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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Don't base your quote on rates

Posted By: Beth on 2007-03-07
In Reply to: You can check out these websites... - kam

Why are you a better deal than anyone else?  It's not because of rate, it's because you care about your work and you're reliable -- what else?


ASK them what they've been paying -- they won't know because they probably won't understand their invoice.  Ask them to send you a copy of the invoice.  Reply to me privately if you need to, I'll help you figure it out. 


But even if you get that, keep the focus of the discussion off price, keep it on your quality, your caring, your reliability, what you can offer them.  Do you buy EVERYTHING based on price?  If not, think about the things you buy based on quality and base your letter on that. 


If your sole value is because you have the lowest price, you're fighting a losing battle.




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Again, you can't base your rates on what
Are you an MTSO yourself, Suzanne? I would say not because if you were, you'd know there are just too many variables. How do they charge? 65-char. line or gross line? Are they paying for spaces or no spaces? What kind of account is it? What supplies will you need to service the account? What equipment will you use and what kind of maintenance does it need? Will you need to hire SCs to work on the account? All of those things will make a HUGE difference. For example, a gross line at 8 cpl is actually more like 10 cpl using a 65 char. count (do the math and you'll see). Saying one MTSO charges 15 cpl and another charges 13 cpl is not comparing oranges to oranges unless their account specs are identical, which you cannot be sure of from an anonymous MB.

You take all of the above into consideration and come up with a line rate for each client on a per-client basis. The only time you need to worry what others are charging is to see whether you are competitive or not. Find out what you need to make and if it happens to be too far above what others in the area charge, you can negotiate a little in order to obtain the business.

I do not undercut myself because I do all of the above and charge what I need to charge for each client in order to turn a profit. I couldn't care less what other MTSOs charge in MI and MO. I know the market in my area and each person needs to consider that when branching out on their own.
Has anyone kept a list of line rates, report rates, benefits, etc for sm

the different companies out there?  I feel lost and confused.  It seems like everything is changing daily, and I am not being organized enough to keep up.  I am about to actively look for full time employment again but if there was a list, I would be able to sort through a lot more quickly. 


Can anyone help?  I am going to start keeping a chart myself in case anyone needs this in the future.


Line rates in the Northeast - can anyone advise as to what the going rates are in the NE part of the
country? Specifically Connecticut. I want to make sure I am on target here. Thanks.
Don't quote me but I think it just may be
a couple of dollars cheaper but AAMT members I think get a discount, but again don't quote me. It runs around $300 approximately. The test is given in one sitting but does have two parts. It is given at a testing center. Go over to aamt.org and they have instructions on what is necessary to register and take the test.

Good luck.
quote
I work in a urgent psychiatric center and the reports have quite a bit of quotes.  If the doctor states "quote," I will put word for word what he said.  You cannot change the wording to make it more appropriate.  This includes grammer, i.e. I've, I'm and gonna. 
I think it's more than $500, but don't quote me
Also, hopefully they're a decent company. I worked as an IC for a company for three years. Twice I didn't get my 1099 until two days before taxes were due in April after calling and emailing over and over again. And last year, after I quit, I never received it at all.
You said, I quote:
'You really dont type any lines (already typed for you) so why get paid by the line?'

How else do you want to get paid doing VR? Only for every mistake corrected?
LOL ! Where is the logic?

We are also paid for the reading of the lines, this is work too, not only the typing!



here is another brief quote from a website
"For example, says Suresh Menon of HealthScribe, one of the largest medical transcription companies"

Healthscribe was based in Sterling, Virginia. They joined up with Spheris. They will tell anyone that asks them, yes, we outsource to India.
Oh, I just love this quote --
"which requires extensive training and time to become proficient," Sims said.

Oh, and for all that extensive training, not to mention medical/pharmaceutical knowledge and proficiency with spelling and grammar, companies expect MTs to jump at an offer of 6 and 7 cpl??? Yeah, I'd chose this career path if I were a young person..Baaah
AAMT quote - who is up to
"If you can't lick 'em, join 'em; if you won't join 'em, form a competing organization." - unknown
"I am trying to tell him he needs to go to the ER." This is a quote from OP who is now calling
:+
not *taking up for her* quote - just....sm

stating facts, she is 19 and she is an adult and it is her body and ultimately her decision.  Those 4 things happen to be factual (reality).  Can you not face reality?


Nobody is *taking up for her* as you so stated......


