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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Maybe they're somewhere at the lower end?

Posted By: AcusisMT on 2009-06-02
In Reply to: Are you saying your pay wasn't cut? - What level did they put you at? NM

I know I'm at the top and mine was cut, so maybe someone on one of the accounts that was only making 7 cents/line to begin with, didn't get cut any further?


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Maybe they're wondering if it's really hard to hit, so lower? NM

Pay is 7-9 cpl and then bonuses, but they start you off even lower until you're up to speed. nm
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Unfortunately, the "many MT jobs" have very low pay rates, and getting lower and lower. nm
x
Sorry...lower 7 to 7.5 cpl. nm
x
I already get by on less. How much lower can
Soon most MT work stations will become shopping-carts parked under the nearest interstate overpass.

'Buddy, can you spare a dime?'
Lower pay

I hope that is not true but I bet they try to lower our wages again. I also work for Spheris and I know that we have to meet the QA standards. I do meet the QA and line count standards but I notice lately that I have been having to look up the patient information a lot more, which I know we are not compensated for.  Also, lately it seems like I do more reports but my line count does not seem to increase like it should. Makes me wonder.


So what happens if they lower your cpl? With
my guess is lots of people will fall below the $900 mark, and then they get the added bonus of not having to insure you. Where I work they lowered our cpl pay this year, and now it's nearly impossible to make $900/pay period. If we were figuring full-time/part-time status by earnings, even though I work 60-hour weeks, I'd still be considered a part-timer. How do you spell ' R-I-P-O-F-F' ???
Definitely lower than average. nm
s
so if it is not 8, is it higher or lower..(nm)
''
Pay is much much much lower than any other national
/
Isn't their pay way lower than average? nm
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I think it goes with the MDI post a little bit lower down
/
yes. at new lower rate.
nm
Starts you off much lower than her ad shows. nm
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Generally 3-4.5 cpl. Much lower than transcribing.
s
Lower rate/better dictators
Again I agree with you!   The MTSO, hospitals should go to dictators that are bad or hard to understand and ask them politely to clean it up.  How are we supposed to do our jobs 100%  when we get crap to deal with? You give clean dictation you get clean reports.  Any fool can figure that out . . . . well maybe not.
Not the worst, but toward the lower end of the middle.
I was paid late/wrong often. I always tell people if you can afford to be paid late, then it's an okay place to work. If you rely on them being on time and accurate, go elsewhere.

Several of the shift leads are very nice. However, one never answers you because she's busy looking like the production queen. One had more drama than Jerry Springer. The owner answers you when she feels like it or not at all. My training on my account consisted of me doing 3 notes and then I was on my own. I was told I couldn't pend to verify information if it didn't cause more than one blank. I like being left alone to type, but I like to be comfortable with the account as well.

So it isn't the worst company out there but it certainly is not the best.
Rates are lower than 20 years ago. nm
nm
I dont find it much much lower its about the same 8 and 4 nm
nm
The new KS insurance is only $250 a month. That's MUCH lower. sm
It took them over a year to get a decent rate.

You should try to go back if you miss it. I did and am glad I did and grateful they took me back. The grass was definitely not greener on the TT side.


Yeah, if THAT. Some offers are even lower. You
However, it can be a good tradeoff if you're tired of the headaches of own accounts, plus you might get benefits if you find employee status. Be prepared, though. I've got 20 yrs experience and I've had offers as low as 6 cpl. For real! It's a shock coming from having your own accounts, but do your research. There are good companies out there. If you've had acute care experience in a hospital setting, you will have better luck finding higher line rates, as well. If you've done mostly clinic work, the rates are quite a bit lower for that.
Higher? I don't understand ... it is lower

Why do you think it is higher?  It is quite a bit lower from what I can tell.  I have the family plan and will be saving $238.00 a month over what I was paying before with the mid-range plan I am getting, and the difference between a 25, 35, or even 40 dollar copay isn't squat when look at the lower premium ... that is where the big cost is with premiums .... unless maybe you have to go to the doctor every week or something.


lower pay rate for templates
Hi folks, Has anyone heard of getting a lower pay rate for templates? The company I work for is lowering their pay rates for what comes up as templates to 2 cents per line and say they will continue to pay the 8 cents per line for what we actually type? I have not heard of this before and was wondering if this was a common practice? Thanks for any feedback you might have.

Elizabeth MT since 2001
well...your bottom line is lower

than I would accept.  I currently make 10 cpl and will not go lower than 9.5 for transcription and will not go lower than 5.5 for edit.


Now, someone making 7 cpl currently will say....yeah, I will work for 8 cpl, that is a raise for me.


Also, there are some out there making 3 cpl for edit, if they were offered 4 or 5, they would take it. 


How can we set a standard like this?


Work's lower in some regions than others. Need sm
evening/nights and, as always, weekend warriors. 
Also wanted to add that the lower pay started (sm)
way before this economic crisis came into effect. Cutting our wages has been going on for years.
Her ad lower on the job board states

pay/benefits: $7000.If that's weekly, that would be great! LOL Don't know what she means by that.


The top ad wasn't even completed. Is it that she is frustrated and overworked, or just plain old rushing through the ad? Seems very confusing.


Actually, they pay well and with the lower or tax-free status
I responded above that I know several MTs and others who have worked at that hospital.

They each one extended their contract. They each one were able to save almost their entire income and enjoyed quite a good savings cushion on their return to the US. They each one enjoyed the experience of another culture temporarily. They each one recommended it then and have always given the advice of trying it to me and others.


EditScript and lower rate
I don't understand how you can think it's all right for a company to pay less because the VR system is good. Shouldn't it be a given that a company would have the best system they can find and not dock you? Seems like they are paying for having that system on your back and you think that's OK. That is really, really sad.

