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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Speed vs. Accuracy

Posted By: Consider your options on 2006-02-07
In Reply to: Thoughts on a couple companies? - NewbieKC

Medical transcription in the 21st century emphasizes production and speed. While your medical background is a big help, you will need to crank out the lines if you have any hope of making money, especially as a newbie. Please keep in mind the time, effort and energy expenditure versus the financial return. Finally, I would keep my options open, and not limit them to medical transcription. Good luck.


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Forgot to say that I value accuracy over speed...sure I could go fasther but at what price? NM
xx
accuracy pay
You all have it wrong with them. They pay for all reports but, the CLIENT sometimes does not pay for low accuracy. In my opinion, if you perform that poor of work, do not work as an MT because all clients need that accuracy. I own an MTSO and I know AccuStat and other MTSOs and believe me, the clients expect quality and all you MTs should know that!!!!!!!!
MPTools' accuracy

Hi,


I invite you to have a look at a page discussing MPTools' accuracy.


vJoe


Precyse accuracy

My employer outsources to Precyse Solutions. Today I was searching for something in one of their reports while listening to the dictation. I found multiple errors including misspelled words, omitted words, lower case words that should have been upper case, etc. I also saw that they added four or five extra spaces on the end of each item on numbered lists and three or four spaces between the number and the first letter of numbered lists. As we all know, these things add up. I have been debating pointing this out to my supervisor. Suggestions are not encouraged where I work so I think I am going to keep quiet. Anybody have a similar experience?


Precyse accuracy
Does anyone know for a fact that Precyse outsources to India?
that is not true! They do value accuracy sm
and attention to detail!

don't know how long you have been doing MT but there are folks who have accuracy, attention to detail and productivity also. If you have them all you will also be offered a betterline rate!
The accuracy is also important when they end up -
in court. This year I was a juror for an assault/'attempted murder' trial. I tried my best to get out of it, seeing as how my company doesn't pay for jury duty. But, when the attorneys were screening the potential jurors in the courtroom, asking among other things what they did for a living, you should've seen the judges face literally LIGHT UP when I told her I was an MT. I knew immediately she wasn't letting me off. The defendant's attorneys weren't going to let me go, either.

And later I could see why. While in deliberations, we were presented with a pile of medical reports that were at least telephone-books thick.

I was the only one that knew their way around those reports, so that was my job to read through them. I was grateful that the transcriber of these reports had been very accurate, with few blank spaces. The doctors in the key part of the reports, which had to do with the forensics of the stab wounds themselves, were accurate and to-the-point, and there was no confusing double-speak. That would've been even more important had a non-medical-language-understanding lay-person been assigned to read through the medical evidence.

As it turned out, these well-done medical records had evidence with regard to the placement of the stab wounds that proved without a doubt that these wounds were made in accidental self-defense, and not as the aggressor. This prevented an innocent woman who was being beaten by an abusive husband from going to jail.

So, the records we type every day, day in and day out, can have far-reaching consequences that we'll most likely never even know about, but which we should always be thinking of.
If you fall below 98.9% accuracy twice within a year, sm
they dock you 1 cpl.   It is on page 10 of the information I received from the recruiter.
From the info they sent me, they require 98.9% accuracy, sm

and if you fall below that 2 times within a year, they dock you 1 cent per line.  If it happens 3 times in a year, you're terminated.  As I recall, pay scale was something like .074 cpl to 10 cpl (think the 10 cpl.  The benefits seemed decent enough.  I have never had anyone give me any warnings or whatever regarding my accuracy, but most companies require only 98%, and the thought that if you fell below almost 99% twice within a year they would dock your pay was enough to back me off.


Their test is rather easy, though, I must say.  Good luck to you.


