Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

That is a lot of work/lines for 2 people. I do 3000 lines per day sm

Posted By: ExpMT24 on 2006-02-08
In Reply to: Government contracts - nn

if you times that by 30 days that only comes to 90K lines a month, that is working 7 days a week including weekends. I don't think 2 people can handle that.


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

all work types - 3000 lines a day @ 12 cpl 65 characters
18 cpl transcribed line - private hospital account. These are the only specifics I am willing to give.

Do not e-mail me and ask where or who - I will not reply!

I understand companies are paying 4 & 8 cpl edit/transcribed. I do not work for a company. I caught a hospital account using the platform at the right time and signed on quickly as an IC.

Hope this helps.
3000 lines a day
I have been a MT for 35 years...CMT for much of that..an IMT, since the 70s, with my own business...and a FAST transcriptionist...but it is not possible to type 3000 lines a day.  You can and I have done it - but you will kill yourself.  Today, more and more keystroke/characters are being taken away from us and in my opnion you would have to TYPE YOUR BRAINS OUT and still would not make it.  After two or three days at that pace you will be ready to blow yourself up!   I am only max-productive six hours a day, after that it is down-hill..I slow and my quality suffers.  Don't try to type 3000 lines a day, find an account that will pay you well instead - they are out there. 
3000 lines per day??
On voice recognition pay that's not much money (about $12 an hour) especially for those of us who don't have the luxury of husbands helping bring home the bacon!
3000 lines
Thanks everyone for your input.  Hopefully I'll have an easy account and will be able to get a lot of lines once I get used to the account.
3000 lines a day with VR?
Does anyone want to share their line counts when using Escription VR?  At 4 cpl a line I would have to do over 3000 lines a day (8 hours mind you) to even begin to make what i did before.  Is this possible??  I just don't see how......
Making 3000 Lines Per Day?
Is it really possible to make 3000 lines per day? If so, how is that possible? I am a very fast transcriptionist, and I use shortcuts to the max;I cannot fathom how 3000 lines in 8 hours is possible. Is there a WAV-to-text conversion program out there that I am missing out on, or what? What is the key to this level of production? I can't figure it out, and it is driving me bonkers.
3000 lines - 6 hours- VR editing. nm
x
2500-3000 lines daily. sm
I found my comfort zone and awesome account, finally. After 25 years in the MT business, I can honestly say, I am happy doing my job! I have an awesome account, wonderful people to work for, and an excellent line rate.

I have not set hours, no special quota to meet - just get the reports done with utmost quality, keep them in turnaround time and keep the docs happy!

Sometimes, I don't even check my line count. I just work until my account is caught up.

There are accounts/doctors/hospitals out there who will appreciate you, your knowledge and work ethic, who will treat you with the respect you so deserve!

I happened to find one - all MTs can do the same; it just takes a little effort. Believe me, I have been around the block in this profession, working for smaller MTSOs, large nationals, and having my own accounts. It was not easy, but I finally have found "paradise" in the MT profession!

Love it, get at least 3000 lines per shift
and have straight mixed in with it. The salary is low but I can get anywhere from 18-20 dollars an hour or over and so maybe you are not putting forth your best effort? Might also depend on the platform you use. Some better than others.
Can YOU really type 3000 lines an hour?!

That right there is an incredible feat of fingerin'! 


Meditech didn't work with my particular short cut program and the lag time was absolutely unbearable, not to mention all the demographic screens to wade through before getting to actually type the report.  I absolutely hate using "F" keys, which leads to more finger fatigue, and the Meditech I used was full of them.  Honestly though, I can't remember if it was "Magic" or the other version of Meditech, as it's been at least a couple of years now. 


I do know, however, that I was able to produce 1500/lines per 8-hour day as a matter of course with one word-based program and with Meditech, it dropped down into the 900 range.  It was financially and mentally devastating for me, but again, my experience.


Question about 3000 lines and your hands.
Do they hurt? Maybe I am doing something wrong, but when I sit in my chair for that long and type my hands rebel. Do you do 3000 in 8 hours or how does that work exactly? I'm impressed. I know people will probably come on here now and flame me and say that they do 50,000 lines a day and their hands never hurt... whatever. LOL I am totally impressed by you MTs that do so well. Admittedly, I am not the fastest gun in the rack, but I do my part. I say kudos to ALL of you that can type that much every single day and not let it get to you. I would crawl out of my skin I think!
rephrasing my question about 3000 lines per day (sm)
What I really like to know is if it's possible to type that many lines on a CONSISTENT basis everyday and approximately how many hours it takes. I'm trying to calculate how many lines a pay period I need to make to pay my bills.

