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7 cpl gross and counts blank lines, IC status-- make a ton of money because it's easy work...nm

Posted By: ILL MT on 2005-12-16
In Reply to: 10 cpl/gross - employee status, SE - me

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8-9 cpl for Gross lines, easy work ....
Where? Where?
Our Meditech counts BLANK lines...
we get a sweet line count off our account that uses Meditech.
Word counts the blank lines between paragraphs unless you change
your paragraph style to double space when you hit enter. You need to change the "after" setting in the spacing section of the paragraph dialog box to the point size of the font you are using and click the Default button. You'll probably want to do this in a separate template unless you want this setting for all new documents.
Gross line, also including blank lines because my line rate is so low. It all works out in the wash.
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When it comes to gross lines, font does make--sm
a difference, as well as the margins. I was doing gross lines at 0.675 cpl with courier new 12 font with 1 inch margins side to side and 2 inches at the top. I grossed almost 50k this past year, so to me, gross lines are much better. we recently had a management change and are now doing 65 cpl at 0.09 cpl. I figured that would be about 500 a month less and 6000 a year less. that is a big difference, to me, anyway and I am not happy about it, either. This is just to give you some idea of what gross line pay is like. good luck to you.
It is NOT an easy way to make money
and most companies advertising at-home training and promising the moon are out for your money. Medical transcription is a CAREER and not a JOB. Stick with engineering and do some crafting on the side to make "extra money."
They are boring but easy, and you can make a lot of money. nm
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it does not count gross lines...I count 37 and it counts 67.
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Me, too. Can't make money if you can't put lines on the page. nm
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Hard 2 make money with no work.

Their pay is way low and you work like a dog to make minimum lines.
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Depending on who you work for.... you can make good money

I usually average between $15-25 an hour doing VR. That is enough for me. I think it helps if you have companies that pay for footers, headers, spaces etc.. Good luck.


Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines.  One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself.  After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
10 cpl/gross - employee status, SE
 
Read between the lines. When a company starts saying work more to make more
and you have to work in assembly-line fashion like an automaton, they are having a cash crunch.  They held out one salary to you to get you to do the job, then they turn around and cut your pay because you make too much.  They don't sound financially stable.  If you've only been on the job 2 months, start looking elsewhere for a more financially stable company.   Send out your resume and see what other companies have to offer and check out references for those companies.  I and a friend in the past have gone part-time with a new company before resigning from the old one in order to make sure the new company is going to be compatible with us. It's hard to do, but it's short-term for only 1 or 2 weeks.   
Gross line counts are easier to obtain IF you have sm
a fixe font; however, 6 cents is not enough. I would not accept under 7.5 cents a gross line and only on a FIXED fot with the margins spelled out. For instance, if they say a 65-space gross line, that means 1-inch margins on each side. Of course, anything on a line is counted as a line and that means if there is only 1 character, that is counted as a line, but always get it spelled out the type of font that will be used because if you have true type fonts, you could be doing as much as 125 characters on a line.

As good as gross lines sound, today's world is not really based on that and it is much easier to calculate a 65-character line in the perspective of today's world.

I don't know how much experience you have, but even if you have just a few years, that still is not good pay and again, if it is a TT font, you would only be making something like 3-1/2 cents to 4 cents per 65-character line.

blank lines also
When I started my surgical/oncology account 6 years ago, the gal that had been doing it charged for blanks, from first line to the last line on letters, consults, etc. All blanks were counted so I just continued, the OM, docs are well aware of it.  Also, that is why my cpl is lower than others also, it usually averages out in the wash. 
Take out all blank lines
Go through and take out all blank lines and count or put on your line count on your file and see how many blanks there are and subtract.  Remember if you have a header though on pg 2 and 3, it does not count those lines.  Also I think that Sylcount will count lines only and no blanks.  Also when doing your line count in MS word, it gives you the paragraphs and so if it is 20, subtract 20 lines,  date to address is 4,  address to RE is 2,  RE to salutation is 2, etc.  Usually there are ten blanks from date to Dear.    Good luck.
You charge for blank lines? WOW! That's a first!

charge for blank lines
not my idea, but I'll take it!
You could just go through and delete all the blank lines.
Since it is just a test, why not try doing that?
OPs are the kicker with good easy line counts.nm
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I mean without blank lines in between patient notes

Some of my accounts are charged for blank lines..nm
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Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
It's Dictaphone's ExText and it's good/easy, but some feel the line counts are skewed at
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ExText is great. Access all the old stuff. Easy to insert cc's. Line counts can sometimes
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You need to know how your company counts lines. It probably is not
counting the same as your line counter.
I thought Word counted blank lines using this method. I think the OP is looking for Abacus. nm
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You can set Word to not count blank lines by changing your paragraph style
to automatically double space after the paragraph.
It counts the lines it ends up with, not what it starts with. nm
nm
Make money? I'm not making any money because of my decision. You read my reasoning
You can agree with me or not, but don't make false assumptions please.
You're working to make money, not to spend money.
These people should be ashamed of themselves taking advantage of people this way!
I also blew some money signing up with Quixtar... The only way to make any money is to bug everyone

you know into signing up.  I felt like a snake oil huckster.  I hated it.  I was flushing money down the toilet from the moment I handed over my money. 