I happen to use EditScript (or Escription) and think it is an excellent program, though still prone to humorous errors. I make 4 cents a line for VR and wouldn't mind making more.
Oh please. Now my "age visual" of you is sinking even lower!
What are you, 12? Yep, you sure told me, and I'm sure gonna go away now on this free public forum open for anyone to discuss a company! Yep, I'm gonna go away now fer sure!! 
I would say it's a little lower than average depending on your experience
but I think with them the more you type the more you get paid. For each level there is a range. My advice would be that if 6 cents is the most you can make with them, there are other MT jobs out there. I was offered a job with them too so I know that the benefits to me were impressive. It was hard to turn them down.
Can? Well, maybe. Statistics shows the average is much lower. nm
x
Lower Health Insurance Premiums

Can anyone provide your average monthly cost for individual and/or family health insurance premiums?  I'm looking to change employers and most companies will not provide this information until after an applicant has gone through all the testing.  Who wants to bother with all that if the monthly health insurance premiums are outrageous?  The company I am with now has a very reasonable plan, and I need to find something comparable. I would greatly appreciate any information you can give.  Thanks so much for your time!!


I think they do hire PT, but at a lower line rate (nm)
x
I have heard hourly rate is now lower in $12 to $15
per hour range. Lots of companies pay by line. Forget it with handling MTs - no win situation now matter how you deliver it. Truly the downside of the job.... a real bummer.
Pay was definitely on the lower side when I checked recently. nm
nm
Notorious for lower than average, but it's all in how the client
s
But as work at home IC, deductions can often lower
x
Pay starts even lower than that. Agree that system
Pay is same for everyone on tier starting at 8.25/line and goes up with line counts. Tops at 9 I think but don't make that rate often. It's Extext but it's always lagging so you wait a lot. Hard to gain speed some days. As stated, lots of emails for help then work dries up or is all ESL. Pay on time and correct though, direct deposit. Not the absolute worst if you really need a job but not best.
Why does progress mean accepting a lower wage?
I want to point out the contrast between the OP and this response.

The OP says MDI moving to VR is to cut costs. Had to Respond says it is keeping up with the times and says nothing about reducing costs. Is moving to VR keeping up with (sic) technological times or is it being used to reduce costs?

I believe it is the latter, not the former. And if that is the case, Had to respond has no straws to grasp to justify the transition. It is NOT about moving with technology and everything to do with paying less to the ICs.

I am so not impressed with Had to Respond and her big girl panties to accept less money.
24-hour only for lower priority worktypes
NM
Do they still dock pay for slightly lower than normal

expected QA scores, and use stars and apples as QA scores or do they come in real numbers now?


I corrected it immediately in my lower post....nm
nm
In the past I always opted for a slightly lower
line count in order to produce the highest-quality work. But that was before our cpl was chopped last year. If I did MT for a hobby, I would probably still spend that extra time proofing everything. But I've got to make a living at this, and when pay dips as low as it is now, and I'm already working far in excess of 8 hr per day, the only option left in order to survive is to just crank 'em out, and *hope* they're correct. My guess is QA is pretty much in the same boat, if they're paid on production and not by the hour.
They are just getting ready to change plans and the rates are much lower than that.
I would do my homework first before making those statements. That may have been what it was in the past, but not now. Much less.
or tell you they "revised" their pay scale and give you a lower rate.
x.
Numerous times I have been told our wages are lower because
we are now competing with (almost third-world) countries, who think 2 and 3 cents a line is a LOT. Therefore, to stay competitive, we must now work for a lower wage.

There are times there have been actual threats that we would lose our accounts, if we do not comply as hospitals would just take their accounts overseas.

Leaves a lot of room for corruption, i.e., whether it is true the hospitals would actually go that route (I think they might, considering CBay and how huge they are) or whether it is the MTSO duping us into accepting lower pay.

We are in a similar situation as in the 1800s (Funny you can almost substitute these people with 'MTs' and 'India', if you know what I mean:

(From Wikipedia) ...between 1830 and 1850, as the Industrial Revolution gave way to the Second Industrial Revolution, sweatshop production of inexpensive clothing displaced members of the tailors guild, and replaced them with lower-skilled workers performing piece work at lower wages and in inferior conditions. The trend away from tailors was accelerated by the advent of a practical, foot-powered sewing machine in 1846.

The terms sweater for the middleman and sweating system for the process of subcontracting piecework were used in early critiques like Charles Kingsley's Cheap Clothes and Nasty, written in 1850. The workplaces created for the sweating system were called sweatshops, and variously comprised workplaces of only a few workers, or as many as 100 or more.

In the sweatshop of 1850, the role of the sweater as middleman and subcontractor (or sub-subcontractor) was considered key, because he served to keep workers isolated in small workshops. This isolation made workers unsure of their supply of work, and unable to organize against their true employer through collective bargaining. Instead, tailors or other clothing retailers, would subcontract tasks to the sweater, who in turn might subcontract to another sweater, who would ultimately engage workers at a piece rate for each article of clothing or seam produced. Many critics asserted that the middleman made his profit by finding the most desperate workers, often women and children, who could be paid an absolute minimum. While workers who produced many pieces could earn more, less productive workers earned so little that critics termed their pay starvation wages. Employment was risky: injured or sick workers would be quickly replaced by others.

There you have it...Nothing will most likely be done until there is another type of revolution in this country.
60-thou a year is lower middle income if -
:(
There are raises. They start everyone lower now and raise at 90 days. sm
I think this is to make sure that the person is a good fit, etc.

My account occasionally has incentive pay but I think that is account-specific.
perhaps these lower 7cpl jobs feel you are overqualified. These (sm)
are usually newbie positions.
If MQ has no jobs thus no money, how much worse can Amphion be with slightly lower pay?
:)