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You'd do better to bill by the audio minute; I'd bill $0.75 per minute of audio.

Posted By: Been there on 2007-07-29
In Reply to: $1.25 a page for straight typing of - Jana

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Posts here say you need about $2 per audio minute to
p
If the bill is currently in limbo, why would they assign the same bill number to another bill?
I'm not trying to argue with you here and I think that outsourcing is a very important issue that needs to be addressed by congress.  What I'm saying is make sure you have all the correct information.
1.70 regular minute, 2.25 stat per minute. sm
I do all cardiology.
audio
I just left them for the second and final time due to extremely bad audio files.  I was assured this second go-round that the problem had been corrected but was not.  I spent the biggest part of the first week - lasted about 3 days - trying to hear dictators, mainly ESL.  The people I dealt with were terrific; benefits are some of the best; audio extremely poor.  I figured no money could be made under those circumstances.
AUDIO HOURS
Can anyone give me any idea what to charge for an audio hour of transcription and how much time this equals out to? I was offered a freelance job of 30 hours of audio hours for TAT of 2 days and have never done this before.  It is television production work. Thanks for any help!!!!
There is no way to do 30 audio hours

I can usually transcribe 1 hour of dictation, my easy stuff, in 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  Even if you have really easy stuff to do, on the low end it would probably take at least 60 hours to transcribe, and mayve 90!  Geez..even if you could transcribe it in real time...taking only 30 hours to transcribe those 30 hours, you'd be putting in 2 15 hour days to do it.  Realistically, for 30 hours of dictation you would 60-90 hours of work.


How's the audio quality with TT? nm
x
Patti - about audio
Thanks for your input. I haven't taken the job yet, as I wanted to get some advice from others. Of course, the sample test he had me take was extremely clear! The calm before the storm! He said he would pay me $50 per audio hour. I'm thinking, if it takes me over 2 hours to do an audio hour, it probably isn't worth it. Maybe I'll just have to try it first and tell him up front what my plan is. Do you think $50 sounds fair?
Everything audio I was sent was horrible..
xx
Really bad audio and account--sm
Was a verbatim account and really bad dictators, lots of heavy ESL. So, yes.  Very hard to make good line counts under those working conditions.
medgarde audio
I was wondering if anyone else has ever applied to medgarde and had trouble playing the sound files?! I have been trying to get it to play for a day, and I updated the media player... I'm just curious if anyone else had this problem and what they did to fix it.
the audio is horrible on the new system....
I had my husband listen to a little bit of one of the doctors and even he said it sounded like mush. I bought an expensive pair of noise cancelling headphones and it is still terrible. I can handle the software, but the audio is another thing. I am ready to resign. Grrrrr.
I have had zero problems with ESL/audio quality/whatever. TT is the best so far for me.
nm 
Getting paid by audio hour
I have not gotten paid by audio hour before and just wondered if anyone has an idea what good pay per audio hour is? It's straight typing for seminars/speakers. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Good luck with audio
I have done seminars/speakers, etc and never again unless I listen to the tapes or whatever first.   It all depends on where they put the microphone and their euipment. I got stuck doing a seminar and found out it was all about building a chip in a computer and had all orientals at the seminar  - worse nightmare that there was.  You would have to see how many lines you would get in an hour worth of the audio to figure out a fair price -- not in an hour of typing for you but the audio and the difficulty.   I had 10 tapes from a 2  day seminar  -- 60 minute tapes not all were filled on each side and their bill was well over 1200.  Had another on the use of animal with sexually abused children for therapy, 8 to 10 hours of audio and that one was also over $1000.  But I charged by line.  It took about 4 hours to do each hour of audio when it was good recordings and up to 5 to 6 when poor.  We did average about $25 per hour when typing but adding in the QA and listening again to make sure we did not miss anything brought it down to under $20.  So then it would be a charge of about $80 per audio hour -- rough estimate.  Again too many variables and I would not charge or be paid that way. 
I agree on the audio. Not sure what causes their problems with this. nm
:
DocQ audio from keyboard
CTRL + SPACEBAR to toggle on and off for play, CTRL + comma and CTRL + period for rewind and fast forward. Once you've tried it for a half a shift, you'll never want to see your footpedal again!
Unless your audio can speed up more than mine
I would say the person (people) telling you 3x as much as straight are just outright lying. I think I mentioned my speed, high also but never have tripled on VR and I keep my audio at full speed, cannot do more than the audio allows. I am very satisfied in the long run with Escription. I had so many straight reports yesterday, usually do the op notes but mostly discharge summaries on the weekends sometimes and so many ESLs, I could have pulled my hair out. What is strange, sometimes a particular dictator on VR and sometimes not? Don’t get that but wish all were. Good luck!
A wav pedal for the audio transcription part....(sm)

I honestly don't know if you NEED one or not...there may have been manual 'play/pause' buttons you could click on with a mouse, but I cannot remember for sure, so don't quote me on that.  Reference books are definitely handy...I had to break open my AAMT rule book for a couple of things I wasn't 100% sure on, and even had to pull out my old dusty Dorland's that I've been using as a foot rest for some obsure thing I couldn't get a definitive answer off the 'net from. 