I did ask that, it would increase accuracy, productivity, TAT....sm
She took me off one of the two clinics so now I only have about 35 docs and maybe 10 specialities, but I believe this is only temporary since I am having trouble familiarizing.  I just get the impression that I am not up to par where I should be and I'm surprised, as I'm a quick study.  And to pour salt in it, my two QA people on our Messenger List notated next to their names yesterday that they were typing ___ and listed my account name.  These ladies only type when backed up.  So I think I'm bogging them down:(   I feel so inadequate, and for less than 8 cpl.  Oy.
Accuracy is demanded, and follow BOS to the letter.
x
On the old typewriters, my mother could type over 100 WPM with 100% accuracy -
She was always very proud of the fact that she never had to use correction fluid or paper or ribbon or whatever they used back then. She had been typing so long and was such a perfectionist. I am not quite as accurate since I have the computer to do so much correcting for me, but I am still pretty darn fast, and then my daughter won every speed/accuracy keyboard competition the whole time she was in middle school.

It definitely can be done...
No, they kept me with all the layoffs, and my accuracy rate is upper 90s, so not worried about that
x
I disagree. Accuracy of patient medical records should not be dependent on how smooth your life is

at the time.  If you had quality issues, and they were being sent to you, which is a warning, then you should have been extra careful.  Our clients deserve a perfect product regardless of what life is handing you at the moment.


 


TA Speed sm
I don't use TA Speed, I use Instant Text, so I can't answer your question about imports into it. However, I do use AutoCorrect for correcting my typos, and I have no problem with it. Your original AutoCorrect file will still be there, even after you install your software. I don't see why you couldn't just continue to just use your AutoCorrect if you wanted. During my initial training, I told the techie-type critter that I wanted to use my Instant Text (and not the TA Speed), and I *think* he went into the system and did some kind of techie voodoo, so keep that in mind (and mention it to the tech if/when you do work for them). =)
It took me a while to get up to speed
I do acute care only. I know when I was hired, I was told I would not be paid for any carbon copy information, but I don't remember about demographics...Demo information would only be a line or so, anyway at most.

I do know the computer strips out any hanging spaces at the end of paragraphs, but a lot of companies can do that with their platforms as well.

If your headers and footers are embedded in the template, I don't see how you could be paid for that as it would not be something you produced as part of the report.

As far as lines per pay period, I print out a copy of my schedule, jot down my line cout for the day and total it out at the end of the pay period. When I get my check, it always matches what I have calculated.

If you are limited in what type of work you can produce, you probably will have a hard time making lines. The more diversified you are, the more likely you can be cross trained and placed on backup accounts.
ASR Speed
Had to give you a pat on the back, ndmt. Excellent, excellent point. Why doesn't someone stop the madness?
Speed

Reading this board, I am being disabused of the notion that I am any good at MT at all.  Been at it about 15 years and I'm a part-timer; always have been.  I came to it when I was over 45, as a retirement job.  


I don't get to use a lot of templates or normals, so this is not a factor.  On a good day, with really 'clean' dictations (good sound quality, clear dictator who is not constantly correcting himself) not having to spend a lot of time looking stuff up and with the wind at my back, I can produce maybe 250 lph for 2-3 hours.  I always thought this was pretty good.  Then I get fatigued and drop to 200 or so.  With really bad dictators/sound/subject matter, I get as low as 150.  I believe my knowledge and accuracy are good, but obviously my speed sucks. 


On this board I am seeing claims of sustained speeds of 300-400 lph or more.  So I'm thinking that maybe VR could actually IMPROVE my production. And as my company seems to be phasing this in ,account by account, I will soon have the opportunity to see for myself.   


I would like to take an informal survey of speeds and VR vs straight transcription.  Anybody willing to weigh in on this subject?


