Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I would charge more per line for working holidays or if asked to work scheduled days off. SM

Posted By: Tinks on 2006-12-16
In Reply to: New to this. Are you bound to work..... - GaPeach

But did you address that in your contract? 


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

scheduled days, I work 'em.....nm
x
You mean they work OUR holidays. They just had a big one that lasted 5 days and WE had work for a w

You think Indians don't get sick?  They have to be constantly sick in that disgusting place. 


Do any ICs with their own accounts charge extra for holidays?
nm
Working holidays? Out shopping in stores where someone IS working

that holiday you refuse to work?  Grocery stores, food joints & seems any store is open on holidays and you expect them to be fully staffed, so why shouldn't we?


Yes, I took off for the first time on Christmas day, in 18 years and it was great, but I worked Christmas eve and this whole past weekend.


Someone has to do it!


Holidays and days-off are there for a reason.
Even the strongest-work-ethic people need a rest and a break, in order to not burn out. This is true in all professions, so why should MT be different? The reason we work weekends & holidays, never taking a break, is because MTSOs DO NOT PAY ENOUGH.
the holidays and working extra
... it happens every year, people want extra money for the holidays and so everyone is working a little bit extra and in the end, we run out of work.  AND THEN we sit around during our own shifts waiting for work to file in.
Working 6/hour days, 5 days/week I make
$42,000.00, but the work is there to make more if I want to.  I'm in the southeast. 
Yep, I am scheduled to work Tuesday
through Saturday, so I worked Thanksgiving day. Then I ran out of work yesterday after less than 3 hours on my shift because of the greedy MTs who took Thursday off with pay and now want the extra money they are getting by taking my lines. They will get a really nice paycheck and I will get less than usual. So not fair!!!
I work Mon-Sat, but only scheduled for M-F. Need the extra $. nm
*
Your company will dictate whether working off line via recorded work is even
s
Ask about working the holidays. Recruiter led me to believe it would be their choice and not mine,
s
I'd still charge by line, just charge a lower
rate, like maybe 8 cpl.  Do you have to pickup and deliver work?    You could also setup a one-month contract until you see how it goes and then you can figure out the best way to charge and go from there.  You could also charge a flat rate per page and keep it fairly low.  
Do you work outside your scheduled hours to get extra lines?
Or do you stick to your schedules and just roll with however many lines you make during that time?
Doubt you can charge 15 cpl for VR work to the docs - you can't even charge them 12 for straight
x
If employee, work the scheduled shift and complete the 8 hours. nm
x
Forced to work scheduled shifts..no flexibilty..what gives??? So frustrated.

I started MT two years ago for a medical clinic of about 100 doctors.  I am now working at home.  I get paid hourly 10.50/hour.  My employer will NOT let us work flexible shifts.  I have to work a standard 8 hour shift with a one-hour lunch break that is unpaid. 


I got into this field because I wanted to work from home and have FLEXIBILITY.  I have a toddler under the age of 4 and when I interviewed and shared my reasons for wanting to work at home (my children) I was told I was a "great fit" and then I get in my home and am told there is ZERO flexibiity and I have to work 8 hours straight just like in-house people!  This is extremely stressful for me having a small child and I don't make enough money to afford daycare. 


I started working with Medquist part-time for extra money and AGAIN I was told I would have to work a set shift, with no flexibility. 


Where are the jobs that you guys have where I can work my own hours?  Sitting here typing 8 hours straight everyday with a demanding toddler is starting to wear on me, but I need this job badly. 


What gives? I thought the nature of working at home with MT is flexiblity and every job I've applied for in MT has given me NONE. 


 


 


Curious, do most IC's usually charge by the gross line or 65 character line?
Thank you~
How? By working 12-hr days 7 days/week?
;LKJ
Ditto....granted I am not working much these days, but am currently trying out a new way of working
when I do work which seems to be helping.  I am timing myself and keeping a log of how long it takes to to type however many minutes.  I am averaging anywhere from 13-18 minutes of dictation an hour now doing this.  Granted the time fluctuates between who I am typing, and if I have to look up names, addresses, etc., just depends on the division I am doing at the time.  But work that used to take me 3 hours to do is now taking me under 2 hours, I am also trying to put in more macros as I go along, which slows me down initially but pays off in the long run of course.  I was working "all the time" before but took forever to get done since I was not applying myself. This new "attitude" has helped me a lot.  My goal, in the Fall, is to do 90 minutes a day consistently at 6 hours, and then maybe get up to 120 minutes a day at 8 hours, still while having at least half of the day free (do 60 minutes at night, and the other 60 by Noon).  Thereby doing 1200-1400 lines a day.  I have never really buckled down and done more than 8000 lines per pay period, so it will be a nice change.  Maybe you can do something like that and have a specific knock off time as was suggested below. 
30 hours divided by four days equals seven-hour days. Most of us have to work pretty much every day
.
I work holidays and I am an IC
dont blame it on that

