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it does not count gross lines...I count 37 and it counts 67.

Posted By: me on 2009-02-12
In Reply to: If you are using word, it will count your - lines. (NM)

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and I count gross lines

I do not cheat, I count gross lines and from top to bottom but I make sure that it is fair so my price per line is lower and it all equals out in the end.  On chart notes, it is the total amount of lines which includes 2 spaces between patients which then helps to pay for the cutting apart, sticky paper and delivery.  But my accounts are aware of this and again it shows in my per line charge. 


Need to count gross lines only w/o spaces, sm
Used Sylcount free download but it expired.  Any alternatives.  Did not like Practicount.  Need to count gross lines only.  How do I do that using MS Word? 
Ask for a sample report. Count the gross lines on a full page. Then
figure out the line rate you want to make. For example, if there are 30 lines on the page and you would want to charge $0.15 per line, then that would be $4.50 per page. If they would like your hourly rate, figure out how many pages you think you can transcribe in an hour. Using the above example, if you can transcribe 4 pages per hour, then charge $18.00 per hour. In California the going transcription rates are approximately $22-$25 per hour.
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.
extended word count counts spaces. nm
:
Gross line count

What exactly is gross line count. Is this paragraph spaces in between paragraphs? or is this just typed lines?


Thanks Carla


btw - gross line count. nm
x
Gross line count without spaces?
I've been corresponding with an MTSO, and she tells me that she pays gross line without spaces.  Is there such a thing?  I have both Abacus and MPCount, and neither of those programs has an option to count gross lines without spaces.  Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks!
Is it customary to count headers/footers in this business when doing line counts? Thanks. nm
 
7 cpl gross and counts blank lines, IC status-- make a ton of money because it's easy work...nm
x
byte count versus gross line-sm

Does anyone know how to compare byte count versus gross line pay?


Thank you


I count my own lines and would not think of doing otherwise SM

Yes, you may have to spend money on a counting program, but isn't it important to have everyone on the same page, so to speak?


I'm so old that I don't know how to count by lines...(SM)
No, that's not a "I'm so old joke" - wish it were! I've only worked for myself in the past and now I'm helping someone else out. I agreed at a fairly low page rate (certainly lower than I used to charge) but I now think I'm cheating myself! When you count a 65 character line is that 65 spaces from left margin to right? Is that a gross line? What is the standard? I've been counting my characters (including spaces) in each line and they're at least 75 to 80. So, each page is like 1-1/2! My margins are one inch all around and the font size is 11. Am I wrong in thinking that a 65 character line means 65 spaces across the page? And, if so, is 9 cents per line out of the norm? Thanks for "teaching an old 'dinosaur' a new trick"!!
How do you count your lines? m
When you're not using a program like BayScribe that does it for you.  For example, if you transcribe letters or reports in Word, how do you calculate the lines you bill to your client?  Any help is appreciated!
ES does count lines.
It is one of the most user-friendly platforms I have worked on. I have 2 accounts that the speech rec is very good on and 1 account with lousy dictators that require more editing, but it is often entertaining. The sound quality is very good, and there is little to no distortion when you speed up the audio file.
Yes. They count the lines as set up
in the contract with the client. Each account can be different.
How can you count your lines in Word, I used

to use the word count in Word and then divide it by something to get a standard line count for that report. Has anyone done this before? I forgot the way to calculate when working in Word.


You can count your lines and characters yourself sm
even if you have no counting program. You can copy and paste into a word document or clipboard and count the characters in Word. At least you will have some idea of what you are being paid for. I have done this many times and if it doesn't add up to what the company's count has, I was right on the horn and sometimes even quit because of it. I will not be cheated in any way by any one.
Count lines in courier 12 - nm

XX


The way MTSOs count lines

Does anyone know if some MTSOs calculate lines on various accounts differently?  One of my accounts is very difficult to get a decent line count.  While it is more tedious and does not have "normals," it just seems like often I have a shift full of fairly long reports (and a fair number of them), and by feel seems like my line count should be higher.  - I can't help but wonder if lines are calculated differently for this account.


Does anyone know of MTSOs doing that?  Sadly, I am afraid to ask my employer.  


Take the character count divded by 65 and that will give you your line count.
x
Count several lines both ways and see the difference
??
How did you count lines before the PC, or were you paid hourly then? nm


As an IC you invoice the company, count your own lines, and receive a paycheck.
First Choice, JLG, QT Medical, Metro in Atlanta, just to name a few.

Most use SylCount or something similar. I used Abacus - free line counting software.
Here is the best way...open any document you have typed for anything and count the lines both ways.

