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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

At least 40 bucks an hour is what we are worth - nm

Posted By: mtme on 2009-08-31
In Reply to: Opinions wanted, please! - workin'

nm


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Well even at 14-15 bucks an hour sm
as an employee with benefits, it is still pretty good given todays employment climate. Im like some of the other posters here, still have to pay bills and sitting around waiting for the big bucks is not paying the bills. 14-15 bucks an hour works for me until if and when something better comes along.

I just don't get this whole mindset of because someone is not getting the pay they want, they won't work at all and then complain about having no money and not being able to pay bills.

I am 54 years old, been in this business almost 32 years. Call me old fashioned or stupid, but it makes no sense to me if the jobs are not there, why one would not take the jobs that are there until something better comes along........if it ever does.
there is NO WAY I would work for 9 bucks an hour!!! What is the email
address??? I would LOVE to email them and tell them how crazy they are!!!
If you can transcribe 175 lph, that is 14 bucks an hour. I wouldn't call that chump change. sm
Working for minimum, or barely above minimum flipping burgers or cashiering at WalMart is chump change in my opinion.
Yes my college degree is worth more than $11 an hour.
..
Im thinking by the hour and make it well worth your while. nm
x
Not a big deal ... have unlimited with SBC for $49/month -- for $33+ per hour, it's worth it. :)
x
Is $15.00 per hour without incentive worth driving back and forth to a job at a hospital? nm
NM
IS THIS WHY THEY PAY US THE BIG BUCKS..SM
like, who among us can even afford $2,500 yearly for something so ludicrous? 
called big bucks usually do not....sm
SIT on forum boards 24/7/365...........*lolol* 
Your the QA person getting the bucks- you can
--------MHS
64 bucks a DAY? Not very cheap! Especially
*
Bingo. You won 100 bucks.
nm
Didn't your outside job with the big bucks work out? We were hoping for ya..nm
a
I hate it and I am making about $200 bucks less a month. sm
I miss doing straight transcription, but I can't find any companies with steady work doing straight transcription.  I am forced to do VR now and am making about 200 bucks less a month on eScription platform.
1200 lines at 3 cpl equals 36 bucks
You can work at 7-11 for that kind of money.
GREAT - so as long as the next cut is under 32% we will still be making big bucks, right? nm
.
think, people! If she does 250 lines/hour, same docs daily, will make $15/hour
nm
Unlimited long distance for 50 bucks a month.nm
nm
You won't make big bucks like that unless you own your own service or have only private clients.
s
Hunred bucks says it's TT - exactly why I left after a month. Happy now.

100,000/year - no way. I charge $35/hour and work 10 hour days - sm
AND I DO NOT CLEAR $100,000/YEAR.


what's not to believe - I said that I charge $35/hour and work 10 hour days AND DO NOT MAKE - sm
I DO NOT MAKE $100,000/YEAR

try READING the post.
Wait a minute now..before you sink a bunch of bucks in books..sm
I've been at this for many years and I have about 18 books that I've acquired over the years. Since I started working using internet-based platforms, I rarely have to open those books..just Google gets it most of the time even quicker. Oh, yeah and the 150 bucks I sunk into SmartType..well, it's been sitting on the shelf for 6 years now. The internet-based platforms and most others have their own expanders. A good basic word book from Stedmans or Sloans should be adequate for a newcomer; but some companies provide these as well or offer a discount. So, bascially, between Google and company-provided Expanders and equipment along with reimbursements for phone line/web access, start-up cost should be quite minimal now.
Go to your State Labor Board & for a few bucks, file a complaint.
X
is the deductible for insurance still 2500 bucks w/ no copay for doc visit?
That is the sole reason I quit. That and the fact they switched me from account to account as soon as I started making a decent line rate with one.

They also have the ability to slow down how fast you can download files. They slipped and told me that it was to help control traffic on the server.
My job is working out splendidly, I wouldn't say big bucks, but good pay and nice people. sm
I am just looking for something to do in the evening and weekends.  I am going to the job during the week daytime hours.  I miss transcribing as it is not transcribing.  Thanks for your concern.  But, yes this job I am working at during the day is a breath of fresh air compared to trying to sort through transcription companies, trying to figure out how they pay, by the character, by the 65 character count line or gross lines.  I really am enjoying the people the place too.  I would recommend trying an out of the house job for everyone on this board that can! 
$35/hour x five 10-hour days = $1,750 gross/week.
x
$20 an hour is not even average for radiology. You should not make less than $25-30 per hour. sm
I work for Keystrokes and have for 3 years. I average 25 reports an hour, which is $31.25 an hour. I have 401, health insurance, direct deposit, life insurance. My lead tells me I'm wonderful when I talk to her, but I do not need a daily pat on the back.

