line counts
Posted By: mae on 2007-01-07
In Reply to: Lines - curious
Very encouraging to read the high counts MTs can achieve! Inspiring also. Thanks to all who posted.
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Gross line = each line on page counts as a line, even if it's only 1 word. nm
x
gross-anything on line counts as line,even one word
xx
LIne counts
Per discussion below about 16,000 per pay period, is that one week or two weeks? I am a small MTSO, IC or whatever and have 4 accounts (6 docs) plus I work in a clinic to "get out of the house" after an ugly divorce. I work there 20 to 25 hours plus bring home tapes. (hourly rate) On my IC accounts, though this is per month, I do 32,000 to 34,000 lines per month and put in about 22 hours per week with pick up and delivery, printing, cutting apart chart notes, etc. So if that 16,000 per two weeks, that could be considered part time but if it is one week, she is a whiz if she does that part-time which I consider under 24 hours a week.
Just my 2 cents worth.
line counts
If I work the eight hour shift with the two 15 minute breaks and 30 minute break I usually do 1500-1700 lines per day, depending on the dictators, quality, etc. I rarely do 2000 and it takes 9-10 hours a day with NO problems when I do (and no breaks). Oddly, it seems that when I push myself to do more I have less problems with my hands than when I don't....... go figure !!
Line counts
To all transcriptionists:
I am new to MTStars. I am so glad to see a place where transcriptionists of every kind can blow off steam. I am a well seasoned profession medical transcriptionist and like so many of you, take pride in my work and profession. The rash of recent sweeping changes and concerns in our industry have me very concerne as with all of you. We can no longer afford to sit back and say nothing. For too long the personality profile of the medical transcriptionist was that of a meek, never-talk-back mouse in the corner who did what she was told. After all, and I may be dating myself here, many transcription departments began in the basement of hospitals - you gals remember that? We were stuffed in corners where storage boxes made their homes!!!
For too long this industry has gone largely unregulated and for too long we did not unionize or gather forces to protect ourselves and our profession as other allied health fields have done. Because we are a nonrevenue-producing department in the chain of our healthcare system we are always the first to get cut in budgets. Yet that medical record is most vital to reimbursements and to the patient. We now find ourselves wondering if the powers that be care at all. We are concerned about offshore outsourcing, the shady practices of national transcription companies, and an array of legitimate concerns.
The medical transcription industry is a multi-billion dollar business. You bet competition is stiff. Is it any wonder there are so many scandals right now?
Here's mine concern, for now. LINE COUNTS!!!! WE MUST UNIFY OUR EFFORTS FOR ACCURATE LINE COUNTS THAT REFLECT WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST ACTUALLY PRODUCES AND WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY COUNTS. For too long, way too long, I hear (and have experienced it myself) so many transcriptionists complain and voice their concerns and doubts on what their actual line count may be when they work for a national transcription company. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO CLEAR THIS ISSUE AND BRING IT INTO COMPLIANCE FOR ALL INVOLVED - TRANSCRIPTIONIST, TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY AND CLIENT. We are the only industry I know of that puts blinders on its workers when it comes to piecemeal work. The cable man, the UPS guy, the plumber, salesman - all know up front what the client gets charged, what their cut is, and what the company charges - Hell, even the farmer workers know up front what they get per basket of strawberries they pick!!! - CLEAR, UP FRONT. WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE LINE COUNT UTILITY PROGRAM THAT CHARGES THE CLIENT?
If we are losing our work to overseas sweat shops, let's address the sweat shops here in the UNITED STATES making the money. I believe a forum like this is valuable and long over due - we should list companies that are shady and treat their employees with unfair practices. There must be a way to address the line count issue on a national level so that it changes, changes to the benefit of all - the transcriptionist, the transcription company and the client. I say we start by dialogue among ourselves at this site and take it to all transcription companies in a format that engages the dialogue among all concerned. I'm willing to invest some time on this issue of importance to all.
By the way, I don't currently work for a national company - I have been an independent contractor who has just lost 2 hospital accounts to, yeah, you guessed it - INDIA!!! Hospitals CFO's got a boner when they heard this company can do the work for $2.00 an hour.
