per line. Most hospital MTs do not make $150.00 a day. If you want benefits, there are some good national companies with good benefits.
You just need to decide how much your in house job means to you versus staying at home. I work in a hospital during the day and at home in the evening. I make more money at home but I need to see other people so I love going to the hospital 6 hours a day.
No, they don't. Maybe Spheris or the big nationals
that actually send you equipment and take the time to train you, but the little MTSOs don't do anything except set up your user ID and password to get into their system and fax you their contract. Ooh, 15 minutes out of their lives are gone. Dreadful. They expect you to have your own equipment, be proficient with the computer and software, and know how to transcribe medical reports. Reasonable enough, but it does NOT cost them anywhere near the figures you quoted.
$18.5K two smaller nationals. nm
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nationals vs working for yourself
Regarding the post below about how to avg 1600-2000 lines per day, someone posted they make about 12 cpl and about 3500 lines per day. I'm assuming this person works for themselves. To all of you wonderful ladies who are so lucky to do this, where the heck do you get started??? I'm soooo jealous, thats a dream living right there. Seriously, where to look, how to get started, what equipment. Any pointers from you gals? I work no less than an 8 to 9 hour shift to scrape in my 1300-1400 lines, work until my fingers get stiff....!!!!
Probably why the larger Nationals have their own
qq
OH! One of the nationals I worked for did that.
Of course, the supervisors had been on the accounts before getting promoted, so they had tons of macros and expansions already. However, they'd work a few hours and get these astronomical line counts while I had all the leftover garbage dictators. Between that and the frequent shortage of connections available, I quit. The supervisor not only got her supervisory wages, but she also cranked out about 2,000 lines a day in less than four hours by taking work away from the MTs. Why did they hire me and the other MTs if she was just going to hog the good lines and the C-phone connection?
YES! nationals have turned
wife's kind of job......need a second income to live.
It is no longer a career
It is no longer a respectable job.
They have lowered it to _drop in_ make a few bucks_go to bed
But don't expect or receive RESPECT, A LIVING, OR ANYTHING ELSE
from a transcription company. They are there to make the profit
OFF OF YOU.
Bows sounds real darn good - when do we start - I'll make the
wagon to sell them from - I'm pretty handy with power tools now since
my husband left because I had to type 26 hours a day! Stupidly he thought
we should have a life.
I won't work for nationals. Been there, did that.
I got hired on part time at the local hospital, then gained one account on my own. I continue to work for the hospital PT, and now have five accounts and two subs who work for me.
what about nationals where you use THEIR expander....
never thought of that...couldn't they just glean your normals from the Expander without even telling you? I am going into it right now and change the NAMES that I associated with those normals I slaved for free to create!!! (doctor names) Thanks for the tip.
I agree about big nationals
Ridiculous. They pressure you, but leave you high and dry with low work available and expect you to work. Thank goodness for the smaller companies. They are getting the cream of the crop of good MTs!! I switched from a big national to smaller company too!!
Smaller nationals are way to go...
It seems you get treated like dirt by the large nationals, i.e., Medquist, Spheris, no communication, etc. Many experienced MTs have gone the way of smaller national companies simply because of the better communication among employer and employee, more warmth among the company, etc. Spheris tries to give off this impression they are a warm company much thanks to the CEO, but the organization itself is not a good employer to work for.
Nationals: Sometimes the hospitals have their own MTs sm
and pull the MTSO off the account when work is low to keep the hospital employees busy. This probably happens more often than one might think these days. IMHO
I want to look into Smaller Nationals.
I am hoping to get some names of some good Small National companys to work for.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Small Nationals.
I guess just not the huge places like Medquist. I would like a little bit smaller. I am even interested in any companies that are great to work for and pay okay. I am not having that great of luck working for MTSO and getting paid good.
Thanks!!
Not the OP, but it's what the nationals are willing to pay, not what they charge. Most of us out
s
Did you ever work for nationals? nm
..
obviously then you don't work for nationals..nm
HATE Nationals
It is terrible what these large nationals are doing to our industry. I have worked for several and they all start out saying, "We really care about our MTs" Bull feathers!! What they care about is making money off our backs and not paying us a decent wage. And sending our work over to India, Pakistan, or whoever is the lowest bidder. I hope hospitals, clinics and doctor's offices here in the US quit using them so they just go away. I will take a small MTSO any day of the week over these megamonster money machines!
Any other MTs for large nationals getting the
Exactly! What are the big nationals providing?
except a tasp and a salesman to land the account?
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