Like I said, I enjoyed taking the test because I've honestly never tested before.   I've only been doing transcription for 5 years now, and it was always with the same company, and still have oodles to learn.  The part I enjoyed most though was the actual sample transcriptions.  Fun to hear other voices and accents and type up material I never got exposed to before.


Just give it a shot!  After you finish a 'block' of testing, it asks you if you want to stop and come back to it later or keep going.  When you first sign up for the testing, it assigns you a log-in and password, solely for that purpose that if you need to take a break or plain ol' stop, you have that option. 


I shoulda asked the interviewer how I did.  No part of the test said anything like, 'Sorry, but you stink and you can go away now.'  I guess if you pass one part it feels you are good to go onto the next?  No idea honestly. 


Go on...just do it. 


The two ladies that I talked to, both before and after testing, were very nice and I'm sure it's a great company.  I just knew where I really wanted to be is all. 



I work for the DSG-2 side. One account has some bad audio sm
some of the time-not all.  Otherwise I am happy where I am.  I cannot speak for the other side which has different accounts. 
We are ALREADY footing the bill and have
.
It has to do with how they bill their customers. nm
s
every wonder if they still bill the company cpl?
xox
What company were you with that sent this $$$$ bill?
NM
A bill you pay is different than getting paid.
The benefit of the doubt is given in this instance.  In this case, the pay date should have been the 5th since the actual pay date is the 7th, then the money should have been there on the 5th.  This is a paycheck, not an authorized bill coming out of your account.  The work was done, and the pay should have been there.  My company always pays ahead of time if the pay date falls on a weekend day.  It's a matter of courtesy. 
phone bill
Vonage is reasonable and offers a plan with unlimited long distance. I have had it for about 6 months and am happy with it. They also offer the option of paying yearly where you can save even more money.

Sure, and pass the bill on...
to who exactly?  The consumer?  The American people who are already being ripped off when it comes to healthcare?  Some of you just want more and more and more, but you have no clue as to where this mystery money will come from.
Sick and tired of poor audio quality (sm)

that seems to get worse and worse as the days go by?  Remember when we were told that switching from tapes to digital would make all the difference in the world with regard to clarity and our production?   Remember when we were paid more and had plenty of work?  Remember when there was no working on Sundays or holidays? 


Why is EVERYTHING MT going to the dumpster?


Why do these MTSOs accept reports dictated on cell phones?  Can't they write in their contracts that cell phone dictation is not clear and it can also be intercepted by others and therefore unacceptable?  Why don't the QA personnel who read our flagged comments about awful audio pass this information on to the client so that it can be fixed?  It's getting worse and worse.


Back in the days when I had my own accounts, one of my dictators asked me to please tell him as soon as his equipment malfunctioned (in those days, it was batteries running low or a tape that needed to be tossed and replaced).  He said there was no need for the MT to suffer with poor audio reports when there is a simple fix.  So, what's the difference here when the idiots dictate on cell phones?  Or there is a hospital phone with a short in it?  Why can't these things be fixed?   


My plea:  If you are a QA person or MTSO getting repeated complaints about specific dictators' dictations being garbled or unclear, won't you please notify, and keep notifying the client until they are brought up to par.  How about sticking up for the MTs for a change rather than protecting the client all the time!?  In the end you are protecting everyone, including the poor patients whose reports are being dictated and transcribed. 


I'm tired of MTs taking all the blame for this industry's downfall.  If MTSOs and clients demand 2-hour turn-around time, how about improving the technology to make your unending demands more attainable?  It's 2006.  There is no excuse for the garbage I have to listen to day after day.  No excuse at all. 


 


Wasn't just fast, the audio quality (re-recording)
2
DocQ, hmmm, how to play audio from keyboard??
Can you share.  Didn't know, worked on platform twice and nobody ever said this.???  Can you share?
You are right. Even Bill Gates dropped
the whole idea of VR, saying that it could not be perfected enough to be profitable for the software company who manufactures it. You are also right in that if something inferior is sold to someone and it doesn't work properly, they won't even think of using it again. In my experience, the C-phone worked the best and even WP5.1 for speed and from my point of view for making the most money. I also used to use Mac and found it to be very fast and efficient.
ICs should foot the bill, not employees.

Are these people employed at Keystrokes or are they contracted MTs paying for long distance and equipment?  Ehhh?     


