gross line here

One account that I inherited told me to count from top to bottom, gross lines and just use microsoft word lines.  Their margins are 1" for chart notes and -- I did not do this they requested, letters/consults 1.45 as it lines up with their letter head.  Count blank lines, etc., was told to do it this way.   But then again I charge .115 per line and type in Times Roman 12.  Again, I figure out how much per hour I make and try to keep my cpl in line with that.   Another account wants chart notes in Arial 10 and I told them when I bid my cpl is for Courier 12 and so I change the file back to Courier 12 when I do my line count for them.  But I do all in gross lines, one word or 10 words all the same price for the line.   I do print and supply all paper except for letter head, pick up and deliver which is all included in my price.  But I make good money and again look at my hourly rate and my monthly receivables to see if it works for me. 

Patti

• Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines.... - AzMT
  • I charge by 65-char line with spaces...sm - Apple Scruff
    • gross line here - Patti

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I'm very sorry that your lines are 90 characters line and you get paid by gross lines.  You are cheating yourself - that's not my fault.  You cannot change the definition of a gross line.  So I gues I'm not understanding what you are trying to say.  Now if you are trying to say that your line equals 90 characters and that's how you figure your lines, than you are not using gross lines.  You have defined a line to be 90 characters, whereas most MTSOs define a line as 65 characters.  If that is the case, then I must say again, you are cheating yourself.

So which is it, do you get paid by gross lines or by a 90 character line?

Can someone explain the difference between these two?  I am assuming that the gross line is better than the gross character line.  How much better is being paid by the gross character line than just by the standard 65-character line?  Does anyone know how much difference it would make in dollars and cents?

Thanks.

You can get an idea in the difference using documents you have already created, assuming you're working in Word. Simply open a document and check the properties. Click on the statistics tab and you will see the number of lines as well as characters with and without spaces. If you're currently getting paid by the line and a line is 65-characters with spaces, do the math and see how that number of lines compares with the number of lines in your stats.

One thing to keep in mind: if you have a blank line between paragraphs, instead of hitting the enter key twice, format your document to give the appearance of blank lines between paragraphs.

A gross line is anything on a line versus 65 gross characters per net line the other way.  You make more money working for the gross line than for the 65 gross character line, as long as the line rate's OK.

Mebbe just got my first OWN ACCOUNT YAY!  He said to charge him the "going rate" since I pay him that.  This could be the start, baby!  (I hope)

for instance...

MEDICATIONS:

Effexor

Prevasid

A 65 character line without spaces is black marks on the page only and 65 w/spaces is everything... tabs, spaces, numbers, letters, bold, etc.

I am thinking of taking a job that pays by the gross line and not a 65-character line.  I have never worked this way.  Does this literally mean if there is one little word on a line you get paid for it?  I have not pinned her down on a line rate but I am just thinking I am going to be comparing apples to oranges and am wondering how to accomplish that. 

Thanks for any help!

spaces really don't matter in a gross line count.

I bill for gross line which means each line counts whether there are 10 words or one word each line counts.  So when I type in a smaller font, there are less lines than in Courier.  I do not take the characters and divide by 65.   Hope that makes sense.  So the smaller font, the less lines.  So when I contract with a client I tell them that my price per cpl it is a 65 character line in Courier font.  If they chose to use Ariel 10, I will type in that for them but the line count is done in Courier or at least Ariel 10. 

Gross line is courier new 12, 1-inch margins.  I tried to figure out some kind of formula, but not really sure where to start.

Any input is appreciated.

I never bid per page anymore but by the line.  On a full page you can get anywhere from 50 to60 depending on the font and if you times that by 0.12 it is better pay.  It also depends if you are putting the chart notes consinuously and counting just full pages and not per each patient.  To me $3 per full page is WAY low, I used to charge when first starting out back in --- wow am I old -- 1988 $1.00 -- 10 lines or less, $2.50 half page and $4.00 full page.  Now I am lucky that my accounts all started out with me doing gross lines when it was still acceptable and I continue with gross lines, put patient after patient on sticky paper and just do line counts per Microsoft word.   That is what they are used to and that is one reason my rates are a little lower.  All averages out.  But per page - to me - does go in your favor. 

Good luck and congrats. 

Patti

Not to show my ignorance, but what is a "gross line?"

Font size makes a big difference when coungint gross line, i.e. using Word line count.  I type in Arial 10 but change font back to Courier 12 when I do my GROSS line count and it makes a huge difference.  Another account wants Times 12 but I count in Courier again -- according to our agreement -- and it makes about 10 to 15% difference depending whether it is chart notes, letters, OP's or what.  But when doing 65 cpl, font does NOT matter as it is counting each and every character and dividing by 65.   Again, I think she did gross lines when doing her line count rather than character counts.   Also there could be a difference if they are not counting for spaces as there are quite a few spaces in a long document.  

I feel silly even having to ask, but what exactly does "gross line" mean?

There is an ad that is saying they pay 7 cents per gross line for 1 job, and 8 cents per 65 cpl (I assume they just mean 8 cpl for 65 characters on this one).  So what is the gross line, and how would the pay compare?

typed on a line, no matter how little is counted as a line.   Example.

PREOPERATIVE DIAGNOSES:

1.  Abdominal aortic aneurysm.

2.  Diabetes.

3.  Pneumonia.

This would count as four lines and if they counted blank lines it would count as 7.  Most companies that pay on a gross line don't count the blank lines but you can tell how this would add up very quickly.  Back in the early 90s, one of the offices I worked for paid this way and it was possible to literally type 600 lines an hour ESPECIALLY if you were doing OPs because there are so many short headers etc.  Personally I don't really think its a fair way to pay.  I think 65 cpl with spaces is the most fair way to pay.  That way, regardless, a line is a line is a line.

I have also worked by the minute.  The standard way of figuring lines/minutes is they say that one minute equals 10 lines.  Well, if you get a motor-mouth he might dictate 20 lines in a minute.  So thats not fair.  65 cpl is fair regardless of who is dictating.

Could someone please explain to me how this works. I have been an MT for 7 years with the same company and have been paid by # of total bytes divided by 72 x 11 cents per line. I am now moving on to a new job which pays by the 65 gross character line and I'm not sure how to figure this out. Would appreciate any help. Thanks so much.