I take my job very seriously and worked all Thanksgiving week, the day of, the day after, and will work all Christmas week, the night before, the day of, the night after, ETc etc etc

I value my job and I do a good job, it just sucks that there is no loyalty or respect for that from some companies.
I used to work all holidays but came
up with an idea that has worked for several years now. Even though I am on an account with only one other person, I was stuck with all the holidays. I now work Thanksgiving and have Christmas off. All the other holidays we take turns rotating. Good luck to you!
Are you getting extra for weekend work and holidays.
:
You can "make a living" if you work 16-hr days, 7 days
and if you rarely buy anything but food and the barest essentials in clothing. My balancing act is so precarious that all it'll take is one of life's little disasters (rent increase, sick pet, major car repair) to pull the rug out from under me. Not a good feeling at all.
I always volunteer to work holidays, weekends, etc. because my husband is off
so he can watch the kids while I earn incentive and holiday pay.  Plus, I'm the one who has to cover so the childless women can go on cruises with their latest boyfriends or husbands, or they didn't show up for work because they met a guy at a bar and have the bottle flu.  Oh, poor you.  Life's unfair.  Suck it up and get over yourself.
Geesh! What's up with you people who refuse to work holidays?
Don't you think people get sick, have accidents, etc on holidays too? What about the doctors and nurses that have to work holidays? Did you forget about them too?

How about police officers, firemen, paramedics...

Do you think you are the ONLY people out there with family and would like to spend time with them during holidays? We would all love to do that but this chosen career requires some sacrifices.

If you can't give a little you should have never started doing this kind of work.
Work some holidays - don't really mind during the winter months, but
when summer rolls around, I am at the beach on the holidays and do not work them. As an IC, we get nothing extra as far as $$ just the extra work.

Can't complain - have plenty of work all of the time.
New to all of this and just started working for MDI-FI a month ago. I know I should have asked but..
Does anyone know if MDI-FL pays for holidays or how that works. Do you have to be there 90 days before anything kicks in, if it does at all?? Thanks
PS on line charge
One thing to remember is that if they add those other six facilities you will need help and with only charging 8 cpl you won't be able to pay someone much to help and so your quality of help might not be that great.  Also I count my headers in my gross line. I do a lot of 9 to 12 page consults and add on 4 to 5 spaces depending on the length of the header per page to the line count.  And my accounts know that my line count is based on Courrier 12 and NOT the font that they chose to use.  I am upfront about that.  Change back to it when I do my line count.  Again, it is a starting point and good luck.  If you need help or have questions either E-mail me or post on here again.  Patti
how much to charge per line
I have the opportunity to transcribe insurance reports.  I would be subcontracting.  Any idea how much to charge per line?  Is WordPerfect the best program?  I live in the Southeastern US.  Any other info greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance.
Charge by line

Hi Laurie,


The last time I had an account for myself, and not through an MTSO, I charged 14 cents a line.  That was as recently as December.  I did not print the reports out though!  I also did the pick up and drop off but since it was extremely close to the hubby, he did that for me   So I'm guessing since you are doing all that extra work, 16 cents a line?


Good luck!


charge per line
I do 11.5 to 12 cpl but gross lines.  My accounts have been with me many years -- some 18+, and so I know them inside and out.   For any new accounts that might come along I would start them at 12.5 cpl.  I do pick up and deliver, provide sticky paper, envelopes all in the price.  Reruns also.  But again, my accounts have been with me  a lonnnnnnnnnnng time and I can do 500 to 600 lines per hour and they pay on time without questions asked about my lines or anything.  In fact have stopped giving them daily line counts, they only want totals now.  So we trust each other.  But start around 12.5 or so and go from there.    Patti
I charge per line.

I do the clinic notes for a clinic in our area for free since they are a ministry/outreach program. I cannot take a charitable deduction at the end of the year for this. It's considered volunteer work and is not tax-deductible.


and how much do you charge a line?
are you willing to say? most people wont which is weird since most of you on here are anonymous.

I never thought to factor those costs into my line count, especially after i was just underbid for 2 cents less than I already charge.
Charge per line

I thought I posted this successfully earlier but I don't see it.


