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Basically, you make a projection of what you think you will clear for the year.

Posted By: sm on 2008-02-22
In Reply to: Thinking about changing to FT IC position (sm) - Lookingforfreedom

Then figure what the tax due on that amount would be and break it into four payments. There is a worksheet out there from the IRS the helps you to do this. Your state income and local taxes should also be paid quarterly and would be based on the same $$ amount.

The first year of IC is the hardest to guess because you will have deductions that you may not even be aware of but I would strongly encourage you to go IC!! I love it, despite the drawbacks as some posted below.

As a true IC, you decide when to work, how much you charge and don't let anyone else tell you that the clients you do work for have the right to dictate your work hours to you. Some have referred to working for a company or companies; if that's what you do and they dictate to you your hours, you're NOT an IC but an employee and therein lies the problem with scheduling.

There are way too many people out there who apparently think they are ICs when, in fact, they are employees. The companies that are telling them when to work, how much they will pay, are flat out wrong if they think they can call these people IC and then dictate the above parameters. Just make sure that the advice you are receiving regarding IC is actually from someone who really knows and understands what an IC is.


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End of year...anybody gonna clear over 50K?
If so, how much? What is your secret?
Nope, I was hoping to clear $20K this year, - sm
but won't, I should hit $19K though or just under for my MT work. I do have another PT job though and that will be about $2500....so I will reach $21K but it just won't all be MT work. Now need to set a fire under my butt and shoot for $25K next year.
You should make it clear to the physician that
there will be an editing charge for any changes or additions once a report has been completed and submitted. I charge an hourly rate for such.
Yes, the page is clear about entering. If you make a donation,

you are entered to potentially win the prize that you chose in the drop down list.  You can enter as many times as you wish for any of the prizes listed, but there is only one winner per prize giveaway. 


I'm sorry I didn’t make myself clear. As an employee I can only work 40 hours per week (sm)
Overtime has to be approved by manager. I have always been an SE and could work as many hours as I wanted to, such as when I had a day of bad dictators I could work until I got my daily line count. Just wondering if all states had this law. I am working in CA.
how does one make 50K/year?

I mean really, please let me know your secrets. 


There is no other job where I could make 60K per year sm

and do it in my pajamas.  I love my job.  Hope you found something good.


Unfortunately, MT does not work for everyone.  If it didn't work for me, I would try something else, too.  You have to have certain skills, a certain mindset, etc., or you just cannot make it. 


I make about $24,000/year, and that's -
:(
I make about $6K more per year with my CMT.
:)

I will make just over $40K this year sm
Actual, I am typing, hands on the keyboard time is about 8 to 9 hours a day. I work as an employee at 8.5 cpl and as an IC for 10 cpl and I do some QA for $16 an hour. The QA is a courtesy to my IC company and really cuts into my typing time there where I can do $30 an hour or better. QA is only about 5 hours a week, except when I am training an MT, and I am training 2 right now. It was 8 hours so far this week.

You ask about normals and expanders. I use an Expander with a lot of shortcuts, as in many thousands. Normals, I have some. The system at my employee job has some in it, I have made a few (less than 50). The IC job I have made a few too (less than 25). Most of my normals are shells of headers and the few things they always say. All I do it is acute care, primarily OP notes and yes, I don't have that many normals. When your pool has about 2000 doctors in it, normals are a challenge to find and make.

I have oh, reasonable work habits. I take frequent short breaks because I have to. I do work a split shift, which really helps me make it through the day, and the IC is catch as catch can, and about 6000 lines every 2 weeks. I usually spend about 2 or 3 partial hours a day typing at top speed, like an athlete. The rest of the time I do the best I can. I have stellar days and days when I feel I like I need to eat every hour! And I do it too.

Yup, I do the laundry and the dishes while I am working. I always have the TV or a DVD in, but music on Saturday mornings.
I also make many gifts throughout the year....
and spend alittle on the grandkids. This year I'm making a collage of pictures of my mom and dad (both deceased) for my sister, and my 3 sons. Friends get baked goodies and candies.

Grandkids will each get a toy (yes "A" toy), and a couple of small books (I'm the "Book Gran"). I'll make stocking for my 3 sons, my DIL and my 3 grandkids, just trinkets, etc that I find at the dollar store, and fruit and candies (like M&M's). And that's it.

Christmas isn't about GIFTS, its about love, hope, and faith.
How much do you make per year doing MT and do you work PT/FT and
for a company or have your own clients?  Just wondering how I compare.  I work for both and made just over $24,000 last year.
Shut the h*** up. I make $75K a year doing this with BIG nationals.
I get full benefits. I'm not gutless in any way and I'm NOT having my "rights" taken away from me.

They're not doing anything to me I don't want them to do.

If that's YOUR situation, then make that STUPID statement about your own idiot self.

I'm doing just fine financially, Granny. I doubt YOU make the money I do. Not many do, they're not willing to sit their butts down and actually WORK for more than a few minutes at a time without running here and complain to all the other 'children' about 'school'.

I don't take s*** off anyone, not individuals and certainly not places I work -- there are too many of them out there to work for and if I don't want to do that, I can work for myself.

