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Average pay to start with a company after being an MT for 5+ years FT?

Posted By: libby on 2007-03-07
In Reply to:

I am new to the job marked (have worked on my own for 5 years) and am looking at some of the MT positions.  Can anyone tell me (I realize all places pay differently) on an average your best guess at what a decent 65 character line rate would be to start?  I had been offered 7.5 cents at one place and I thought that was pretty low.  Would appreciate any opinions.  Thank you!


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MT for 10+ years, i would say 3:1 is average. nm
;
Average rate for 10+ years out here is now 9 cpl...:( nm
.
IC Clinic average pay 3 years ago . . .
I started at 9 cpl 3 years ago on a clinic/psychology account (one account) for a local hospital with only 3 months experience, but I also worked full-time as an employee for that hospital during the day and the IC stuff was at night when they needed extra coverage.
After working 2 years, I average 220-250 lph for clinic work.
nm
Start your own company
See if you can get doctors to pay you more than 10 cpl (when they can send it to India for 4 CPL) and see how much you can pay your MTs.

6-8 CPL is the current industry standard. If you don't like it, it's not the MTSOs fault. Start your own business and get your own clients and you can make those couple of extra cents for yourself and deal with all the rest of the headache that goes along with it. :)
Does company start with a W
I also got the shotty wrong on a test. I have always been told it was shotty, but was corrected on a test by the recruiter who said it was shoddy and marked me wrong.
Does the name of this company start with a B?
You really have me curious now.  If so, e-mail me!  Would love to chat.  I get e-mail addresses, but am afraid to e-mail by coworkers for fear of them getting the wrong idea.  Does the person start with O?
A few years ago, Atlanta in-house average was about $12-$15/hour, plus good bennies. nm

By the way, as of about 5 years ago, Wellstar was with a service.  They might not even have in-house MTs.  Hope so for  your sake :).


 


 


I can start with the company I work for.
I won't name names, of course, but I do know that almost half of their MTs are foreign - I know this because I used to QA their work. This company is a small, family-owned company - maybe 150 MTs, so if even half of the larger companies offshore that much, that's a pretty significant number.

As far as how to make a reporter find out the actual number, I think the main idea behind the letter should be to get the information out there that offshoring exsists with companies other than computer technology and call centers. If more people knew that their medical records were being sent out of the country, they might pressure their mayors or governors or congressmen to find out exactly how much of this is going on.

It could work like the ripple on a pond from throwing in a stone - all we have to do is throw the stone and see what happens.
What company is this for? I am supposed to start
training on Meditech for the company I work for. You got me freaked out.
Sounds line 11 years of no transcription that you might start with
some refresher tapes that you buy to help you get readjusted. It's like riding a bike, right? Then I wouldn't buy anything else until you get a job. You could spend tons of money on things that you might not need. I bought Microsoft Word, spellchecker, expander, etc, just to find out that company supplied and I didn't need.
Just wait until you start racking up some more years experience
You will be just as bitter as all the rest of us MTs who've been in this business for 10, 20, 30 years. It will happen to you, too. Slowly but surely, 7 cents a line will become the prime pay for experienced MTs. Forget about 8 cents, forget about 9 cents and 10 cents will be nowhere to be found let alone more. You may even be forced into VR and then only receive 2 to 4 cents a line for all your experience and knowledge of MT. It's not pretty. It hasn't been for quite a while. When you're new, it seems like it's a good choice and you're making good money. That will change, mark my words. Sorry but it's true.

Signed,
Debbie Downer
At my company, as soon as they start showing improvement, they are gone and we get a new batch.
:+
MT: 24 years. Same company: 11 years same co. after buyout.
x
When the company asked me to start making long distance phone calls,
they offered to pay my long distance for the charges. I then got a cheap long distance plan to make the charges for them more reasonable.

