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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

by my calculations, 10/78 character is equal to 8.33/65 characters - nm

Posted By: anon on 2007-12-20
In Reply to: There is a company out there paying .10 per - 78 character line.....

 nm


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80,000 characters a day is equal to half a ton of weight on finger muscles. . .
So, why no spaces paid? The left thumb takes a major beating, and your spine, eyes, hearing, circulation.  We were not even made to type all day!
To my own knowledge, it is less, B&W character is just the actual printed out characters..sm
that appear on the page, NO SPACES, etc, so it could really add up, I have never taken a jot with those specs, perhaps someone out there doing this could say how they made out? But I have talked to recruiters about some of these jobs and it does seem to lower the line count.
Cquence pay is 65-character with NO spaces, only black characters which equates to
approximately 1.5 to 2 cents per line less than 65-character with spaces.
calculations
You just have to put in what hours you worked. The system will calculate the work done in those hours. It will mean trusting the computer, but in my time with them, I've never been shorted on lines.
My calculations
I went from being paid for spaces to not. My calculations showed that I lost about 18% to 20% in line count without the spaces.
LOL .. but if my calculations are right, it's over 10 cpl (65ccl). nm

shift differential calculations
Not hard at all, I work all 3 shifts at times, so when I start second shift, I total those before going into 3rd.
Make yourself an Excel sheet to do the calculations for you.
Not hard to do.

Once I get my packet, I'm going to do that. If you want I'll post when I do that and would be glad to send it to those who want it.
They are about equal.
x
Most does not equal all and doesn't mean all MTs
I work for 2 very professionally run MTSOs who refuse to outsource. If I am ever in a position to have to work as an MT for a service who outsources or changing careers, I will no longer be an MT. There will always be a need for US transcriptionists for US service providers who have clients who do not want it any other way.
Equal opportunity

I recently applied at a company and was told that my transcription test did not meet the minimum requirements for any of their accounts.  Yet, a friend of mine took the same test and showed it to me in which she had several blanks.  It looked very similar to mine other than the fact she had blanks and I did not.  Has anybody ever had this problem?


which would equal $99 for 100 min @0.11/line...nm
x
Not all are created equal..
It is not accurate to lump all VR programs in the same category. While I'm sure there are horrible programs out there with companies that don't really care about whether the VR program works for the MTs that is not true in all cases. Like the other poster, I love VR and would never want to do anything else. There is no way that you can do 350 to 400 lines per hour on straight text; it is something that is not hard to achieve with a good VR program combined with a company that doesn't allow just any dictator onto speech. Of course you have to proof the document 100% - I don't think VR will ever be able to recognize everything exact but there are very minimal corrections to make. Maybe that is currently the exception and not the rule.
How many boxes to equal 9 cpl?
q
Does verbatim equal garbage?
Do they say they want verbatim so they can blame the "dumb typer" when the patient record is incorrect?  The doctor says over and over that the patient is a male, yet "he" has had a hysterectomy, C-sections, etc.  Now, this is in a report where I also heard nothing about transgender. That is a minor example, but you get the point, right?  We are told to type what we hear.  When we hear garbage, we have to type garbage.  Apparently the hospital thinks the docs are flawless.  I want to give good patient care and provide accurate reports, but I can only do so much.
How much would 45 minutes of dictation equal....sm
speaking in terms of lph or transcription time?  I know transcription time would depend on speed, but round figures are good.
Yes, experience does not always equal quality work!
nm
60 min doesn't equal 600 lines imnsho..sm

I've done a whooollleee lot of research on this on my own transcription and I have never had 60 minutes equal less than at least 750 lines. Every time. So whoever first said that their 130 minutes is around 1800 to 1900 lines is a lot closer than the 60 minutes equals 600 lines, in my not so humble opinion.


And I don't even do MT, which I know has faster dictators than what I do. Think about how fast those docs go through their dictation trying to hurry and get it done. They are not speaking in a normal speaking voice, so heck it's possible 140 minutes could equal 2000 lines easy given that consideration.


But the one who said it is going to differ day to day is correct too unless you're typing the same dictator every day, then it's pretty standard. If you're using a platform where you can't count your own lines, is there a way to copy and paste into Word to get an idea for your normal daily dictation? Even DoquScribe has a way to copy into Word, so maybe you could do that.


Someone on this thread talked about 10 second dictations. If you could get your line count from something like that, then just multiply it times 360, then you have your line count for an hour's worth.


 


Anyway, just my two cents' worth. You're going to get different answers from everyone because everyone has different dictators. But I would still say at least 1700 lines for 140 minutes.


And did those lines equal the same? Once the file is released sm
from QA, it will show in Scribe and there are several ways you can search to find that specific job. I have checked lines on multiple occasions the same way you did to make sure what I was getting was close to what Scribe was getting and it always was. In fact, it was usually a tad bit higher than the Word line count was.
Experience does not equal skill. As an ex-recruiter for a large sm
national, I found that the length of time that someone has been a Transcriptionist does not always indicate their ability to transcribe well. I also found that some, not all, transcriptionists with a lot of experience had egos that were inflated to the point that they thought they were perfect. They would fail our test and call screaming at me, when the truth was that they just weren't that good.

Perhaps you should look into brushing up on your skills prior to taking tests or find out exactly what a company is looking for. Maybe your experience is not in the area that they need.

I don't want to start a war here but it is time for transcriptionists to realize that they are not always going to get every job they apply for. It is time for companies to crack down on quality. Quality is the only thing that we have over offshore.
lol - hair equal hire - need my abbreviation to type















l
I had an MTSO once offer me 7 cpl per gross line and said it was equal to 10 cpl sm
for a 65 ccl, so would 6 cpl gross equal 9?  It is so hard to tell with these things anymore. 
Yeah, so? I am equal opportunity anony poster.
nm
A lot? You've got to be kidding. Name them. "Big schools" still don't equal experience.
x
He is going to pay 8.5 for 70 characters

which is more than 9 for 65.  There is definitely something wrong with his math.  If he paid 9 for 70 then it might be the same as 8.5 for 65.  