 


Your comment, and I quote: (sm)
"I wouldn't count on it!!!". You don't know jack sheit.
I live in a huge metropolis with many many large university-based teaching hospitals where MTs are in greet need, and since I've been there over 20+, I'm top dog. So don't be questioning me, or discounting what I am saying. I think you wish you were in my position. Just another case of jealousy rearing its ugly head. If you live in the boondocks and make crap money, then move to a large city where you call roll in the dough working this profession.
that's deep. can i quote your brilliance?
so good with words.  i bet you work for mq.
A famous quote comes to mind...

"Arguing with a fool is like arguing with a drunkard."


'Nuff said. 


To quote the original poster
.
If it is a direct quote from the patient, you have
x
the reason? *no common sense* quote...nm
x
"Duh" teacher quote of the week....sm
Last week a teacher wrote my sister that her daughter was easily distracted in the classroom.  Well guess what?  There are 32 kids in her class (above what the state requires but they have a teacher shortage) and my niece says the teacher lets the kids run wild.  No duh - I'd have a hard time concentrating with 32 kids in the classroom as well if I had 32 other 5th graders in the room. 
Again, quote mark problem in macro

Same problem as before with a macro that I posted, only one quote mark where there should be two:


In the macro where you see:  cset:=("=)


there needs to be a quote mark on the other side of the equal sign:  =


Selection.MoveEndUntil(cset:=("=), Count:=wdForward)  should be: (substitute the quotemark for the word quotemark)


Selection.MoveEndUntil(cset:=(quotemark=quotemark), Count:=wdForward)


This quote mark needs to be inserted on both sides of the cset=("=) which is in the code twice.  If this instruction doesn't make sense to you, please e-mail me and I will send you the macro.


Hope this helps.






As long as it takes, to quote good old Dr. Phil!

You're both worth it - go for it!!


You are WAY off base ...
WE don't have any control over any such thing at all.

The MAIN focus is patient care. We're part of the team that helps document that care but that's it.

I do NOT want such politics playing in my healthcare as a patient, I can tell you that.

Those physicians are very intelligent and educated and we need them. I know US physicians that are far worse dictators. The US is a melting pot (I believe Eyetype has already stated this all so eloquently); that is what we are made up of and will continue to be.

Get over it. We just don't have that much power...NOR SHOULD WE.
We have 500 at a base already SM

As early as today, the Ft. Custer Training Center, a fenced-in military base just west of Battle Creek, will become home to 500 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.


I don't think you could be any more off base

Just getting my power back and being able to access the internet after Wilma, I know exactly what it's like.  We're in an area that had to ride out the whole eyewall front, side, and back.  At least with the eye going overhead you get a 2 to 3-hour break.  We didn't.  Our power went out in the early morning hours before the storm even hit and we JUST got it back.   The east coast of FL where I am was told to expect a cat. 1 storm by the time it reached us.   Usually that means limited power outages with restoration of power within 24 to 48 hours.   The eye made landfall over the Everglades and it was moving so quickly that by the time it got to us it was still a cat. 3, and with the forward motion of the storm at 25-30 mph, it intensified the wind gusts to a cat. 4 in some areas.   This was much different than the storm we were expecting.


We've got more than enough water and canned goods to last us, and DS joked that we had enough batteries to power a third-world country.  But, we were on the verge of being out of fuel for the grill, camp stove, and lantern, out of batteries for the flashlights and radios, NO ice whatsoever because there is no way that ice will last for 3 days.  Think about preparing for the storm.  If you buy or make ice and your power goes out before the storm even hits, that means day 1 is over before the storm is even over.  By the end of day 2 (which is considered storm day 1 by FEMA) your ice is already starting to melt.  By FEMA day 3, you're already ending your 4th day and beginning your 5th.  Any perishables you had are long gone. 


In Broward County we were promised that ice would be delivered by 2 p.m. on the day after the storm (which had already been almost 48 hours since preparations were completed and the power went out).  People had been waiting in line since 6 a.m. that morning.   By 8:00 that evening the lines were already 1000s of people long and the ice hadn't arrived yet.  Some people's medications had already gone 24 hours without refrigeration by that point.  It was at that point that the announcement was made that ice wouldn't even be delivered to our area by FEMA until the next day. 


So while it may seem to you that all those people are just standing there with their hands out, it isn't quite the picture you paint it.  Ice was more importance than the water and the MREs, but FEMA doesn't let you take 1 without the other.  So while it looks to you that all those people were waiting for meals because they didn't prepare, the majority of them were waiting for ice because what we had was long gone. 


