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Question on Focus - do they pay for every line? I heard that they only pay for so many... see msg

Posted By: Poster on 2008-12-03
In Reply to:

lines on a page.  Is this true?  Thanks!


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Never heard anything good about Focus
here and I am sure if there was anything good about it we would have heard someone say so here before now. The best thing any of us can do is take the negatives to heart and steer clear of them.
I heard Focus was bought out by Dictaphone (Nuance) less than a year ago. So I think it would be a s
move. Nuance's website looks sturdy, and I know dictaphone is doing well, so how can a company with that kind of backing give you any kind of worry? I'd take it. Good luck whatever you decide.
Focus offshores 80% of their work to India. And I heard they are headed
x
FOCUS LINE COUNTS ARE OFF
Hope everyone is aware that on some accounts at Focus MTs are not getting paid for our header any longer even though we are told to again fill in the demographics.  Did a line count check today and found a discrepancy and the explanation from the office tech team was the client asked us to change that!!!!!  Bout fell out of my chair.  Tried to explain that if I type it, I get paid for it and being paid for headers and footers was in the original agreement wth Focus.  Good Grief.  Wonder how long this has been going on????  We all better start watching our lines more closely but I am looking for another company that doesn't pull this #%$^, NOW. 
Does Focus still pay QAs per line? Wondering if that's
x
Focus - what are their average line rates??
You hear good, bad, so-so and ugly about them.  One thing you never see is what exactly are they paying.  I hate to waste my time talking, applying, or testing with anyone who doesn't disclose their pay rates.  I have extensive EXText experience, including the EXSpeech Turbo (which is awesome I might add).  I know that VR doesn't always pay as well as it should, but if it's a productive platform and I don't have to type 50-blue-million ESL guys, I don't expect to make 8 cpl.  However, just exactly what can you expect.  If I have to edit or transcribe quality work that doesn't require you to go back and fix every other report, or if I'm not sending tons of reports to the QA person to figure out my blanks, I expect to be able to make good money for my experience.  Is anyone willing to share what their pay rates are?  If I can't average 22-25 an hour....not worth looking at. 
Me, too, in the Subject Line. Said it was being sent to the recruiter, but haven't heard. :(
s
I can't remember where I first heard this line, but with regard to AHDI.... sm
Remember, the court-appointed psychiatrist is not your friend.
Focus, focus, focus on your work. It's amazing what you can do! nm
x
A line is a line is a line. Doesn't matter if we are talking about radiology or acute care.

1600 is not a fair minimum requirement.  Sure you can achieve 1600, it shouldn't be the required minimum.


I've heard only positive things about them. So, I applied, but haven't heard a word. Maybe fl
nm
Means a line is a line is a line, even if it only has one word on the line
it is considered a line. 
I've only heard of Intellitype. Never heard of Teletype.
x
"a line is a line" means gross line.
Gross line is a line, no matter how long or short.
Yes to old reports! Their ExText has all the regular functions except line counts are done on line
s
Thanks for the info! Do you *feel* like you make more with a gross line v. character line? (nm)

Oh, they make money off us. Line rate is 17 cents a gross line.nm
z
Keystrokes has very few accts on line using ExText. Most use Cphones/2nd line. Lots of Rad
s
Could someone help me with the figuring out of gross line versus character line? sm
I have generally been paid by character line, 65-character line.  Now, I have had job opportunities offering to pay gross line but it like 3 cents cheaper than what I am being paid now.  A few places I have read that gross line is MUCH better, but is it much better if the pay is so much lower?  Please explain how it works or equals out.  This position has offered me 6 cents per gross line - what would that equal out to in character lines?  Thanks...so confused...
Spaces are not taken into account with gross lines....a line is a line...sm

if there seven words on a line.


or two


one


or a full line of typing...all of the companies that I have worked for define a gross line as 1 inch margins, 12 pt courier font....does not matter what we type in margins or font.....we convert all reports to the 1 inch margins and courier 12 font and then count the lines.  not the blank spaces between the lines.


Hope this helps.


I left MQ for TT. The base line rate was less at TT, but overall I make more per line with the
shift differential (I work second shift) and the incentive plan (I have never once failed to make at least an extra half cent per line on incentives - most of the time a penny). I was scared to death to make that move, as I had been with MQ since back in the Transcriptions Limited days. I have to say, though, that it was the best career move I have ever made and I have never, not once, regretted it.

I hope that was of some help.
15 years ago, I charged .22 per line to big accounts. Now I have been forced down to .13 per line.
This is in part due to offshore companies, in part due to newbies coming in and underbidding to get an account but not being able to service it and then the account expecting everyone else to meet that price. The market is being driven down by many forces, and it is not pretty. I used to pay .14 per line (gross line too) and now pay my subs 0.08. It is not something I wanted to do, but something that was necessary. With only 15 MTs, I feel the squeeze more than some of the big companies out there, but cannot grow and keep up the same standards.

