line/minute calculation
Posted By: want lines on 2007-08-14
In Reply to: Line/minute calculation - Gracie
I only get credit for 30 lines on 1 full page of single-space text, even though it looks like 50 actual lines.
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Line/minute calculation
This way of calculating comes from way back, before actual line counts. Over the years we've counted documents in Word and then compared them to the minute equal line theory. If everyone is in the same pools and has the same chance of getting fast and slow dictators, over a week it equals out. It's bad on days that you have more short reports and speedy dictators and your day will drag. That's when everyone wants to go to an actual line count; but on the flip side, there are days that you will have more long reports with slow speaking physicians, then you think that--hey this is great. The reports are usually a variety throughout the day. We really would like to move to actual lines as this would be an accurate measure for every report.
pay per dictated minute versus per line
which is better being paid per dictated minute or paid per line?
the accepted way to figure line/minute sm
is that one minute equals 10 lines. I guess you have to figure out your line rate from that. Obviously it can be less lines if the dictator is slow and more lines if the dictator is fast. At what seems to be the going rate of 8 cpl these days I guess it would be about 80 cents per minute?
I have worked on a minute basis and it all seemed to equal out pretty much the same unless you are getting a lot of "motor-mouths."
Hope that helps
ICs -- what are your rates right now? what are you charging per line, page, minute, etc?
I'm trying to get my own docs and want to set rates that are equivalent to everyone else so as not to undercut and lower our industry standards. But, I can't seem to find out what rates are locally, soooo, as much input as possible would be appreciated. Anyway, I know that local family practices have been quoted by the hour, by the minute, by the line, by the page, and so on.
I don't really want to do by the minute -- it makes them feel like they have to dictate at sonic speed. Some of them balk at by the line because no matter what you tell them, they feel like they are penalized for having nice formats. They balk at by the page because they think you will extend it to 2 pages for more money. Then there are the ones who gripe about hourly rates because they feel like you will type slower to make more money. I actually typed a sample tape for a local practice a year ago and based on my rate the office manager figured it up PER PATIENT and said it was too much!!
I know family practice docs and nurse practitioners don't make that much money but dangit I gotta feed my family too.
So help, please!!!!
USATasp charges 10 cents per minute for voice & 1/2 cent per line
email to info@usatasp.com and we'll get back to you.
calculation
Example of how they do it:Total rpt lines: 29 Error deduction: 1 point(major error .50 minor error .25 critical error 1) Total lines 29 less error -1 = 28 Divide 28/29 = 96.55% That is your score.
Help, Please! I forgot calculation!
I am comparing line counts from one company to Word to see if my lines match up. I forget - do I divide the characters with spaces # on Word by 65 to get lines? Thanks for a refresher! Been a long time...
Paid by the minute... new to me... does $1.14/minute sound reasonable?
x
A gross line is anything on a line is a line. A line set at 65 characters means it sm
has 1-inch margins on each side. The maximum number of characters on that line would be 65 and that includes spaces. If there is 1 character on that line it is a line.
A standard 65-character line usually consists of 65 characters with spaces unless, of course, the employer does not pay for spaces and then it would be 65-characters without spaces.
Anything on the line makes up a line even if just one letter or number. Every line of print is a
s
Gross line = each line on page counts as a line, even if it's only 1 word. nm
x
Gross line means anything on a line is counted as a line.
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.
per minute
I do approximately 15-20 minutes of dictation per hour and/or 150-200 lines per hour. So figure from there.
one minute, maybe? sm
I was fast already, so faster, not so sure that I could be much faster without compromising my own comfort level with quality, and I don't want to listen to my docs at a distorted speed rate.
I also have an Advant Prime clicky-kinda keyboard and am just as fast on it but prefer this Atech4 as it is quiet and has programmable keys.
hth!
Well, you had me for one minute there.
"Finally, if you love what you're doing, happy with your income and don't want anything to change - fine, get on with it and leave the sniping. It is only serving to make us suspicous of what the real bottom line is with you. Are you management? Are you American administrators of overseas transcription companies?"
Don't assume that just become someone expresses an opinion other than the original poster, they're management or American administrator of overseas transcription companies. Sometimes American workers need to think for themselves and other American workers will ask questions designed to make them think.
