I count my own lines and would not think of doing otherwise SM

Yes, you may have to spend money on a counting program, but isn't it important to have everyone on the same page, so to speak?

• How do you know you are being - me
  • You can count your lines and characters yourself sm - Counter
  • Keep copies of your reports and do a line count yourself - every pay period - sm
  • you dont' know. - MTforLIFE
    • I count my own lines and would not think of doing otherwise SM - Becky

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to use the word count in Word and then divide it by something to get a standard line count for that report. Has anyone done this before? I forgot the way to calculate when working in Word.

XX

I do not cheat, I count gross lines and from top to bottom but I make sure that it is fair so my price per line is lower and it all equals out in the end.  On chart notes, it is the total amount of lines which includes 2 spaces between patients which then helps to pay for the cutting apart, sticky paper and delivery.  But my accounts are aware of this and again it shows in my per line charge. 

Does anyone know if some MTSOs calculate lines on various accounts differently?  One of my accounts is very difficult to get a decent line count.  While it is more tedious and does not have "normals," it just seems like often I have a shift full of fairly long reports (and a fair number of them), and by feel seems like my line count should be higher.  - I can't help but wonder if lines are calculated differently for this account.

Does anyone know of MTSOs doing that?  Sadly, I am afraid to ask my employer.  

I have pretty much always been paid by the gross line...occasionally I will take a job with a company that pays by characters and I never make as money.  Remember...with gross lines, a line is a line is a line....that means anything on the lines be it one character or 65 is a line.  For instance....today I type a normal file for a client I have worked on for years...if I counted the lines at 65-cpl I got 398 lines, but counting gross lines I got 641 lines.  This is a 38% difference in pay between the two, so you would be making approximately 5 cents a line less on the character count.  Hope this helps :)

Hi,

The solutions others gave are good, but if I just needed to get the number of lines with typing (and don't need an invoice or a report), I'd use a Word macro.

The other solutions offered have this drawback: If the body of your document contains tables, the count Word gives you is vastly inflated, for Word counts each cell in that table as a line. This is not what the eye sees, and becomes problematic when you try to justify such to your client.

Below is a macro for counting what we at Emmaus call Lines Strict. (i.e. Lines with typing on them, vs Lines Extended that includes the blank lines).

To use it, copy from Public Sub through End Sub, and paste it into your macros along with your other macros. Easiest way of doing this is (after you have copied the appropriate lines):

1. Click Tools | Macros, and select an existing macro.

2. Click the Edit button.

3. Once the Visual Basic Editor opens, press Ctrl+End to move to the bottom.

4. Paste the clipboard contents.

5. Click File | Compile Normal. (If you've pasted things that don't belong, it won't compile.)

6. Click File | Close and Return to MS Word.

Merry Christmas!
vJoe
http://www.mpword.com

OOPS! I looked at the HTML code after I pasted the code into the editor on this board, and it added things that when pasted into the Visual Basic Editor in Word will not compile. Here's the code if you want to retype it, but pasting won't work. If you send me an email, I'll attach the code into a .txt document, and you won't have any problems.  vjoet@attglobal.net

Public Sub GetLinesStrictCount()
    Dim CharsStrict As Long
    Dim Count As Long
    Dim ParaswBlanks As Long
    Dim ParasWOBlanks As Long
    Dim LineswBlanks As Long
    Dim BlankLines As Long
    Dim LinesWOBlanks As Long
    Dim NumOfTables As Long
    Dim NumOfRows As Long
    Dim TableRowCount As Long
    Dim x As Integer
   
    TableRowCount = 0
    NumOfTables = 0
    NumOfRows = 0
   
    ActiveDocument.ComputeStatistics (wdStatisticCharacters)
    ActiveDocument.ComputeStatistics (wdStatisticLines)
    CharsStrict = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyCharacters)
    ParasWOBlanks = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyParas)
    LineswBlanks = ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyLines)

    NumOfTables = ActiveDocument.Content.Tables.Count
    If NumOfTables > 0 Then
        For x = 1 To NumOfTables
            With ActiveDocument.Content.Tables.Item(x)
                NumOfRows = NumOfRows + .Rows.Count
            End With
        Next
        TableRowCount = NumOfRows
    End If
   
    If CharsStrict > 0 Then
        ParaswBlanks = ActiveDocument.Range(wdMainTextStory).Paragraphs.Count
    Else
        ParaswBlanks = 1
    End If
       
    If LineswBlanks > 1 Then
        LineswBlanks = LineswBlanks + 1
    End If
   
    If ParaswBlanks = 1 And ParasWOBlanks = 1 Then
        BlankLines = 0
    Else
        BlankLines = ParaswBlanks - ParasWOBlanks
    End If
   
    LinesWOBlanks = LineswBlanks - BlankLines
    Count = LinesWOBlanks
   
    MsgBox "Lines Strict (with typing) = " & CStr(Count + TableRowCount)
End Sub

a day when I switched from clinic (through an MTSO)  to hospital work. Not only was the clinic work easier with more macros (and less providers to learn, 12 vs 300+), but I was typing in straight Word (as opposed to Softmed/Chart Script).  So you see, it really varies depending upon the type of work as well as the platform used. That said, I am so much happier typing the 1800 lines per day (I make over $15 per hour plus an incentive for any lines in excess of 1200 per day) plus a great health package/benefits, AND approximately 5 weeks of paid time off per year.  In my opinion, hospitals really are the best employers WHEN they appreciate the work we do.

My advice for you is not to judge a job by any one criterion but rather the entire picture. The 'extra's can really add up.

Good luck in your job!

I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.

What is the advantage of this?  If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation? 

I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it.  I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired.  They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.

Thanks for explaining this.  I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.

we know it to be around forever, unless you are a robot or a glutton for punishment you will probably burn out well before your 20 years until retirement. I wish I had used MTing as a way to make a living while studying for a better job, but it is probably too late for me now. I will probably die slumped over the keyboard trying to make a few pennies to supplement my Social Security!

Cannot figure how to use this with word, is there a way to have it come up in the program?  I want to count lines only.

thanks ya'all!