I kinda like the fact that I bring home more than THREE times what it takes for me to live, AND have insurance, AND a TSA, AND choose my work schedule.
Now you know why a lot of chefs make $75,000-100k a year!

It will be interesting to see the final episode tonight. 


KD, are you on crack - very few people make $50,000/year - sm
I make about $58,000, but I work my butt off doing it, have 18 years experience. You sound like a Sally Struthers ad when you make a comment like that! Next thing you know, you will be telling this woman that she can breastfeed her child while she is transcribing and have another one sitting on her lap!!

I do love this job, but I tell people to expect to make at least $25,000-$30,000/year.
are you the same Laura E who did not even make 12k last year? That doesn't
sound like plenty of work. It sounds like PT and that does not mean that there is enough for FT.
Right. You would have to be sicko to make $100K a year on 8 cpl.
x
Anybody make less than $12,000/year, part time - sm
I know at just part time (minimum 25 hrs a week) I won't be pulling in a ton of $, but I thought it would be a little more than that.  Am I alone?
Low wages? I make approx $60K a year at
nm
Who ARE these people who make this stuff up every year charge $ for it??
I could make one up every year myself.  Why do they think they are an authority.  I have never understood this, and will never buy another one.  I bought one in my life for $75.  What a waste of money to read someone's "made up rules for this year."
40-year-olds tend to make much better students
than 20-year-olds!

In four years you will be 42 years old either way. Do you want to be 42 with or without your Batchelor's degree? :oD


I LOVE freezer jam - make it every year with our berries!
NM
What about benefits? I make 50k a year working for a company
out of my home full time. No gas money, no traveling, no printing, faxing, and I get full benefits. How is making 50000 as an MTSO good money? I really just don't get it!
I make photo calendars featuring snapshots from last year
Birthday celebrants featured in each month; group photos for holidays. Made my files using the hp activity center, saved on my computer, then printed them using the recommended paper, which I ordered from the same site and was shipped overnight for free. Draw-back: time- and ink-consuming (good thing we refill our cartridges).
8 and 9 year olds do not have the maturity to make decisions like this. That's why they have pare
x
Well, ya can't make $50k a year unless you're willing to give up your life and be chained to S

you PC 12+ hours a day.  I can't recommend any particular school as I didn't go to one of the "online" schools.  I learned in an actual classroom which I recommend over any of these online schools.  Another thing I recommend is working in an office for at least six months, but more like a year, because there is a gigantic learning curve once you actually get a job.  There are just things that schools can't or don't teach, things that can only be learned on the job from other MTs who have been doing it longer than you.


Don't get me wrong.  It's great to be able to work from home.  Personally, I don't think newbies should be allowed to work at home right out of the gait.  There is some much they don't know.  They need help.  They need to be able to ask questions and one of the best things about working in the office as a newbie, is being able to ask the seasoned MT next to you to listen to something for you.


Having said all that, I think MT is slowly dying.  It's become difficult to make a decent living in this profession.  I'm one of the few lucky ones.  I work at-home for a hospital.  I get paid hourly, get incentive, and have all the benefits of being a FT employee.  Oh, and they can't take my benefits away if I don't make my quota.


You can't support a family on 7 or 8 cpl or even 9 cpl when the dictation is the crap they won't send to India.  I would suggest finding another profession.  The trend in medical coding is that all coders will be working from home soon what with everyone going to the Electronic Medical Record.  I would go into coding.  You may end up working in the office for a while, but I don't see coding being outsourced to India any time soon.  


Good Luck.


I *only* make $40K a year for full time work. Now I find that isn't decent is or fair?
nm
So basically she herself is QA?
x
I do basically the same as you, but I will
as I type in Word, and this helps with not having to go back and read the entire document.  I find that if I notice it right away, correct it, then I can move on, and it also helps if I need to re-listen to the term or phrase.  I have also noticed where my auto correct did not expand correctly, and even though my final spell check would most likely pick this up, I tend to be a little more careful with that as well.  I am so afraid to go with an Expander because I'm sort of afraid I'll lose that "specialist" touch you speak of. 
They are basically just saying
we will make your transcription look good like she looks good.

I don't see what the big deal is. Sex/beauty sells everything lately. It's just the world we live in, unfortunately. Every commercial on TV almost has some type of sexual undertones to it and some very obvious.
Basically, yes and no.
That doesn't help much, does it?

They all pretty much perform the same functions, but some have different types of connectors that hook to the computer and/or equipment.

I've got 2...a USB that hooks to my computer, and one that hooks directly into a Dictaphone. I know some other pedals connect to game ports. Sometimes the software allows you to set up a variety of pedals with different connectors.
It is basically just something you have to
make yourself do. I learned this way as when I started as an MT we were on typewriters, so you had no choice.
I feel basically the same way sm
why waste their time, as well as mine, just to say, "Hey, I'm your new sup"! Come on, if you need a message to figure that out...well, I don't know what to say about that!  Anyways, you're right.  I don't need anybody holding my hand...that's why I work at home!
You are so right - it's basically worthless
nm
But you could basically try 50 lines per sm
report, and go with that.  That is a reasonable ratio with the differing times you sated.  Would add up to about 1250 lines, give or take different dictators, and the ways lines are counted.   Some dictators take FOREVER to dictate 7 mins, others breeze through 3 mins, with lot of lines.
Basically, it boils down to this....
Back in the day, we were seduced!

