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what line of work did you go into?/ nm

Posted By: anna on 2006-06-09
In Reply to: Thanks everyone! Due to this profession and - sm




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A line is a line is a line. Doesn't matter if we are talking about radiology or acute care.

1600 is not a fair minimum requirement.  Sure you can achieve 1600, it shouldn't be the required minimum.


I too work for QT, but I believe if you do a minimum of your line
count your scheduled days to work and usually work extra even if not asked if you know they are behind, that you shouldn't be asked to work weekends, if this is not your scheduled shift.   The work has been out of TAT for months and there didn't seem to be any concern, no incentives offered to catch it up and lots of time not even requests to do extra, then all of a sudden every day it was a phone call or e-mail asking you to work extra and then on top of that they asked you to start doing 30 minutes on weekends.   It *issed me off that they were holding the threat of losing the account over us.  
Weekend work / 2nd line
It depends on which client they assign you to.  Our hospital is currently dial-up to both Lanier and Meditech.  However, Meditech will soon be IP connection but you will require a phone line for our Lanier as ours is not internet based/digital.
Used to need a second phone line to work there. Does anyone know about now? nm
s
I agree...no work at $20/line would be bad
KS seems to want to make sure you have plenty
When there is no work, no way to get line count

Do you mean they are terminating MT's for that recently? 


Who has this happened to?  To whom?  Let us know.


Surely there is some other reason than not making lines when we have been running out of work the last couple of weeks.


I actually work for less than 4.5 cents/line doing QA

And it still comes out to more than 11/hour, even on a crappy day!


 


Work-line count-PAY

I am at my last fork in the road so to speak.  I have tried to work from home for almost a year now.  I like to think of myself as a person who can make the best out of a bad situation, which I am slowly finding out is not the case.  I have been with 3 different companies and I thought I had done my homework on each.  Come to find out that after 2 to 3 steady paychecks I either do not get paid or the work dries up with no explanation on either when asked. 


I am currently working for a company that is stating they will put the $$ in the bank on last monday, then wednesday, and are now not sure when we will have it. 


I am a firm believer in giving at least a 2 week notice, but I am now in a situation where if I do not get paid I am going to be late on my house payment for a second month, with a 400.00 late fee. AGAIN.


My questions are as follows,


1.  Is it ever okay NOT to give 2 wks.


2.  I am still typing, should I stop or just keep going like nothing is wrong?


3.  What would you do????


Thanks all I just need some great advice and have been seeing how helpful you all have been to everyone else and hope you will share a little insight with me.


how does line incentives work?

If your company says they will pay .01 over 2000 lines daily, does that mean if you type 2100 lines you get the extra .01 for ALL lines or just the 100 you went over?  


True - Regardless of line rate, if the work isn't
flowing like you need/want it to, then you'll not make your goal.


They do not pay the MTs a true line count anyway. Why would anyone work for them? nm.
nm.
Do you need a second line or Cphone to work for QT? Do they have clinic? nm
x
No, you don't need C-phone or a second line, and yes, I believe we do have clinic work. nm
x
How many baskets should one carry in this line of work.....
nm
I work for TT, low line counts on ExText for me. nm
nm
Line counts doing hospital work
Does anyone truly get more than 250-300 lph doing hospital work?  If so, where do you work?
2 cents more per line is a big difference, if you do the same work
I do not know if you'll make more at Spheris, but they do pay on time, their supes and QA are decent, insurance is not, and they have incentives, and overall are okay except they offshore.
What do you mean by wkd/diff to line 1 - have to work whole weekend?
nm
so, your complaint is too much work, can't get your line count up?
nm
Means a line is a line is a line, even if it only has one word on the line
it is considered a line. 
To some people the line count is VERY important. Used to work with (sm)
a girl who would scan the system for normals and special assign them to herself. The boss had us print out a daily log of what we had typed, she would only do this every 2 days, making it look like she had a productive day, when in fact she had been outside smoking or in the bathroom taking 40 winks most of the day.
No offense, but do you work at line rate in-house?
s
internet or extra phone line work? - nm
nm
Can ayone tell me how the line counter work in MS Word please. nm
:
You need a second line as you use a Cphone, which she will lend to you. Said she had lots of work.nm
s
You need a 2nd line and Cphone to work for them. 800 lpd is PT production. Someone posted a
b
Someone else asking if you still need a Cphone & 2nd line to work for them. Any internet accts? nm
s
I work on Dictaphone ExSpeech and make .04 per line.
x
Your line rate is good for clinic work.
nm
You needed a Cphone & 2nd line to work there in the past. nm
s
Exactly. I work for a chiropractor and I get 10 cents a gross line.
.
Maybe so, her work was bad & she didn't meet line counts
.
Again, we make pretty big concessions to be in our line of work ...
First of all, I'd like to see this 'lucky enough to work out of the comfort of our own homes' stuff abolished. Many, many professions now work at home, and they do NOT accept a substandard quality of treatment because of that.

I know dozens upon dozens of coders, graphic designers, and support staff who work at home - BY THE HOUR - and get paid for the time in which they are working (or the time in which they are scheduled to be working, but have no work to do).

Let's say I make 9 cpl doing clinic notes (which is a really good gig, if I did that, but that's definitely NOT standard), and I make $19 an hour.

However, the first half hour that I work is answering work emails, starting my day, gathering the info I need, etc. Then, there's another half hour throughout my day that I spend answering emails or instant messages. Then, there's an hour or two during my day where I'm out of work because the company has over hired. Then, at the end of my day, I spend another half hour tallying my line counts, finishing up emails, and filling out a time sheet.

