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ExText is great. Access all the old stuff. Easy to insert cc's. Line counts can sometimes

Posted By: be low depending on what Co. pays to include. nm on 2007-07-02
In Reply to: Extext...need the lowdown. - anon

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It's Dictaphone's ExText and it's good/easy, but some feel the line counts are skewed at
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posts in the past talked about ExText low line counts
nm
OPs are the kicker with good easy line counts.nm
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I think I smell either VR on the easy stuff, or offshoring of the easy stuff.
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It's something in Word, not ExText. Check your Format/Insert/Tools headings. nm
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Same here..with ExText cannot access...
voice file unless asked for the voice file. Only QA has access. You can pull up the report just no voice file.
..you up to do this. ExText needs a system or an account to access before you log in
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It is astonishingly easy to access a system
Sorry you are going through this. I am facing a major change that could result in loss of income in job site. The economy right now is demanding immediate cut backs from the looks of it. We are collateral damage of it and it is a darn shame. Do present a bid - contact the tech dept at the hospital and have them give you the necessary information to investigate what it would take to get you one their system - usually a VPN, internet access and a wave pedal which is basically a CD you download - and a pedal you plug in with a few things to type to get you where you need to be in the program - it is easy to master. If not this hospital you are with, then check the jobs listed in the two MT websites ***edited by Moderator*** and I just know you will find something soon. There is a lot to chose from but many are applying. Focus on your strenghts and I think we will be able to make a living out of this work for another ten years, albeit without a raise.
I use EXText with C-phone at my current job. We also have access to Job Lister and can click on

a voice file and listen to it with Windows Media Player.  Currently, we dial into the system with our C-phone which is interfaced with job lister and EXText so all our demographics are populated automatically.


My question is, if I have the capability to listen to the voice files through media player through my pc, shouldn't I be able to somehow download the voice file from job lister into something like ExpressScribe or another transcription program and utilize a foot pedal thereby eliminating my need for an extra phone line for my C-phone?


I know that with EXText you can purchase TransNet to play voice files through the pc, but my employer hasn't bought the TransNet module yet, although there is talk they are planning to in the future.  I just wonder if it can be done without the TransNet module in the short-term?


Gross line = each line on page counts as a line, even if it's only 1 word. nm
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I do not get the easy stuff anymore...
Nothings wrong, i've been told i'm just about the best MT.  I haven't let it go to my head or anything, but they're right.  I still believe some of you are guessing, thats just my opinion. 
gross-anything on line counts as line,even one word
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Do you mean a C-phone or their ExText software? Both are easy. nm
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7 cpl gross and counts blank lines, IC status-- make a ton of money because it's easy work...nm
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Someone who unfairly grabs the easy stuff instead of doing the good, bad, and ugly,
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i don't send stuff to editing. i have been doing this for years. it's easy money and my QA r
And I got all my hair and my BP is fine.
Don't get weird stuff happening when using ShortHand. Easy to use; not like Instant Text. nm
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For this account, I charge 0.12 cpl. It is very easy clinic stuff with good dictators, but ...

I also do tapes which are horrible so I'm considering upping my line rate especially if all this aggravation keeps up.  When I first took the work, I thought I was being fair because the work was so easy, but then they asked me to do tapes and then work specific hours, print and deliver work three times a week.  I wish I would have addressed more than TAT and line rate in the original contract.  I do charge them a $5 per delivery fee because of gas prices, but still I think I'm getting the shaft.


Oh well, live and learn.  I am negotiating for a local doctor's office here in my hometown, small one doctor office, and I'm here to tell you I will be negotiated every little detail right down to paper and toner charges!


They're similar and easy to use, but ExText just functions better. Loved it where
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Used it with a small service. Didn't find it as easy as ExText. nm
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First highlight the text too add, then hit Ctrl+insert+insert..sm

All you need to do then is assign the shortcut name and hit alt+O or click on OK.


HTH


Mine wasn't the Insert key in the top row. It's the 0/insert key on the number
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Highlight the text and hit Ctrl-insert-insert...
then all you have to do is type in what you want to use as the shortcut.
Well, Word is easy to buy and easy to install. Word 97 works great. Cheap. SM
I still would not work anywhere I could not use a spell checker with grammar checker and a Steadman's Medical Spell Checker.

