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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Especially when the company did not have the forethought to have line or hour quotas

Posted By: that the ICs are held to. Its good for the ICs bu on 2005-08-04
In Reply to: I think I did not speak clearly about the just showing up MTs - its a problem with the hiring process..not the MTs

Everybody deserves to have a life.


Even the supervisor. 




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Question on required daily line quotas
I am trying to determine what is considered a reasonable and average daily line quota for straight transcription.  Would anyone be able to tell me what is required at your particular job?  I'm inclined to think 1,200 65 character lines per day is a fair one for full time work - but I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.  Thanks for any help! 
I appreciate your responses. I had an option of line vs hour ($14/hour) but if line pays more...nm
nm
What is the average line/hour for a 65 character line with spaces? NM
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I hate quotas

I worked for a company that had quotas. I'm no newbie, I've been a Transcriptionist for more than 15 years and in the medical field for over 20 years. But the only way I got 1200 lines a day (and that was on very few days) was by working 12 hours nonstop except for potty breaks and a couple of 10-minute breaks to eat. Who needs that??


If I were you, I would be looking for another job. I was very fortunate that I was able to find another job with much better working conditions. They are out there.


Good luck!


Pay by hour or line
AAMT is NEVER there to represent us. They are a giant clubhouse of aging starlets who do nothing but travel around on our dime. They are hardly the epitome of a professional organization, are they?

BTDT
sorry...$28 per hour at 8 cents per line
nm
Per line - could never make much per hour.
I do 350-400 lph at 12 cpl - no one will pay me what I make by the hour! Per line is the way to go, plus keep your flexibility.
I think it's better to work by the hour than the line.
By-the-line SOUNDS good, but there's no control over what accounts you'll get, or how accurate the line-counting software they have is, etc. You may start out on an easy account, but as you pick up speed on it and start to make money, they'll switch you to a harder one. And when you pick up speed on that one, you'll get another harder one. And so on and so on. Benefits probably won't be as good at home, either. The only thing that's better about home is not having to deal face-to-face with management. But at least you have the security of knowing your paycheck is going to be the same each time, and won't dwindle down to less-than-nothing if you have a bad day, or a bunch of bad dictators, or no work. And you mentioned a RAISE. That's something most of at-home people will never see in our careers with any company. The only way we seem to be able increase the cpl is if we change companies. But then you still end up on that treadmill of being given work that you may do well, but you can't make money doing. They get ya coming and going.
$3.40 in eastern NC. I just sat in line for an hour to get gas, and they had a $35 limit. nm

Does anyone know if Indian MTs are paid by the line or by the hour? sm
That's something I have been curious about.  I know the MTSOs charge by the line, but was wondering how they pay the MTs.  I recall various articles about all the benefits they had, free medical, etc., even food.
Even if you only made 6 cents a line, that's 12.00 an hour at 200 lph.
c
Voice recognitioin, Avg pay per line or per hour. TIA. sm...
I have an opportunity to work on this platform and wondered what is fair and equitable.  Thanks so much.
Are you paid by the line, word, hour?

If you're paid by the hour, and not by the line, YES.
.
my company 127 lines/hour is minimum
nm
If you are paid by the line and make over $25 an hour, then I hate to say it

but I am wondering if you are doing full QA.  By the line is NOT fair pay for QA.  I know I mentor new MTs on a very difficult account and there is no way you could earn a decent wage on any amount of line pay, no way!


Don't go telling someone they could do better if they are paid by the line.  Quality specialists MUST have ethics in their work.  You can do a decent amount of reports a day and give feedback and mentoring, but you certainly would not be earning $25 an hour on line pay that I have seen....just no way!  The most I have seen QA paid is 7 cents a line and still those women do not average that amount. 


Now, I don't know what you do or if you listen 100%, but most QA positions I have had have had megablanks, 100% listen as well as 100% feedback and you just cannot produce that much doing your job in a proper manner.


$25.00 per hour is more like it. I work now at per report and 14.5 cents per line
and average $30-42.00 per hour
I usually average $25/hour paid by line so most places...

make $20 an hour plus 4 cents gross line
nm
I'm paid by the hour, but by page or line are both common.
I work on-site, which is why I'm hourly. I also think working on-site with the actual paperwork in front of you makes for the best quality. Otherwise there would be sooooo many tech errors or dictator mis-speaks that I wouldn't be able to research from home that it would drive me crazy. But lots of MTs do it, of course.
No - not worth 12 bucks an hour when you can make triple that by the line, sm
but that all depends on what company and VR platform you are talking about.
Line rate isn't the only factor -- your lines/hour average is key, too.
Even at 7 cpl, keeping about 275 lines/hour average keeps you at $19.25 an hour and that is $40,000 a year.

It is a myriad of factors involved. You have to have the knowledge, be decisive, self-sufficient and very focused. Then, you need to negotiate as high a base rate as you can and look toward the incentive plan to increase your paycheck.

With our incentive, it was not worth it if I couldn't hit high lines in a day. So, I changed my schedule to hit those lines.

I am tired after my work days but having the 4 days a week off and a good income makes it worth it for me. It allows me to spend my days off doing things I want to.

the least minimum requined lines/hour I found for a company
nm
Lets hope it is not geared line count per hour the way we run out of work and are in so many
other accounts all the time. Boy that would be bad.
not a liar, not an old person, I make waaaaay over $20/hour, probably double (CA, .15-.17 line) sm

I have two accounts of my own and do vacation coverage for a few other MTs as well as occassional work for a lawyer and a psychologist.  I charge .15 for one clinic and .17 for the other clinic... clinic #2 is a husband/wife neurologist team, and the husband was a major A&& at first... with a very strong accent and every possible bad dictator habit you can imagine.  I told wife I would transcribe for her, but not for him, I had plenty of business.  She said charge whatever you want, have whatever turnaround time you want, just please don't leave.  At the time they were at .12... so I upped them to .17.  That was 5 years ago and now after having gotten to know him and his *quirks* I adore them both.  I am an IC, but they give me very large gift cards for Christmas, kind of in lieu of a bonus, I guess. 


