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How do you put in little blank characters with a macro and not have it show up on report?

Posted By: Just curious on 2005-08-03
In Reply to: Those, too! What's really funny is when - sm

I never heard of this type of padding and I'm not sure I'm not doing this by mistake.


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Line padding is also adding little blank characters

like spaces throughout the report to get paid more.  I saw reports at MQ and Sp that had lines of spaces shown on reveal codes between paragraphs where someone either didn't know how to work their expander, was cutting and pasting, or was deliberately padding their lines.


As for typing out abbreviations, I work on an account that doesn't use abbreviations at all.  I use otcx for over-the-counter, etc.


Couldn't be anything NEAR how a 20-blank report
What a bunch of hot air you people blow. And QAs DO blow.
I leave a blank and finish the report. - (sm)
Sometimes (if I'm lucky), the doctor will say the same word again later in the report, only clearer.

Even if they don't say the word again, often once I've finished the whole report and am proofreading, if I listen to the word a while later, I can then understand it.

The post below that talks about reading the sentence out loud in that accent is also a good idea that sometimes works for me, too.

If the sentence is a fairly common one you might encounter in other similar reports (like in a physical exam, or a hernia operation, etc.), sometimes finding a few samples of those types of reports online can provide an answer, even if it's a different doctor.

If you have the capability to put that report on 'hold', and go on to the next one, that's also helpful, because you might get the same word again in the next report (especially if it's the same doctor), and you might be able to hear it, then. Even if you don't, setting it aside for a while and then going back to re-listen to it is often the most effective way to unravel some of the 'mystery-words'.
usually one "word" equals 5 characters, so it's still being paid by characters. nm
d
You can use Shorthand to make a Macro, then bring the macro up in WP. nm
nm
Re companion macro. Do you know there is already a macro
in Word that will create a document with all entries from both the normal.dot and the .acl file? The normal.dot only stores the formatted entries.
If you can show proof you did this work for them, they then have to show they paid it in order
:+
You do not need the 1099. You just need to report the income. Report the company/person ...sm
to the IRS for not sending out the 1099. 
I charge the same amount for a "normal" report as for any other report.
You still have to listen to the dictation and change anything that's different.  I had one woman try to pull this on me.  She'd dictate, "Just pull up my normal, but change this, change that, switch that around, move that, add this, delete that, and change the other."  Then she'd only want to pay me what equated to $.03 per line.  She wanted 1:1 on her dictation to transcription ratios.  I told her to take her cheap account down the road because I'm worth more than that.
Oh, a report just came in. A report actually just slid in, can you believe it. Hip Hip Hooray. I

had better get that sucker typed before it gets out of ONE MINUTE TAT.


love, love, love the show. hate american idol. this show is for real.
the only reason i entertained watching it was because of mark burnett and as usual he has such genious casting and editing. btw, don't know who anything about "metal" music but these performers make me like it. love marty and jd as performers. HATE JESSICA. susie is so nice and so emotional. it seems they all support each other and enjoy each others skills. regarding ty and bob marley, ty was excellent but he also lucked out on the song! bob marley was genious too and his music is very easy to listen to. i don't like 3/4 of what the others are given to sing but their performances make me love the music. dave navarro shines on this show, very gracious for the most part and letting the contestants down easy when they have to leave. he was great last night with brandon (?). sweet, sweet show. i am so impressed with everyone involved.
If you are careful with putting the correct report in the correct report shell and patient, you will
not have any problems. I only take away this option when someone is careless. There can be NO room for error on this. One mistake can be very serious. Many do it well though, so just double check and you will be fine.

13 cpl 65 characters. nm
x
more characters
well, if there's not enough lines available, there's just not. However, most employers don't mind if you add "articles" such as "and" and "the" when the doctor may not exactly say it or you can make complete sentances out of incomplete ones. as long as your employer or doctor's preference is not verbatim, that's fine and most of them prefer it actually. you'll eventually "train" yourself to do it automoatically. most employers don't mind you adding a few "the patient" in there either as long as it's not excessive.  word Expanders are good too. i use shortkeys. also, if not already in place, maybe 4 characters for the year (on the date) would add some. may sound like little things, but it adds up! good luck!
Also get 2 more characters if use okay.
x
characters (with spaces) / 65
xx
Is 11 cpl 65 characters good pay for
for an IC doing discharges with alot of difficult to understand ESLs.   Just started with a company that I thought I was going to be doing mostly Ops, but that has not been the case.   Do you ever get to learn and perfect the ESLs.  I hate leaving so many blanks.  Any suggestions?
how many characters per line?
http://www.medicalese.org/line_count.html
Usually 2 cents more, so same as 11 cpl 65 characters. nm
x
90 characters per line SM

It's a long line.  However, when you are finished transcribing the 90 character lines you take a character count and divide by 65 and that's your line count.  It doesn't matter if there are 120 characters on a line, as long as you divide the character count by 65 and multiply by 9.5 cpl, that's how much you get paid. 


Clear as mud? 


90 characters per line
I just started working for a new company and was told I would be paid for 65 characters per line, including spaces, at 9 1/2 cents per line.  I noticed when I was transcribing that there were really 90 characters per line with spaces.  Has anyone ran into this problem at their jobs?  I'm not sure what to make of it. 
Number of characters used

Wondering how many accounts are charged/or pay a per line rate based on a character count and if 65 is always the # of characters per line used or can that vary?


 


Thank you.


It said my speed was at 600 characters. (sm)
Make sure you reset it and then take the speed test.

It thought it was kind of neat how it showed how much it is typing for you and how much time you save.