IF they want people to TRANSCRIBE MEDICAL REPORTS, then I guess they better get the programs they need.

It's like probably 110% easier to buy and install Word 97 than to try to program their own programming. And, yes, I do mean Microsoft Word 97. Why? Because you can install it unlimited times, in case you need to install the operating system again. And it has a few features that Microsoft, in its un-wisdom, took away in Word 2000 and 20003 and 2007. So, yes, I'd go with Word 97 for its cheapness and it works better than the later versions. Just my opinion, with 20 years experience being an MT. So what if they "don't have it" on their computer? It's easy to get.
See inside for how to access Word's line counter...
Open your Word program and select Tools and then Word Count.
LIne counts

Per discussion below about 16,000 per pay period, is that one week or two weeks?  I am a small MTSO, IC or whatever and have 4 accounts (6 docs)  plus I work in a clinic to "get out of the house" after an ugly divorce.  I work there 20 to 25 hours plus bring home tapes.  (hourly rate)    On my IC accounts,  though this is per month, I do 32,000 to 34,000 lines per month and put in about 22 hours per week with pick up and delivery, printing, cutting apart chart notes, etc.  So if that 16,000 per two weeks, that could be considered part time but if it is one week, she is a whiz if she does that part-time which I consider under 24 hours a week.


Just my 2 cents worth.


line counts
If I work the eight hour shift with the two 15 minute breaks and 30 minute break I usually do 1500-1700 lines per day, depending on the dictators, quality, etc. I rarely do 2000 and it takes 9-10 hours a day with NO problems when I do (and no breaks). Oddly, it seems that when I push myself to do more I have less problems with my hands than when I don't....... go figure !!
Line counts

To all transcriptionists:


I am new to MTStars.  I am so glad to see a place where transcriptionists of every kind can blow off steam.   I am a well seasoned profession medical transcriptionist and like so many of you, take pride in my work and profession.  The rash of recent sweeping changes and concerns in our industry have me very concerne as with all of you.   We can no longer afford to sit back and say nothing.  For too long the personality profile of the medical transcriptionist was that of a meek, never-talk-back mouse in the corner who did what she was told.   After all, and I may be dating myself here,  many transcription departments began in the basement of hospitals - you gals remember that?  We were stuffed in corners where storage boxes made their homes!!!


For too long this industry has gone largely unregulated and for too long we did not unionize or gather forces to protect ourselves and our profession as other allied health fields have done.  Because we are a nonrevenue-producing department in the chain of  our healthcare system we are always the first to get cut in budgets.  Yet that medical record is most vital to reimbursements and to the patient.   We now find ourselves wondering if the powers that be care at all.  We are concerned about offshore outsourcing, the shady practices of national transcription companies, and an array of legitimate concerns.    


The medical transcription industry is a multi-billion dollar business.  You bet competition is stiff.  Is it any wonder there are so many scandals right now?


Here's mine concern, for now.  LINE COUNTS!!!!  WE MUST UNIFY OUR EFFORTS FOR ACCURATE LINE COUNTS THAT REFLECT WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST ACTUALLY PRODUCES AND WHAT A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY COUNTS.   For too long, way too long, I hear (and have experienced it myself) so many transcriptionists complain and voice their concerns and doubts on what their actual line count may be when they work for a national transcription company.   SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO CLEAR THIS ISSUE AND BRING IT INTO COMPLIANCE FOR ALL INVOLVED - TRANSCRIPTIONIST, TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY AND CLIENT.   We are the only industry I know of that puts blinders on its workers when it comes to piecemeal work.  The cable man, the UPS guy, the plumber,  salesman - all know up front what the client gets charged, what their cut is, and what the company charges - Hell, even the farmer workers know up front what they get per basket of strawberries they pick!!!  - CLEAR, UP FRONT.  WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE LINE COUNT UTILITY PROGRAM THAT CHARGES THE CLIENT?  


