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Has anyone done a character count/65? Just cause

Posted By: co says pays certain rate, doesnt mean truely does on 2008-02-09
In Reply to: Right! TT says the count is correct if you use weird - forumulas but how does it breakdown by character?

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Is it lines = character count/65 maybe?
me
Would you ever work for 7 cpl - 65 character count
with 17+ years of experience?  Maybe as a second job?  Or no way, not worth it? Easy work and easy dictator :) 
It is actually the total character count divided by 65 sm
not the word count. To answer your question, yes, the total character count with spaces divided 65 should equal any line counting program, provided you are paid on a 65 character line count with spaces and headers and footers are not included.

Counting in Word does not include headers or footers.

My counts match those in Word.

It will also depend on how your company/facility manipulates the system. It seems the same program will count lines differently depending on the facility or company. It is not the program - it is the facility or company.

Been at this 25 years and investigated into many counting problems with various programs. When I realize my counts are off, I leave. There really is no way of knowing until you actually start working on that specific platform. Monitor your counts daily for a few days and see if they are off. Most likely, if they are, it will not change.

ChartNet is a 70 or 75 character line count. Check into it. nm
x
In my Extext experience count was about 10% less than the Word count. nm
X
It means to double check what THEY say your count it. Count
uj
The Above is for a 65-character line.
Sorry...I left that part out.  Thanks.
8.5 for 70 character line
That is what I thought.  The guy I talked to said this was the same as 9 cents per 65 character line or a little more.
It is not 65 character line. It probably would come out to 75-
zz
They also pay on a 55 character line rather than 65.
x
When they say 62 character line or sm
68 character line, or 55 or 65. What is better for the MT? I am dense. Thanks.
55-character line
Is a program that measures on a 55-character line good or bad? Don't they generally do 65-character? I know this is dumb, but which is better?
How can they sue for "defamation of character", when
.
If it is a 65 character line and being
counted by VBC, then soneone on another post said you cpl should go up 2 cents to equal out the difference in pay.
Are you aware of how they count your time?.. or don't count it i should say
nm
65 character lines with spaces
I don't think so. You're going to do a lot of typing to get all those lines. They don't pay spaces, no way!
what is a 65 character-defined line?
what is a 65 character defined line?
Question, what does 65 character B/W line mean? I'm not sure what the B/W is??(nm)

Hmm, exactly what is a 65-character gross line?
x
0.09 per 65-character IC status with schedule.....nm
;
Gross or character lines
In word, under properties they do not count headers that occur on every page.  You have to add that in by the numer of pages, i.e. if you are doing a long psych report that is 9 to 15 pages and have a headed on every page.  I could be wrong and if so let me know.   I just did a count with a header and those lines were not counted.   But if you are doing a cpl you can count characters with and without spaces.  But again in word they do not count extra characters for capitalization, bold, underline, etc where as in line counting program, Sylcount, they do.  So will you be using your program or theirs to count lines?  Gross or per 65 cpl. 
But if they are saying per character are they including spaces?
I'd ask if a space = a character.  ;)
starting at .001575 per character???

What does that mean?  So what's that translated into lines and isn't this strange to pay per character?


TIA.


37-character line without spaces much better...SM

Hi!  I just checked an OP note I did yesterday.  Characters with spaces was 5935.  I get paid on a 65-character line with spaces, so that came out to 91.3 lines.


Characters without spaces was 4999.  So, if you divide that by 37, you get 135.1 lines.


In the first scenario, I would get paid $8.22.


In the second scenario, I would get paid $12.16. (If both pay the same per line...9 cents in this example).


So, you would definitely do better to accept the 37-character line withOUT spaces! :)


Chickadee


Visual black character perhaps
You might want to check to see if they have switched to no spaces and are paying the VBC method. That could account for such a drastic cut. It would not be surprising to me at all. I am always more than appalled when companies do this on their own without notification or at client request without feeling the need to inform the MTs. Do they think that we do not notice that we are working harder than previously for less?
*readable character lines*

Hey, y'all.  Is this subterfuge-speak for we don't pay for spaces?  (Because one does not *read* spaces?)


If so, should I opt out? 


*readable character lines*

Hey, y'all.  Is this subterfuge-speak for we don't pay for spaces?  (Because one does not *read* spaces?)


If so, should I opt out? 


SoftScript's Character Line

I am interested in SoftScript's pay rate.


I heard they pay by a 65 character line? What do they use as their words per line rate?


I am working for a company who uses 8 words per line and am curious as to how this would compare to SoftScript? Any information would be helpful!


Thanks!


Name of character from Rockford Files.
xx
Agree 100%, Fatcat - It's out of character
You're right about that, Fatcat. As I said, the silence on their part is deafening and that, in my experience, is totally out of character for the management at MDI-MD.

To me, the thing that really piques my concern is the fact that it's not just one account that has apparently dried up. You and I are on totally different accounts, and both of ours are without work. At first, I thought perhaps they had lost one of the accounts, but I doubt they would have lost two major accounts at the same time; that puts me back to square 1 in trying to figure out what's really going on and holding out hope for things to improve.