Thanks so much
Depends -- usually 2500-3000 lines per week - sm
though where I work does not have a minimum, but they are considering changing that shortly. Still won't be a firm # as they go by minutes, but the min. will be 60 minutes a day which will be approx 500-600 lines a day.
I have a friend who consistently does over 3000 lines in 8 hours on the basic four, so yes it is pos
z
Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines.  One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself.  After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
900 lines is below 1100 lines, where the bonus starts.
x
Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
The norm is 1 minute = 10 lines; 10 min = 100 lines - sm
granted this varies per dictator. More lines if a fast talker, less if a slow talker.
I went from 2400 lines to 1800 lines

a day when I switched from clinic (through an MTSO)  to hospital work. Not only was the clinic work easier with more macros (and less providers to learn, 12 vs 300+), but I was typing in straight Word (as opposed to Softmed/Chart Script).  So you see, it really varies depending upon the type of work as well as the platform used. That said, I am so much happier typing the 1800 lines per day (I make over $15 per hour plus an incentive for any lines in excess of 1200 per day) plus a great health package/benefits, AND approximately 5 weeks of paid time off per year.  In my opinion, hospitals really are the best employers WHEN they appreciate the work we do.


My advice for you is not to judge a job by any one criterion but rather the entire picture. The 'extra's can really add up.

Good luck in your job!


Which is the one where they are sc*&ing us the standard lines or the qualified lines? SM
Mine show up as STD when I pull up my transcription log.  But I see now there is STD/QT....  So which is the one where they are ripping us off, standard or qualified?  Need to know.  I am about to switch companies and I will not do if they are actually taking lines from me.  Thanks guys. 
Work for 1 hour, then count your lines of the completed work - sm
either check you total characters in word (with spaces) then total them all up and divide by 65, and you get your total lines per hour. 10,000/65 is 153 lines. Or if you have a line counting program us that to figure you count, either way will work quite well. Maybe do it a few times and then figure an average over 3 hours or something like that, it will vary with the ease/difficulty of the work you are doing.
where do you work that you just do lines, not hours?- nm
nm
For my work, it seems to average out to about 10-11 lines per
I can very safely do 20 minutes of dictation in an hour, sometimes 25-30 minutes of dictation in an hour.

There are times it is slower but not often.

It will not work through phone lines....sm

I started on a Lanier at a hospital and then went home with it.  At the hospital it was connected directly to the computer.  I was told that you lose certain features through the phone lines and that is one of them.


Why do you say $20/hr? I work for a national, and at 11 cpl, 300 lines per hour, sm

that's $33/hour.  I'm not driving a Lexus or anything, but I'm comfortable.  Generally speaking, find a mid-sized national, big enough to have enough work for you all of the time, yet small enough to care and realize that quality work deserves quality pay.


They are out there.  Good luck!


Their pay is way low and you work like a dog to make minimum lines.
x
8-9 cpl for Gross lines, easy work ....
Where? Where?
Do you work outside your scheduled hours to get extra lines?
Or do you stick to your schedules and just roll with however many lines you make during that time?
Where do all you guys work, typing 2000 lines a day?
Looking for stable company.....
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....

I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.


What is the advantage of this?  If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation? 


I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it.  I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired.  They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.


Thanks for explaining this.  I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.


Read between the lines. When a company starts saying work more to make more
and you have to work in assembly-line fashion like an automaton, they are having a cash crunch.  They held out one salary to you to get you to do the job, then they turn around and cut your pay because you make too much.  They don't sound financially stable.  If you've only been on the job 2 months, start looking elsewhere for a more financially stable company.   Send out your resume and see what other companies have to offer and check out references for those companies.  I and a friend in the past have gone part-time with a new company before resigning from the old one in order to make sure the new company is going to be compatible with us. It's hard to do, but it's short-term for only 1 or 2 weeks.   
Are you IC or employee? Any IC work I've done, they encourage surpassing lines...
If you're an IC, I honestly don't think it matters to the MTSO which MT is putting out the lines, as long as TAT is met and the quality is there to back it up. I've cranked out 2500 lines per day with a commitment of 1400 per day and the extra effort was commended.

If you're an employee, however, and other employees who perhaps aren't as fast are complaining that you're 'hogging' all the work because of your speed, that could be another story. I've been in that situation but had a supervisor who staunchly defended me and said it wasn't exactly 'hogging' the work just because I was twice as fast as the other MTs, so the complaints ceased.

Sounds like just where you work. Most places don't check so tightly on the lines produced AND you
x
7 cpl gross and counts blank lines, IC status-- make a ton of money because it's easy work...nm
x
Dont you think MQ will just keep hiring new people who dont know they lost lines because they are

new. I betcha.


Word count: 824 lines. DocuCount count: 897 lines.
I just counted the same file in Word and then in DocuCount, and DocuCount was higher than Word.

Just as an aside.
lines
I always say a good average is around 250-300 lines an hour.
Lines

I have been flamed many times about my production, rate and how much I make.  I think it is great for you.   But there are those 10 hour days sometimes but I like the fact that I have my own business, and get paid for the hard work.  One account that I have is surgeons and with their consults have hit close to 600 lines per hour but with my IM's, and their chart notes can only get up to 350 to 400 or so.   It is hard when I switch to my clinic account where I sometimes go in and get paid hourly as I feel like I am not working fast enough on their electronic charts.  Again, I have said it many times, it may take a while but if you want to work hard the money is there to be made in this field.