If we are losing our work to overseas sweat shops, let's address the sweat shops here in the UNITED STATES making  the money.   I believe a forum like this is valuable and long over due - we should list companies that are shady and treat their employees with unfair practices.   There must be a way to address the line count issue on a national level so that it changes, changes to the benefit of all - the transcriptionist, the transcription company and the client.   I say we start by dialogue among ourselves at this site and take it to all transcription companies in a format that engages the dialogue among all concerned.    I'm willing to  invest some time on this issue of importance to all. 


By the way, I don't currently work for a national company - I have been an independent contractor who has just lost 2 hospital accounts to, yeah, you guessed it - INDIA!!!  Hospitals CFO's got a boner when they heard this company can do the work for $2.00 an hour. 


 


 


RE: Line counts
There is already an advocate for what you are proposing. It is called The American Association for Medical Transcription focuses on directing the evolution of medical transcription and to advance and represent the profession ...

Line counts
No, I'm not in a union, never have been, don't belong to any group, but did belong to AAMT a long time ago.
Line counts in MTS.....sm
My MQ account is still on MT Shell. Over the past couple days, I've noticed that when I check my line counts under "Work Summary," they seem much less than what I was expecting. Have been doing this for over three years, so I have a good feel for the approximate number of lines I've transcribed. Of course, in MTs there is no way to see the gross number of lines you've typed, as far as I know. You can see the "gross" lines for each report under "Edit Transcriptions" but that doesn't allow for empty lines. I wish it would give the actual line count you are being credited for. Again, my line counts seem pretty anemic for the amount of typing I've been doing.

Everything is so underhanded with this company. With all the crap going on, I am nearly ready to jump ship.
low line counts

Hey fellow MQMT


Do you realize you're not being paid for spaces.


I just figured that out... Starting to work for the night.


Consideringtypingwithnospacesjusttoseehowtheylikeit.


about low line counts
My line counts are always low and it is mostly MY fault.  I HATE leaving blanks so will listen and relisten, trying hard to get it, slowing it down, speeding it up, etc.  Also, I always proofread my work before sending it.  When I worked in the hospital I used to ask the high producers just HOW they got so many lines and they would always say, "don't proofread, the spell check is good enough," and also they didn't care if they left a lot of blanks for QA.  The one thing I HAVE discovered is to listen to the whole report, leave blanks right away and then go back after the report is done.  I used to struggle and waste time, but now find that once I get used to the dictator's voice, when I go back sometimes it sounds much better!  I hate to admit this (and sorry QA people), but I do think I am going to start leaving more blanks because I do have to make more $$$ and it aint happenin this way!
line counts
Said 5 errors in 10,973 lines. I have done more than 2500 in an 8 hour day. Like to average 300 to 400 per hour but my accounts now only take me 25 hours per week now. (including printing, delivery, cutting chart notes, etc.) I have two I/C's that do my psych accounts now. Cut back this year after ugly three year divorce but my small MTSO sill grosses 55 to 60K of which 80% is mine from typing. Will be picking up another account or two after the first of the year. People can accurately do 250 to 300 lines per hour, believe me they can. I pick up the small accounts that the large ones do not want and give them personal service and little extras. Have been doing this for over 20 years.
Only 10 more to go before retirement.

Line counts

I would guess as a newbie you would probably average about 100 lines per hour starting out (yes, that's only about $7 or $8 an hour).  This should increase within a few months, but this depends a lot on what kind of work you are doing.  Most company requirements are around 150 lines per hour.  I have 10+ years experience and average about 300 per hour.  


I will also mention that working part time may also hinder the process of speeding up just from the fact that you won't be working as much.   Keep with it though,  the speed will come.  l     


line counts
Really decent...in fact, that rate might give you a slight edge over 65 w/space counts. Is that for IC or FT employee status? What about headers and footers, benefits, etc.
line counts
Headers and footers are patient demo, report type information, ccs and the like. Even though some of that info is already entered for you, some companies pay for that because it accounts for the time you spend looking up doctor and patient information...and some don't pay it. It typically varies by account profile. In any case, for parttime, it sounds pretty good to me. Good luck with it.
Line counts: How do you do it?

Do you work really fast in short spurts.  Do you sit your butt down and stay planted there till you get all your lines done?  Do you set a goal for yourself each day and not stop till your get it?  Or do you just type for however long you are going to type and are happy with whatever you come out with for that day?  Do you have a goal each day/each pay period, what?  Do you use an expander?  Do you use Smartype or something similar where it finishes words for you?


