need flex hours MT-ing?
Posted By: Kathie on 2006-08-23
In Reply to: Not sure how to do this? - Laura
www.accentus.ca
Best company for flexible scheduling. They ask for a committed number of hours but don't care when you do those hours, as long as it is within a 2-week time frame.
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flex hours
The company I work for used to be very lenient of when we typed just as long as we got in our hours for the week. This got out of hand and they wanted more of 8 hours a day, but still lenient of when we typed (some where putting them all in at the beginning of the week and having long weekends every week, making the workload really crazy on Monday and not good for patient care). Now they are making different hours they want covered and we have to work exactly the times assigned. Some of us are fine with this, others are not. Do you work scheduled hours or whenever you want. Just curious what is happening out there in the rest of MT world.
I flex when I have to, which is often.
xx
I'm going to try that. I did the flex point sm
counting once and was always starved.
I lost 72 lb in 2 yrs on WW, mainly flex. sm
I had trouble with Core plan b/c, ahem, "eating until full" wasn't mentally do-able for me. I needed more strict limits. WW works wonderfully, either program, but I recommend joining Curves or another type of weight-training / cardio program, or even walking, to realy boost your loss.
WW is sensible (eat ALL foods in moderation) and long-term do-able. Good luck.
Flex time
so this means instead of being told to flex our time and come back later or on our day off we should be paid for the time there is no work to transcribe?
Hand-Eze and/or Soft Flex...probably
Soft Flex forsure
I wear my SoftFlex gloves daily. I agree that after 15 minutes without them you can definitely tell a difference. I also have the Smart Glove- (had to dig them out of a drawer to make sure what the name was). To me they are just plain awkward. The bean-bag feeling is weird and feels like more of a strain on my wrists to type with, like my wrists are too elevated or something. Wore them once. My vote would be SoftFlex!
Soft-Flex gloves
Where does one find these wonderful gloves? I have tried everything and not much helps, certainly not splints. TIA
I can flex some, but I cannot make up an entire day of nearly no work!
:-( They do not want any excuses as to why people cannot work, but those of us who are here and WANT to work have nothing to do. Really makes me feel loyal to them, 'ya know????
my personal experience on a set schedule versus flex
I have worked for 2 companies now that want a set schedule and they DO watch to see when I will be on. There are several reasons for it, and I'll try to explain from their standpoint.
First I found that if they have a stat and I am scheduled to be working, they NEED me to be on to take that stat. Another issue is QA coverage. They need to hire QA personnel to pick up any blanks I left and still get the report to the client withing TAT. So if I work outside my assigned shift time, they may not meet TAT because they didn't have enough QA staff. On the flip side, if the QA staff has nothing to QA, then they transcribe and take the work I would normally get, leaving me without any work when I eventually DO log in.
I am a high producer and can get my required line count in 5 hours, not 8, and when I do work 8 I may find myself without work the next day.
It is a delicate balancing act for everyone. I decided to take the 9-5 employee job, but also have a back up account on those no work available days as an IC so I can always make sure my paycheck is reliable.
You have to go with what works for you.
Soft-Flex and Handeze are 2 brfands of gloves
that MTs often use. I use SoftFlex. They are thin nylon with a bit of spandex. I got them for the little wrist cushions they have that protect the medial nerve when the heels of my hands started burning. They do protect the nerves and cured the burning, and I remember to wear them because they keep my hands warm. I love stuff that serves a dual purpose. :oD Oh, and I do have Raynaud's, so these gloves are good even for somebody with that problem.
In addition to the Soft Flex gloves I recommend...sm
an ergonomic keyboard (the old Microsoft Elite PS-2 is my favorite and I have three stockpiled); but, the thing that has made the most difference for me has been typing with my keyboard in my lap. I have rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthitis in my hands, as well as CTS. Transcribing with my keyboard in my lap has been a miracle for me.
Has anyone had good success with Weight Watchers flex point program? sm
I tried South Beach for about 10 days and have lost 10 lbs but I want something that is lifelong and to me SB is too strict....Thinking about switching over to Weight Watchers...Anyone have good long term success with it? If so, how much did you lose and how fast?
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit
you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.
That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT. Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day. My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive. If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.
Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs. JMO, tho.
If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.
They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
That was PT at EACH. Isn't PT up to 32-35 hours?
She could be working 70 hours a week to make that kind of dough. Ergh, not me, no how, no way, uh uh. I'm happy with the 35 hours total that I've been putting in lately.
hours
Contracted to work 8 hrs M-F but I usually do more, may be 1.5 after baby is sleep. If I have to work on Friday nights I can make my personal quota in 5.5 hours.
12,000 AND 40 hours
No, 12,000 not enough. Must do 40 hours to be full time.
About 6.5 to 7.5 hours. (nm)
.
40 hours?
I got a letter from my office but it stated the 12,000 lines or 10 or 6 for staturatory. It stressed lines, not hours, Massachusetts office, great supervisor.
About 6 hours from me-- they are way out there! - thanks for the tip
x
Here, here! But it won't take us 8 hours
but 14 hours to get a decent line count.
Hours
If you are an employee and have a schedule to work, then you should work all of your hours. Generally services don't hire you to do so many lines per day (although you will always have a minimum goal), but to work 40 hours/week as a full time employee. One of the biggest problems is those who agree to a schedule and then just decide they don't have to work it. If you can get your "quota" in 6 hours, what will be expected is that you simply are able to do more work on that day.