Coming originally from an area that was well known for blizzards in the winter time, the preparation for hurricanes is a lot different.  In the blizzards when the power went out there were blankets for warmth and indoor natural gas stoves for cooking.  Perishables could be placed outside and ice would keep for days.  Frozen goods would stay frozen.  Not so in Florida.  Until you've actually gone through it you don't really appreciate the difference.  And until you've actually gone through it, you're in no position to judge "all those people" waiting for handouts.


Way off base

Hopefully you answered to the wrong poster as she said nothing about investing in anything to help her KEEP the account she doesn't have it.  If not, you are way off base and rude.    Most of us charge by the line normally and it depends where you live and what you will be providing, printing, is it pick up and delivery, etc.   What kind of doctor, etc.  But most of the time between 12 and 15 cpl, I am at the lower end but that is me.    


I quote a price per gross 65 char line, say 12 cpl, but then convert

I have one client who doesn't want bulk and is Franklin condensed 10; another is on Garamond 12 with a 1 inch margin R and L. I take a large block of type, put in a format that gives me 65 char per line and do a line count that way and get a price for the whole block, for example, 58 gross lines at 12 cpl = $6.96. Then I take the same type and format it as the client wishes, get a line count and divide the dollar amount by the lines. If their formatted version came to 28 lines, then 6.96 divided by 28, would come to 24 cpl for their format. I always include a line on the invoice to indicate their 65 char line rate. Something like


2586 extended lines at 0.24 cpl = $620.64


(your line rate converts to 0.12 cpl for standard 65 char line)


I always educate the client as to the industry standard of the 65 char line which allows clients to compare apples to apples...


 


 


 


 


"take one line from a post and use it against the person" - read your own quote
nm
Google "Miscrosoft Word 2003" (use quote marks)
 
What company are you currently at, what is your base
pay, and how many years experience do you have?  Me, i'm 10+ years, MQ, 9.5 cpl.  Wondering if i'm at the top of the scale and the only way to go is down?  I hate switching jobs as it is, was back and forth between Edix and MQ, pros and cons of each, but I want BIG BUCKS!!!!!
Does anyone have any idea what my base pay

will end up being on the new payment plan?  I do clinical and ER reports/discharge summaries.  I've been a Transcriptionist for 8 yrs (worked with them for six).   I currently make 8 CPL as it is.  


I really  need to know what I might make with this new plan.  I NEED THE MONEY.  I SURVIVE ON THIS PAYCHECK.  Nervous as all he** right now. 


Obviously not part of the base of
..
I am making 8 cpl base
I average 1800 to 2000 lines per day and gross 40K with just 8 cpl with incentive and that's not including any overtime. Maybe my production is above average, but my pay rate certainly is not.   
Me thinks you are way off base.
You may want to find a new career.  When you refer to drop in for an hour or two, you are speaking about ICs who in no way are any less professional than you are working from your home as an employee.  Some MTs work from a typing pool meaning they can take a job at a time and make money in that fashion as a contribution to the household (paying bills I might add).  Many professions offer at home employment.  We are not the only ones.  I think you have a bad attitude and should probably find somewhere else to drone in your sorrows.  Many of us here are professionals even at home with a husband and children.  It kind of sounds like you are jealous about husbands that make money and have insurance.  You may want to re-think what you are saying in regards to MTs working from home and not being considered a professional.  In my experience, my friends and relatives are envious of my being able to make a living from my home office, so I'm not sure who you have that talks about you to where you cannot defend yourself, but that is usually a psyhiatric entity called paranoia.  Sorry to say, but you make as much as you'd like as long as you can "hang with the big dogs".  If you are not making enough money, then that is for you to either take some courses in typing and anatomy or just go with the flow.  To blame at home MTs is way off base.   
Sure, base it off of 1 experience....
that makes a whole lot of sense .  You must be the same person who said Radiology was an "easy specialty," right?
I would certainly base my decision around what
What are your hobbies or activities that you really enjoy? Look for a way to find training/employment in those areas.

It's not too late to go back to school at all. Though it will take some time and investment. You might discover your perfect interest along the way!

I'd open an Internet Cafe that serves gourmet baked goods, sandwiches, etc. :)


it's not my fault, the darn quote mark just doesn't post for some reason.
Okay, for some reason, the first quote at the front of qldc does not show up, but in the line autocorrect.entries.add name:=qldc" there needs to be a quote mark around each side of "qldc", not just at the end.

If you want to use this macro -- and find it won't work and are confused my instructions, please write me and I will e-mail the macro to you.

I really don't like the idea of people having to spend their meager pittance of a salary on expensive software to do such a simple thing.