Speed
Been on VR for a year, been an MT for 25, have also been a book editor/manuscript proofreader. None of that matters one bit. And, no, VR does not learn and improve--at least not the platform I use. My top VR so far is 350 lph, average about 200-250. Main problem is reports with no punctuation, SR guessing at words, having to insert numbering, but my absolute favorite is docs taking personal calls while microphone is still on. I've heard everything from 2 docs discussing whether to seduce a woman with wine, candy, flowers, a skiing trip, etc, and then one of them calling in midst of same report to ask some chick if she'd sleep with him that night, that he was having dinner catered, also docs talking to their stockbrokers and car dealers, wondering whether to buy the green or the black Jag, and docs screaming at their kids and/or spouses--all this goes into SR and the old SR gremlin tries to turn it into part of the report, just as it does when the doc says--Go back and insert so and so under the diagnoses and take out so and so from the med list and add 3 more cc's, ad nauseum. All that stuff and more will slow you down terribly. You can never count on getting good clean SR reports for a whole shift. I think I need to get a job selling SR/VR systems but I couldn't stomach that kind of dishonesty to promise that MTs would be doing 600 lph in no time.
actually, the typing speed...
is not as important as learning to use an expander to do the work for you.  This is the REAL key.  I type perhaps 300+ words a minute using mine.
How long did it take you to get up to speed (sm)
As to the 300 lph? I'm pretty excited as I've been offered a position with them. Thanks for the info.
Why is it so hard to get speed
with that company, are they on a slow system or something?
Voice speed

I can't help with that as when I fix the voice through Express Scribe it stays that way.


 


 


speed rate
to the person that e-mailed me, my e-mail has not been working correctly but no to your question if it is working.  good luck!
Speed is a big issue

10 cpl is more than I make, but I'm pretty fast.  My base rate is 7.5 to 8 cpl depending on which of my 2 accounts I'm on, but since I do enough lines daily to qualify for bonus, I acutally make  9 to 9.5 cpl per line.  I average about 1500 lines per day.  Production is what drives pay, so that's why I'm making what I do.    I think it's unfortunate that years of experience isn't really compensated in this business, but years of experience doesn't always equal what the employer wants, which is speed and low error rate.  Everyone brings a different set of skills to the job.   In the end it's what you produce and not how many years you have behind you that the employer cares about.   Fair or not, that's the nature of this business.   


changing speed
go to the transnet player, click more at the bottom right, and it gives you options you can change.
adjust speed
tech dept could even help.  They gave me another phone number to address this problem and never even got a call back.  that did it for me. 
adjust speed
I did this and it did not work for me.  it would not budge.  I'm not there any longer.
Speech speed?
You are so right. If you have lousy dictators it is easier to type them from scratch than to correct the system errors made because of them. I had to go to speech and my checks are down 40%. What system were you using? The one I am on is awful. It types every grunt and entire phrases the dictator did not say. For me it is easier to do ESLs than speech, at least with the system and dictators I have. Is there a better system out there?
LPH and increase speed

As I mentioned before, I am struggling with speed.


I am curious what most people start out typing (LPH) and how quickly you increased to your max (many mentioned they are 200-300+) lph.  Anyone who will share on this?


I appreciate it!


Speed tips on VR
MG - WOW!  can you tell me how you achieve such a great line count with VR?  That is incredible.  I have worked on eScription before and am now on Dolbey which is similar.  I am starting to get used to using the function keys and not the mouse but I wonder if you could share some speed building tips?  Thanks!
speed tips
I speed up the audio enough to still hear it but to be able to get through it faster. If i run into something I am not sure of, i just slow it down. I use ALL of the shortcut keys I can as well and run the spellcheck! :)
dictaphone speed
Does Dictaphone itself increase the speed of dictations in ExText?  My dictators are suddenly speaking much faster than before.  I have them turned down to the minimum speed, and they're still too fast.  I've heard of Dictaphone increasing the speed so that we have to type faster.  Do you think this is true? 
emdat speed
I have version 4.91.308.  The option to slow it down or speed it up is there, it says playback rate, but it breaks up horribly when you slow it down.  Is there another way?
Speed Typist

Well, with the Chartnet platform it is possible to get good line counts.  The problem is there isn't any work at this company.  They have lost a lot of accounts!  There is so little work and so many MTs that you will barely get the minimum line count!!!  


And if your facility is outsourcing to them or you think (or have been told) that you will have a primary account that nobody else will be typing THEY LIE!!!


There are so many MTs that need work that they will be given access to your account!!!!  You will slowly watch your work go away!!!


After leaving this company because of no work I wish you much luck...You are going to need it!!!