You need to JUST SAY NO to making long distance calls for them. If they will pay for it then do it, otherwise no way.
What average line count do you type per pay period. what is considered above average and how long

how long, on average, average a knee replacement would one be on Oxycontin?(sm)
My DH recently had knee replacement surgery a month and a half ago.  The doctor has been prescribing oxycontin 30 mg this entire time.  Husband has been trying to wean off of it and is down to 10 mg.  He asked the doctor if he could come off it completely and the doc said to "just keep taking it."  His next visit is in two months.  With all the discussion lately about pain medication addiction, is it normal to be on this medication for this long and for the doctor to say "just keep taking it?"  How long should one be on this med?
22 years, same company 10 years nm
nm
I had been with a company for 5 years and
asked for a raise. Well, they said we have to audit you and we will see. I said okay (been doin the SAME doctor for years with a QA of 100%). They come back with "im sorry we are going to have to decrease your pay and put you on probation you only scored 92%. Really on the same ones i recieve 100%? I quit!! OH and if you want to know which company RIU.
14 years was not enough for her company!!!
Wow - I wonder what they ARE looking for! ha ha
18 years, 14 with one company
nm
16+ years, 14 with same company
And about to change.....but soooo scared to do it !!!
13 cpl, 26 years exp, also not telling name of company.. nm
.
I work for a company in NY and they had to do this a few years ago. I think sm
that most will need to do this as the IRS does not think that MTs are eligible to be ICs.

The company that I work for had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines because of it all.

For insurance, for professional liability insurance, I was told that you have to be incorporated. I don't have a problem with this. If I hired someone to build an addition for me, I would want him/her to have insurance. Why should medical records be any different?

I actually make more as an employee. I still take my deductions as unreimbursed employee expenses (per my CPA), take home office expense and do not have to pay the 7+ % for SS match that the employer usually does.
I have been at the same company for 6 years, prior to this job

was at the same company for 8 years.  I left company #1 because they lost the account to MQ and the company only had clinic work after that and I do acute care and didn't want to do clinic.  While searching for another job I tested and was offered positions by 6 companies.  I took PT positions with 3 of them.   I had been using a C-phone with a small local and really had no clue about other companies.   One job I kept for 1 year until they got rid of my account because they were such a pain.   I quit one after 4 months. 


I know someone who had 7 jobs in 1 year and that was only about 8 months into the year.   She was a CMT and wanted the whole world to know it and treat her special, but the quality of her work was very poor.  I don't know if she voluntarily left all those positions or was let go.   When I was testing I was trying to get a feel for what was out there and thinking that company #2 might offer me better than what company #1 was paying.   While this wasn't that long ago, it was when you could still get a decent line rate and I never heard of offshoring.  


 


 


No, and I've been with the company 3 years. sm
If you're having problems e-mail me and maybe I can make some suggestions.
Well, with 8 years at the same company I was up to 11 and some change.
I always thought it was a terrible wage.
12 cpl, 24 years experience. I am not giving name of company.
x
Well in my company, nobody's work was checked for many years~!
x
Maybe your company wants it that way? I've used it for years and Never had it check
s
I make 0.725 cents per line after 5 years with the same company - nm
I make 0.725 cents per line after 5 years with the same company - NM
I've worked weekends for 10 years, now I want to move onto a company
that does not require at least one weekend day.  I realize hospitals are open 24/7 but you would think that companies seeking good MTs would be more willing to offer a M-F shift.   
I've never come close to earning $20 in years of doing this. Troubles with every company, usually
s
Well then, don't start at the beginning, start in
x
58, AHP/self-taught, trained at hospital 5 years, now with 2 of my own accounts for 10 years, employ
Also worn out 2 keyboards in 4 years. I will never retire. DH will come home some day from work and I'll be slumped over my keyboard. I put in 14 hours a day 7 days a week.
Pack years = packs smoked per day x years of smoking - sm
25 pack-years = 25 years of 1 pack a day, or 12-1/2 years of 2 packs a day.

I don't think pack-years applies to someone who smokes only cigars. But I don't know for sure.
I worked for Cbay for 3 years. I was also part of their lay off back many years ago. sm
Even though I got stuck in a lay off era, I still love the company. They paid well then. The people were nice (exception of 1 person) and if I had the opportunity I would go back again. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depending on how u look at it), I have a great paying job right now, so I am not looking for a change. I do know that at one time, they asked management to accept late paychecks, but never sure of the reason why. My check was never late.
average...
I  never heard double - I've been doing this almost 30 years and even back when the dictators were educated and spoke intelligently, it was not possible to do 1 min of dictation in 2 minutes.  I was always told the ratio was  3 or 4:1.  With some of these inarticulate dictators, and not just the ESL, it is probably more like 5 o 6:1 on my primary account.
on average....

How many reports do you type per day, lets say average being 5 min. per report or acute care hospital, which is what I do, and how many average do you send to QA? 