I seem to have a hard time keeping my happy @ss in my chair! 


Line counts
I'm in the same boat. If you make a template for each dictator, you can add 200 or 300 extra lines a night, which adds up over the pay period. It takes 1-2 minutes to do it each time you have a new dictator, but it pays off. Each of them has their own style with their own order of headings (at least at my hospital)and if you make a template with jump codes, it works wonders - plus it saves Keystrokes and is easier on the fingers.

Hang in there!
Line Counts
For those of you who responded, are these edited lines, standard transcription or a combination of the two?
Line counts
AT the present job i work at, this line counting situation is wierd. We are to take 26 x the number of reports we type in a day to get our line count. Has anyone ever heard of this and i am coming up short from what my employer says i have and what I actually get on my paystub. I am told the company uses DocuCount for their line counting progam. Now.. why is it we cannot see what the manager comes up with lines and what we have to compare. The only way we know what our actual line count is ...is when we get our paystub. I downloaded a free line counting program to compare but I am confused on Custom line count and just Line count. What is the difference. Can anyone help me here? TIA
Line Counts
I can't even try to do the math with those numbers, I can't add 2+2. I have to say that this does sound really fishy to me. We also used ExText where I used to work and we had access to our line counts at any time. The fact that they basically took away the transcriptionist's clearance definitely makes it look suspicious. If they were treating you fairly why would they care if you could look at your line count -- it is your line count! With so many different line counting programs out there I think that a company that doesn't use one is foolish -- or -- being dishonest with their transcriptionists.

I still haven't recovered my money from the Medquist mess of about four or five years ago, and I have a copy of all of my line counts!

Good luck
LINE COUNTS
i finally found out they use DocuCount and was told that was in the contract with the client...but when I read up on DocuCount it is for Windows 97 or Word 97..i am using Windows XP.. with Word 2005...somethins is wrong with this picture but I don't know what I can do about it
line counts
Very encouraging to read the high counts MTs can achieve! Inspiring also. Thanks to all who posted.
At least our line counts would be up for that day. nm
nm
line counts
How does this work...you trust a company who "autopopulates" your line count, you in return use "microsoft word" to populate your line count.  The company,  meaning the payer, populates your line count 10 lines lower per report than what your microsoft word count populated it?????
As for line counts,
a manager once showed how they could manipulate a dozen different things about the way the system counted. I believe lots of systems are like that. In that job, they used it to reward us for difficult dictators and work types, but it could just as easily be used to benefit the company.

The Chartscript I used had its flaws and its great points, but I think the one I used was WP based instead of Word based, and that's what I liked about it.
Is it possible to pad line counts?
Is there a way to pad line counts and actually get more than a person has actually typed?  I have been with the same hospital account for 15 years and we have two girls that make just an ungodly amount of lines per day.  The rest of us transcriptionists can't understand how they do it and why no one in management has questioned it.  One of my coworkers said she thinks they pad their line count, but I don't see how they could.  What do you all think?
my line counts...
I did not say that I consistently do that many lines in a 15-minute period - I said I do it.  I "consistently" get 2000 lines in my scheduled 6 hour work day.  That averages out to 83 lines in 15 minutes, but I never work that full 6 hours.  I have to stop to go to the bathroom, rest my fingers for a few minutes, stretch my back and legs, etc., so there are many times when I do more than 130 lines in 15 minutes.  So even at 332 lines an hour "consistently" that is $19 an hour at 0.8 CPL, which is still way more than minimum wage.  And I know that as a newbie, I never made just minimum wage...
line counts

My company has their own line count software and you can check your line count as soon as you are finished with a document if you want.  They pay per 65 characters.  I have noticed that they are rounding down the lines.  Say it is 42.49 lines, they drop the .49.  Is this legal?  It seems that we should get paid for the partial lines as they add up over a course of time.  Is this something that is common? 


Thanks in advance for any  info.


line counts
What is the difference between lines and weighted lines?  We just switched from total lines to total weighted lines.  Is this good or bad?  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.