 


 


How many lines??
Everyone just wondering how many lines did you do a day when you first started MT? And, how many hours a day?
SS lines, pay,
They are a total rip off. E-mails are plain rude. Cherrypickers like one could not believe. Management does not exist. QA a total joke. Roaming payday. Anyone else who states other is not an MT with the company.
lines...whatever it was.

Well you see, you stated right in your post that you can't possibly cherry pick...so what do you know about what is going on with the rest of us out here who DO have to deal with cherry pickers. 


Ma'am, I have 25 years in this business, 15 of it in a nest of the worst cherrypickers you have ever seen, at the largest hospital in my state. I was the supervisor for 5 years and I would have fired somebody on the spot if they'd done that, but they all knew it. Had no problems.


Don't know what you make per line but getting about 666 lines per hour is quite astounding.  I'm sure you must be quite happy where you are and with no cherry pickers! 


I work for 3 hospitals, doing operative notes. They are assigned to me by someone 6 states away. I go down the list. There's no way to get anything other than what I get. And yes, I am completely happy where I am.


Good for you.  I've been an acute care MT for over 30 years and am rated as one of the best as far as QA and quantity and have NEVER, EVER in my life been able to come close to your line count.  Maybe you are from another planet and have powers beyond us or maybe you have some special secret you could share.  Or maybe, we should just ignore your statement of getting that kind of line count, especially when you are not dealing with cherry pickers.  


I don't deal with cherrypickers because I won't work where there are any. I get that kind of line count every single day, because that is what is assigned to me and I have to do it and turn it in on a deadline.


It is all in where you work and what you are able to put up with. I happen to have the freedom to work where I please and working there pleases me.


It's unfortunate that you have 30 years' experience and you are stuck where you are.


lines
Well it took me a little longer 5 typing and 1.0 delivering but I did 2295 at 0.12 cents a line. So guess I will quit until later this evening. Two surgeons and two IM' and 1 plastic surgeon. Lots of consults, auto corrects but pays off. 13 consults at 3 to 4 pages each.
LINES

I have gotten 500 lines but I should not count as I do clinical notes for two surgeons that do the same consults for most breast CA, hernias, cysts, etc.  I just whipped out between the two almost 700 lines in about 75 minutes but I have been doing them for so long  and have so much saved that I type perhaps on a general inguinal hernia consult and letter, 30% of the actual consult.  Sometimes more.  On regular chart notes, I average around 300 to 350 but again have had the same docs for 5 and 7 years.    And when you read closely, you will see that is how we do it. But if you are with a national and new docs all the time, I would be luck to get 200 lines an hour. So it is sometimes like comparing oranges to apples as they say.


 


 


lines
Working 2-1/2 hours, all ops, mainly ESL, 308 lines which comes out to about $10 an hour. Am I crazy or what?
lines/pay
I've been transcribing 25 years, only 4 months being production paid with a large national, no incentives, no bonuses, no extras for working holidays. I find it terribly depressing when the check comes and you see your gross lines, divide the number of hours you worked--it has been improving each pay, but still not near what I was making previously.  I now have been offered a position (not transcription) at a local hospital (where I lost my transcribing job to outsourcing) at $16/hr. An easy job that I'm seriously considering.  No holidays, no logging on all hours to find work, great benefits.  But I've been working at home 5 years now..... I never realized how the big companies are underpaying good transcriptionists.  Thank heavens I have extra accounts that I've been doing on the side for years or I couldn't survive on what I'm bringing in now.   Thanks for listening!
lines/pay
If that is true, many not making $10/hr., then yes, I guess I should consider myself lucky. I had no idea others were being paid such a minimal amount - and I never considered that I was "in the dark" about things!
lines
My max after 4 months with the national came out to $13.42/hr.  I have extra accounts that I've been doing for years and make $25-$30 an hour on those - letters by specialists which I breeze though, 15-20 extra hours a week, so when I went to the national, pay by the line, what a shocker. Never been paid by the line, even though I was told not to worry with my experience, etc., I would have no trouble with getting good line counts, doesn't seem to be happening. At least it doesn't seem good to me and at this point the in-house hospital job (not transcription) seems more inviting at $16/hr Mon-Fri, no weekends, no holidays, great bennies...Even though my love is transcription my feeling is I'll still have my fingers in it with the extra accounts I have but will feel more stable.  Single parent, need the bennies. 
lines
Glad to know it is not just me.  New to this at home thing - only 4 months with 25 years experience. I struggle to get 1200 lines a day unless I get lucky and get an ER account - which doesn't happen very often. 
$13/hr plus .04 over 150 lines/hr
Just went back to the local hospital I used to work for. I usually can easily type 300 lines per hour, so the hourly rate plus incentive is fairly decent.
Lines
I checked this when I first went on DQS.  Do a select all on a completed document in DQS, paste it into MS Word, then go to tools, choose word count, look at the characters with spaces total and divide that number by 65. You will find that it matches with DQS.
lines
It takes me about 8 hours to do 2000 lines