Healthcare in general is not the money-maker it once was, and transcription has taken a hard hit over the years.
Line counts - the lower the line count requirements
the harder the account and problems with trying to get production off the platform the company uses.
I see they pay on a VBC line. Isn't that a huge paycut from a 65-char. line with spaces? nm
x
Actually, SBC does allow it. I had my line changed to a business line and talked with a sm
supervisor who okayed it.  As long as I am listening to voice files, and not one computer talking to another, faxing, etc., it is within their guidelines.  :-)
Ask what is a line. I was offered 6 clp for a 42 black character line sm
that seemed to strange, but really it was not so bad.  Came out pretty close to a 65 k/s line at 8.5 to 9.
Line By Line...... any info on this company?
Thanks!
Any info on Line By Line Transciprion?? nt
x
Any info on Line By Line Transcription please???nt

x


A gross line is any line that has a character on it, so even if

a line just has one character on it, it is considered a line.   If you are getting 6 cpl per gross that is approximately equal to 8 cpl based on 65 characters.  Sometimes the font on a gross line can make it be less than that though. 


NEVER believe the company line. Do line count for yourself.
p
Line by Line Transcription....anyone have any info?
Thanks!!!
I don't have a second phone line ... cable modem for the internet, regular line for my C-phone.

If anyone wanst to get through to me while I'm working, they have my cell phone number.


And, as I said, some accounts are using wav files -- no doubt soon all of the accounts will convert.  Hope so ... would make it easier (less expensive) to work when traveling.  :-)



Lots of good companies out there -- hope you find one that fits :)


 


 


WMX - line count. Was working along and noted line count accumulation (sm)

signed off the report I was typing.  Those lines didn't add immediately, but sometimes they do that.  What concerns me is that when I signed that job off and the next one came up, not only were the other lines not added in but they were LESS than they were before I signed off previous job.


I thought I noticed this happening the other day, but figured I just wasn't paying attention.  Today I definitely noticed it.  For some reason it changed it's mind and took 8 lines off my line count.  What the heck? 


Am not really ecstatic with the way things are going anyway  and then this confuses me. 


Please, someone have a realistic explanation so I don't feel paranoid and cheated here. 


Line by Line out of Texas. NM
Nm
QA pay is 0.015 per line; yes, 1-1/2 pennies per line. No thanks. nm
x
They pay per net line not per gross line..sm
I work on Escription and they pay net line, all characters counted on entire document and divided by 65 to get one line count. 
Bottom line: What does it pay per line?
.
Focus. sm
I worked for Focus doing editing and was not happy with the company. I applied for a transcription postion and was hired on the spot for an editing position.  Little did I know that I was editing work from India, which did not sit well with me.  I was using the Netcare platform and hated it.  I could not work for this company knowing that they were sending their work overseas and taking away our US jobs - but I had many good laughs while editing of what was actually dicated from the doctors and what was transcribed by the people in India. 
Focus

No, I did not until I was hired. I live in Mass and their offices are also in Mass. I applied through an ad in the local paper.  When I met with them at their offices, I was told I would be transcribing for a local hospital account and also doing some editing, which was not the case when all was said and done.  I never did do any transcribing and lasted only a short time doing editing.  I agree that the line counts differ from your own and is something to be careful with when working for this company. 


Focus
I have worked in transcription for 8 years at local offices and just have started working with Focus.  I have trouble not having jobs available during the hours that I agreed to work.  I was given the impression I was taking an editing position but so far have only done transcription. Please give me names of good companies to work for.
Focus
If you visit their website, it says they are based in Mass with offices all over the US. I could not find anything about India anywhere on their website. They may be Indian, but I was hard pressed to find that info. Also, if you Google them you will get negative posts about them being an Indian company (all from this site), but I have yet to see anyone actually back that up with concrete evidence. I guess you'll just have to decide for yourself. They wouldn't be the only company that is Indian anyway. There are companies that advertise on this site that outsource.
FOCUS, RUN AWAY
I worked for them and most of the office staff is Indian and they treat their employees horribly. They cut the all the editors pay. Most of the accounts are have horrible dictators. You can't make any money. They don't respect the MTs/editors.
RUN AWAY FROM FOCUS
They treat their employees terribly. The office staff is mostly Indian and they have no respect for their employees. I would not recommend working there. I know, I USED to work for them.
Focus
They currently pay .08 cpl for transcription and .04 cpl for VR editing.  You can either be IC or employee status.  I currently work for Focus Infomatics as an Independent Contractor and love it.  I do not do VR editing.  I have worked there for approximately three months.  Everyone has been very kind and helpful.  The account I work on keeps me very busy and I am making very good money.  They did mention VR editing to me when I was hired, but I have not been set up to do that yet.  It will be my decision to do that though.  They do offer benefits if you are employee status and they have direct deposit.  So far I have no complaints whatsoever!
FOCUS
Anybody out there who works for Focus doing editing on voice rec, can you tell  me what the average lines per hour are that you are able to achieve. Thanks a bunch for any info. 
Focus

I am so glad to hear somebody else out there has the same problem I have.


Focus
The same thing happened to me at Focus. I am at another company working on the same platform and make alot more money as well. There is something going on with the way they count lines.
Focus
I started with Focus a couple weeks ago and love editing. Only drawback right now is running out of work but supposedly more accounts are coming on board soon so hopefully it will pick up then. I have no complaints other than low workload.
Focus
I worked for them last year and loved editing, but I had the same problem with running out of work.
Focus
I currently work for Focus and I am very happy there. There have been some changes made within the company lately including a new QA manager, which was greatly needed. I have plenty of work and make a good line rate. No complaints.