Clinic #2... just this week took on another physician and I told them point blank it was too much for me to provide quick service and they may want to consider a service.  They said no way, we changed the turnaround time to one week with stats as needed.  I even asked them if they considered voice recognition and the office manager laughed and laughed. 


I am just now putting both clinics on digital, and after the initial cost, this will increase my estimated hourly wage as it will take away my delivery time and cost, and my paper and ink printing cost and time.  Though I still plan to visit each office on a regular basis for customer service and because I know my customer service is what got me here in the first place.


For the *occasional* work, the lawyer and pysch I charge $50/transcription hour. 


I know you will all doubt me.  But I work extremely hard, have put in my time with my education - not just learning MT but learning the ropes of running a business and how to do everything smarter, faster, and in the most efficient and sensible way possible.  I also have another business I do in a totally different field!  I am very blessed.  Well, I also know the fields I have chosen were perfect for me, and also I've had good luck.  You know what I think though?  I think my sense of humor and just being as honest and open and observant as possible has made this possible. 


OMG - this company only CHARGES 1/cent a line. WTF?


What is this???/!!!!!!!! 


 .....quick, shoot them before they multiply!


 


_______________


http://usatasp.com/


"At a cost of only 1 cent per line, USA Tasp offers a Secure Web Enabled environment, which allows Medical Transcription Service Owner the ability to manage their dictations, transcription, quality of the medical record, invoicing, and payroll.


So, whether you have 5,000 lines per month or 500,000 lines per month, be assured that your cost per line remains the same."


Just another CEO company that is handing out a line of jargon
x
What line counting program did the company

You may want to check with them first before posting who they are and what platform to people asking on this board.  If it is an MT platform the company uses, their tech people may be able to help you figure that out. 


Not all QA is paid per line. My company pays
per hour and pays VERY well.
Line rates are set by company, not state.
x
Plus, line rates vary by company
depending on the account.  I told someone how much I made, she got a job with the same company on a different account making less $$. 
Plus, line rates vary within the company
depending on the account.  I told someone how much I made, she got a job with the same company on a different account making less $$. 
Audio hour charge - what is fair rate to charge company?

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
Can a company "trick" you into paying you by the 65 character line by

stating 9 cents per 65 character line in writing, but you don't get paid for spaces? I heard rumors about this particular company that they don't pay for spaces and so I'm wondering about this.  I suppose I could call and ask them, but was wondering about that. Thanks. What's been  your experience about pay, if you have one?


 


As a company, I have no problem paying 10 cents a line. Why is it that you do?

.


Lets bottom line this, say she leaves and goes to another company
What do you think would be her chances of them going to VR? Do you think it will go poof and disappear? Do you think refusing to take lower wages makes the companies take notice and reverse to go back to the golden days when we had really good salaries? Be willing to bet that next paycheck most would go along with their companies going to VR rather than changing, going to a new job only to find out the same thing happens there.
how about looking for a company that pays radiology reports by report and not line? nm
x
Your company will dictate whether working off line via recorded work is even
s
Line-based vs. hour-based requirement
Hospitals do have an hourly requirement, and generally incentive after a certain line level. MQ only has a line based requirement, which is 12,000 per pay period. The hourly requirement is strange, unless they now plan to convert to an hourly pay plan?
I would check into a business line. My phone company offers one for around 55 dollars, with truly U
I am going to remove the LD from my home phone, and use the business line for all calls, then I will only have to pay about 35 above what I'm paying now. Not ideal, but the best deal I could find.
I could switch to DSL but the phone company charges 50 extra a month for being on line for more than
So either way I will have to pay more.  I guess no one else here is affected or concerned by this but the article said that other companies would follow suit if Time Warner has success.  The article said it would affect the teleworkers who are on line for long periods, not the people who just use cable for reading their email.  
Company states cannot use Vonage. Any suggestions for land line unlimited long distance? nm

Depends on the pay and account. My lowest average is $15.52 an hour (roughly 182.6 lines an hour) w
;'
1850 lines per 8 hour shift. 15.00 hour - no real requirement
x
if it is feasable, split that 6-hour shift into two 3-hour shifts. sm
i work a split shift and find that i am much better able to stay focused and get more work done that way. also, being 3 months pregnant you have gone through the very tiring time of pregnancy and you should start seeing an energy perk before long.
I start an hour or 2 early and then take an hour or 2 for dinner -nm
x
At 200 lines a day for 6 cents, you are making $1.20 a day or 0.15 hour for an 8 hour day!!!--cm
Did you mean 2,000? Even then you would only be making $1.50 if you work 8 hours a day.
$32/hour? You said $36/hour on an earlier post. Either way would be great. n/m
xx


A gross line is anything on a line is a line. A line set at 65 characters means it sm
has 1-inch margins on each side. The maximum number of characters on that line would be 65 and that includes spaces. If there is 1 character on that line it is a line.

A standard 65-character line usually consists of 65 characters with spaces unless, of course, the employer does not pay for spaces and then it would be 65-characters without spaces.
10 reports/hour or 25 markers/hour
NM