I also have a good friend who works for them on a clinic. She only makes 0.08 per line but does 300 lines an hour, which is $24 an hour, again higher than your $20.

I don't think we're selling ourselves short. There are companies out there that are good to work for, 6 or 8 of them that I know of personally. Don't settle for $20 an hour.
Well if I could do 500 lines per hour, I would be making 35.00 an hour. sm
nothing to sneeze at. More than fair for having a 2-year degree. Come on people, we are all acting like we expect 6-digit incomes! Whatev!
If that's $9.50 an hour, that would be just under 6.5 cpl at 150 lines an hour. nm
s
Are there any QAs out there that are getting paid by the hour at 15+/hour? If so, where are you and
how are the work conditions/requirements/benefits,etc?
For example, I count every hour on the hour with my job
and while I was posting here and also checking email in between I averaged $22 an hour for 2 hours, not bad for someone who is a) slow or b) does not have a lot of time in transcription work; therefore making me a prime candidate for VR.
WHY isn't it worth it?
j
For what it's worth ...
I don't know about smaller nationals, but Spheris doesn't pay for those things either. If you run out of work, you can flex your time and make it up. If you don't want to do that and had rather have the time off you are allowed to do so. If you cannot get it made up AND you don't have PTO to pay yourself, then you still file for PTO and it covers you as far as failing to make minimum production -- that way you're not in trouble.

When I first started with TEM (now Spheris), they paid downtime by the hour but cut that out with their new pay plan about a year or more ago.

I don't know of any remote company that pays only on a production basis that would really afford such an offer -- paying downtime for no work. The hospital I used to work for has remote employees but they are all paid by the hour, period (yes, even at home) with incentive that pays out an extra hourly for production. If you are going to be down for 2 hours in a day, you are expected to drive to the hospital and work your day or flex it to a later time or PTO the missing time.

I'm not saying I agree with it or am thrilled about that situation but MQ is not the only company and, in fact, I would think right in line with everyone else.
Definitely worth it!
go for it
I think DRC - they'd be worth a try. nm
xx
Keep trying. It is worth it. nm
zz
Not worth it

The 12-hour window was nice and the account I was on was great. The people were nice but the payscale was just too low. Like many others have stated nice doesn't pay the bills.


The whole training in Trinidad and other countries really irked me too. The way it was presented and handled just stunk.


You are worth more than that
I have about half your experience and make more than that. You deserve better. But, I do agree with you since I make less than I did 5 years ago that the industry is drowning.
worth a try

All of the companies that I have left told me before doing so that I was welcome back at any time.  You never know if that rings true or not until you ask for your job back. 


I asked for my job back at 3 places....


The first one accepted me back no problems but had to jump through all of the hoops again.  I decided after receiving ALL OF THE paperwork late that that is basically the reason I left in the first place (lack of any kind of decent communication) - also noticing that the send back by date on my paperwork was due 3 days before the overnight package even got to me (if that tells you anything).  Plus I wasn't able to get an old account back (that I knew had the work) so I would be going back into a situation where I might or might not have work again.  From the looks of it would be running out frequently.


So, I decided to stick with the place I was with - hoping the workflow got better and that I would actually start making a paycheck again - It didn't.


I asked for my job back with the other place - they got back to my inquiry within minutes telling me I could come back!  Boy was I thrilled.  I left to test the waters with VR because I thought it would be easier for me -- boy was I wrong and stupid.  I've been back there for a month now and couldn't be happier!!!!!!  I've been through H*LL the past few months with companies and it makes you appreciate what you did have. 


The third one, well, I didn't burn any bridges (minus leaving the in the first place which I think made her angry) - it was one place that I was sure would accept me back - or at least send me an I'm sorry we dont have any positions at this time.  that is the kind of work relationship I thought we had -- because I bent over backwards for them as an IC basically 7 days a week.  I do know the e-mail was sent and received (basically as soon as it was sent) and I never received a response back.  Then again, thinking back on it, when I said that I was leaving (twice) first time never got a response, second time I got the coldest response out of any company that I have ever been with and I was with this one for almost 2 years making 7 cpl IC.  So, I guess I saw the true colors then and regret now even asking for a position back with them. I can't believe I was willing to take a 2 cent pay loss to go back. 


SOOO-- moral of my story is -- follow your heart on this one. You left, match up the reasons why you left to is it WORTH going back.  If it is worth it, don't waste your tiem in asking for your position back!! 


Good Luck to you!!! 


 


Not worth it
TTS - This lady is actually contracting MTs to work for the company she works for. Very poor communication, much chaos. Pay not dependable and on time, although I did get all money owed but was such a hassle, not worth it!