And BTW, never any such thing as a dumb question! :)
PT here, do 25 hours over Fri, Sat and Sun.
nm
7-1/2 to 8 hours
I work 7 1/2 to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, make 5000 a month.
About 12 hours . . . (sm)
That broke down to 1881 lines in my usual overnight shift (I've done 1950 before but usually average more like 1200-1400/shift), then far less productive the rest of the day as I had both children home (daughter homeschools; son was sick).
Thank you all for being so very encouraging.  I didn't expect that . . . I've seen other posts about production where the OP got hammered for bragging.
My method is normals; I save a copy of practically every report I transcribe (no patient info, just the body). Even if I only do the same dictator twice, I save a lot of lines on headings, especially since my primary account has highly formatted headings. While I love Instant Text and have been using Expanders for 12 years, I believe the combination of normals and expanders produces far greater productivity.
Think the service will notice? I love them dearly, but they've been in a sparse-communication mode of late.
1600 lines/day is great! The service I work for says their top MTs average 1300-1400/day.
12 hours
 is a LONG day transcribing - more power to ya! I keep mine about 6-7 hours and that works for me!
usually 24-48 hours but not....N/M
#
Already did - hours ago - did you get it? *l*..nm
in 3-1/2 hours: 500 first job/90 second =
.
If you have the hours they have to pay you for them, it is
the law. You can call the Labor Board and they will gladly get your money for you. Be sure and keep good documentation in case they protest.
few hours?
The trainer was supposed to call at 8 a.m. to get me set up and started. I, of course, was all nervous while waiting. He finally called around 9 and announced he hadn't had his muffin yet and would call me back. I didn't bother to answer the phone after that.
28 hours???
Never takes me more than two to three but then I have everything gathered and ready to put in. Even the first time I used TT it only took 3 hours or so. And now shorter since it downloads last years info. But give yourself 4-5 hours on a Sunday afternoon. I usually do it, let it sit, and then recheck it before sending it in.
5 hours per day???
You are going to be driving 5 hours per day? How many miles? After a week you can afford to buy them digital hand helds and do it that way. I go to three different spots for pick up and delivery - 5 accounts, and it takes me 45 minutes -- an hour if I stop and chat a lot and I think that is excessive sometimes. How many hours of dictation will you get for that amount of driving? When are you going to be typing or are you the one that asked about transcribing in a car? I don't think that you can charge enough to make it worth your while. At $20 to $30 per hour that is an extra $100 to $150 per day and if they want to pay that much extra per month, $2200 then they have a lot of money to spare. If they have 6 to 8 hours of typing you will be putting in a 13 hour day and you will be tired after all that driving and it is just ridiculous -- have them go digital and you can show them you can save them literally thousands per month. Good luck.
IC and set hours
The one big problem with being an IC and having your hours dictated to you is that the IRS can come back on you and disallow your home office deductions - because if you are working set hours - in the eyes of the IRS you are an employee - this happened to me once, so I referred the IRS to my "employer." He did not appreciate this - but he was told that if he wanted to keep me then he would have to allow me to work my own schedule not his. So, thankfully, he changed his tune (I don't think he wanted a headache from the IRS) and it was a nice 10-year relationship. I have had to mention this in almost every interview I have had since, though, when hours were brought up - and even the nationals act like they didn't know this law - it's in the 20 laws of the IC put out by the IRS.
hours
Most of the time work many more hours than paid and very little given in return.
I do, but I put in a lot of hours. nm
nm
Hours later.
I tried to tape it back together after opening it 2-3 times. What a mess. I did get it to play somewhat and yes I lost at least one day and it still won't rewind properly. It won't take this doctor long to redictate since he speaks at least 300 words a minute. Thanks for your help as always.
About 6 hours.
I guess you could say an average is 250 lines per hour. With your experience, you should near that in a 6 hour day. Most companies want 1,000 a day, which means 8 hours, but you need time for googling, uploading depending on platform, etc. I type in Word and have done 300 lines easy in an hour or hour an half depending if I have to look anything up. I hope this helps.
why 4 hours?
nm
How many hours
$3000 sounds like a lot but you don't say how many hours a day and how many days per month you work...if you work 12 hours a day/30 days a month that isn't very good ($8.33 hour) but if you work 8 hours a day/20 days a month that is much better ($18.75). No one can know if that $3000 is good or not without this info.
how many hours
I work about 8 to 10 hours a day, five days a week. Of course, sometimes I spread that time over the weekend too...but I work about 40 to 50 hours over a seven day time period. I have been there, making little money and typing all day and not getting anywhere, but I stuck with it and I asked for a raise and got it, and now I feel like I'm finally making some money...but making 7 or 8 cents per line...you almost have to kill yourself to make a lot of money. I would not start with a company, at this point, for less than 10 cents a line.
I hope this helps give a better guidline! 
hours?
How many hours a week do you have to do to get that kind of salary? Would like a gauge to go by. Thanks!
It take me about 2 hours
But this is basically a lot of repetitive typing as I just type up office notes and they tend to be the same.
2 hours, sometimes a little less
nm
I have from 12 p to 12 a to get in 8 hours
I am an employee, so I do have to schedule what days of the week I work, though I got to pick what days, and I did have to take the second shift, which works perfect for me personally anyway.
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