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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Sounds like you can make a good living, just can't

Posted By: afford the life you want. on 2006-12-13
In Reply to: Rent where I live is apx. $1200-1250/mo, 1-bdrm. (sm) - blahblahblahblahblah

There's quite a difference.



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Does anyone really make a good living doing VR??? sm
I currently work for one of the larger MT companies that is mostly VR, platform isn't bad, but just not able to get my line count up.  I was curious if it just me or if there were MTs out there who were doing good on VR and glad they have made the switch.  Thanks. 
How do they make a living if they don't get paid for their
services.  I don't know that they get a percentage of the line rate, doesn't make sense that it would be like that, but I'm sure they get a flat fee.   The MT doesn't pay, the company does.  I didn't ask them about getting paid because that was none of my business.   Maybe they don't get paid unless the MT accepts a position.   A lot of companies offer referral bonuses, could be the same thing with TM.  
We have to make a freakin' living
..
Terrible....can't make a living on that.
`
and when you can't make a living anymore--sm
due to schloping American jobs to third world countries..it will be too late for ANY solution.
Can you make a living at home?

I have been an on-site MT for 15 years and have clinic-only experience in several specialties.  I am considering a change to working from home.  I am wondering if it is possible to work from home and still make good money.  Do you folks feel that you do just as well as you would working on-site? 


Oh, but its OK that the MTs barely make living wages?
Shall we feel sorry for the poor MTSOs now?  Please...buying meat past the expiration - most of this winter I had to hit the FOOD BANKS, and while working full time.
Yes, but can we make a living with 3c/l doing the editing??? That's what I'm afraid of. nm
nm
I guarantee you, you are not the norm. Why lead someone that needs to make a living into a

situation that is getting worse all the time with lost accounts and over hiring and not knowing yet what the pay scale will be.


i am not in this for competition, just to make a living and feed my family you
insensitive b*****
You are being hypothetical while we are trying to find a co. where we can make a decent living,,,,nm
:+
Move on, girl - gotta make a living
.
I have an easy account and make a decent living.

And while you are at it, TT Management,


BITE ME!!!  You were fools to file this lawsuit.  $294.50 to lose all credibility in the MT World.  Sad, truly sad...


And many thought you were one of the good guys.


Can an MT make a decent living earning 7 cents per line


Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth.  It would be great to be paid 10-11-12-13 cents per line (as an employee not IC), but that is not a reality in this job market.  Yes, MTs will take jobs that pay 7 cents per line, but that MTSO is not necessarily underpaying or demeaning the MTs that work for them. 


 


Bottom line is that you have to do your homework because, yes, there are people who can make a living on 7 cents a line and will take those jobs.   It really depends on your skills and how dedicated you are to making your maximum possible lines per hour.  The MTSO that is offering only 7 cents a line but has easy dictators can actually pay you more per check if you type more lines per hour than an MTSO that is offering 10 cents a line but has horrible quality, ESL dictators, nasty QA, etc and you can barely type 100 lines an hour because of it. 


 


MY TIP:  When you interview, ask what the approximate minimum and maximum lines per hour that the other MTs that are doing EXACTLY the same accounts that you are going to be doing are achieving per hour/day/pay period.  If the recruiter/MTSO will not tell you that information, you probably don’t want to work there anyway so just terminate the interview before wasting any more of your time.  The slowest MTs are probably new and the ones achieving 200-250-300 lines per hour have been there a long time and know the account(s) forwards and backwards.  If you plan to make that MTSO a long-term employer, you will have a pretty good idea of what you can potentially achieve if you stay there long enough.  Don’t let them tell you the “average” of all the MTs that work for the company or what their perfect employee Suzie Q types.   We all know every account is different, so Suzie Q who just started last week and is already doing 150 lines per hour may have easier accounts than the one you are going to be working on, so that is not very representative of what your account(s) is really going to be like.  Ask specifically about the accounts you will be assigned to and don’t let them distract you.  Again, if they don’t want to tell you, terminate the interview. 


 


According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2004 !!!, the MEDIAN hourly earnings for a Medical Transcriptionist (probably  mostly hospital and office based) in May of 2004, was $13.64 an hour. 


 


Just for reference, it seems like most MTSOs have a 6000 lines per week minimum production standard which is about 150 line per hour (40 hour week) on average for full-time MTs.   


 


·        If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.07) = $10.50 per hour.


 


·        If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.08) = $12.00 per hour. 


 


·        If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.09) = $13.50 per hour. 


 


·        If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.10) = $15.00 per hour. 


 


If you are one of the highly trained experienced MT and type 200 lines per hour on average, you are even better off. 


 


·        If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.07) = $14.00 per hour.


 


·        If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.08) = $16.00 per hour. 


 


·        If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.09) = $18.00 per hour. 


 


·        If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.10) = $20.00 per hour. 


 


 


The median hourly earnings in 2004 was $13.64 per hour.  That was almost 4 years ago.  With a minimal 2% per year cost of living/inflation increase, by 2008 the median hourly earning should be about $14.76 per hour.       