Otherwise, the rest of your post was well-thought out, although I would say that my impression from reading most of the nonsense about a strike, etc., was the intent was not to make the public or politicians aware of the situation with HIPAA violations but rather to make life difficult for employers, even to the point of risking patient care--neither of which should ever be consider humorous if you're trying to make a point in a responsible and professional manner.
GBP per minute
I missed this somewhere along the line. I saw an add on another site for a job that paid xxx per GBP. What does GBP mean?
By the minute
I'll bet the speediest speed demon dictators are those who are charged by the minute and pay their own bill! If only they were charged by the line and charged extra for fast talking, I'll bet they would slow down rather quickly!
cpl pay vs per minute
What is the opinion here on pay by line versus pay by the minute? Pros vs cons and why? I can figure out for myself that, for example if you are paid 10 cents a line for a 65 cpl and they say nothing but one sentence for 10 minutes and you listen to shuffling of papers you would be much better off by the minute. I am just curious here what the opinion is and why which one is better. After all these years of being an MT I know companies are always trying to figure out how to make money for them without passing on the rewards to the MT.
Paid by minute
I get paid by the minute but I do Basic four and radiology. Fast/Slow dictators usually balance each other. Now, if I did just radiology, I would get paid more by the line or report because of the very fast dictation.
They pay per minute dictated. Sux.
Especially when they assign the work. It's not fun when all your work is less than 1 minute, two line reports, ESL docs, etc.
It commonly known that 1.00 a minute is very low...sm
and that is only 60.00 for the hour voice audio... so 20.00 is horrible!! These guys think we are stupid!!
Yes, I expect any minute now to
get an email from my supe saying the virus is the reason for the lack of work! 
I mean, I have been given every other excuse so I am sure this one will be next...
Now wait just a minute!
"The poor" ?
Hey....just a minute....that's my sister's name and
NM
Could be one 250-minute report or
ten 25-minute reports, or 250 1-minute reports, or 125 2-minute reports, etc., etc., etc. (as the king would say).
Just need to vent a minute...
Why, oh why is it that when a doctor is dictating a list of dianoses, etc. can't they say #1 when they start the list. Usually I don't let this bother me, but it has happened with almost every report I have transcribed today and it's bugging me!!
If you're gonna dictate a list, start out saying #1. Don't say the first one and then say #2. Drives me nuts!
On the reverse I have also had some today that will say "ADMIT DIAGNOSES: #1: XYZ". And then move on without a #2. If there is only one thing, it doesn't need a number!!
Sorry, this has just been a long day with multiple reports like this and it was getting on my nerves. I just needed to vent a little. I feel better now and it's quitting time!
Still here. Now just wait 1 minute!!!!!!
I never said you should say that Laura Bush is a great role model. She obviously is NOT in your opinion. You are entitled to that; however, the thread was asking who people felt were good female role models. The poster who started the thread did not say "Please, anyone who does not like one of these named role models PLEASE, PLEASE turn this into a nasty thread, PLEASE."
The people who named Laura Bush had every right to post her and also had every right for you to keep your opinion to yourself rather than spoil and ruin their post. You could start a separate thread asking who everyone felt were negative female influences. Then you could name Laura Bush. You just like to turn every single thread on this board into one of your nasty little rallies.
Geez. Get a life. You really have some issues sugar -- no make that -- sour foot. LOL.
You had me worried there for a minute! :)
I make a point to take my lunch "breakette" out on the deck. or I'll go stark raving mad! 
paid by the minute
That's why I think it's better to pay by the word or characters, really--pay for what you actually type. I have clients that do the same thing clhmt said--I have one who can do 30 reports in 10 minutes. Other who can't do 1 report in 30 minutes!
Pay by minute of dictation
I've been offered a position where the line count is calculated by multiplying the minutes of dictation transcribed by 12.5 (the assumed average number of lines in a minute of dictation). Has anyone had experience being paid in this manner, and how do you feel it compares to the 65-character line?
just did a 58 minute report
shewee. last one of the day, and i'm pooped, over 400 lines. glad those don't happen often.