RE: Line counts
There is already an advocate for what you are proposing. It is called The American Association for Medical Transcription focuses on directing the evolution of medical transcription and to advance and represent the profession ...
Line counts
No, I'm not in a union, never have been, don't belong to any group, but did belong to AAMT a long time ago.
Line counts in MTS.....sm
My MQ account is still on MT Shell. Over the past couple days, I've noticed that when I check my line counts under "Work Summary," they seem much less than what I was expecting. Have been doing this for over three years, so I have a good feel for the approximate number of lines I've transcribed. Of course, in MTs there is no way to see the gross number of lines you've typed, as far as I know. You can see the "gross" lines for each report under "Edit Transcriptions" but that doesn't allow for empty lines. I wish it would give the actual line count you are being credited for. Again, my line counts seem pretty anemic for the amount of typing I've been doing.
Everything is so underhanded with this company. With all the crap going on, I am nearly ready to jump ship.
low line counts
Hey fellow MQMT
Do you realize you're not being paid for spaces.
I just figured that out... Starting to work for the night.
Consideringtypingwithnospacesjusttoseehowtheylikeit.
about low line counts
My line counts are always low and it is mostly MY fault. I HATE leaving blanks so will listen and relisten, trying hard to get it, slowing it down, speeding it up, etc. Also, I always proofread my work before sending it. When I worked in the hospital I used to ask the high producers just HOW they got so many lines and they would always say, "don't proofread, the spell check is good enough," and also they didn't care if they left a lot of blanks for QA. The one thing I HAVE discovered is to listen to the whole report, leave blanks right away and then go back after the report is done. I used to struggle and waste time, but now find that once I get used to the dictator's voice, when I go back sometimes it sounds much better! I hate to admit this (and sorry QA people), but I do think I am going to start leaving more blanks because I do have to make more $$$ and it aint happenin this way!
line counts
Said 5 errors in 10,973 lines. I have done more than 2500 in an 8 hour day. Like to average 300 to 400 per hour but my accounts now only take me 25 hours per week now. (including printing, delivery, cutting chart notes, etc.) I have two I/C's that do my psych accounts now. Cut back this year after ugly three year divorce but my small MTSO sill grosses 55 to 60K of which 80% is mine from typing. Will be picking up another account or two after the first of the year. People can accurately do 250 to 300 lines per hour, believe me they can. I pick up the small accounts that the large ones do not want and give them personal service and little extras. Have been doing this for over 20 years.
Only 10 more to go before retirement.
Line counts
I would guess as a newbie you would probably average about 100 lines per hour starting out (yes, that's only about $7 or $8 an hour). This should increase within a few months, but this depends a lot on what kind of work you are doing. Most company requirements are around 150 lines per hour. I have 10+ years experience and average about 300 per hour.
I will also mention that working part time may also hinder the process of speeding up just from the fact that you won't be working as much. Keep with it though, the speed will come.  l
line counts
Really decent...in fact, that rate might give you a slight edge over 65 w/space counts. Is that for IC or FT employee status? What about headers and footers, benefits, etc.
line counts
Headers and footers are patient demo, report type information, ccs and the like. Even though some of that info is already entered for you, some companies pay for that because it accounts for the time you spend looking up doctor and patient information...and some don't pay it. It typically varies by account profile. In any case, for parttime, it sounds pretty good to me. Good luck with it.
Line counts: How do you do it?
Do you work really fast in short spurts. Do you sit your butt down and stay planted there till you get all your lines done? Do you set a goal for yourself each day and not stop till your get it? Or do you just type for however long you are going to type and are happy with whatever you come out with for that day? Do you have a goal each day/each pay period, what? Do you use an expander? Do you use Smartype or something similar where it finishes words for you?
I seem to have a hard time keeping my happy @ss in my chair! 
Line counts
I'm in the same boat. If you make a template for each dictator, you can add 200 or 300 extra lines a night, which adds up over the pay period. It takes 1-2 minutes to do it each time you have a new dictator, but it pays off. Each of them has their own style with their own order of headings (at least at my hospital)and if you make a template with jump codes, it works wonders - plus it saves Keystrokes and is easier on the fingers.