Now we're being raped.
I agree. I mean as an IC you basically pay
so many write-offs.  Hire a tax professional your first year to see what things you need to write off.  From then on out, a lot of ICs actually do their own.  Employee status simply means the employer withholds tax money, but they also have a lot more control over you as far as set hours and pay for that matter. 
I basically tell them I know nothing about that route (sm)
Like you I was an MT for 7 years or so before I ever had kids. And even then I did not have the chance to work at home, nor would I have wanted to, actually. IMO with our work, the choice, if you have high-need babies like mine, is either (a) ignore the kid and work or (b) work when they're sleeping. Which means I don't get to sleep like, at all, because I had babies who did not sleep much.

I would, and have, done what you did the drugstore clerk. You can't tell some people anything.

I personally have told people who asked me, "I wouldn't. You won't make enough money for the aggravation." I've also told them, "If that was your plan, you should have started 5 years ago so you had all that under your belt before you had kids." Depends on the circumstance and how hateful I'm feeling that day. (blush)
In theory, it's basically the same as the other
MSWord version; it just has all the bells and whistles.
It was basically an example of a post on there.

Everything should be checked out first, but just like you confirmed, there are local practices for each state that will post for MTs.  I found one myself but I guess I was too late because they never contacted me. 


Just trying to help... 


Absolutely, but basically because
It seems ANYONE thinks they can do it. Even those with atrocious spoken English who apparently slept through basic high school English classes and those who have no gift for spelling at all seem to think that if they can play hunt-and-peck on a computer keyboard, they can be an MT.

I reached the point long ago and when I they propose that godawful question, "How do I become a medical transcriptionist?," I give them the most blunt answer I can without being downright rude...

"Take some night classes in basic English and spelling, then you'll have to take a couple of classes in anatomy and medical terminology. That's just to start."

They lose interest quite quickly when they realize they'll have to exert some effort.
basically I agree
I think definitely industry was better before the BOS, when good MTs simply used good English skills and common sense. Some uniformity in the business was an okay concept, but too much of the "rules" make no sense, and changes at the association's whim. Like another said, it **severely** reduces productivity, which works against the patient, the hospital and the MT. I flat refused to pay any attention to it for years, after a hospital supvr told me some of the "rules" in it, and only when I had to for employment, finally got one and now use it.
MDI and Transcend both use basically the BOS rules
unless client requests something else.  Sounds more like one of Futurenet's nightmare accounts.  
I found basically the same thing - sm
Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/GYN)
Dayton, OH Doug Moore
York, PA Roseann Freundel --- was on the Residency list in 04-2004. So she has probably completed her residency and has moved to another state/country by now. Also the hospital would have the records I would think, especially since a resident did the delivery. Good luck.

I basically was offered a position..
She said I did excellent on the test. She asked to let them know how many minutes I would want, FT or PT, which I did, and haven't heard a thing since.
Ditto. That's basically what I have told my DH too. - sm
As for those protesting they would not want the money, that is not practical. I would have nothing then other than his 401K (which is quite healthy) and any money from the house if I sold it and moved up to where my family is and where housing costs 2-3 x as much. So that is how my husbands life insurance would be used, which is only $350K, so after I would settle everything I would not have much left as it is. But w/o the insurance I'd be in a very BIG hole. That is why you get it, no its not pleasant to discuss but it is necessary especially when kids are involved. I hope he is around for a long time to come but the odds are against my husband most likely as he has lung and bladder cancer in his family, and some other things as well which will probably preclude him living a long life. I hope that is not the case of course, but it does not hurt to have your financial house in order in case one of you die and leave the other with kids. Even without kids, money is always helpful.
Follow all the same rules basically - sm
Don't let others use your computer, don't discuss any work in specifics (i.e. names, etc.) with anybody), keep work secure whether on your computer, printed out, etc., use secure or encrypted email/FTP if you email your work product, do not let others look over your shoulder while you work and read the report, etc. Just basic common sense stuff in order to keep the information private. Where I used to work had these conference call meetings and we would all log in via the internet and phone and have our HIPAA training every 6-12 months, was a pain in the butt, especially when they decided to stop paying us for the time we spent "attending" the mandatory meetings. HIPAA is not a big deal, as I said, it is mainly common sense.
Linking in radiology is basically when the
dictator dictates two separate exams under one requisition number and just linking the other exam with that number.

It's actually two reports dictated under one exam but you get paid for both exams by linking the second exam with the first. There are various ways to link a report depending on the software so I won't go into that.
Isn't editing basically proofreading!?!
Or do you just hit upload and that's how you get 650 an hour? Oh boy!
per diem is basically *as needed*, nm
nm
I too believe it is a trend, basically to cut costs. As far as MQ, SM
I don't work for them, but honestly, from reading posts, seems like they were just bought out by a mad scientist who thinks up ways to drive people crazy. Sort of a game of how far can we drive people before they crack.