I have pretty much always been paid by the gross line...occasionally I will take a job with a company that pays by characters and I never make as money.  Remember...with gross lines, a line is a line is a line....that means anything on the lines be it one character or 65 is a line.  For instance....today I type a normal file for a client I have worked on for years...if I counted the lines at 65-cpl I got 398 lines, but counting gross lines I got 641 lines.  This is a 38% difference in pay between the two, so you would be making approximately 5 cents a line less on the character count.  Hope this helps :)


Word Macro to count Lines Strict inside

Hi,


The solutions others gave are good, but if I just needed to get the number of lines with typing (and don't need an invoice or a report), I'd use a Word macro.


The other solutions offered have this drawback: If the body of your document contains tables, the count Word gives you is vastly inflated, for Word counts each cell in that table as a line. This is not what the eye sees, and becomes problematic when you try to justify such to your client.


Below is a macro for counting what we at Emmaus call Lines Strict. (i.e. Lines with typing on them, vs Lines Extended that includes the blank lines).


To use it, copy from Public Sub through End Sub, and paste it into your macros along with your other macros. Easiest way of doing this is (after you have copied the appropriate lines):


1. Click Tools | Macros, and select an existing macro.


2. Click the Edit button.


3. Once the Visual Basic Editor opens, press Ctrl+End to move to the bottom.


4. Paste the clipboard contents.


5. Click File | Compile Normal. (If you've pasted things that don't belong, it won't compile.)


6. Click File | Close and Return to MS Word.


Merry Christmas!
vJoe
http://www.mpword.com


OOPS! I looked at the HTML code after I pasted the code into the editor on this board, and it added things that when pasted into the Visual Basic Editor in Word will not compile. Here's the code if you want to retype it, but pasting won't work. If you send me an email, I'll attach the code into a .txt document, and you won't have any problems.  vjoet@attglobal.net


Public Sub GetLinesStrictCount()
    Dim CharsStrict As Long
    Dim Count As Long
    Dim ParaswBlanks As Long
    Dim ParasWOBlanks As Long
    Dim LineswBlanks As Long
    Dim BlankLines As Long
    Dim LinesWOBlanks As Long
    Dim NumOfTables As Long
    Dim NumOfRows As Long
    Dim TableRowCount As Long
    Dim x As Integer
   
    TableRowCount = 0
    NumOfTables = 0
    NumOfRows = 0
   
    ActiveDocument.ComputeStatistics (wdStatisticCharacters)
    ActiveDocument.ComputeStatistics (wdStatisticLines)
    CharsStrict = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyCharacters)
    ParasWOBlanks = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyParas)
    LineswBlanks = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyLines)


    NumOfTables = ActiveDocument.Content.Tables.Count
    If NumOfTables > 0 Then
        For x = 1 To NumOfTables
            With ActiveDocument.Content.Tables.Item(x)
                NumOfRows = NumOfRows + .Rows.Count
            End With
        Next
        TableRowCount = NumOfRows
    End If
   
    If CharsStrict > 0 Then
        ParaswBlanks = ActiveDocument.Range(wdMainTextStory).Paragraphs.Count
    Else
        ParaswBlanks = 1
    End If
       
    If LineswBlanks > 1 Then
        LineswBlanks = LineswBlanks + 1
    End If
   
    If ParaswBlanks = 1 And ParasWOBlanks = 1 Then
        BlankLines = 0
    Else
        BlankLines = ParaswBlanks - ParasWOBlanks
    End If
   
    LinesWOBlanks = LineswBlanks - BlankLines
    Count = LinesWOBlanks
   
    MsgBox "Lines Strict (with typing) = " & CStr(Count + TableRowCount)
End Sub


 


 


Does Quick Books/Quicken count the lines or do you use a separate program for that?
nm
You can set Word to not count blank lines by changing your paragraph style
to automatically double space after the paragraph.
Nope, not a higher count. Actually, the count is the same...
I use a word count and not a line count, but because you mentioned it, I ran a few documents using line count, and the count is exactly the same. However, Flashcount has a lot of nifty features.  I like it.  :)
You need to watch your line count. I was working for them and got reports that had line count of 0
You need to watch your line count. I was working for them and got reports that had line count of 0 in them. They did not pay for templates, they would deduct the template even if it was not used and deleted. I notified them and said they could not change it.

So I asked to be put on another account and they refused. I quit.

I was also promised they would have an incentive plan going into place if you type a certain # of lines. Two years went by and nothing.

I was really disappointed in OSI.

They also offered to pay half on joint AAMT, which they failed to do.

I am glad I am no longer there.
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.
Calculating lines using Word Count in Word
I have recently started a job where lines are calculated using the Microsoft Word word count tool. I think I read that you get cheated out of lines if a company counts this way. Is this true?
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.
Gross line counts are easier to obtain IF you have sm
a fixe font; however, 6 cents is not enough. I would not accept under 7.5 cents a gross line and only on a FIXED fot with the margins spelled out. For instance, if they say a 65-space gross line, that means 1-inch margins on each side. Of course, anything on a line is counted as a line and that means if there is only 1 character, that is counted as a line, but always get it spelled out the type of font that will be used because if you have true type fonts, you could be doing as much as 125 characters on a line.