No, not worth it
Editing by the line can be profitable, but not with this company.  Reason being just about all the work is typed offshore and needs to be listened to, even though some are just said to be read throughs.  There is also a constant lack of work.  The changes are what drove me out the door.  Person after person just GONE.  I had an account manager who had been there more than 10 years and just all of a sudden her job was gone.  The HR lady is GONE, the other HR person is now helping manage accounts.  No new accounts in ages.  No information is the worst thing, people leaving, pay dropping, and no explanation why.  They used to be an awesome company, but not now.
Why is it that men know what they are worth...
...and most women have that 'awesome' attitude in your opinion that we do not count, do not matter, and should be happy just to have a jobs, no matter how we are treated, how low we have to go, how much heavier the work load gets year after year...

sorry, but that attitude is not going to get your anywhere but the unemployment line in the long run...good luck with that.

When your companies start weeding you out, because they WILL eventually, get back to us on how great they are and how happy you are about it.

Seems like you not only agree with that, but you like it.
We always think we are worth more, don't we? (sm)

LOL - seriously though, this profession is not what it was 10 or so years ago.  I am very happy at TT.  They are very easy to work with, I love their platform, and I especially like the tech support which was practically nonexistent where I was before.  I plan on retiring from this company.


Job not worth it
I know how you feel. Now they are going to be cutting our holiday incentive in half too. We only get 2 holidays now as it is.
Not worth it at all

I have done seminars, meetings and all of the above.  With everyone talking very hard to do.  In 60 minutes of taping,  I easly got over $100 for line counts so $50 is WAY UNDERPAYMENT.   Again it is not easy to do.  I did a three day seminar once and make close to $1000 but it was an orthopedic one and with all the questions, etc. very hard to understand and lots of blanks.   No way you can get 98% accuracy and if you have to look over all the presentation material to see what they are talking about, you are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down there for pay.  My two cents worth.


 


 


Definitely not worth it.
I made $52,000 one year. No social life, bad health, bad attitude, and that aged me about 10 years in one year. I worked in a transcription office all day, went home, ate dinner, and worked until I could no longer see, finally crashing on the bed (if I made if that far) around 2 a.m. Why did I do it? Looking back 10 years later, I have no freaking idea. It definitely wasn't worth it and I would never, ever do it again. I've learned to live with less, changed my spending habits, and now, as an IC, I take off when I feel like it. My life is way more important than my annual income.
please say it was worth it lol
/

What I am saying is, and take it for what it is worth....
Leads usually have quotas too. Work is directed to other transcriptionists and even though they say it is first in first out, that is usually not true! If you have a way to see who is working, what jobs they are getting you will see this is true. What she said was she took a stand for no work, realizes that the consequences were and went with it. Do you know how much time and lines you lose checking back and back for work? They could have let her go as most companies probably would or maybe a higher up would do something about the unfairness, though I doubt it. It is not going to change until we make it change, I certainly don't have an answer but when you cannot see what is in the dictation pool and leads and managers know this, anything can be done to you and is. Leads have quotas too and they also know where the dictation is. Probably how the girl got dictation, she knew probaby the person would be asked why she was quitting. No Transcriptionist that is solely working on line count is stealing dictation from you, you know that. She just got lucky. You should be mad that her company would give her jobs that should have gone to everybody working, where were they that they could be produced. You said it was showing no work for you. I am on your side too because it happens to me too.
MT worth
I see a lot of people say pay me what I am worth, so I would like to know - what do we think MT is worth and how did you come to that figure? What do you do to make yourself worth that? Do you proofread? Do you follow the BOS or whatever the client preference is? Do you know proper grammar, punctuation, etc? I am really curious as to what the consensus is on what an MT is worth and why? I am starting my own business, lining up several accounts, and looking to work with only the best. What things do you look for from a company? What is most important to you? What would make you want to work with someone or not work with them?
Worth of MT......sm

I would have to wonder also, would MTs rather be paid production or hourly? When I was paid hourly I had the time to proofread, research terms and do a fantastic job, however, when I went production, it is just produce, produce, produce. Don't get me wrong, I still research terms, I never guess what a doc might be trying to say, but, I will only listen for so long before leaving a blank, but, when I was hourly I might take the time to look at a previous report for the same doc or a previous report for the patient. 


I am wondering if MTs paid hourly, with the same benefits as most full time employees, such as paid time off, paid holidays, health benefits, retirement plans might not show more accuracy and feel more appreciated and therefore do a better job.


You have great questions, I would like to hear what others have to say.


I don't know how to determine what pay should be, however, I know what I make compared to many on these boards and I can say I wouldn't be able to pay my mortgage on what some of these companies want to pay. For an educated Transcriptionist with 3-5 years experience, I don't think $26-30k is out of the question. There are some on here that may make more than that, there are probably some that make less.


Anyone else have a figure that they think is fair?