Wow, just sit back and think a minute sm
You are getting some good advice on here. As for the company, please, don't worry about them, quitting will not hurt their feelings! Believe me, they wouldn't worry about you, not really. What if something horrible happened and you HAD to quit? They would understand. Hey, instead something wonderful happened. You are very nice to think about the company, and that says you are so nice, you really deserve what you want in your heart. This is your gift. No guilt please! You can be smart and put some away and use some to take some time off. Cover all ideas. Congratulations! javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',' ');
javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
No I don't-- going on the preface that 1 minute- sm
is 10 lines, it would take over 8 hours to do 5000 lines; just listening, that is not stopping to look something up, to retype, fix, etc. So unless you speed the tape up a lot (and can still understand it) I see no way of doing 5000 lines under 10-12 hours. I could see 3000 lines but not 5000.
If only you were getting paid by the minute instead of cpl! nm
x
I Used to get paid by the minute and
loved those type of reports then. Now I hate them.
at 9 cents per minute -- buy on E-bay
I have 4 docs that do an average of 2 to 2.5 hours per week each on tapes sometimes more, sometimes less but lets average 8 hours per week. That is $43.20 per week I pay you. My psychologist does 3 to 4 hours in addition to this. So there is another $20+. I just bought hand held Olympus recorder on E-Bay for $31.50 and even full price at Amazon was under $100. So one month of paying you would pay for my 4 hand helds. I have thought about this but just cannot afford the $150 to $200 it would cost me per month. And yes, I have had very good luck with buying on E-bay for transcribers, recorders, etc. So look on there or do a Google for digital recorders by brand, Olympus, etc. and it shows you which store has them for which amount. The bells and whistles are nice but a basic recorder that holds 2 to 4 hours of dictation is well below $100 and that is all you need to provide them with. Good luck. Just setting up an FTP and so don't have much info on that yet but searching it out. Patti
60 minute tapes
Are they 60 minutes from the same doctor, 20 minutes from 6 docs or what? If you are doing these doctors on a daily basis, you should have a lot of Expanders or auto corrects so that you are typing about 2/3 of what they say. Are they chart notes, long reports or what. What I do is I set up a goal of doing an hour or typing and then take a 15 to 20 minute break. If an hour is too long, then start out at 30 minutes and take a 10 minute break and slowly over the week increase it to 60 minutes. Of typing not dictation. Also check over your work and be sure you are using your expanders/auto corrects to do the work for you part of the time. Between my 6 docs, I do approximately 120 to 150 minutes of dictation a day and it takes me between 4 to 5 hours typing, then an hour to print and deliver. And it is 1800 to 2000 lines I have done. But again,I break mine up in smaller incriments, and set the goals and it is much easier to sit down knowing you are only going to type for an hour with a break or reward and that hour goes by fast. As an IC you can do this. Again, I make my computer work for me -- if it can type it for me that is money in my pocket. Again, you said that you had the same doctors each day so you should be able to do inserts, auto corrects, or use of an Expander if that is your way of doing things. Good luck. Patti
60 minute tapes
You need to see how many lines you get and x by 0.12 per line to see if you are even close to the average. On 30 minutes of chart notes I get approximately 600 lines and that is $72 per 30 minutes that takes me about 1 to 1.5 hours to do. Also depends on what you are transcribing. When I do meetings or seminars it is usually over $125 per hour of dictation. Again, depens on margins, etc. But I always coung my lines with 1" on sides, Courier 12. There is no way I would do a 60 minute tape for $60, again check to see how may lines you get and an average for an IC is 0.12 per line.
The average I have seen here is 1 minute - sm
of dictation averages 3 minutes to type it. But this varies of course. So in theory you should be able to do 20 minutes of dication in 1 hour. Granted this will vary with the ease or difficulty of the doctor. I generally do anywhere from 12-24 minutes an hour depending on the doctor, though I don't get many where I can do 24 minutes in one hour (14 is my average). If full-time most jobs expect 90-120 minutes done a day. I generally do about 100 minutes a day straight typing and maybe another 30 minutes in editing. Lines per minute is generally thought as 1 minute = 10 lines. I work on and off from about 8am until midnight and work around the kids activities, etc.