As good as gross lines sound, today's world is not really based on that and it is much easier to calculate a 65-character line in the perspective of today's world.

I don't know how much experience you have, but even if you have just a few years, that still is not good pay and again, if it is a TT font, you would only be making something like 3-1/2 cents to 4 cents per 65-character line.

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).
You need to know how your company counts lines. It probably is not
counting the same as your line counter.
Our Meditech counts BLANK lines...
we get a sweet line count off our account that uses Meditech.
It counts the lines it ends up with, not what it starts with. nm
nm
No....only if you are doing gross lines- nm
xx
gross lines
One can do far better in a day when counting gross lines rather than character counted -- especially if very familiar with the accounts (of course, that helps either way :).
I do gross lines

I go into file, properties, statistics and that gives me my gross count.  Very simple and easy as long as you are using Word, no program to buy.   I am surprised that the company you are working for did not show this to you.  Also gives you characters if you are paid for characters divided by whatever your line is and not gross lines. 


Patti


gross lines
Hey everybody, gross lines are TOTALLY different than a 65-character line.  I used to have a gross lines account doing operative reports and I did at least 2000 a day in about 5 hours.  Now I am on a 65 character line and I struggle to get 2000 in 8 hours.  If I had my old account and worked 12 hours, I would be getting AT LEAST 4200 lines a day.  You gotta compare apples to apples.  :) 
Raw gross lines will pay the most sm

If you type in word.  You simply highlight the entire document and do a word count using the tools.  Once you have your line count, you would times that by cents per line you charge.  65 character with or without spaces will be doing your own math for each document and takes more time.  Go mid range in this instance if you use raw line count.  Be sure to have a contract agreement or at least a Memorandum of Understanding and provide them with good turnaround as stated in your contract.  This makes you look very professional and worth the going rate.   Congratulations!  NOTE:  And to think there have been statements made like "everything is going to voice recognition".  Your "new account" says NOT!!!  Have fun!   


Is this for gross lines or sm

65 character lines?


I think that would make a big difference.


More than me with gross lines

That is more than me with a gross line count, checked a couple of documents.  Except for when I do a lot of consults/letters and I am about to count from date to signature for gross lines.  But if you do mostly chart notes, it is good.  Just check a couple of your documents and see what it is versus 65cpl at 12 to 13 cpl and then gross line at 12 to 13 cpl and see where you stand.  Again, I used to be paid 1 cent per word and did well until it comes to letters.    Also, only you know what you make per hour and if it is good for you.


Patti


 


Gross lines
count lines equally whether there are 65 characters or 2 characters, or any other number. Each new line is a line whether it is full or not.
I know about gross lines however
if you are using an Arial 10 font and margins are .5 and .5 then you are putting about 90 characters on a line which is way too many for 6 cents per line.  That is all I was saying about which font you use and what your margins are.  I use a smaller font for my accounts but when I do my line count -- I count gross lines -- I change it back to a 12 font and 1" margins at the sides as when I quoted my price it was so much per line and my definitiation of a line is 1" margins and using 12 font.  So that is why I was asking about what font and what margins you have. 
Word counts the blank lines between paragraphs unless you change
your paragraph style to double space when you hit enter. You need to change the "after" setting in the spacing section of the paragraph dialog box to the point size of the font you are using and click the Default button. You'll probably want to do this in a separate template unless you want this setting for all new documents.
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.


Are your lines 65-character, gross, or
other? Just curious as I do clinic work and in my area the going rate for gross lines is about 12 cpl, but more like 15-17 cpl for 65-character lines. I have heard (don't really know how reliable it is) that hospitals are charged up to the 22 cpl range. (I assumed that was on 65-character lines.)
Gross lines vs. 65-char

A gross line is anything on a line IS a line - usually the standard is Courier 12, 1 inch margins - that way, if a doc wants Arial or Times New Roman or any other font, he will know that it will always be counted in Courier 12 regardless of the font he uses.


 


65-char means based on a 65-char per line basis, lines are counted, so it is not a "line" unless there are 65 characters on it - the counting programs that count this convert the document to one big long document without returns, etc., linking all the characters in one long line and counting them that way.  Clearly you can see how many fewer lines you would get by this method.  When this was brought into the business it was touted as a "fairer" way of counting - but the only one it is "fairer" to is the doctor - it cuts the lines vs gross lines an average of over 30% - for example, if you are making 7 cpl for a 65-char line, you are in reality making 4.8 cpl gross lines - quite a difference.