How much am I actually making per hour now?

Now, as a true fact, back when I started in transcription 12 years ago, I did start at 9 cpl. And I had an IC job that paid 13 cpl.

Earlier this year, I had to look for a new company to work for, and I was blatantly told several times by several 'reputable' companies that they would absolutely not start anyone, regardless of experience, over 8 cpl.

In no other profession would you find this, except maybe (MAYBE) fast food or waitressing.

The bitterness many MTs feel makes sense. We are asked to do many things outside of our work time that brings our actual hourly wages down. We are asked to sit for hours and scrounge for work, all without pay. We are consistently stripped of benefits like holiday pay and vacation pay. We are never rewarded for the years we have put into our careers or the knowledge we've gained because of that. We are very, very occasionally thanked (in mass emails) for the hard work we put in, and then immediately asked to flex our time regardless of the lives we have planned in order to suit the needs of our company. Our only hope for more money is to work more hours, or to somehow make our fingers faster and the dictators more audible. We are never, ever able to be dependent on our paychecks, because our line counts vary paycheck to paycheck due to fluctuating work. And, more than anything, we're treated as numbers (by many, but not all), and expendable because we're faceless, personality-less drones.

But it's our fault as much as it's the companies' faults. We've allowed ourselves to be treated this way. We've told ourselves things like, 'Oh well. At least I can do this in my pajamas.'

Can you imagine a coder in a hospital being asked to leave for three hours a day on random days of the week, only to be asked to come back and work those three hours at some time after 7 p.m.? Can you imagine an accountant being told that they are not to conduct company business like responding to or sending emails during their work hours, and that they have to do it on their own time without pay?

I don't condone whining, and I don't think dwelling in negativity is the answer to our problems. I also agree that the complaining can be easily misconstrued as selfish.

But I DO congratulate those who are constructively doing something to elevate our profession to a new level. Even if it backfires, even if it's all for naught, and even if it's misguided, at least it's not just sitting around and complaining anymore.

I am glad I work on VR but what kind of line count
are you trying to get. What do you want to make, $ wise or line wise?
You will need 15 hours out of your day to reach your line count because you have to wait on work..sm

to trickle in.  The pay is good, always on time, Q/A is not good, platform is good.  In my opionion, they have over hired on many accounts and this causes a lot of down time therefore causing you to work all day and night long to get in your counts in...if you don't care about hearing requested dictation completed....good company!   


Looking for part-time work with good line rate.

I have loads of acute care experience and I am dependable.  I never miss a day of work, willing to work weekends, etc. I am looking for a dependable company with steady work.  Any ideas?


She is talking about QA and money is not tops. It is line pay for junk work.
They need to pay by the hour like they used to.
one line for listening to work - internet to send back.
x
Very nice but hard to get line count due to lack of work...nm
s
Anyone work for Spheris doing VR? Could you share experience, pay, line count etc..
Also, what are the benefits like i.e., medical insurance etc??
What is your present line rate? I gather you want to work as an employee and not as an
IC because you want PTO and the FICA, but would you work as an IC?
I work on that account, NO problems with line counts or the requirements! sm

I have heard of putting the entire team on QA, I have had it happen before.  I got released back after 24 hrs because I was fine.


There are issues with a couple of things on that account.  It will likely come down to some of the MTs not being allowed to work on that account any longer, which leaves more work for the rest of us.  The communication about the issues they are now addressing with 100% QA for all of us have been thorough and when I have not understood something I have asked for clarification.  I have one concern that I feel certain they will call me on and that is fine because I can alter my ways and make sure it is right.


I don't know what is wrong with some of you. I suppose there are MTs who don't believe in doing the job 110%.  If you are productive AND accurate, you can make very good money at TT, I certainly do. If you think the pay is low, move on...if you are good enough to find another job.  TT is a CHOICE for me because when I was looking last fall, I had no fewer than 10 offers and entertained them all, but went to work for TT because I felt I would be happy there.  No surprise to me, I am extremely happy. 


The 100% QA is not something I am taking personally because it would seem to me that the only way to address the issues at hand is to do this very thing.


The only time I work OT, they offer 1-1/2 times my line rate which is OT pay IMO. sm
I rarely, rarely work OT though as I have kids in sports and a husband who works strange hours.
Venting- how can you make money or get line counts when all the work is given to someone else!
Nothing seems fair anymore.  Does anyone else ever have this happen?
Not sure if you need bennies or not, but QT hires IC and has plenty of work and pays gross line! sm
You can apply at www.qtmedical.com It's a great place to work. Pay is always on time, always correct, recognized for holidays. They pretty much leave you alone and let you work. Very, very rarely run out of work. Depending on experience, pay usually starts around 7 to 8 cpl (gross lines) :)
You'll work as an employee, not IC. Need your own C-phone and pay for your own long distance line
s
I hope the not meeting line count was due to being on your part and not due to lack of work or I'
be ticked off. I can see if someone just didnt do their line count for whatever personal reasons but I have heard of people saying they couldnt do their line counts due to lack of work. That would stink if it was through no fault of their own that they were punished.
I work on Docuscribe (not MQ) and have also worked on Chartscript in the past. My line counts went
down significantly when I went to the DQS platform.  Don't know if it is being manipulated or not, just simply stating the facts as I have seen them.
Low line counts; paying long distance; getting crap work skipped by others.
xx
Great bunch of people to work with, pay on time, my only problem is that QA is paid by line instead
of by the hour and you must listen to all reports 100% instead of just jumping and filling in the QA markers.
C-phone accounts aren't any better, not enough work to make line counts there either. Sigh
nm