I also notice our posts are starting to read very similarly to the initial posts of our fellow MTs at the Q when their work started to inexplicably disappear, the confusion and uncertainty and hoping for the best.

At this point, I don't think I'll feel secure even if given a backup account. IMO, with things drying up, shuffling us to another account would just be taking work away from the MTs already on that account and would soon place that account into famine territory, too. If there's not enough work, there's just not enough work. I don't mind having one backup account, but I really don't care to have to juggle 3-4 accounts every shift with fingers crossed hoping to make my line count.

At this point, to coin an old expression, I am hoping for the best but proactively preparing for the worst.


Your character core is right on target.
Of course, we all know to worry when a company we work for starts employing people to spout this meaningless BS. Bast#rds.
GROSS LINE VERSUS 65 CHARACTER
I am wondering which is better.  Is gross line better than 65 character line with spaces.  Thanks
65-character is the way it is now. The clients are smarter and cheaper than sm
they used to be. Very few have weekly pay. I agree about QA rudeness.

9-10 cents per gross line! Where? Sign me up !!!
Gross lines versus 65 character
What is 7 or 8 cpl gross equivalent to in 65 character
I'm jealous! Is it gross line or 65 character? I am also
on an ER account with EXText but I cannot get near that. Any tips to share? I love working at Keystrokes but would love to get those kind of lines even more!
it sounds like a 55-character line without spaces
 
Yes they do; 65-character line, spaces included NM

by my calculations, 10/78 character is equal to 8.33/65 characters - nm
 nm
7 cpl character with spaces....EMDAT sucks...sm
Not worth the hassle of filling in demo info manually spending inordinate amount of time searching patient lists that are 3 or more pages long....YUCK
Visible black character spaces
I work for a company that only pays VBC and let me tell you it takes forever to get that line count. In my opinion that space bar does not move by itself. Getting cheated but I need the job.
VBC= virtual black character link

a bit hard to understand but those out there are sure using the calculators.  This was on the internet and note this VBC listed on a job listing.on MTStars.  Not only have to provide expensive Lanier equip and provide free long distance to their clients but lower line pay.  See how they keep lowering their business client cost. and pass it on to the MT


 


Posted By: K&R Consulting, Inc on 2009-06-30

We currently have several fulltime positions available for acute care MTs with a minimum of 3 years exp and exp with ESL.

Equipment required - Dictaphone or compatible Cphone and unlimited long distance.

Start dates of 8/10 and 8/18 available.

Pay is 9 cents on a 65 VBC line.

Please send resume to resumes@knrconsult.com i


mean black character on white paper
also called virtual black character or VBC. Spaces not paid for. Never do it. This is just horrible.
Any math wizards out there that can help..Based on a 65 character line,

if you were not paid for spaces, what would 11 cpl (w/o) equal? It sounded good, but when I did the math it was lower than 8 cpl with spaces? I hope I'm not right.


Sorry I know people have asked this before but I couldnt remember answer.


 


depends on whether you need benefits. If not, go with 9 per 55 character line. more money. nm
,
I'm confused. It says 09 cents per 65-character GROSS line. sm
What is a 65 character **gross** line??
Companies that pay for actual lines, not divided by character?
Does anyone know what companies pay for actual lines and not by characters per line?
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.
visible black character (VBC) spaces not counted SM

I just ran across this as bit long article but it is worth saving to your PC and reading a bit at a time.  I recall posting that Probity used this, I posted this meant NO SPACES and somebody came back and said they do pay for them. Boy they are really really making extensive calculation, guess always have and we did not know it.


Last year, KLAS reported that the industry appeared to be moving towards a standard


pricing model based on visual black characters (VBC), especially given the joint announcement from AHIMA and MTIA endorsing the adoption of VBC. The vision was for the VBC to be used to develop service level agreements, benchmark internal


transcription performance, foster better business relationships with the MTSOs, and improve the tools for evaluating and selecting MTSO partners. However, based on this body of research, adoption of this standard has been slow and billing per line is still the predominant approach.


 http://www.californiahia.org/Content/ul/8694//Kivi_Dale_Transcriptions_New_Standards.pdf


 


VBC - visible black character - no spaces, returns,
It reduces your pay by about 30%, because you still have to hit the spacebar and return even though you are not paid for it. 
TransHealth pays for spaces & headers on a 65 character line. sm
I recommend them highly.  Stable company, good platform, great benefits.  I'm happy there.
Sometimes a gross line can equate to more than 65 counted character lines
I know one company whose lines are in very tiny font with very wide margins. The line length for those gross lines is 104-120 characters. This is almost double a 65 counted character line.

You can make a comparison of which is better by making a copy of your report (use cut/paste or lift into an expander, then copy into blank document) and run it thru a line count program set at 65.

Your definition of gross line is correct, but your equating it to pay is only good if the line length for gross lines is maximum 65 characters. MTSOs are learning how to make this gross line sound wonderful but in reality are robbing you blind.