 


2004 --------- $13.64


2005 x 2% = $13.91


2006 x 2% = $14.19


2007 x 2% = $14.47


2008 x 2% = $14.76


 


So, in my humble opinion, if you are an experienced MT with 5 or more years of experience, when you call that MTSO offering 7 cents per line the accounts you will be assigned to should be easy enough so that you can make an average of 210 lines per hour within a relatively short period of time.  If they say their experienced MTs are only doing 175 to 200 lines per hour on average, that MTSO is drastically underpaying their experienced MTs and it is time for you to move on.  If they say their MTs are averaging 250 to 300 lines per hour, then that MTSO may be worth looking into further, even if their starting wage is lower than what you originally thought you should be getting paid. 


 


I think if WE ALL start doing this, the MTSOs will start to figure out that we are not going to work for companies that underpay our skills and experience.  If enough experienced MTs hang up on these companies, eventually they will figure out that the recruiters/supervisors need to be more honest with us regarding their pay structure and the difficulty of their accounts. 


 


Some food for thought !! 


 


More information from the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: 


Medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $13.64 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $11.50 and $16.32. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.67, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $19.11. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of medical transcriptionists in May 2004 were:














General medical and surgical hospitals


$13.83


Offices of physicians


13.40


Business support services


13.40


 


 


If you want more information, check out the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics web page for Medical Transcriptionist. 


 


http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm


 


 


 


Looking for more opinions on Voice SYstems in Georgia. Anyone know about ability to make a living
here etc. Have already been told disorganized but would like more info.
MTSO gift to their at-home MT's who make their living for them and all the office staffs' livi

Why is it so hard to share their profits with the at-home MT's? ? ?   Give me MONEY for Christmas because so much has been taken throughout the year -- I won't it back -- or at least some of it !  I will buy my own gift or pay my light bill or buy my children/grandchildren a gift with it.


In general, the top echelon is getting so greedy at most MTSO's!   They would have nothing w/o the MT's constantly tapping those keyboards . . . and I mean it gets more and more difficult for us MT's as with each passing year to make a decent living . . . I dare say a living of any sort.  Only those MT's who have husbands to support them are happy with whatever few cents they are offered, because it is only play money for them anyway.  Hubby pays all the bills.   I guarantee you that if a poll were taken of the Happy MT's with their at-home job, it would either be hubby making living for them OR mommy not having to pay a babysitter to work outside the home.  Those in HR/management, with a little research, can easily see how our paychecks are dwindling month by month due to lower wages because ASR/VR is taking away the decent dictators and leaving only the horrible dictators (who take lots of time to transcribe a quality report), lack of cost-of-living raises, rising electricity bills at home that the MT has to pay, high-speed internet/phone bills higher and higher and loaded with taxes, rent/mortages/taxes/insurance continuously rising. 


The office staff don't have to think about those at-home costs, as theirs are paid by the MTSO during their working hours/shift, nor do they have to worry about the lack of raises, etc, because in-house employees get raises automatically with tenure or with a 6-month or annual review or at the discretion of management at any time.


Personally, my line count continues to decrease; I don't know what the reason is because in the past many years, I could transcribe 200-400 lines per hour, and I do good to transcribe 100 or 150 an hour with the horrible dictators sifted out by the VR machine Dictaphone ExText.  


Please don't yell at me -- because I am thankful for a paycheck -- but why is the burden put on my fingers to WORK HARDER AND HARDER to earn that paycheck.  Don't say try ASR/VR because it will double your income, because I have tried that and know better and have proven that theory to be wrong -- at least on Dictatphone ExSpeech you can't !


The other thief of a good line count/wage for the U.S. MT's is the majority of our work going offshore because it can get done CHEAPER !  Who is all that extra money saved by offshoring our work going to ??  Not the at-home MT.  That is exactly why I request MONEY for my Christmas gift from my employer, rather than some promo gift that is handed out to any and everyone.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL US MT's in the good 'ole USA !  ! !


You have no idea what you are talking about. My income tax return says I am making a good living
:+
Sounds good. Thanks:)
nm
Sounds good
What software do you transcribe in?  How do you send work back and forth? 
Sounds good.
for taking the time to help me.

Thanks.
Sounds good to me
If they can't keep up with the updated info I sent in May, how will they keep up with the latest info?  Is somebody shredding all the files?  I think I'll apply at the hospital 5 miles from home for almost any position they have!
sounds good to me...
I saw their ad also. TNX for the heads up!
Thanks, sounds good. NM
NM
Sounds good
That is how I am going to be paid. Thanks for the info. Peace :)
No, but I saw the ad - 12 cpl for weekends. Sounds good.
x
That sounds good, but I have one question.
If you have the software on your computer from one company (working as an employee) and become an IC or employee for another company, will there be a conflict technically with two different types of software???  I've been thinking of doing this also to cover those gaps! 
Sounds good, but are there any downsides I need to know? nm
nm
What sounds too good to be true - REALLY IS!!!
Gads! Three phone lines? What in the world could you possibly do with THREE phone lines?