RUN, do not walk away!  I do an entirely different side business now that I really love (in addition to my MTing, which I also love!)  Find something you're good at and that you truly love doing.  Then make a business out of it.  That's the best way to have a side business.  Selling discount toilet paper through Amway/Quixtar?  Not so much. 


No....only if you are doing gross lines- nm
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gross lines
One can do far better in a day when counting gross lines rather than character counted -- especially if very familiar with the accounts (of course, that helps either way :).
I do gross lines

I go into file, properties, statistics and that gives me my gross count.  Very simple and easy as long as you are using Word, no program to buy.   I am surprised that the company you are working for did not show this to you.  Also gives you characters if you are paid for characters divided by whatever your line is and not gross lines. 


Patti


gross lines
Hey everybody, gross lines are TOTALLY different than a 65-character line.  I used to have a gross lines account doing operative reports and I did at least 2000 a day in about 5 hours.  Now I am on a 65 character line and I struggle to get 2000 in 8 hours.  If I had my old account and worked 12 hours, I would be getting AT LEAST 4200 lines a day.  You gotta compare apples to apples.  :) 
Raw gross lines will pay the most sm

If you type in word.  You simply highlight the entire document and do a word count using the tools.  Once you have your line count, you would times that by cents per line you charge.  65 character with or without spaces will be doing your own math for each document and takes more time.  Go mid range in this instance if you use raw line count.  Be sure to have a contract agreement or at least a Memorandum of Understanding and provide them with good turnaround as stated in your contract.  This makes you look very professional and worth the going rate.   Congratulations!  NOTE:  And to think there have been statements made like "everything is going to voice recognition".  Your "new account" says NOT!!!  Have fun!   


Is this for gross lines or sm

65 character lines?


I think that would make a big difference.


More than me with gross lines

That is more than me with a gross line count, checked a couple of documents.  Except for when I do a lot of consults/letters and I am about to count from date to signature for gross lines.  But if you do mostly chart notes, it is good.  Just check a couple of your documents and see what it is versus 65cpl at 12 to 13 cpl and then gross line at 12 to 13 cpl and see where you stand.  Again, I used to be paid 1 cent per word and did well until it comes to letters.    Also, only you know what you make per hour and if it is good for you.


Patti


 


Gross lines
count lines equally whether there are 65 characters or 2 characters, or any other number. Each new line is a line whether it is full or not.
I know about gross lines however
if you are using an Arial 10 font and margins are .5 and .5 then you are putting about 90 characters on a line which is way too many for 6 cents per line.  That is all I was saying about which font you use and what your margins are.  I use a smaller font for my accounts but when I do my line count -- I count gross lines -- I change it back to a 12 font and 1" margins at the sides as when I quoted my price it was so much per line and my definitiation of a line is 1" margins and using 12 font.  So that is why I was asking about what font and what margins you have. 
2-1/2 hours a day, 1300 lines/day, $150 a day, 7 days a week, IC status
a
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....

I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.


What is the advantage of this?  If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation? 


I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it.  I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired.  They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.


Thanks for explaining this.  I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.


Are your lines 65-character, gross, or
other? Just curious as I do clinic work and in my area the going rate for gross lines is about 12 cpl, but more like 15-17 cpl for 65-character lines. I have heard (don't really know how reliable it is) that hospitals are charged up to the 22 cpl range. (I assumed that was on 65-character lines.)
Gross lines vs. 65-char

A gross line is anything on a line IS a line - usually the standard is Courier 12, 1 inch margins - that way, if a doc wants Arial or Times New Roman or any other font, he will know that it will always be counted in Courier 12 regardless of the font he uses.


 


65-char means based on a 65-char per line basis, lines are counted, so it is not a "line" unless there are 65 characters on it - the counting programs that count this convert the document to one big long document without returns, etc., linking all the characters in one long line and counting them that way.  Clearly you can see how many fewer lines you would get by this method.  When this was brought into the business it was touted as a "fairer" way of counting - but the only one it is "fairer" to is the doctor - it cuts the lines vs gross lines an average of over 30% - for example, if you are making 7 cpl for a 65-char line, you are in reality making 4.8 cpl gross lines - quite a difference. 


Gross lines - possibly
I have two surgeons and when the do a lot of consults, hernia, breast cysts, etc. I have been able to get 600+ an hour but that is gross lines and I have physical templates set up for each type of problem.  I have done 1100 in 90 minutes but again it was gross lines.  I have been doing them for almost ten years and I know what they are going to say before they say it.  My only Expander though is  auto  correct and I often think what I could do with another expander but it is hard to teach this old dog new tricks though after the 1st am going to look at a couple of expanders.  But I share with my friends on how I count and try to show them how to increase their line counts so ask her.  I am always up for sharing my experience and tricks of the trade as long as I have the time and they don't steal my accounts.   Good luck. 
and I count gross lines

I do not cheat, I count gross lines and from top to bottom but I make sure that it is fair so my price per line is lower and it all equals out in the end.  On chart notes, it is the total amount of lines which includes 2 spaces between patients which then helps to pay for the cutting apart, sticky paper and delivery.  But my accounts are aware of this and again it shows in my per line charge. 


Easy easy money they are!

I don't mind seeing those puppies filter in at all.  Same for H&Ps.  They are always different though, so can't really pop in the same pre-formatted autotext, but it's usually WHAMMO 2-3 pages at a time.  Give them a shot...you may just be pleasantly surprised! 



i agree -- lines counts are correct and include expanders per my checks.
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