Per day I do on average about 35 reports, average 3 QA'd reports, rarely get one day without sending at least one, and on a really bad day I send around 6 to QA.  This is usually the worst of the worst, bad phone lines, very hurried/slurring/mumbling dictators, or the thick ESLs, and even listening to twice. 


I would say above the average.
Would definitely depend on the accounts and hours worked each day.   But 0.3 cpl would be a safe average.   
I average around 300-325 lph.
It depends on the account, the dictator, and the skill of the transcriptionist. I'm sure you are emphasizing quality over quantity at first. I can go fast because I almost never have to look anything up anymore. When I first started, I was much slower because I had to stop and verify what I was hearing. When I get a new doc for the first time, my production does go down to around 250 lph for awhile until I'm familiar with his/her style, preferred vocabulary, cadence, peculiarities, etc. I don't think students should be concerned about line count at first. Speed and productivity come with time, knowledge, and practice.
I average...
$45,000/year. MQ does offer fairly decent benefits, I think.
Above average MTs ....
should all consider editing, in my opinion. That seems to be where the more secure positions are. Larger MTSOs who outsource overseas need editors. (I don't agree with offshoring, but let's face it--it's not going to change either). MTSOs who are using VR need editors. That's not to say we, as editors, will not be replaced at some point, but it seems that our security will last a little longer than production-based MTs. We also must be willing to adapt with technology changes. Just a few short years ago we all went kicking and screaming fighting every step of the way when WP51 was replaced with MS Word. None of us likes change. All of us wish it could be the way it used to be. The sad fact is, it will never be the same. If we want to stay employed, we must learn to adapt with the changes.
What is the average IQ, if any one knows?
X
I would say about 300 lph is about average to
what I have done and what most QA folks tell me they do. That's why I would never work per line pay. You just cannot do everything and expect to earn money. As QA, you HAVE to do what is necessary to get that report right and feedback the MT. My conscience will not allow me to let something go by without checking it out if I see it looks wrong. I am paid $16.50 an hour. Our co goes by reports per hour BUT that is just a statistic and we all know that these things vary. Some days you will have more, some less. Your company sounds like most--that they are trying to get you to do more and you will be able to do it--it is my guess. I think about 300 is about right. You will get there. If you have just started QAing then it is my guess that it will take you a little longer to get over the "newness" of it, but you sound like you are doing things the right way. That speed will come though I have talked to some editors who say they can do 500 or 600 lph and I just do not see how when you have to do all we have to do. I question the integrity of those reports.
That's about average...
the MTSO's can't even bid a job at 12 anymore - get undercut. So IC prices tend to run about 7 to 8.5...of course, some lucky folks will post exceptions, but I still find that's about average
is it really? 800% above nat'l average?..sm

I hung out there in 1973, and while the *street* was always *the street* - where one has to be careful, like in any bigger city, I don't think it was that bad then. 


800% above, wow...


well, poverty WILL GET to people......sad.....


sad that we are one of the richest countries around and have so many in poverty, homeless (not by choice as ALL homeless don't necessarily choose to be homeless - rather catastrophic events lead some to that situation), and all the other BAD things we have got going on now in the 21st century here.


I'm terribly afraid we are becoming a third-world country and this is not a racist statement and I love all people of all colors, and to me it's all one people/one God no matter how ya pray or color of skin, but I think over-population yields all this stuff......and while there is open land in the country of the USA - the cities are OVER-BOGGED down, stretched beyond their limits....


I don't have the answers - I just ponder it all my entire life - all of these kinds of issues....


Stay safe....


MY average is about 265 lph. nm
.
for me, 140 min would be average
on acute care, with some not so-familiar accounts, for 7-1/2 hours. However, when i worked in the hospitals, with more cumbersome equipment/program, and interruptions, i only averaged about 60 min/day.
I don't believe this is average at all.
Here is a calculator formula

225 hr equal 1800 lines/day
9000 lines based on 5 days

6.42 pages/hour (35 lines/pg)
3.75 lines each minute
1.87 lines each 30 seconds.

This is NOT a typical aveage MT. There are too many variables like dictators who dictate attending live football games and WHISPERS.

This is a terrible way to make a living at 98% accuracy and dictator who take in one deep breath and see if they can do the whole report speaking as fast as they can before breath ends.

So you 6000 per week would be (5 days)
1200 lines a day
150 lines an hour
about 4.29 pg (based on 35 lintes per page.
2.5 lines per minute
1.25 lines each second
There is the BIG picture
on average, 17 here. nm
nm