Hang in there!
Line Counts
For those of you who responded, are these edited lines, standard transcription or a combination of the two?
Line counts
AT the present job i work at, this line counting situation is wierd. We are to take 26 x the number of reports we type in a day to get our line count. Has anyone ever heard of this and i am coming up short from what my employer says i have and what I actually get on my paystub. I am told the company uses DocuCount for their line counting progam. Now.. why is it we cannot see what the manager comes up with lines and what we have to compare. The only way we know what our actual line count is ...is when we get our paystub. I downloaded a free line counting program to compare but I am confused on Custom line count and just Line count. What is the difference. Can anyone help me here? TIA
Line Counts
I can't even try to do the math with those numbers, I can't add 2+2. I have to say that this does sound really fishy to me. We also used ExText where I used to work and we had access to our line counts at any time. The fact that they basically took away the transcriptionist's clearance definitely makes it look suspicious. If they were treating you fairly why would they care if you could look at your line count -- it is your line count! With so many different line counting programs out there I think that a company that doesn't use one is foolish -- or -- being dishonest with their transcriptionists.
I still haven't recovered my money from the Medquist mess of about four or five years ago, and I have a copy of all of my line counts!
Good luck
LINE COUNTS
i finally found out they use DocuCount and was told that was in the contract with the client...but when I read up on DocuCount it is for Windows 97 or Word 97..i am using Windows XP.. with Word 2005...somethins is wrong with this picture but I don't know what I can do about it
At least our line counts would be up for that day. nm
nm
line counts
How does this work...you trust a company who "autopopulates" your line count, you in return use "microsoft word" to populate your line count. The company, meaning the payer, populates your line count 10 lines lower per report than what your microsoft word count populated it?????
As for line counts,
a manager once showed how they could manipulate a dozen different things about the way the system counted. I believe lots of systems are like that. In that job, they used it to reward us for difficult dictators and work types, but it could just as easily be used to benefit the company.
The Chartscript I used had its flaws and its great points, but I think the one I used was WP based instead of Word based, and that's what I liked about it.
Is it possible to pad line counts?
Is there a way to pad line counts and actually get more than a person has actually typed? I have been with the same hospital account for 15 years and we have two girls that make just an ungodly amount of lines per day. The rest of us transcriptionists can't understand how they do it and why no one in management has questioned it. One of my coworkers said she thinks they pad their line count, but I don't see how they could. What do you all think?
my line counts...
I did not say that I consistently do that many lines in a 15-minute period - I said I do it. I "consistently" get 2000 lines in my scheduled 6 hour work day. That averages out to 83 lines in 15 minutes, but I never work that full 6 hours. I have to stop to go to the bathroom, rest my fingers for a few minutes, stretch my back and legs, etc., so there are many times when I do more than 130 lines in 15 minutes. So even at 332 lines an hour "consistently" that is $19 an hour at 0.8 CPL, which is still way more than minimum wage. And I know that as a newbie, I never made just minimum wage...
line counts
My company has their own line count software and you can check your line count as soon as you are finished with a document if you want. They pay per 65 characters. I have noticed that they are rounding down the lines. Say it is 42.49 lines, they drop the .49. Is this legal? It seems that we should get paid for the partial lines as they add up over a course of time. Is this something that is common?
Thanks in advance for any info.
line counts
What is the difference between lines and weighted lines? We just switched from total lines to total weighted lines. Is this good or bad? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Low line counts
There are certainly lousy American dictators also. In fact they are the ones that do not even try to speak clearly, they go 80 miles an hour, eat and drive while dictating, carry on conversations with other people, you name it.
With that being said, I can sympathize with MTs and how time consuming some reports can be. Ya never know what your going to get from one report to another. It's become a very difficult job. Probably a good one to have going into old age as it certainly keeps your mind busy. Some people do jig saw puzzles and some transcribe. I think I would rather transcribe.
Line counts...
That is a really cool feature. FYI on some software that does this as well if you're interested...
http://www.nch.com.au/counter/index.html
I enjoy it and it's up the same ally so I just wanted to add my 2 cents on this.