Base for the ball chairs
I actually bought my exercise ball/chair through ebay and it came with a base which has a small back support as well as wheels.  It works out great.
Thank you your reply. He/she says the client base
is there and I know the funding is there. The plan is in its early stages, but they are ready to go forward and will. I can't decide whether this is something I want to get involved in or not and I appreciate your input!
Our president has even alienated his own base.

I visit a local political board that is primarily conservative (something I am totally not, but it's still fun to go watch the "fireworks") and even the hardcore Republicans are peeved at him.  Apparently this immigration "amnesty" bill he's pushing has really not settled very well with his "peeps."  I didn't vote for him twice, so my conscience is clear, but I still think he's a tool, president or not.  I never had respect for him and never will.  I know I am not alone either and I'm sorry if that offends you, but I'm exercising one of the primary freedoms that our poor soldiers are dying and getting wounded for--freedom of speech. 


This is my base rate for surgeries sm
I have an incentive program, I can make more, but this is my base rate. I had this rate at another company where I did OPs for 4 yrs and I made really good money at it typing just outpatient surgical notes (6 hours a day, 1500-1700 lines a day average during that shift).

In point of fact, it is much easier to get normals set up for this situation than for OPs in a hospital because you have fewer doctors and fewer different procedures.
maybe spray outside the house around the base? NM
.
It is a startup company with base in Phillipines. That is all I know! nm
x
I've used it. There are a ton of knowledge base forums out there
where you can research your results.
Thanks, Mardi. My base rate is .085, so the most I am paid . . .
is .095 a line, whether it be 16,000 or 20,000 lines per pay period. I try to get 1800-2000 lines a day, or 9000-10,000 lines a week. This is for employee status, 1st shift, acute care, with 15+ years' experience.

I have seen so many job listings only requiring 5000-6000 lines a week and a line rate of .07-.09, and figured my .095/line was about average. If I can do better than this, please let me know!!!

I just assumed the low line requirements were due to the fact that anything more than that was impossible, whether it be due to ESL dictators, complicated platform, or just the lack of work. I would love to know of any MTSOs that can provide enough work for my production level with a better line rate. Thanks again!!
Is it at the thumb base? I had mine x-rayed, and it
NSAIDs and wearing typing gloves seems to help. Also, after the initial 1-2 yrs. of constant pain, it did settle down considerably, now only hurts if I use my hands for twisting, such as opening jars, wringing out wet washcloths or laundry, or using screwdrives instead of a power drill bit to assemble, dissasemble things. I also have a lot of pain riding a bike. I padded the handlebars as much as possible, and try to ride with the the sorer of the 2 thumbs resting on top of the handle bar with my other fingers, not gripping it.

Anyway, good luck, and hopefully it'll settle down in a few months!
Dolfan you are so far off base you are foolish. I don't troll these boards and don't come her

that often. I am baby-sitting and I can be on the computer on and off today.  Can't work.   I don't know what you are talking about trolling when there is a discussion going on with people's taste in men.   You are LOL with your "wisdom" and "insight" on trolls. 


PS:  Sorry if you like girlie men.  Didn't mean to offend you.  It is what it is and the unisex look is okay for some, male and female.


 


you are soooooo off base, it really is funny. i am a single woman who
runs my own household. i try to surround myself with smart people, or at least as smart as myself. i am not threatened by anything but the dumbing down of america and lots of that can be seen in situation comedy for the masses. i raised four boys, all of whom are doing very well in life and i can do things i can't do and know things i do not. i am not threatened by them. i enjoy them. i am a student of life even at my age and want to learn and be amused not at the expense of someone else, male, minority, blonds, etc.
Mayo Clinic in AZ has an ad for in-house MT in Advance Mag, $19/hr base pay. sm

Plus shift diff and bonus, plus $1000 sign-on bonus, and relocation $. What a great offer if it's true.


Have you forgotten we have not gotten the new pay plan yet which will lower the base rate I am sure
and be incentive tiered according to production which is next to impossible on so many accounts anymore. This is only the beginning of the pay decrease.
At our base the civilian employees are treated worse
than the prisoners from the nearby federal prisoner. Military thinks civilians are the scum of the earth. You will never get a promotion or recognition unless you are married to an active duty person.
Many words are formed with a base word with a prefix or a sm
suffix or both and are not picked up in spell check. Arousable is a word formed by combining arouse with the suffix -able and in this case the E is dropped and the able is added. This has been going on for a long time and like the above poster says, many of these forms are not in spell check.