Talking about the speed with VR
You are 100%, could not be more right about this. I am an extremely fast MTer, do VR, have the speed up as fast as it will go and you cannot do any more than the speed allows. I am not able to do, say 600, 700 or above on a consistent basis. I can keep up with the speed fast forward but it just does not work to allow a Transcriptionist to be able to do an enormous amount of lines. If that were the case, I probably could hit $40 an hour or better.
In doing VR my speed per line
has been clocked at 130-140 but I just do not understand why you did not make more. I think it is like taking candy from a baby.
I can only say that when I go over a typing speed
of 90 wpm, the keys start overlapping, even on my computer keyboard.
For example, I type 'the' and the keyboard types 'teh',
I type 'that' and the keyboard types, 'taht', etc... I could mention a lot of examples and these are not typos.

I have noticed this also with other posters.

Another one is 'becsaue' instead of 'because', etc....

I think the fastest I could type on an electric typewriter without my keys overlapping.
typing speed
I worked for the federal government where we were monitored on our typing speed...I clocked at 150 wpm...my 19 year-old son types 110...it is VERY possible.
Hopefully the speed will pick-up
a part-time job to cover that lull.  Crying here and not to be unkind is really not going to help your situation.  We can give you a big ole awwwww, but that's not going to help.  Get a part-time job.
What is so picky about them? I don't think wanting accuracy is picky...
It is professional...
Anywhere from 3 to 10 hours, depending on speed,
experience, ESLs, interruptions, platform, etc.
DVI or high speed internet?
Well, this kind of depends on other factors as well.  Our hospital has used SoftMed for a long time.  Those living within the phone line area were fine with the DVI system.  However, now they are upgrading and it requires a high speed internet. So if you cannot get that where you live, or the direct phone line service, it could be a problem.  Hope for the best for you.  I am not so lucky.  I cannot get DSL where I live. :(
How do you control speed of voice?
I work with editscript also and have the footpedal nightmare. I can get the files over to the express scribe no problem, but cannot control speed. I can fix manually, but the second I touch foot pedal, speed goes back to mouse voice speed. Any suggestions? Would be very helpful. I actually went through the foot pedal nightmare and got the 9pin and even the co. couldn't make it work!!
you don't need high speed internet to use an FTP--sm
you can use dial up connection and still use FTP. However, you DO need high speed internet in order to use some companies online platforms, typing into their systems.
Precyse does, too, if speed is 37K or faster. nm
s
Took me about two weeks to come up to speed and then no problem.
:)
It's just like any other high-speed internet. sm
I work for Medquist and it works great. I have had regular DSL and it's every bit as fast. My dad has cable and it's only a smidgeon faster; even my dad is impressed with my ISP. The only drawback is, it is expensive. My package costs $80 a month.

It's not available in many places yet. Until it showed up, I was stuck using satellite, which was terrible for my platform (DocQscribe) because of latency and I can see why some companies won't allow it (although it worked okay and was much better than dial-up).

You can search national ISP databases (just Google ISP and your city) BUT...they're not always up-to-date. I heard about mine because we received mailings that it was available but my ISP wasn't in any database anywhere. What I would suggest to you is find the most well-known computer store in your area (preferably privately owned instead of Best Buy, etc.) and ask them if they know of any in your area. They're usually pretty savvy.

However, if there was one in your area, you probably would have received a mailing or a visit; they want to get the word out.

Satellite is available just about everywhere but again, most companies won't allow it.

The purpose of my original post was to rid companies of the outdated notion that cable and DSL were the only reliable, fast ISPs out there. It's 2007, not 2001 and technology has moved past the old cable/DSL monopoly.

If you can get fixed wireless (not the kind at Starbucks, for example, which is not secure and not fixed) I would get it. I simply love it.

Best wishes to you.


TransTech - how long does it take to get up to speed? (sm)

Different platforms, etc. can cause a little learning lag, about how long does it take and how patient are they as you build up production? 


 


I know someone using satellite for them - it really depends on your speed. nm
.
They don't keep an MT on long if the quality isn't up to speed. nm

Keep in mind, as with any company, the negative posts are often from MTs who were let go by that company.