Good line counts. Do you do 16,000/pay (sm)
working part-time with MQ? How many lines per day are you doing, and how many hours? Hope you don't mind sharing the information.
SoftScript line counts
I used to work for them. My line counts were 1000 lines off from theirs. They said it was a "computer thing" and that their final numbers are correct. Not ours. Too bad for us.
Frustrated with line counts
I just started with a national a few weeks ago. I am struggling to get my line counts plus get used to the different dictators. It is a large account but I do find the dictation interesting. I also have a part-time job typing for a small company. There are a lot of ESL with the national, but not all are that bad. I am not sure if I went with the right company or not. I had researched for quite a while and found this national to be very flexible, which is what I needed for now. I just would like to know if any others have had the same experience and how long it took to get better and get a decent line count. The people at the company so far are great to deal with, but I am just wondering if after a while it will really get any better as far as pay, etc. Any suggestions appreciated.
my line counts have always been right in 7 years,
x
and who is to say if these line counts are LEGIT?
NM
I hardly think she was padding line counts.
There are a lot of doctors out there who are completely ignorant in regard to spelling, proper sentence construction, and grammar. And with their grandiose and overly inflated egos, they don't like to be corrected by a peon transcriptionist.
Line counts in Meditech
I work for a hospital that uses Meditech and I did work for a company that uses Meditech. Both gave access to line counts but both were different. The hospital has an employee in charge of the setting up Meditech program i.e. updates, forms and screen access. I am cleared for medical records also so it is easy to look of drugs, tests or ther procedures the patient may have had or is taking if I have a problem with typing the report. They can also set the the margins on the reports, ours have changed over the years. Do you type regular reports or radiology in Meditech? Radiology is different from regular. I do not have access to line counts but the counter is on each report but counts every line and space, etc. The only Expanders I use is the system Expander which is not really good except for normal reports or very long or time consuming phrases or words. Meditech's line counter gives the line and character counts.
I also get paid on a per minute basis, not line counts. I was told when I started (about 12 years ago) that 16 minutes of dictation an hour was to be done. I not sure that is correct though because dictation varies so much. I do anywhere from 15-25 minutes an hour with probably an average of 20 minutes. This is with doctors that are fairly easy with the exception of a few. I do not do that with other companies, as I am just starting to try to find my fit for a part time company. Your line count could way down if you have very slow dictators (although aggravating but is good for me getting paid per minute) but I also have one that dictates super fast and I do not make much with him (A whole report with 10 lines might be 0.2 minutes of dictation).
I hope I answered some of your questions. Meditech does have a line counter, just be sure to ask the length of the lines on each report (radiology and regular reports differ, so do psych). Each department may request their set of differently.
Please feel free to e-mail me.
Line counts -sm - beat ya
Hey since everyone is bragging I just did 563 lines in 2036 minutes -- sorry had to put that in but it is true but I forgot to sign off my document on as I went to bed. Guess I don't make the 2000 club in the last 24 hour period.
I haven't had line counts like this (sm)
since I worked for ddi. Very happy.
Set goals for line counts
I have set hourly goals of where I want to be at a certain hour, i.e. 500 lines at 2 hours, 1000 lines at 4 hours, etc. I check my line counts at least on the hour, so then I know where I am. If I am behind, then I know I have to pick up the pace. If I am ahead, then I can slow down or visit MT Stars LOL!. I work pretty much a set shift of 8 hours at the same time every day, so this works well for me.
Also, of course, use your expander. I am limited to Auto Correct, but still have nearly every word over 5 or 6 letters, plus many normals and phrases, saved. Even if you work on different accounts or different doctors all the time, there are still a lot of words/phrases that can be abbreviated.
Line counts different using FlashCount
Hi all, I just generated and invoice using FlashCount and I notice that the line counts are slighty different frome the ones I get when calculating it myself based on the statistics in Word. I'm billing by 65 char line. It's not way off, but it is off. One document was off by 6 lines. Any idea why this could be? Is there maybe a better line counting utility out there? I liked FlashCount because it was very easy to use. Any help appreciated.
Line counts and Fonts?