Totally cool little feature on there!
Characters per line - sm
With all the discussion going on about CPL, I wonder what character count ICs use, that is if you have a choice.
Without spaces, what line is that on? 65 characters?
t
You can count your lines and characters yourself sm
even if you have no counting program. You can copy and paste into a word document or clipboard and count the characters in Word. At least you will have some idea of what you are being paid for. I have done this many times and if it doesn't add up to what the company's count has, I was right on the horn and sometimes even quit because of it. I will not be cheated in any way by any one.
It would mean NO spaces included if it's only the B/W characters. Better ask for sure! nm
s
About 8.5 cpl 65 characters including spaces. nm
n
65 characters w/ spaces = ? lines
Anybody know any valid convertions?  I would really like to know how many characters w/ or w/o spaces 1,000 lines converts to.  Thanks for your help!
Pay by line versus pay by characters; what is
nm
Depends. How many characters per line?
nm
Do both count the same # of characters per line?
If they're different (65 characters per line, 55 characters, etc.), then you need to let us know what they are before anyone can give an objective answer.
Visible black characters (VBC)

As of the recent AHDI/AAMT annual meeting, it appears that the method of line-counting known as VBC (visible black characters) is becoming a trend.


All MTs should read the following report from Perspectives in HIM, February 14, 2007.


http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_034023.html


To summarize:  counting by VBC results in a 31.5% reduction in line count, compared to the traditional 65-line (with spaces) count.


Thus, to avoid a pay cut, any MT now earning 9 cpl should be raised to 11.8 cpl if line counting is switched to VBC.


This is a critical issue, and it does not appear that AHDI is taking any action to promote fair pay for MTs under VBC compensation plans.


You are paid for all characters that appear on the "screen".

Line count includes all the characters that print out, not what you typed in to get that result. Keep using that expander; you've already seen how it has helped improve your productivity.


Boy, if it worked the other way, I'd never use an Expander again and would make even more money with the typos!



Very good point! I say go for more characters!

I used character count, 65 characters. What I
personally like about The Abacus is it will create an invoice for you, listing each document and the characters, lines, however you want to count it. It gives you choices on how to count.
A 65 character line is 65 characters
on a line. If have 650 characters in a document, that is equal to 10 lines, then multiply that by whatever your cpl rate ie. If 0.10 cpl then that would be 650 x 0.10 which would equal $0.65, if 6500 characters, then that would be 650 lines x 0.10 which would equal $6.50. This is if it is a 65 character line including spaces.
A 65 character line is 65 characters
on a line. If have 650 characters in a document, that is equal to 10 lines (650 divided by 65), then multiply that by whatever your cpl rate ie. If 0.10 cpl then that would be 650 x 0.10 which would equal $0.65, if 6500 characters, then that would be 650 lines x 0.10 which would equal $6.50.
can you put bold characters in autocorrect?
ss
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think courier 12 gives 65 characters

is less characters since it's larger.  So you probably have a 60-character line instead of 65.  You are probably making more money this way.  Plus a gross line usually pays if there is anything on a line...not just 65 characters.  Each line is counted separately so if it ends with one word, you get paid for a line.


When I was taken from a gross line count to 65 characters, I estimated a 15% reduction in lines.  That's just a guess.


Think about .07 a line ---IF a word is considered 5 characters - sm
So that would be 5000 characters/65 (if a 65-char. line), gets you ~77 lines. Divide 5.5/77 and get .07. Now are spaces included? If so how is that factored in? Presuming from the offer that spaces are not included, .07 is fine if just starting and probably the average if less than 2 years experience.
how many lines does 90K characters equal out to roughly?
I'm thinking 1300 or so! That would be 90K divided by 65 characters = roughly 1300. Am I correct on this? 
Gross lines are not counted in characters.
A gross line = any number of characters on a line counts as a complete line. The actual number of characters per line will vary.
Bytes versus characters? Does anyone do their billing this way? sm

If billing by bytes do you divide this by say 65 (standard line), same as for characters?  Thanks so much.


 


 


Formula is: Characters PLUS spaces / 65 = lines. (nm)
nm
65 characters constitues a line, no matter where
they are arranged on the page. You'd count all the characters (and spaces, if they are included in the count) in the document and divide by 65...that's the number of lines.

Hope that helps!
Yes, you are paid for every line whether it has 1 word or 65 characters
I would think so anyway if it is straight gross, paying. Remember you physical sometims have short lines, family history, etc.
It depends on how many characters constitute a "word."
If it's 5 characters per word, that's a 55 character line. So 1,000 lines per day would work out to be 55,000 characters. You'd make $65 for the day.

Take that same 55,000 characters, divide by 65 cpl to get 846 lines times $.08 equals $67.69.
to blank or not blank
I've taken tests like that before, and, yes, they seem impossible but point is to stick it out and put all the blanks that are needed because that is the point, to see if you will blank it or guess something st*pid.  They know what the dictation is like.  I recently took a test where one voice file was horrendous.  I had a ton of blanks but I got the job.  The other 3 files I still had blanks too.  Then again, on the flip side, I've tested for places that had tests like that too and were indicative of their regular dictation, so you had to just test it out and see for yourself because you might be pleasantly surprised that it's not so bad.
If you go to HBO they have chat area and someone predicted they will kill the characters off (sm)
one by one, and a few other predictions.  I'm really going to miss this show.  I guess the last one in August 21st.  I will say that since all the TV companies seem to be ending the shows I watched the most, it'll make it easier for me to give up TV this fall, dang it. 
Does the dividing by lines sound right instead of characters or words?
tia