What freaks me out about that posting is

$12.50 AN HOUR SALARY
STRONG ESL

At the end of the day, babe you will have earned every penny of that money. My head hurts just thinking of working that dictation puzzle.

Those dictators are the worst of the worst and they can't find anyone who wants to do it. ECK!


Sounds good to me, too! Where do I apply?!?
I'm an optimistic person - no company could be worse than the one I've been with forever. Sounds like a nice starting salary with hope for the future.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. (sm)
Nothing is as it appears to be there. I would look elsewhere.
Sure sounds too good to be true.
If anyone has any info I would sure be interested. TIA.
Well, it sounds good pay wise, but (sm)

if you are not used to working the night shift, you may have difficulty.  It always sounds good, like, I'll go to bed when I get home, but in reality, do you go to bed now when you're done working?  Probably not.  It may take you several hours to unwind, if you are like me, and by that time, you would have to be up with your daughter.  I have seen several people over the course of my MT career try to do nights when they are not night people and it always ended up badly.  Not to say it won't work for you, but just keep this in mind. 


Wal-Mart Sounds Good

Wal-Mart is starting to look better and better to me.  I have been an excellent Transcriptionist for over 25 years and had planned to retire as same.  The past couple of years has caused me to re-think the rest of my life.  I have gone from an average of $23.00 per hour to $16.00 per hour and it makes me nauseous.  The suits are getting the money that I am having to work even harder to get (for them). 


 


So, I'm thinking about going to Wal-Mart.  My mother will retire from them soon and she, believe it or not, has had a lot less stress than I have had in the past few years.  I think she makes about $14.00 per hour at this point.  I'm sure that starting out, you probably do not make that much, but I think that if I have to work for less money, I would rather it be for someone who didn't TAKE MY MONEY.   Anybody agree????


Hey Thanks a lot for your helpfulness! Sounds good to me! NM
NM
Sounds like a good offer.
If it is high hourly with good benefits, but don't know the company.  Don't know of anywhere else offering such a good thing. Might be worth a try. Good luck!
Sounds like good ol' Axolotl
Very rude and no compassion for anybody. I used to work there. Miserable supervisor, just miserable. Felt like I was in Russia.
Hard to believe, but sounds good. nm
nm
Sounds too good to be true? It is.
Ok, so you are a provider and you want to eliminate your MT costs. So you either go with VR or EMR (template point and click). So you think if I just buy this program I can eliminate my costs of creating a record. So you fire your MT (s) and buy into this electronic thing. But then you find that you need to hire IT staff to make it keep chugging along. So you are replacing someone who does piece work by working by the line with someone who needs salary, PTO, sick pay, benefits, etc to keep that electronic thing going. So in the long run you aren't saving any money. In fact you are creating another boondoggle by having to install a body on your precious real estate and in the bargain you must take them to raise. This won't last long once these idiot providers realize the costs outweigh the benefits of going electronic.
Thanks. That sounds like good advice.


Wow, you are scary. It sounds like a good thing for
TransTech that you moved on. Good riddance.
Sounds like a win-win situation! Good Luck!
x
Sounds good to me! Wouldn't it be wonderful to (sm)
type something every once in a while that is a little more interesting! Might help me keep my eyes open during the day.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..........
I feel if it sounds too good to be true,
there usually is a catch..susan
Wow...sounds like a good place to work.
Sounds like they made it worthwhile.
Thank you so very much. Need to leave Mq and this sounds like a good place to go, thank you again!
nm
This sounds like a pretty good deal, especially if....sm
you are making $$. You can always contribute to an IRA that will be tax deductible at end of year. Sometimes going to a company for the benefits doesn't pay off - ask me: I tried it twice in the past month, only to quit both jobs after about 1 payroll period as it became obvious that they either didn't know how to do payroll correctly, or that the lines weren't correct (even though they claimed to pay for hdrs/footers/spaces etc!).

I would sure like to know where you work - I'm an EXText-er myself and want just PT. Care to share???? Thanks!!
Sounds good to me. I agree 100%. Am 50 years
30 years and have a LOT to say and share.  Its late, and I just happened to stop here for a second before bed while my other computer is defragging. I will follow up on this definitely within the next day or two, holidays or not.  We have no time - less than no time, right?  Can't wait to communicate with others who have some hope for us as a profession, a UNITED profession.   Laurie
It sounds like a good place to work..
which is why they are at the top of my very short list.  I also am a long-time MQer and the thought of leaving is a little depressing, but it has gotten to the point where I have no choice.  p.s.  Glad to hear you were treated well, and that everyone is doing okay.  : )
25% sounds good to me too. I put it in my regular account, but I write it somewhere else so I don&#
x
I've always heard if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. n/m
x
I saw they were hiring but there is no way I'd work for them. Their ad sure sounds good with shif
differential and good pay etc.. but it means nothing if they dont pay their people and you had to fight to get it. No thanks.