I take a 10-minute power nap (sm)
When I find myself to the point of not being able to focus, I set my timer for 10 minutes and sleep on the couch. I usually can finish my shift, but I sometimes have to take a little nap again later. I work 5 hours during the day and my last 3 hours from 9 to midnight. Sometimes, I also step outside when it's cold. I hate being cold, so that really wakes me up. No amount of caffeine will wake me up. I am almost to the point of finding just a part-time job during the day because it is hard to be productive at night when all I want to do is crawl into bed. Good luck!
The minute you said *wife* the
No wonder you have to do all this. He has a wife telling him that you should be doing all this. First of all, if he pays you, you need to be talking to him about this, not her. Secondly, you need to decide if you can afford to go without this income. Do you work for anyone else? Could you pick up more work elsewhere? If so, then I would do as other posters recommend and confront him with a new charge schedule. If he wants you to do the corrections in-house, then have him schedule a time for you to come in and do this and tell him what your charge is. If he's late, his office should have the courtesy to call you. If not, I would make it a point to call in before leaving to check if he's running on time.
He doesn't see consultations for free. His time may be valuable, but so is yours. Don't shortchange yourself. Nine chances out of 10, he knows what he's doing is wrong and also knows that no one else will do it either unless he hires in-house.
let's get real here for a minute ---
I know that we are not paid what we are worth in this profession, but let's get real for a minute ---
Right now, how many people are crying because they are paying $3.50-$4.00 a gallon for gasoline to get to work everyday and it is taking 25% of their bring home pay to do that - on top of that, how many people are facing a layoff right now or a loss of a job completely - and we are all sitting here with job security and not losing our money to the big oil companies, and yet we continue to complain. I know a lot of people that do not make what they are worth, firemen, policeman, teachers, daycare workers, yet they go to their job everyday, because they chose that profession.
We still make a good living when everything is compared - I personally make $36.00 an hour as an employee on a regular basis. I am not paying out all that gas money, I am not having to buy 2 sets of clothes for work and home life, I am not having to pack bag lunches and eat at my desk or go out to eat every day and spend even more money... I don't have to spend hours on the road everyday sitting in traffic and then having to come home and do all that is required in my personal life.
Okay, so what is we change to voice recognition one day and have to do twice as many lines to make the same amout of money - it is easier to do twice the amount of lines in voice recognition because you are not typing, you are mostly just reading along with the doctor and making an occasional correction to the documents. I think that would be much easier on my hands than typing all day.
Let's find something to be happy about!!! If you think the job is awful, then by all means, find you something else that you think will make you happy; I for one still think that transcription is a worthwhile profession, I feel that I am providing a much needed service, and I choose to be happy and will continue to do this as long as there is work - which in my opinion, will be for my lifetime at least!
wait a minute
I tried to post earlier and not sure if it went through. WHat happened to friendly advice for a fellow MT, not blame for things. You say you easily make $200 a day...really?? I find that hard to swallow. Don't get me wrong...you must have some great tricks for the trade, maybe you can share with us how to get to where your at. Not just with the pay, but it sounds as though you are pretty fast and may have some short cuts we could all potentially benefit from.
Dictated Minute
There is/was a transcription service called Alert and Oriented that pays by the dictated/recorded minute. You might try doing a search on that company to see if any MTs posted their experiences being paid by time using this method.
$2 per dictated minute would be around
$40 per hour. Very nice....
Paid by the minute?
Does anybody know how getting paid per dictated minute works? Thanks!
You are paid so much per minute of
dictation. However, remember that the rule of thumb is that for every minute of dictation it takes 3 to 5 minutes of transcription time. In some instances you could work all day for not a lot of money, depending on the dictator.
I don't get paid by the minute....sm
I am paid by the line, but my rule is 3 minutes. If I can't find it in 3 minutes, then it goes to QA. I would take more time if I was paid by the hour, but I am not.
Lines per minute????
What is the average lines per minute? I know it is going to vary, but I just want what the average is.
TIA!
rate per minute
can anyone tell me what the going rate per minute is? anyone have any experience with this or currently being paid this way?
p.s. if you have an ugly response, don't bother ;)
I am paid 1.20 per minute (NM)
NM
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