 


65 characters
I've ALWAYS been told it means characters AND spaces.
and which characters... sm
print in white exactly, I wonder?

TIA
Lines are 65 characters.....
Not based on the actual line you see on the page.
black characters?
Sounds like no spaces counted to me.
I love those little characters! sm
Where does everybody get those? I have to have them! I love the pot disturber! Too cute! LOL!
I have got to get with the times! (Yeah, it was a good laugh, huh?)
55 characters with no spaces
Using the Apex platform, I found this calculation to be a major rip off.  Not sure why.
Maybe it's not 65 characters per line???

1600 lines is a lot.  It doesn't mention vacation time though does it?


55 is better--less characters for a line,
therefore more lines UNLESS it is black character only--i.e. not counting spaces. Some companies do it this way instead of paying for 65 character line (spaces included).
To the IC's is 10 cpl based on 65 characters a good
rate for an IC, even with having to pay your own taxes, social security, vacation, sick time and all.   How does this all pan out in the long run.  I'm a single parent and tired of all the crap I've taken the past 28 years as an employee - but too afraid to step out and work as an IC for fear of not being able to meet ends, covering for my own insurance and all.  Any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Pay is based on 65 characters and includes

spaces.  Line rate is based on experience, if you have CMT, and shift.  There may be some other things too.  I don't know 100%, but I'm pretty sure they offshore.   Get conflicting stories about accounts depending on who you talk to.  I think pay is average, PTO is accrued based on lines and is available immediately.  You can take in $$ or time off I believe.  Not sure of other benefits because I had already decided after talking to them that I wasn't going to take a position with them, so didn't pay attention to benefits. 


Black and white characters

I worked for a company that used the DQS software and I never could get my line counts, even though I typed like a fiend! In an 8-hour shift, I could get maybe 800 to 900 lines with that program. The way my company said, is Black and White characters, which means no spaces.  I didn't get any credit for the ADT screens either.


Hope this helps.


line count/65 characters
Is it possible to change the number of characters that are a considered a line, i.e.
Could you redefine the line as being 50 characters. Or is this just stuck into the program at 65/line. You may E-mail if you like CTighe3568@aol.com. Your help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
black characters=without spaces.
nm
And my lines were often over 80 characters long. NM
x
Visible black characters help!?!?!?
So I'm trying and cannot figure out for the life of me how to compute what a proper rate would be once the switch goes over to visible black characters. I want to get this figured out, so that when the call or email comes about my adjusted line rate, I can either accept it or not.

Does anyone know, at a line rate of 8 cpl right now, what an equal VBC line rate would be? Is there any way to figure this out?

And does this mean we can stop the double spacing? I mean, if it won't affect the company's pay (because apparently they only bill on visible black characters), it's more in keeping with the new standard of only one space after periods and whatnot.
sounds like "black characters" only

which is no spaces.  I wouldn't automatically rule it out.  I know you probably already know this, but if you have an account at 8 cpl and the work is pretty easy and the platform is good that is MUCH better than the hideous ESLs/static/cumbersome formatting/slow platform of an 11 cpl account, right?  Maybe you should ask more info or give it a try & maybe it might be worth your while?


That being said, 3 cpl VR will NEVER be worth my while, unless it requires almost NO CORRECTIONS - still, I'd rather transcribe...


$1.35 per 1000 characters. hiring process is too sm
daggone long.  they SNAIL MAIL you a tape to transcribe for testing.  DUH!!!!!
Transcribing = 9 cpl 65 characters including spaces.
Good company, great people. Give them a try.
75 characters per line?? Today I called about a job
and the pay started at 7.5 cents a line ----- but 75 characters per line.  Has anybody heard of that before?  The job is acute care with high amount of ESLs.  What will they think of next? 
Depends. How many characters make up a line?
.
It could mean that a gross line will not exceed 65 characters. nm
x
usually 55 does not count spaces and that's a lot of unpaid characters. NM
.
Not paying for spaces can be okay if the characters per line is shorter.
55 characters without spaces is roughly equivalent to 65 with spaces.
About 5 years ago was offered 10 cpl including spaces, 65 characters. sm
Don't know about now. That was doing all acute care, mainly op reports with full benefit package.

I declined and have my own accounts, but it was a good offer.

Good luck.
I pulled a report I did today. I get paid 65 characters.

At 65 characters it was 110 lines and at 55 it was 130.   If the 65 is employee status and there are other benefits that would be the one I would choose.  If you don't have benefits it would probably be 6 of one and half-dozen of the other.  


Sorry couldn't be more helpful.  Having to make a decision too.  One job pays more per line but no benefits, no bonuses.  The other job pays a little bit less but has incentives and good benefits.   Sounds like a no brainer but it is still hard to decide. 


I would look at how productive you could be.  I know you probably don't have any idea if you aren't familiar with the account.  I'd also look at the stability of the company.  There are no guarantees, but if there is a mom and pop company, versus a 300+ MT company, that may play a factor.  Check the boards on both companies (I'm assuming it is 2 different companies but maybe it is just pay scale difference) and see what others have said about them.  Tons of ESLs, hard to make lines, very inflexible with schedule, etc.  


You can take job #1, but there is no law that says you are there for the next 2 years and maybe job #2 will still be willing to hire you.  


 


Can we recommend companies that count all the characters and don't have you omiting periods, etc.
s