Do you have employees or do you have ICs?  I see a difference there whether you are transcribing in an RV or an office, still the same should apply.  If an MT is classified as an employee, the employer should provide equipment free of charge and pay any and all expense incurred while that person is employed.  IC is a whole different ball of wax.   


Can anyone tell me what a "standard MT" is. Bill Baker is SM

looking for them and since I live in the southeast too, I want to know what that is.


Here is a petition to sign for HR 427, a bill regarding
that very thing. Please forward it to everyone you know as well:

http://www.rallycongress.com/support-for-h-r-427-nabopia/1585/support-h-r-427-notify-americans-before-outsourcing-personal-information/
Like Bill Clinton read the big bible...
he used to tote around on Sunday photo ops!
Re: The Calif. bill: The "Governator" shot it down. (no msg)
.
I didn't get the letter, just a $600 phone bill.

Their unlimited is only 5,000 minutes and you can use that is 2 weeks or less.  You need to use a service like Vonage.  Comcast and Time Warner cable also have digital phone service.  It uses your regular phone wiring, they just attach something on the outside of your house and you use a modem and it is truly unlimited long distance.


If you want to keep your home phone it takes about 2 weeks to get the service.  If you want to keep your home phone and just add a new line they should be able to do it in just a couple of days.  I have mine through Time Warner and it is $34.95/mo because I also have my cable internt through them.  Vonage is cheaper, I think $24.95/mo. 


I've only had my service about 3 weeks, but the sound is very good and I've had no problems using it wtih my C-phone.  I wanted to keep my same number, but didn't want to add another phone line to keep costs down.  I have call waiting but can't get it to work with the C-phone so I got voice mail for an additional $4/mo so I can still get messages even if I'm working. 


Mark bill and envelope "CONFIDENTIAL,"
address to doctor personally with a handwritten note attached to your bill stating, Will you please have someone take care of this? This happened to me. The office manager was embezzling funds which he knew nothing about it until I brought my bill to his attention. My bill has been paid immediately in the 15+ years since then. Good luck.
ask your senators and representatives to support this bill
One thing you can do is contact your senators and representatives and encourage them to vote for the following bill:

S. 810/H.R. 1653
Clinton (D-NY)/Markey (D-MA)
Prohibits American businesses and health care organizations from sharing consumers’ personal information with foreign affiliates or subcontractors without consent from consumers. Allows consumers to “opt out” of having their personal information processed overseas and bars companies from denying service or charging consumers more as a result.

Go to http://www.congress.org for a very user-friendly way to identify and contact your elected officials on the State and Federal Levels.
company-paid phone bill?? sm
Crazy question, have high speed internet and AOL for my mail. I do not have unlimited long distance. Is there any company for whom you would not run up a huge phone charge, could not do that! Crazy question, I know - but doesn't hurt to ask.
No, but one place would do it after we sent a copy of the bill with our invoice, or mailed it
s
Big facilities contract out MT through administration. Drs have no say, they dont pay the bill.
:+
Wow .. thanks for letting me know. They bill themselves as a small, caring company. sm
The pay isn't much, but I was just going to use it to supplement my income while work is light at my regular job.  So much for caring ... who needs their pitifully low offerings anyway?  Bah humbug ... LOL
paid by direct deposit on time, and you submit the bill nm
nm
I can handle micromanage and cherries, but its the bill collectors I want to stay away
You see, to me it is more than worrying about micromanaging and cherry picking. I have been in the biz long enough to develop a rough skin. It is when I do not have enough money to pay the rent or car which bothers me. So, I take the shift least wanted b/c there will be work there, I allow micromanaging and say I will do better next time, and I learn all the toughest ESLs without complaint. You see, no one can control another person, and one should know no job is perfect out there. The only thing a person can and should do is mature-up, quit whining, and get to work so the roof stays overhead, the pantry has milk and bread and the car is still outside. Of course, that is my 2.5 cents.
Weekly? Services are lucky if they get paid twice a month. Generally, services bill out to their
/
You bill 30 days behind, and they snail mail it so it's late - about 40 days from invoice
No way jose - they even messed up their direct deposit payments
I meant billing process, not bill paying process.. sorry! nm

per minute

I get paid per minute of dictation.  $1.00 to 1.35 per minute.  100-120 minutes in an 8 hour shift is average or 16-20 minutes of dictation per hour.


pay by the minute
I also used to work this way. I worked in house by the hour and we had a quota of dictated minutes we were supposed to meet. Then we started doing it at home and were compensated by the minute. It was awesome! Unfortunately they went with voice recognition and it came to a tragic end. I still miss it. I get paid by the line now and make probably a third less at least than back then. So very sad. Anyone have any idea if this company is hiring for radiology and what they pay per minute? TIA.
minute nor
too heated.