I have a clinic account that has asked me to use Bookman Old Style font with a 10-pitch for the text using a 65-character line counter with spaces. Does the pitch size (i.e. 10 versus 12) affect how many characters are on a line? If so, should I be charging more for 10 pitch versus 12 pitch?! I am rather confused by this whole topic. I thought if you were counting spaces and characters, that the pitch does not matter? Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA 
Editscript line counts
Can anyone tell me why the lines per hour in the metrics don't match up with the number of hours I've actually worked? For example, lines typed 1141 (not doing any editing yet), LPH 240, which equals out to 4.75 hours but actually, I've been on for 6.5 hours. Thanks!
Something is screwy. ES has nothing to do with line counts.
Font and line counts
Here's another question in this regard. A friend of mine always worked in-house and they were allowed to use Courier New 12. She is now working for a service where the font is Times New Roman 12. She finds that her line counts are half of what they were when using Courier New 12. Does this sound right? This service said that they were paying her for a 65-character line with spaces. I am wondering if they are really paying her without spaces. Maybe this is the difference in line count. Any ideas of why such a difference in line count?
eScription line counts
 If you are working on eScription editing and you put a short cut in auto correct in Word, is that counted in your line count, when used, or is only the text counted that comes through their canned text? Hope that makes sense.
minimum line counts
Irish, I have been an MT for 20 years, both as an IC for other companies and in business for myself. The truth is that these companies make a LOT of money. They have figured out what a good fast experienced MT working feverishly a full 8 hours a day, can produce, and then they set that as the "minimum", offering the lowest pay. If you ever want to make what you are worth, you will have to get your own equipment or use a service that provides that, and get your own account(s), just what you can handle on your own. Price it about double what you are used to making and do a good job. MTs are way undervalued, and it is getting worse. A really experienced MT can now do SR for half the pay, and it takes even more skill, just less keyboard stroking. That's the truth about this business.
Good luck.
LINE COUNTS VS. DICTATORS...SM
The best expanders, platforms, etc. won't do much good if you can't understand what the heck the creature (dictating doc) is saying. There's no accountability with dictators ... they sleep during the first part of the dictation .... uh, ah..(paper shuffling) ...where was I? and then, ironically turn into racehorses when it's time to dictate medications, labs, vitals ... the vital part of the dictation. My pet pieve is a doc who won't take 5 seconds to spell another doc's name ... so you can spend 10 minutes of your own (unpaid) time looking it up. They should each have to transcribe a few of their own dictations. They're just thoughtless, that's all. As for ESLs, I'd rather do without them. However, give me an educated, well-spoken ESL (and they do exist) who is at least trying to be understood, over a native speaker who dictates like an auctioneer, like his time is better than mine. 
Good line counts
The most obvious way to get a good line count is for the MTSO to match up skills of an MT with a specific account and/or doctor. We cross-train our ICs so they can cover another account if their doc is low or another IC is out, but each MT has their primary (or group of primary) dictator.
We also use standardized formats with the headings and even some of the standard exams that some docs use. MPWord is a dream for this.
Another is the amount of time you spend. We have some ICs who work only on one doctor and do not want more than part time and do only 300-500 lines a day. Some do 1000 to 1200 in 8 hours. Others do 1200 to 1500 a day but may work a couple of extra hours. Lots of factors.
Line counts as a newbie
I am still fairly new, only been working 2 years, but I remember only having 5 hours and 550 or so lines my first pay check. The lines will come but you just have to keep at it. I type now about 30 to 32 hours and 5000+ lines so dont be discouraged.
improving line counts
try to expand as much as possible, i.e. not just single words but phrases and even entire sentences etc.
If you haven't ever taken a medical terminology course maybe that would help. You need to be very familiar with the terms so you do not have to look them up.
Create a template that would fit for most of the providers you type for. They often go through some things in a similar manner and/or create a template for the physicians that you repeatedly type so that then you are just filling in as you go.
Hope that helps!
Adding up line counts
I am about to start as an IC with a company. Up to this point, I have not had to add up line counts at all. What do you use to figure this out to invoice the company? Any favorite softwares?
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