What is a fair charge per line. I currently am charging my client 12 cpl but am thinking that is low. Also, how many characters per line are you using?


Thank you


Lynn


 


Charge per line
Thank you for the information. May I ask what state you are working in. These will be office notes, pretty basic stuff.
Why don't we (MTs) charge by the gross line?
-
I, too, charge by the gross line (sm)
I used to charge 14 cents a gross line and delivered and picked up every day, printed reports, provided a list of each report transcribed, and reprinted lost reports, all at no extra charge. Only one of my clients has ever been a real stickler for 24-hour TAT, so I'm lucky in that regard. When things get too busy, I do the best I can. Then I went to 12 cents a gross line as I could no longer pick up and deliver every day. This was 10 years ago that I switched from 14 to 12 cents. I haven't raised my rates in a long time but am pretty comfortable where I'm at now with my rates as I no longer print, have gone digital, have good dictators and report types, and also there's India to consider. I'm in central California which is not nearly as expensive a place to live as southern California. I would *think* your area could support 16 cents a line but I really don't know if India would be a concern for you? We have quite a few docs around here using India but a lot wouldn't consider it an option. You can always ask for more and see what they say, but you also want to be given the chance to dazzle them with your skills so they think they can't do without you. With the cost of living increasing, if you aren't making enough due to the type of reports/dictators you already have, I would definitely approach them with the idea of an increase. 
I charge by 65-character line (sm)
My clinics have wanted 0.5-inch margins on the side. One of them wanted 10-point Times font. I think 65-character lines are fair for both parties.
average charge per line

Just starting out on my own and have been asked by a local chiropractor to handle his transcription.  I don't want to undercut other sub-contractors charges but don't want to quote too high either, especially being new.  How can I find out the average charge per line for chiro transcription?


I charge .10 a gross line.
.
I also charge whatever the line count totals. How are you--sm
supposed to keep track of what she changes and what is a straight normal? It still takes you time and Keystrokes to input the macro.
They reportedly charge 7 cents a line. nm

I am in Ohio, but have friends in MI and MO that charge 15/line.
You may need to check further.  You may undercutting yourself.
Tell him for demand jobs you charge .02 more a line - sm
maybe that will cool him off, or if he wants 12 hour TAT .01 more a line.
I charge by 65-char line with spaces...sm

The two accounts I've worked on wanted 0.5 inch margins on both sides.  One of the accounts wants 10-point Times.  The other wants 12-point Times.  They want the margins so big because they are trying to save on their paper costs, because the sticky back paper (I think that's what they use) is apparently quite expensive.  I send the documents via e-mail for them to print on their own.  Anyway, charging for a 65-character line with spaces nets me more than a gross line because of the margins, font, and typeface.  Try it with your line counter.  I have one built into my Instant Text (which I don't use for invoices) and SylCount.  Both of them show that the gross line is quite a bit less when the margins are this big. 


 


Why not charge for spaces?  You type 'em like you type a letter or number! 


15 cents a line AND charge mileage
nm
nm would you mind if I asked where you work and what type of work hosp, clinic ?
x
Well....he asked me to lower my line rate for him (sm)
which I did....then he asked that I make copies of everything he cc's and copies of the letters he dictates....then asked me to subtract off the templates he uses, even though I am using my ink to print these templates and making changes where he wants....it seems that I am spending more time doing these things than I am making any money. Just don't know what to do. I am not complaining, just need some helpful advice. Thanks
65-char line to client and charge for gross? sm
That's a bit underhanded. If they ever get suspicious, your line counts are going to exceed what they count at 65 char. a line. You said yourself that 65-char/line and gross line are two different things, so why do you contract with the client saying you bill for one and actually bill for another ?? That's shady, IMO, and I would never quote my client a 65-char line and then charge them for gross line.
Own accounts, line charge, MTSO percentage
I think you might have posted this same question about a week ago.  I take anywhere from 20 to 30% on an account from my IC's that covers my being the QA, the accountant, the customer service rep, the go between and the relief transcriptionist.  I really think you MTSO is being more than fair.  Stop and think if and when you get your own accounts, would you only keep 25% if someone was typing for you?  Sometimes it is hardly worth my time to keep the accounts for the IC's as the time I spend on those accounts I accounts I could be typing and earning $30 to $40 instead of the $10 to $12 that I get when someone else types it.   Remember when you have your own accounts there is no one to cover for you when you are sick, your child is sick, you go on vacation, holidays, etc.  There is always a flip side to the coin.  I do wish you luck but there is more into doing your own accounts than you realize.